Author's Note: My supreme thanks and endless appreciation to Cheetahlee who again waved her magic wand over this chapter and cleaned up the mess of my mind, putting a greater clarity into my fairy tale.

My Darling Love

Chapter 66 – The Queen of Hearts

"Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale."

-Author Unknown

"Tell me a story James," Wendy asked as she rested her head on his chest.

"Alright Gwendolyn…

"There was once a beautiful princess that lived in a glorious kingdom far, far away and her name was Mary. King Joseph and Queen Elizabeth had only one child, and that child was Mary, and they treasured Mary above all else. She was very beautiful and being their only child, they spoiled her endlessly. Now Mary had one love and that love was no prince, but a farm hand of peasant family and his name was George. George was a handsome man, very shy and reserved, and he never spoke to anyone, not one soul."

"Mary loved George from afar for that is all she could do. She used to gaze out her tower window and see him working in the back gardens of the castle. From the moment she awoke until dusk fell and his day of labor was finished, she sat by the tower window and dreamed of babies and happiness with George. One simple fact she was unaware of was that George felt the same way about her. He would purposely volunteer whenever he could to work near her tower in the hope of catching a glimpse of her sitting by her window. So, for many seasons, they both loved without ever saying one word to each other. And every night they both got down on their knees and prayed that somehow in someway one day they could be together."

"That's lovely James, please go on."

"Now the Princess Mary grew up and was very beautiful, and all the princes in all the lands would approach the king and queen and ask for her hand. But the king wanted his daughter to marry for alliance with the neighboring kingdom that was very powerful and often made war against weaker kingdoms. They arranged a marriage with the Prince (whose name is not important to the story), but since I know you will ask anyway, he was called Fisk, and all was set, including the date. Unbeknownst to all involved, somewhere between here and there, Princess Mary and George the Gardener had spoken and revealed their feelings to one another. They, dearest Gwendolyn, were already involved in a clandestine romance."

James softly recounted the tale, and Wendy listened, asking her first of many questions, "How did they ever get to talk? After all, peasants don't talk to royalty James, that's silly."

"This is my story, Gwendolyn, let me finish and I will explain. Anyway, George was a farm hand, and he had a talent for rose bushes, and his job was to cut those flowers in full bloom to decorate the streets of the kingdom. Princess Mary loved roses -- pink roses in fact -- and when she was born, her father had a multitude of pink rose bushes planted outside her tower. Those were George's favorite roses to cut. One spring day when they were budding into bloom, Princess Mary took leave from her window to receive the first bouquet of the new season. George presented them to her on his knees with his head lowered, the loveliest bouquet, richly fragranced. To reward his good efforts to please her, she gave him a kiss. The moment her lips brushed against his cheek, George gathered his courage and told her 'They are nothing in comparison to your beauty.' George blushed, as did the Princess. And every morning from that day on, George gave Mary pink roses in full bloom."

"Well, that's nice James," Wendy purred kissing his ear.

"I'm not finished, would you like me to go on?" Wendy nodded excitedly, now leaning her head on her elbow. James gazed at the ceiling and continued.

"So Princess Mary and George, a peasant, began a love affair to match any I have ever seen with my own eyes with exception of your parents…." He turned his face to see Wendy and she replied with a pleasant smile. "Princess Mary was truly a virtuous maiden in every sense of the word. George, even though he was poor and lived in a little shack alone, was a honorable gentleman and the two shared only their perfect kisses, stolen in the moonlight where they met in secret."

"Now Princess Mary knew her parents would never approve of George, and no one could know that they loved. So George's kisses were hidden in the right hand corner of her mouth away from prying eyes. And they were very good at hiding their affections and no one knew they loved. That was until one day while strolling along a long forgotten path Queen Elizabeth discovered her daughter's interests in another as she found them dancing together in the forest one afternoon, and she was furious."

