Thanks for your reviews. Yes it is a hard knock life with nothing to do on your country estate except keep company with your cute puppy and hot husband and team of servants.
And yes, these circumstances are somewhat related to Helena's scheming.
And look they are bored and alone now...
Their first week at their new estate passes satisfactorily with no fresh media incidents.
Queen Helena is satisfied.
Princess Eleanor is not so amenable.
Eleanor doesn't like the countryside in itself. In a word it is boring.
Three things are keeping her from actively detesting her new life. The first is Prince Rufus - because how could anyone fail to love his adorable little self?
The second is her horse - Charlie Jones - who her mother cannily dispatched over to Misselthwaite the day after she arrived. She consoles herself by riding him while she stews over her arranged marriage.
And the third is her new bodyguard, Mr Hill, who also arrived the day after she did and who she actually likes and finds somewhat amusing.
It is 9.15am and Prince Rufus sits in his usual breakfast spot - Eleanor's knee - like a King on his throne. Eleanor looks down every few minutes to feed him a new scrap of bacon and he laps it up, tickling her fingers by licking them afterwards until she feeds him another piece.
Jasper is wearing a maroon smoking jacket and looks casually dischevelled.
Eleanor sits opposite him in a pair of sleep shorts and t shirt, separated by a wide dining table, and pretends an interest in today's newspaper.
Eleanor finds it irritating how easily he has assumed a 'Lord of the Manor' role. It was only two days after they arrived here that she discovered he could, in fact, ride a horse and now he rides around their vast estate every second day, talking to their tenants and checking up on the property.
As she had explained to Jasper quite extensively the day they arrived here, what they were currently in was a temporary marriage of convienience until such time as they could arrange a divorce. It was not a real marriage. She had made it quite clear that they would be occupying separate bedrooms and would be living separate lives as much as possible once her evil witch of a mother relaxed enough to actually let them out of the estate grounds.
Jasper pushes aside his bacon and eggs once finished, and abruptly stands up, his chair scraping the floor. "Once you've finished breakfast I'll meet you in the hall at 9.30. We're going riding," he announces.
Eleanor blinks. This is news to her and she doesn't appreciate the fact that he thinks he can tell her what to do.
Jasper Frost is not one of the things that makes the countryside somewhat bearable.
"You can't just order me around. I'm the Princess remember. I give the orders around here," Eleanor fires back, standing up as she tosses her napkin down on the table with an air of challenge.
Prince Rufus manages to save himself in time and leaps onto the floor, rescuing his half chewed piece of bacon but letting out an annoyed yelp.
"Ooops, sorry Prince Rufus," Eleanor apologises hastily, then looks back up to find her husband has invaded her space, uninvited.
"What you are is my wife. Lady Eleanor Frost," his hand reaches forward to push her hair behind her neck and his hand lingers on her skin.
Eleanor struggles to supress the shiver that comes from having his hands on her, and his lips a few inches from her face.
"And once in a while it wouldn't hurt you to do as you're bloody told," Jasper continues, only now his voice isn't loud its soft and seductive and having him so close to her makes it hard for Eleanor to breathe.
Jasper steps back quickly and breaks the moment. "We'll be looking at the estate which we've just inherited. Which you and I are the owners of and which you should have some understanding of."
Eleanor's still contemplating whether to argue with him or concede because riding Charlie Jones is actually one of her favourite things, even if the company is somehow both infuriating and a little dangerous.
"Fine," she yells ungraciously at Jasper's retreating back as he turns for the door. "If you're prepared for me to beat you at a gallop," she adds for good measure, because she wants to win at something today.
But he's already down the hallway by the time her words are out and gives no sign he's heard them.
It's a fine and clear spring day and it takes all morning to ride from the west to the east side of their estate. Eleanor's dressed in a pair of jeans and a fitted long sleeved t shirt and her riding cap. Jasper's ditched the riding cap and is wearing jeans and a white t shirt which hugs his muscled torso admirably.
