Chapter Twenty-Six
Harry sat in the back of the car holding Ruth's hand. She had lovely hands. Jane, he recalled, had extremely elegant hands with long, thin fingers. Her hands had always felt small and cold in his. Ruth's hands were less delicate, but he liked that about her. She was small and nervous a lot of the time, but she had a warmth about her. Harry never felt like he'd break her.
His thumb gently stroked her fingers and stopped upon feeling the diamond on her ring finger. And he smiled.
Catherine had been excited beyond belief when Harry had called her into his study and showed her the ring that the king had given him for Ruth. Harry explained that Ruth wouldn't want something like that, but they could use the stones to design a new ring. And Catherine immediately grabbed a sheet of paper and started sketching. He hadn't known she was such an artist. The drawing she came up with was very close to perfect. Harry hadn't realized what would be right for Ruth, other than the general ideas of it being simple and elegant. Catherine had known right away. When he went to the jeweler with her drawing, only minor changes were needed to turn it into something perfect.
After the ring was finished, Harry was dying to be able to propose to her. He had the king's permission and he had his children's blessing. But there was one other person he felt it necessary to consult before he presented the ring and his whole heart to Ruth. Thankfully, Prince James had been all too happy for Harry to come see him at Leister Palace.
Harry had never been to that particular palace before. He'd never been to any royal properties outside the capital. He'd had no reason to before now.
Upon arriving, Harry was treated perfectly kindly by the staff at the palace. Much less formal than when he'd gone to see the king, which was a comfort. But then Harry was led up the stairs in the palace to a distant wing where the prince was in what looked like an unused bedroom. And he was seated in an armchair with a book in his lap and an intravenous line attached to his arm.
"Hello, Major Pearce," the prince greeted.
"Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness," Harry replied, hoping his shock had not shown in his face.
"I can see Ruth hasn't told you about my illness," Prince James said kindly.
Harry shook his head. "But the king did mention you were sick."
The prince chuckled. "My father isn't the most tactful person outside of his royal duties, I'm afraid. I guess he assumed you and Ruth don't have secrets. Which is a good thing to assume. Ruth is generally a very truthful and open person, I think you've found."
That would not have been how Harry would have described her, but he did not want to be rude by disagreeing. Ruth wasn't exactly secretive, but she was not one to lay out her heart or her problems for anyone else to see, not even him.
"I had told her that no one outside of my doctors and the close family was to know of my illness. It's cancer, by the way. But relatively mild and nonaggressive. So long as I remain in regular treatment, there's no immediate threat to my life. Though I am sorry that Ruth did not feel like she could tell you. I had a feeling she hadn't, which was why I invited you here to tell you myself. I hope you'll not hold it against her."
"Not at all," Harry assured him. "I can imagine Ruth did not feel it was her secret to tell. And given the somewhat bifurcated nature of our relationship, between the personal and the working, I certainly cannot hold it against her to keep family matters to herself."
"I've heard tell that our families may become united quite soon. Is that why you're here?" Prince James asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes, sir. I have received the king's permission to marry Ruth, and I wanted to ask you, as her father, for your blessing."
Prince James gave his blessing quite enthusiastically. He beckoned Harry to come sit with him. Harry showed him the ring he had made from Catherine's design. The prince told Harry how nervous Ruth had been to ask whether she'd be allowed to marry a commoner, which she thankfully was allowed to do. Harry also confessed that he had already proposed to Ruth once in a 'spontaneous moment' and that was how all of this had started. And by the time Harry left Leister Palace, he felt rather secure in the idea that Ruth's father could now be counted as a personal friend.
It was only two days after his meeting with her father that Harry finally got to propose to Ruth properly. He had invited her for dinner at his house, led her into his study for a drink, and after a small toast to one another, he got down on one knee and presented the ring to her. He had a whole speech planned about how wonderful she was, how much joy she'd brought to his life, how she'd made him want to be a better father and a better man, how he wanted nothing more than to be with her for the rest of their lives. But in the moment, all the words flew right from his head, and all he could say was that he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone in all his life and would she do him the honor of marrying him?
Ruth had accepted immediately, kissing him so deeply, he nearly forgot about anything else. But he'd pulled back to place the ring on her finger. It thankfully fit perfectly. And he told her that it was made with stones from her grandmother's ring, given to him by her grandfather for this purpose. Catherine had designed the ring, a very simple platinum band with two tiny baguettes on each side of the large oval diamond turned horizontally.
Harry looked down at the ring on her finger as they rode through the capital in the back of the car Tom drove for them. That ring really was perfect for her. She had told him constantly how much she loved it, and he loved her all the more for it. They were engaged and happy, and Harry could not have imagined anything so wonderful.