James touched Wendy's lips with his fingertips, and then straightened her disheveled locks off her face. "She called all those living in her kingdom to court, and with her husband the king, and her daughter, the Princess Mary on their thrones, George was led in. He'd had a nasty morning with the knights of the kingdom. They had seized him from his bed and dragged him through the streets. They tied his hands out in front of him and then attached the rope to their horses. First they trotted down the roads at a quick pace to wear him out and once he faltered and fell they'd dragged him along behind, scraping him, bruising him, beating him against the cobblestone. And with the court filled gable to gatepost with all the residents of the kingdom inside the knights galloped into the gathering with the near lifeless body of poor George trailing behind."

Wendy's tears now fled her eyes as James continued.

"Princess Mary stood up and cried out in agony as if she could feel all of his punishment for loving her. But there was to be more punishment, and this time George would not be the only one made to suffer. The Queen informed the King, and the King had made a decision that would alter the entire universe for all eternity. He decreed the kingdom was to hold a tournament with all the entertainments that come along with having one in one month's time. The main event was to be man versus beast. George the man would face off against the beast, a very hungry lion. We both know that is unfair play, but that was his order and so it came to pass. The tournament was set for the middle of July and George was to remain imprisoned for the entire month in the dankest darkest cell in the dungeon of the castle alone until then. He was to have no mercy cast upon him and he suffered endlessly alone in a cold hell, tortured daily at the hands of the kingdom's executioner."

"Please don't tell me that's the ending…" Wendy wept.

"No, it's not Gwendolyn, but this not a happy tale. I can stop if you want."

Wendy shook her head, "No go on."

"Alright. So, George was in hell and Mary was locked away in a tower. The King and Queen feared that theirs was never to be an easy existence with their daughter as the wife of King Fisk, if George was to be eaten alive by a lion on their order. Princess Mary was very clever and backhanded, not to mention, viciously ruthless when angered. She would surely have her new husband wage war on her parents' kingdom as vengeance for her beloved's undue demise. She had already threatened to throw herself out the tower window if her parents did not release her George. And so, they barred her windows and delayed the wedding to King Fisk until the winter months. King Joseph and Queen Elizabeth both sat together and came up with another plan to save their future, their kingdom and their heirs. Now this is the part of the story with the greatest importance, Gwendolyn, so listen carefully."

"The King and Queen knew Princess Mary was very jealous, and -- dare I say? – Wicked in her way. They had spoiled her badly, and at times, she could be just that. When she wanted something, she took it, for who was anyone to tell her she could not obtain something she truly desired? And she had one belief everyone in the kingdom was aware of; 'if I can't something I want, neither can anyone else.' They knew she had the potential of becoming evil beyond evil, and that included everything in her life, not just George. So they devised a simple choice to be made by the princess."

James turned his face from Gwendolyn and back to the ceiling. "Princess Mary was told that at the tournament there would be two doors. One would hold a lion, a very hungry lion that would surely swallow her George up whole with one bite, and the second would hold a magnificent maiden, even more attractive and splendid than the princess herself. And the King and Queen should know, for they picked her especially for George, well aware that Princess Mary hated her, envious of her beauty and charms. The princess would have to choose, choose which door would be opened to her darling love. If she chose the door with the lion, George would be killed and it would be his blood on her hands, but at the very least she would never have to worry that she would lose him to another, especially one as exquisite as the maiden. If she chose the maiden, George would be married that afternoon at the tournament, and the Princess herself would serve as witness and name them, George and the maiden, husband and wife. And to make matters worse, and that door more difficult to open, the King told his daughter, the Princess Mary, that the fair maiden would then serve as her lady-in-waiting, forever."

"So you can well imagine, Gwendolyn, what the both the princess and poor George must have been going through at the time."

Wendy nodded her head, "What a sad tale, but there is a happy ending? Right?"

James did not look at her only holding his eyes in front of him, dazing off into nothingness.

