Part 7
Nanny slowly came awake, aware of knocking on her door and someone calling "Ma'am? Ma'am, are you awake?"
Unable to even fully open her eyes, so deep had been her sleep, she dragged herself out of the bed and began staggering across the room towards the door, her eyes only open a slit. As she passed it, the connecting door to Sir Wilkes' room opened. Startled, she lurched away, stubbing her toe painfully on a chair. "OWW!"
Hopping back, the pain in her foot almost paralysing her, she crashed into Sir Wilkes, whose arms automatically encircled her as he stumbled back himself at the force of their collision. The door to the hallway opened, and both Nanny and Sir Wilkes looked over.
There stood the B's, their mouths open wide and their faces flushing. "Not again!" one wailed as the other slammed the door shut.
Sir Wilkes and Nanny looked at each other, then Nanny began to chuckle. Soon her chuckles became deep laughter. Sir Wilkes held her helplessly, wondering what he should do. Was Nanny having a fit?
"Again!" Nanny gasped at last. "Oh, my Lord, they had, had, had to see us AGAIN!" Unable to stop laughing, tears began flowing down her cheeks.
Alarmed, Sir Wilkes did the only thing he could think of to bring her back to herself. He kissed her. Still trembling from the laughter that convulsed her body, Nanny wound her arms around his neck and returned his kisses enthusiastically.
Again a knock came on the door, and just as it opened with one of the B's saying, "But, Charlotte, they're ...", Sir Wilkes jerked back from Nanny even as she thrust him away from her.
Charlotte, open-mouthed, looked from one to the other, her face flushing. Without saying a word, she started to back out of the doorway, but Sir Wilkes cried, "Wait! I'll go! I should ... we just ... You ... you ask Nanny ..." and he disappeared into his own room.
The B's also vanished down the hallway, obviously too traumatised to remain. Nanny opened her mouth, then closed it. What could she say? They had been caught yet again in an extremely compromising situation!
"I'm sorry," Charlotte whispered at last. "I ... I should have listened to Brigitta when she was trying to tell me ... but I thought she was saying something was wrong with you!"
Nanny sank down on the chair and put her head in her hands. "Something IS wrong with me, Charlotte. I'm in love with someone I should not, not, not love!"
Hesitantly, Charlotte came further in. "What do you mean? Why shouldn't you love him? It's obvious Sir Wilkes loves you."
"Only because I look a bit like Queen Clarisse, and she's not in love with him!" Nanny burst out, surprising herself as well as Charlotte. Nanny hadn't realized that that was a very real fear she had ... not until this moment.
Charlotte's arms slid around Nanny and she cuddled her. "What happened to the self-confident woman who was telling ME to be more confident ... to fake it until I make it?"
"Oh, Charlotte ... I'm just an old, old, old woman. I'm not used to, well, to living like royalty, for Lord's sake!"
"I think you're wrong, for what it's worth."
"Wrong?"
"Oh, not about being used to living like royalty, although I really don't think you have a problem with that either. But I meant, wrong about Sir Wilkes only loving you because of your similarity in looks to the Queen. You don't REALLY look at him very often, do you?"
"What? Of course I do! Why, I ..." Nanny stopped and thought about it for a minute. "Well, maybe I don't very often at that. Not REALLY look at him. It's like asking a cat to look at a king!"
Charlotte chuckled. "Well, let me tell you, his eyes follow you all the time. He's fascinated by you. Oh, he looks at Queen Clarisse and talks to her perhaps more than to you, but they are very good friends. When he looks at YOU, you can see him almost puff up ... it's, well, it seems to me that he knows you like him, and that makes him feel really good about himself. You've given HIM confidence, just by liking him!"
Nanny stared at her. "Are you sure, sure, sure?"
Hugging her tightly, Charlotte nodded. "I am sure, sure, sure." Then she released the older woman and asked, "Joey?"
Grinning, Nanny said, "I met him when we were teenagers. Naturally, like everyone around, I got a huge crush on him. We did a lot together one summer ... he saved my life, I must say! It was good, good, good to see him again, but ... he's just a friend. Shades?" she adroitly changed the conversation to Charlotte.
Shrugging, Charlotte admitted, "Maybe more than a friend, some day ... but not right now. I'm busy enough with Queen Clarisse's life to worry much about my own. Who knows what the future will hold?"
"I predict a brilliant career for you, Charlotte ... maybe you'll go into Parliament one day!"
Charlotte laughed. "Wouldn't THAT be something? Well, we'll see. Now, are you ready to get dressed? I'll start packing your bags, if you like."
"I would like that very much, love," Nanny hugged her and stood up, taking a deep breath as she looked at the closed connecting door. Then she said, "Let's move, move, move!"
O o O o O o
When Nanny got downstairs, she found Queen Clarisse alone in the dining room. Clarisse looked up from reading the paper and sipping at her tea and smiled. "Good morning, Nanny! Or is it afternoon yet?"