At last, the car slowed and stopped in front of the palace. Just as with the state dinner, Tom opened the door for Harry, who then helped Ruth out of the car. The photographers were going mad. Last time, they'd not cared all that much, as Ruth and Harry were merely guests. Now, however, they were the guests of honor. The king was throwing them an engagement party where Harry would be presented to the whole of the noble elite and their engagement would be publicly announced.
Ruth did her best to smile and wave politely. Harry just tried not to look too grumpy in front of the cameras. He offered his arm to her, which she gratefully took, and they went inside without much more fuss.
"Good evening, Your Highness, Sir Harry," greeted a smiling blonde just inside the grand foyer. "I'm Joanna Portman, I work in the Royal Secretarial Office. Might I give you some guidance on the evening's structure?"
Harry and Ruth followed the young woman as she explained the protocols for the engagement party. The guests would each be announced and sent to the receiving line where Harry and Ruth and King Richard would all be greeting them. The princes would arrive early on and mingle with the various other guests to keep them entertained before dinner was served. After dinner, there would be dancing in the ballroom for an hour before the king formally concluded the evening. Then, Harry and Ruth would be allowed to leave.
None of this sounded like much fun to Harry, but then again, he never really was one for formal events or parties of any sort. He much preferred to have dinner in his own home or else a quiet restaurant, and he would have rather spent the evening sitting on the sofa with some good scotch and reading a good book with Ruth in his arms while a classical record played. No such luck of that now.
One benefit to this evening would be that Harry could stand beside Ruth as her fiancé and meet all the people she'd complained about in the years they'd known each other. Other than his brief foray into seducing bored young women with titles about ten years ago, he'd never paid any attention to that world. But that was the past, and not a single woman could ever be of interest to Harry now. After all, he had Ruth in her beautiful white ballgown with a sheer navy overlay to highlight the pale beauty of her skin and the extremely fine form of her figure. Nothing could ever make him prouder than to stand beside her like this.
The first guest to arrive to the receiving line was Ruth's father. He hugged and kissed her and offered another set of congratulations to them—he'd already invited Harry and Ruth to Leister Palace for a celebratory dinner the day after Harry had proposed—and even gave Harry a warm embrace before moving on to greet his father, the king.
A few barons and viscounts came next with their wives. Harry could not recall their names. There was a duchess, a cousin of Ruth's mother, who was very enthusiastic. A confirmed bachelor count, related to Ruth's grandmother, was very complimentary to Ruth on landing such a handsome soldier for a fiancé. Harry did not quite know what to say to that beyond a polite 'thank you.'
"Oh god, the cow is here," Ruth muttered.
Harry knew she was referring to her uncle's wife. A woman who he never knew by name or even by appellation as Ruth's aunt. She was only ever 'Uncle Edmund's wife' and Harry had to admit he was curious to meet her.
The steward at the door announced Crown Prince Edmund and Princess Juliet of Harbridge. And when Harry looked over to see the prince and his wife, his heart sank into his stomach and he felt vaguely like he was about to pass out.
They took their time approaching the receiving line, which gave him a moment to think but far too long to panic. "Ruth, I need to talk to you."
"What is it?" she asked, looking at him with concern. His eyes surely betrayed his feelings even if nothing else did.
"Privately," he amended.
"We can't leave till after the receiving line," Ruth reminded him.
He swore under his breath. "Well, I'm sorry for whatever is about to happen," he whispered.
Ruth looked at him in confusion but was distracted when her uncle came to greet her. "Well if it isn't our reluctant little princess all grown up! Congratulations, Ruth," he said, kissing her cheek. He turned to Harry. "This must be the lucky man."
Harry bowed at the neck. "Yes, Your Royal Highness," he said politely through gritted teeth.
Juliet waited for her husband to shake Harry's hand before touching her cheek to Ruth's in the barest of familial greetings. "Why Ruth, we never would have believed it for you. How lucky that you and Harry found each other."
Ruth, to her eternal credit, took those backhanded compliments in stride. Harry, however, was practically seething with rage. "Thank you," he practically spat.
"Oh Harry, it is lovely to see you again." Juliet had a sparkle in her eyes as she addressed him that reminded him of a snake toying with a mouse before unhinging its jaw.
Thankfully, Prince Edmund did not seem to notice much of anything, and he and his wife moved on to greet the king. Ruth turned to Harry to probably ask what on earth was going on, but the steward announced more guests. And Ruth had been the one to point out that they couldn't get away until after the receiving line was finished. They were trapped.