"Princess Mary asked for only one request from her parents, and that was to see George before the tournament. She had prayed and prayed to God for the first time in her life, asking for mercy. Not only for her George -- whom she knew would be ripped apart before her very eyes by the lion -- but also for herself – for she would be forced to watch and live with the decision she had made the moment it was presented to her. She received an answer on both measures. She was granted access to George the morning of the tournament and God Himself answered her that same day only a moment before she entered into the hell in which her was beloved trapped. He said to Princess Mary, "Queen Mary, this sacred day, in front of God and your kingdom, you will choose between the lion and the maiden. And in that choice, for all eternity, you will name whom you love more…yourself or George…"

"Mary saw George that morning, as he lay a broken mess on a cold damp floor. She stood before him with a face like stone as he pledged his undying love to her. George told her he trusted her heart to do what was right, and whatever door she chose, he would willingly accept. For, in the time it took to reach the door of the dungeon, the King had added one more significant amendment: George had the final say in the door. If he felt the Princess had chosen to kill him with the lion, he could choose the opposite with the maiden, or if he preferred the lion to the maiden, he could do that as well. The one sure outcome was that George and Mary would never be together in this life, on Earth. Either by her hand or his, trust or betrayal, that afternoon they would be parted forever. It did not matter, at least not to George, for he swore his undying trust to the wicked Princess' heart. And Gwendolyn, she was wicked and hateful and malicious and God was just as sure as the King and Queen that the Princess would surely choose the lion and all their problems would be resolved. In God's eyes, Princess Mary would be punished on earth as well as in Hell after. It was to be a fine mess that Lucifer would have to sort out in the never ending fires of hell."

"She chose the maiden…" Wendy whispered as James turned his head towards her and nodded.

"George stood before the crowd, and the king and queen sat on the their thrones and turned to the princess to give her verdict. Her father had placed the lion to the left, as it would be easier for her to remember. She had walked past both, the lion and the maiden, on her way to the royal dais. She showed no emotion, and looked as she did at all other times, the proper princess, aloof and unconcerned regarding the fates of others, as always, with a cold heart that pumped ice through her veins. She looked down at her George, and one single solitary tear ran down her cheek. George lowered his head, only to have it yanked up by the rope tied around his throat. With his eyes to hers, she chose right - as did George, unquestionably - and into his arms ran the most beautiful adoring gorgeous woman God had ever created."

Wendy held her eyes to James, there was no smile between them only a somber expression. "What was her name?" Wendy asked.

"Lorraine…" James closed his eyes as his lovely wife Wendy moved into his embrace and rested her head back down on his chest, hiding her face and her tears. "I never met a Lorraine. I have never even heard that name spoken before by anyone," she said, looking into her husband's face.

"Why would you, Gwendolyn? It is after all only a story. But no matter, the King and Queen were dumbstruck, as well as God who nearly fell off His throne in heaven as the princess pronounced them husband and wife, and the Lady Lorraine became her loyal lady-in-waiting."

"That's not the end, James? No, it can't be! I'm sorry to interrupt you again, but now you must tell me the happy ending." Wendy had literally jumped up on the bed, and now rested her head back lovingly down upon his chest nearest his beating heart.

"Well, so shocked by her daughter's decision to spare George his life, the Queen dropped dead right there on the throne. Her father, King Joseph, went to the grave soon after. Now Princess Mary was the Queen and she gave George the promotion of coin counter for all the king's wealth. The Prince that was supposed to marry Mary, enraged that she had slighted him for a pauper, engaged a rival kingdom in war, and was killed on the battlefield, leaving the new Queen no further suitors, which was fortunate, for she would not have accepted them anyway, for she said herself that fateful day, 'After my George, there will never be another, for no other man will ever hold his place in my heart...'"

"That can't be the end, James? There has to be more." Wendy wept, wiping her face on a blanket.

"Oh yes, there is more. George and Lorraine made babies together, four of them, in fact. Every other year for seven years Queen Mary endured a constant reminder of all the happiness that had been stolen from her. She watched Lorraine's waist expand, she waited as did all others serving in the castle as, one by one, Lorraine birthed without the slightest troubles or complications. She sat upon her throne as the bishop baptized the children of George and Lorraine, and one by one she saw all of them grow up. She gazed out her tower window and saw George and Lorraine walk the grounds of the castle; she heard others speak of their happiness and never ending joy with one another. She was there as they spoke of family things, such as bills and holidays and children. And the most peculiar thing was that Queen Mary, wicked and evil as everyone always believed she was, even though silent in those early years of their marriage, was truly happy for them."