"Your ..." Nanny began, a little uncertain of what to call the Queen. She wasn't used to be alone with a Queen, for Lord's sake!
"Nanny..." Clarisse said, warningly. "You've BEEN 'your Majesty', and you know what it feels like. Mayn't I be Clarisse to you as well as to Wilkes? I thought we were friends now!"
"Oh, to be sure, sure, sure ..." Nanny slipped into her chair.
"Speaking of Wilkes, is he coming down for lunch? Have you both finished packing?"
Nanny grew pink and her eyes fixed on the cup of coffee that was slipped in front of her by a maid who disappeared as quickly as she had come. "I ..."
Clarisse sighed. "Oh, please, Nanny. Not again. NOW what has happened? I really can't take ANOTHER mystery on top of yesterday morning! Wilkes wouldn't tell me a thing about it, although I gave him every opportunity! Is it something to do with your ladies' maids?"
"In a manner of speaking, I suppose ... and Charlotte ..." Nanny mumbled.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Sighing, Nanny looked at the Queen directly. "Only if you can turn the clock back, back, back." She drooped a bit, then murmured, "Joey used to say I would act before I thought, and I guess I still, still, still do."
"Joey?" Then Clarisse's eyes widened. "JOSEPH?" He 'used to say'? Nanny and Joseph had met before? That explained EVERYTHING! Well, except for the kiss, which still hurt when Clarisse allowed herself to think of it.
Nanny saw the tiny flare of jealousy in Clarisse's eyes, and she smiled crookedly. "Sometimes, no matter how much we WANT to help, it's just not possible, is it? My Eloise is always wanting to fix things. But she's learning that she just can't fix everything. Some things are just too big. Clarisse, we weren't going to say anything to anyone, but it's just getting bigger. I told Charlotte, now I'll tell you ... and you must ask Joey, er, Joseph to tell you the rest. We were very good friends for a time when we were very, very, very young, and we simply lost touch, as friends do. I only care for him as a friend. His heart is ... otherwise engaged, as I'm sure you know."
"I know?" Clarisse echoed, amazed she was still sitting so calmly when she wanted to dance around the room for joy to know that Nanny and Joseph were only friends. "I can't possibly know something like that!"
Again Nanny's crooked smile crossed her face. "Are you sure about that, Clarisse?" she asked. "Are you really, really, really sure? Another thing Eloise has told me is that even though she can't fix everything, she's going to keep on trying. And then she asks if I don't think I should keep trying, too. I think that's something we ALL should remember, don't you?"
After a moment, Clarisse said softly, "Wilkes was right. Eloise IS a remarkable child. And Nanny, speaking of Wilkes ... I think you should tell him about you and Joseph. We ... he was with me when we saw you two out in the garden. I think it affected him, although he's sometimes difficult to read, and I hate to think of him suffering. He's such a dear, sweet man. Nanny, please, take care of him for me. He is VERY special to me."
Nanny was rawther uncomfortable. Joey liked Clarisse ... Charlotte had assured Nanny that Sir Wilkes liked HER ... but what was Clarisse saying? Was she saying she really cared for ...?
Clarisse obviously picked up something in her manner or in her eyes, and she smiled. "No, Nanny, I don't love Wilkes. I never have ... unlike you and Joseph, if I read between the lines correctly." Nanny blushed a bit, and Clarisse chuckled. "No, Nanny, Wilkes and I are very dear friends ... but his heart, too, lies elsewhere. You know, Wilkes is rather ... backward, I suppose you could say. He does not think of himself with any degree of self-esteem. It's a leftover feeling instilled in him at a young age in boarding school, I think, or perhaps by his older sister who teased him unmercifully. I have the feeling that, if you hope to marry him, you will have to do the asking."
"MARRY him? ASK him to marry me?" Nanny was aghast at the thought. "That would be rude, rude, RUDE! I couldn't possible ask him! It's not my place!"
Clarisse leaned over and put her hand on Nanny's which was clenched on the table. "I'm afraid you'll probably have to ... if you want to marry him, of course. And, more than most men, I think Wilkes NEEDS to be married ... married to you. He needs looking after, like most men."
"Joey, too, for sure, sure, sure?" Nanny asked slyly. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, having forgotten that Clarisse was a Queen, for Lord's sake, and she should NOT be teasing a Queen in that manner!
Clarisse stiffened for a moment, then said sadly, "I cannot be what Joseph needs."
"Cannot or will not?" Nanny questioned, compassion for the other woman rising at the obvious tension she was feeling.
"Both," whispered Clarisse.
Nanny hesitated only for a moment, then said, "Clarisse, I think you can and WILL be what Joseph needs. Even if your relationship has to remain in the shadows for a time. Some day your time will come. Sir Wilkes has mentioned your grand-daughter ... perhaps once SHE is crowned ..."
