"Don't you look smashing!"

Grace couldn't suppress a smile at Oliver's compliment. There was no denying that a day out with the girls had successfully lifted her spirits.

"And don't you sound like the proper Brit," she teased in reply. "Happy to be home?"

"New York is my home. But I'll admit it was good to catch up with Winston."

"Lost to him though?" she questioned as she sat in the armchair across from him in their room.

"Why do you say that?"

"You've got a hint of a pout."

"Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is."

Oliver smiled, saying after a few seconds. "I've missed you."

"We were only gone a few hours."

"Not that," he clarified. "I've missed you this entire trip. Even before we left. When's the last time we've simply sat and had a chat?"

Softly, Grace replied, "Too long."

Their gazes lingered, both wishing circumstances were as normal as they felt to be for a moment. Inevitably, the spell had to be broken. Better sooner than later, they silently agreed.

"Did you get Molly a dress for the knighting?"

"And then some."

"Ah, so I suppose I should make a withdrawal from my accounts here to cover it then."

"Possibly," she smirked.

"That dress tells me you enjoyed yourself as well."

"The girls insisted."

Playfully, he raised an eyebrow. "Did they now?"

"You should have seen the one they really wanted me to get."

"Why didn't you buy it?"

Carefully, she answered, "It was for the knighting… It turns out we've got spies among us."

"Spies?"

She nodded. "Apparently Molly was under the table at dinner last night."

Oliver let out a long breath as he leaned back in his seat. "Bloody hell."

"They're worried. I can't blame them for being worried about Darlene. I'm sure they suspect now she's the reason we've been arguing."

"It sort of has been," he reminded.

Grace continued. "They wanted me to buy this extravagant dress so I would show her up. The compromise is that I bought this one to wow you tonight and wear what I brought for the knighting."

"You don't need to wow me, darling. You always look spectacular."

"With everything going on, I needed the ego boost."

Sitting up again, Oliver leaned forward against his knees and reached for Grace's hand. "I understand why you were concerned before but take comfort now in knowing I couldn't possibly be interested in someone who dared to speak so low of our daughter."

"I know," she sighed. "I only wish that ease of mind could have come from myself. Of course I expect you to put Annie first."

Letting go of her hand, he pointed to his wedding ring. "This is your ease of mind. I know that doesn't mean much to you right now. I pray it will again someday." He then moved closer to her, ending up on his knees on the ground as he touched her stomach. "And if all else fails, our baby is your ease of mind. Not only because he or she is my son or daughter, but because so much of you will be present."

Tears brimmed her eyes. "Even though you believe Marlene is yours, too?"

"I'm not so sure anymore. There is an uncanny similarity in the face, but she looks almost too young when I do the math. Not by much, mind you, but enough so that I'm growing suspicious under the circumstances. Their attitudes toward the end of dinner were peculiar."

"Especially Darlene's fixation on getting an invite to the knighting as though that was the most important thing in all of this," Grace added.

"That doesn't surprise me so much," he said as he moved to sit again. "Even when I knew her she loved anything extravagant. That was one of the many reasons we parted. If you think I'm a tightwad now you should have seen me then."

"Still, a paternity claim seems rather extreme for a chance to get near the king."

"We've already decided neither of them will be in attendance."

"I don't trust their reaction when we tell them."

"What more can they do? Storm Buckingham Palace?"

"No," she said with a slight roll of her eyes, "but she's got some sort of hypnotic hold on you whenever she's around. How can we be certain you won't change your mind in the moment?"

"I don't even know if I can get another invitation, let alone two. Chances are Molly will be sitting in your lap."

"I'll take whatever assurance I can."

"We've already discussed what we're going to say to them tomorrow at breakfast. This is too much to deal with at the moment, reiterate that we will look into this further back in New York, and try to figure out some way we can prove these claims. Frankly, if it's a payoff they want for them to leave us alone so be it. This isn't worth the strain on you, me, Annie, or the wellbeing of the baby."

"It feels like there's no winning with this. If she is your daughter, she does deserve to know her father. If she isn't, she doesn't deserve your money."

"Perhaps, but you deserve to be finished with all of this."

"I won't argue that point."

With a hint of a laugh, Oliver stood up and took her hand once again. "We've best be rounding the kids up for dinner and give ourselves both a break from this until tomorrow. Think you can handle some food tonight?"

"Maybe a little bit. Knowing what it likely is now seems to be helping, however, I'm sure I'll pay for it later."

"At least this will be a much more pleasant meal."

"You think so?"

Confused, Oliver questioned, "Why shouldn't it?"

Grace grinned. "Wait until the girls tell you what we bought today."