James touched Wendy on her head to gain her attention. "Queen Mary smiled and showed every emotion held within her heart plainly on her face except one, malice. Those in her kingdom feared her anger and wrath, with George and Lorraine blissfully flaunting their happiness before her. But the Queen never showed even the slightest hint of it. And for years not one rule in the kingdom was broken, and Queen Mary held her tongue the entire time, never speaking even one word to anyone. Then a thief was caught."

"A young man, caught stealing bread to feed his wife and family, was dragged to the Queen for his sentence. He shook in his shoes, waiting for what he knew was to come, for either he would lose his hand or his head, but no matter for the wicked Queen would make him pay for the sins of her lover and his new wife.

"But, something had changed in Queen Mary. She had learned what it was to love others more than herself. Therefore, the wicked witch was defeated, and Mary magically transformed into a very fair and merciful Queen by her own decisions. Instead of taking a hand away from the man, she gave him one, and a profession in her kingdom so he could support his family. That was the first time since George and Lorraine married, that Queen Mary addressed her kingdom formally and expressed for all to see her famous mocking grin. Oddly enough, that lovely soothing voice was more beautiful than anyone had ever remembered."

James stopped for a moment and ran his fingers through Wendy's hair and delighted in the story's climax. "Soon, peasants and paupers came in droves to her, asking for aid, and always she listened and always she did her best to show compassion to them. The people of her kingdom loved their queen, and were always loyal and adoring to her for those extra steps she took to ensure the happiness of all those around her. And always, no matter what, Mary was happy. She sat on her throne and listened as those in her kingdom presented their troubles and plights. She would write down her decrees and resolutions, and these would be read aloud in her court. In her age, she was considered the wisest of all Royalty and there she sat with a concerned and very caring face with her hands on her lap and listened. Everyone in the kingdom, including George and Lorraine, always gathered to hear her speak. She dedicated her work, her kingdom and her heart to God.

"Now you must know, Wendy, for this is important to the story, Mary, George and Lorraine became the best of friends. She loved them both dearly, and they loved her the same. The compassion she had for her kingdom, she had for all those in her charge. She kept a watchful eye over them, and made sure they always had everything they needed to live their own happily ever after. Even if that meant she was left old, alone and unloved."

"But you said she was loved by her kingdom? And George and Lorraine." Wendy spoke up.

"Yes, she was. But your kingdom cannot hold you at night when you are lonely. Your kingdom cannot comfort you when you are sad. Your kingdom cannot hold you up when your legs fall weak as those you love are lowered into the ground. Your kingdom cannot marry you and give you children. George and Lorraine were husband and wife, and Mary would never come between them nor interfere with their marriage. There were hardships she carried in her heart, not another soul, with the exception of God, was aware of. Therefore, as far as this story goes, she was unloved."

Wendy sat up in bed, quite suddenly and most unexpectedly. She spun around and got up, fastening on her robe and then placing on her slippers, "That George was a fool, and he tricked Mary. George and Lorraine used her! She would have been better off feeding him to the lion, shoving it in her face that he had taken another lover, knowing that his wife was in the constant company of the Queen. Yes, James, she should have fed George to the lion, and then punished Lorraine for even allowing herself to be present to him in her place! It must have been torture seeing her swollen and pregnant by George, knowing those children should have been hers."

Wendy was about to storm from the room when James sighed somberly and rolled over away from her. She stopped at the doorway and glanced back to him. James continued, "Mary told George in the dungeon she would choose the maiden, for she would rather him be alive and happy then be dead and buried. She told him to marry the maiden and have a family and be jubilant in his years. She made him promise to love the maiden and treat the lovely lady as well if not better than he would have treated her. Princess Mary told George, she would love him still from afar, but she would not love him if he did not at least try to live the life God had laid out for him. And so he did. Everything George did in his life from that moment on, he did for Mary. He married the maiden and raised with her children; he was a good provider, a better husband and the best father. And he did love the maiden, as much as he loved Mary simply because it was she who told him to. For that reason alone, Gwendolyn, he loved all the more.