Eleanor's never been interested in farming, but Jasper's surprisingly knowledgeable considering he's only been here a week.
He spent two days with the estate manager since he arrived. In Vegas in his line of work it was imperative that he be able to quickly pick up and process new information, so now he finds it easy to drop all sorts of information into the conversation.
And Eleanor finds herself unwillingly surprisingly interested in what he has to say.
But most of all she likes the freedom that comes from being with her old friend - Charlie Jones - out in the open with the wind in her hair and the sunshine in her face.
About half a mile from their manor, Jasper pulls up when they reach nineteenth cottage with a thatched roof.
"This is where James lives," he tells her.
Of all the staff, Mr Hill is the one Eleanor's most inclined to call her friend, and this captures her attention.
"You know he has a niece who he looks after. Holly. She's six," Eleanor tells him. After extracting this information from him yesterday, she told Mr Hill that she expects to see them both for afternoon tea later tomorrow.
Jasper shakes his head. Eleanor can be surprisingly persistent at digging for information if its something she's interested in.
A few seconds later she's off her horse, dumping him with the reigns and peering at the window pane.
"Urrgh," she pronounces, sounding unimpressed. "It's awfully brown inside, and gloomy. We really need to get this repainted and maybe add a couple more windows to let some more light in. And while we're at it maybe we should insulate the place. It can't be very healthy for a child if its freezing in winter."
Jasper makes a note that along with Prince Rufus, Mr Hill and his daughter are clearly on Eleanor's list of favourites.
"All matters which you can discuss with our Estate Manager," Jasper informs her.
"We have an Estate Manager?" Eleanor echoes, surprised.
"Well, the estate didn't just run itself until we arrived," Jasper tells her, dryly. "And stop snooping at the windows like that. You're worse that a papp," he tells her, after she's peered into the third set of windows.
"Just inspecting one of our estate assets," Eleanor informs him regally. "I don't approve much of the carpet either. It's hideous. The whole place would look much nicer if they added a really nice Turkish rug," she adds, thinking out loud.
"We're not adding a ten thousand pound Turkish rug to the place," Jasper informs, her, sounding final. "Just stick to the basics so its warm and comfortable."
Eleanor blinks, then looks up at him. At the palace they have lots of beautiful oriental rugs but she has no idea that they cost that much. To her they were just something warm to walk on that scattered the floor.
"Well, ok maybe just a little one," she compromises.
"Maybe," Jasper repeats because Eleanor can be intractably stubborn once she gets an idea in her head, and at least they are making progress here.
Jasper hands her back her reigns as she shifts away from the window.
"Race you back to the house," Eleanor's on her horse already with a mischievous grin on her face and gives it a gentle kick to set it off. Then she's flying across the field, hair streaming out behind her.
Jasper's not far behind her but he can't catch her after the headstart she gave herself.
By the time he catches her she's back at the stables, about to dismount her horse.
"How does it feel to be beaten, Your Lordship?," Eleanor asks cheekily, as she pulls her helmut off and shakes her hair out so it tumbles down her back.
Jasper slides off his horse in one quick movement and then he's by her side.
His hands on her shoulders and he takes her by surprise, pulling her towards him and pressing his mouth down on hers, sucking the life out of her. It's too sudden to see it coming and once it starts, she doesn't stop it because she doesn't want him to stop.
Eventually he lets her go and she stares back at him, shocked and breathless.
"Actually, it feels a lot like winning," he replies back, cocking his eyebrows at her, with a self satisfied grin.
They're still staring at each other when a stableboy emerges and takes first Eleanor's horse by the reigns and then Jasper's.
"Thank you," Eleanor tells him.
"Nice ride, was it?" the stableboy asks in a broad West Country accent.
"Very," Jasper confirms.
"Lucy here's a good 'um. Real beauty with a good dash of fire in her," he replies back, petting Jasper's horse by the nose.
"I know," Jasper confirms. Eleanor turns away to head back into the house, but she still manages to catch his next words. "And that's exactly how I like them."