"And as far as Lorraine, well, Gwendolyn, she had her crosses to bear in life. The Queen went to see her before the tournament as well. She told Lorraine to take good care of George, give him children and a happy home. 'Make him happy, love him, go onward in your lives without worry of me, for I will never do anything to avenge the mistakes of my parents.' And Lorraine did. After all the years they spent their lives intertwined in the castle, they remained close, and were the best friends. George and Mary were both contented to, at very least, have that together. And as Queen Mary got down on her knees every night and prayed that God always keep George and Lorraine in the corner of his eye, George and Lorraine did the same for Mary."

Wendy returned to the bed and lay down, spooning James. "Queen Mary died first, peacefully, in her sleep, for God is merciful and appreciated her great works on earth and would not take her any other way. Every day thereafter, George would go to her grave and leave pink roses in full bloom. He lived on for twenty-five years after her, and saw his children's children, and their children. And never once, in all those years after she was carried to heaven on a chariot of all the love she never had in her life, there was never a day that went by where somewhere in the kingdom there was not at least one bouquet of pink rose in full bloom for George to pick. The end."

"That's a horrible story James. My grandpa Joe told me once the only good story worth telling is one where there is a happy ending. That is not a happy ending, that's depressing and sad and I think I shall have nightmares for a month because of it." Wendy was not impressed, and actually jeered with discontent at her new husband as she sat up in bed with her arms crossed.

Her expression made him chuckle, as he rolled on his side to face her. "Why are you so angry? It's only a story."

"What of George, he didn't suffer? The princess was the only one who suffered? Was that her punishment for being wicked and spoiled? And after all the good she did, God's reward was to carry her to heaven on a chariot of love? That's not fair." Wendy got up and walked to the window. She gazed out into the moonlighted ocean. James also stood and followed behind her.

In his embrace he offered quietly, "Gwendolyn, they loved each other, and by loving each other they accepted their lives for what they were. They did the best they could do with the life God gave them. We all have our crosses to bear, and George and Mary bore them. God smiled down on them. Everyone has hardships they must overcome to be rewarded in heaven. They were happy in their lives, truly."

"So God rewarded them in heaven then? Oh really, how so? I hope they at least got to be together in heaven?" Wendy asked with a raised brow.

"No, I don't think they met up in heaven, you see there has to be fair play and that means…" James began to stutter his explanation.

"Goodness, now you are talking about fair play. What, there are rules and nonsense as well in this story? I should have just been happy with your first ending. That's even a worse ending James. Really, you shouldn't tell stories." Wendy interrupted as she pulled away from her husband.

She strolled to the bed removing her bathrobe and James climbed in beside her. The baby resting in her body began to wake as she wished to slumber and moved about making whatever position she attempted to lay in uncomfortable. James nestled near her and placed his hand on her belly, soothing the little miracle back to sleep with his gentle touch. Soon Wendy drifted off to sleep as well. James looked out the window to the heavens above and said a prayer for his beloved wife and his child she carried within her. His last words were not for God's ears, but for another, "Mother, help me help Wendy…"

God was eavesdropping and looked down and saw James and Wendy resting safely and snuggly in their newlywed bed. When He was sure she was completely asleep, He whispered, "Alright, James, if Gwendolyn really wants a happy ending, then she shall help us make one…"

Wendy Angelina Darling, in the body of her former self, the age she was when she first ventured to Neverland, found herself in the street of a far away kingdom in the middle of the night. She strolled along the cottages darkened until she found one with a single candle lit in the window. There lay George with his wife Lorraine by his side. It was clear even to the young dream Wendy that George was on his deathbed. But the part Wendy found most peculiar was that although she was obviously there to see George, the king's coin counter, he was not her father in the flesh. 'Well, maybe,' she thought, for the George in this story did not wear spectacles.

They were somewhere in the middle ages, for his wife Lorraine, was dressed in a pretty gown of when Knights rode in suits of armor. She looked nothing like her mother Mary. She was petite and pretty, with gray long spiral locks that still fell down her back in cascading waves of perfection. No one noticed Wendy staring in the window, or when she tapped on the glass and knocked on the door. Feeling as though she were simply looking at a memory, she turned the knob and entered the cottage for a better look.

Lorraine sat by her husband, offering her touch to soothe him and words of kindness to ease him. Wendy knew if her father were on his deathbed, her mother would surely do the same thing by climbing into bed beside him and begging for God to take her along with him. "Oh yes, my mother would never let father die without at least him hearing one last 'I love you' a hundred times. My mother would be praying for him, and she would not be parted for him and I think you very nice for not leaving him at a time when he needs you most." Wendy spoke to a Lorraine who was deaf to her words. The fair maiden, aged and elderly in time, only sighed her dismay at her husband's decline. A wave of jealousy coursed through Wendy, even in the body of a child for she knew it would pain her mother so to see George being taken care of by another.

George's rest was quite restless and he opened his eyes and gazed to his wife Lorraine, "Are you speaking Lorraine, I thought I heard a voice, the voice of a little girl."

Lorraine lowered her face to him, still rubbing his head gently. "No George, there is no one here but you and I." Lorraine frowned as George once again closed his eyes. Lorraine rose from beside him and headed off into the kitchen. She returned with a goblet, which Wendy assumed was meant for George; only to find his wife bolt it down and then pour herself another she drank just as fast.

"Lorraine, are you drinking?" He started with a labored cough, and she perked up her head to see his eyes open, "Yes George, but it is only water, would you like some?" He nodded and Lorraine lowered the goblet to his lips. "Thank you Lorraine." He turned his head showing the ache in his face, "I think it best if you do not look for me in heaven for I want to be with Mary there, it if that's alright."

Finally, Lorraine smiled and held her hands over George's. "Yes George, I think that's best. She will be so happy to see you." She leaned in a placed a kiss upon his forehead.

"Lorraine, do you think she will be angry?" Lorraine still smiled, and now displayed it from ear to ear, "No George, she will be delighted you loved her enough to love another. It's all right, George; I know she will be proud. You have always been a wonderful husband to me and devoted father to our children. I love you, go to her now, she is waiting…"

Wendy didn't know it at the moment, but she was being pulled back out of the cottage and up into the air. The sensation reminded her of flying to Neverland, but instead of going straight ahead she was violently jerked upwards so quickly it terrified her. She closed her eyes as she softly landed down alongside of a giant throne of white marble. The man sitting a top was lofty in the clouds, but he had a thunderous voice that echoed throughout the room it was in as he spoke. Second thought, Wendy thought, was she in a room?

"Heaven is a bizarre place, especially when you are not used to it." A woman cloaked in head to toe white spoke up from behind her. Wendy was afraid to turn around and afraid to ask, so the angel standing guard answered, "No dearest heart, you are not dead, you're only dreaming." Wendy slowly and very cautiously began to shift her head to the side catching a glimpse of an enormous wing that stuck out like a sore thumb in her peripheral vision.

"Look dearest heart, the man you await has arrived." A white glove extended past Wendy, who was still too frightened to turn around and see what exactly it was addressing her, but she did see George ramble along in line with the crowd that went on for as far as her eyes could see.

"FATHER!" Wendy shouted and began running to George, who at least in heaven could hear and see her. Unfortunately, he had no idea who she was and was even more bewildered when she charged into him, knocking him to the ground and began kissing him endlessly on the cheek. "Father, it's ME! GWENDOLYN! I mean WENDY! Where is mother, is she coming? How did it happen father? I am so happy you got to walk down the aisle and see me marry James. Oh father…"

Wendy embraced George who was rigid like a board, "Excuse me child, I think you are mistaken. My daughter's name is Susan, not Wendy."

Wendy had already helped him up and wrapped her arm around his as the line progressed further ahead. With George's confession and title to her as "child" Wendy realized this George was not George Darling, but the George from James' story. She jerked her head to him and simply replied, "Did you not have a child with Lorraine you named Gwendolyn?"

George stopped and reared his head back, surprised by the girl strolling alongside of him odd question.

"Keep the line moving please," Someone flying aloft above them shouted down.

George straightened his cloak and then uncomfortably took back Wendy's arm and replied, "Since you ask child, Lorraine and I have three sons and a daughter who was named Susan … not that Gwendolyn is not a lovely name, but Lorraine liked it, so that is what we chose. I would have chosen Georgeanne." Wendy could tell by George's saddened face at the thought of Lorraine and his soft voice he too had suffered as much as Mary.

"That was Queen Mary's favorite?" Wendy asked leaning into him as she did and George replied with a simple head nod. "Then why did you not name your daughter that?"

George shook his head quickly, "No, for that would have broken her heart. That was her special name for our daughter."

Wendy released George's arm harshly, and asked angrily, "Do you think marrying Lorraine and giving her your children and spending all your years loving Lorraine and making love to Lorraine, did not break Queen Mary's heart?"

George looked about at all the other souls in line staring at him wide eyed. He yanked Wendy by her arm and shushed her with, "Do you think she had a broken heart? I mean did she tell you, Queen Mary, that I broke her heart? I did as she asked of me. She told me to be married and be happy and have children with Lorraine. She told me to be a good and loving husband and a devoted father to my children. She told me to love them more than I loved her, for that is what she truly wanted. I did my best. I did it all for her. Do you think she is angry with me?" His bewildered expression and the worry filling his eyes convinced Wendy this man before her dressed like the king's coin counter was only her father in costume, for he would have had the same reaction of apprehension regarding her mother.

Thus, Wendy shook her head and patted his back comfortingly, "Oh no, I'm sure she is not angry at all. You did a fine job as husband and father. May be someday you will even get to see Queen Mary again."

Wendy had inadvertently made matters worse, for George jerked his head up and yelped, "Why would I not see her? Do you think maybe I won't? You said 'someday' as if I will have to wait. I have already waited so long to see her again…" His voice cracked as his eyes filled with tears, "I thought we were to be together in heaven…She promised me she would wait for me there…here, I mean, in heaven…It is Mary I want to spend my eternity with…"

Wendy tried her best to make George feel better; she still patted his back gently and then wiped a tear or two that escaped his eyes. "It's all right Sir, maybe you won't have to wait that long…" was all poor Wendy could come up with as her heart broke along with his. After all, James had told her the story, and although she did not hear the entire explanation of what came after death parted Queen Mary and George, the peasant gardener, she was sure there was no happily ever after for them in heaven. It came to her mind quickly, so Wendy blurted, "At least Queen Mary did not feed you to the lion!"

"I know," George mumbled, lowering his distraught face, "I just wish sometimes that she would have."

Wendy bit her lip as she looked anxiously up at him and he, catching her own distressed expression at his words, lifted his head. "Had she done that Sir, she would be in hell."

To lighten his seriously disheartened face Wendy spun about on her feet, like a child twirling about in the spring sunlight. With her brightest smile she declared, "Be joyous, you are in heaven!"

"Heaven will be no heaven, child, if I do not get to spend my eternity here with Mary. My Mary, my lovely Queen Mary..."

"I'm sure she is around here somewhere. When we get to the front of the line, I will ask myself of her whereabouts. I promise." Wendy valiantly offered. To seal her scared promise, she bestowed a kiss on George's cheek, leaning up to him on her toes. Their eyes met for what seemed like forever to Wendy, before George broke their stare and began gazing about to anything but the child that still held him by the arm. "Gwendolyn…what a lovely name…who named you, child?" George asked, keeping his eyes from her, as if he was afraid to know the answer, tottering back and forth nervously on his feet.

"My father." Wendy simply stated with a smile.

They stood together in silence and slowly crept forward in line. Every so often George would turn his face bit by bit to gaze upon Wendy's face. The moment she moved to look at him, he quickly shifted his face forward and glanced about as if he was never staring at his child to begin with. Finally when she could stand it no more, Wendy shouted, "WHAT?"

George teetered on his feet back and forth nervously again with Wendy holding her hands on her hips, tapping her foot. "I'm sorry, child, it's just… I can't help but notice how closely you resemble my --"

Wendy finished his sentence quietly, both father and daughter staring at one another, "Your Mary … lovely Queen Mary…"

George nodded his head, "She is and will always be the Queen of my heart."