"Perhaps. I admit, I DO hope and long for that day. Only three more months until her twenty-first birthday. Following that day, when she is ready, she can be crowned queen and I can withdraw from my active position as head of the country and concentrate more on a private life with Joseph. Oh, I will still have many duties, of course, but none so onerous that I cannot have a personal life of my own ... But until then ... I must remain the Queen. I simply cannot allow myself to ... to be Clarisse. Much as I long to be myself, I must not ..."
At that moment, Sir Wilkes stepped into the room. Clarisse and Nanny stopped talking instantly. Nanny couldn't look directly at him as she murmured her greeting, but when he sat down and answered Clarisse's questions about how he had slept and whether or not he was packed and ready for the trip home, Nanny found herself focussing on his hands, hands which had soothed her, excited her, held her, caressed her ... She shivered. Would she ... COULD she ever have enough nerve ... could she ever fake it enough to have the confidence to ask him to marry her? She hoped so. Oh, she hoped so.
O o O o O o
When the time came for Nanny and Sir Wilkes to leave, Nanny and Clarisse clasped hands and smiled at each other. "I can't think of when I've had a better vacation. Thank you so, so, so much!" Nanny said.
"I'm so glad to have met my double," Clarisse returned the strong grip. "Everyone has one somewhere, they say. We were just lucky enough to meet ours and to become friends!"
Wilkes and Joseph shook hands as well. Both muttered to the other, "Take care of her," before grinning because they had said it together.
Nanny could hardly believe she had only been in Genovia for such a short time. She already had so many good friends here! Of course, the B's were conspicuous by their absence in the front foyer right then, but surely they were old enough to realize that occasionally a man and a woman, well, were unexpectedly alone in a room together! When Clarisse had hugged Sir Wilkes, she had urged him to bring Nanny back with him, and not to wait so long between visits next time. Nanny hugged Joseph, and reminded him of his promise to keep her informed.
After Nanny and Sir Wilkes had been taken back to the airport, Clarisse and Charlotte sequestered themselves in Clarisse's office to deal with all the paperwork that had accumulated in the last few days. They didn't even stop for the evening meal, calling for trays instead. Joseph came in finally at nine o'clock when the shift changed for the guards.
"Don't you think it's time you two called it a night?" he asked.
"I just have a couple more papers to sign, I think. You can go, Charlotte," Clarisse said, not even looking up from her work. "Thank you so much for organizing all this."
"You're welcome, your Majesty. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." Charlotte slipped out of the office.
Clarisse finished signing her papers, carefully fitted them back into the folder, then stood up. She walked around the desk, then, gathering all her courage and remembering Nanny's urging to be Clarisse instead of the Queen to Joseph, she stepped up to him. After all, if she had told Nanny to ask Wilkes to marry her, surely Clarisse could admit to Joseph that she DID love him, even if they could not act on their love for the time being!
Joseph looked a little surprised when Clarisse drew closer, then struggled to keep an impassive expression on his face.
Clarisse chuckled, and kissed his cheek. "You're not nearly as non-committal as you like to pretend, Joseph."
With a swiftness that caught her by surprise, his hands came up to her shoulders and he captured her mouth with his. His kiss stole her breath, tingled her toes and annihilated all ability to think. Then, before she recovered her spinning senses, he abruptly released her and strode to the door.
Clarisse touched her fingers to her aching lips and let hunger flow to parts of her body long denied as she watched him walk away. He seemed to have no idea that he had just awakened desires the likes of which she had never dreamed. She wanted to call him back, but dared not. How could he leave her like this?
As he opened the door to leave, he shut out the light in Clarisse's office and said to the guards as he stepped into the hallway, "So, men, whose turn is it to hold the poker game tonight?"
They laughed at him. "Working late, Joe? Shades is in the kitchen watching boxing again ..."
"Shall we go, then? Nothing more here."
Disbelieving, Clarisse stood stock-still as he shut the door, leaving her in the dark, and then she heard the lock snick into place. He had locked her in! What on earth ...? The voices of the three men disappeared down the hallway. Joseph had locked her into her office, and taken away her guards!
Resisting the urge to scream her frustration aloud, Clarisse carefully began to make her way to the door, trying not to trip over any furniture. Suddenly she heard someone fumbling at the door. It opened and in the light from the hallway, Joseph was revealed as he slipped back into the room and locked the door behind himself. Unerringly he found her in the dark, and before she could say a word, she was in his arms again, his mouth covering hers.
"I love you, Clarisse! I love you, love you ... only you ..." he almost growled.
"Joseph, oh, Joseph ..." She gave herself up to his kisses, returning them with all the fire within her. Then she realized that tears were sliding down her cheeks, and she wasn't sure if they were tears of joy ... or tears of regret because she knew this love could not yet be displayed for anyone else to see. "Joseph," she whispered at last. "I love you, but ..."
"But? There are no 'buts' in our love, Clarisse. We love now, hidden in the shadows, but someday we will stand proud and tall at the front of the cathedral and declare to the whole world that we are in love."
"Thank you ... thank you ... for your words ... and for the wondrous present of your love ..." Clarisse's hand on his cheek drew him closer so she could kiss him tenderly again.
"I remember saying to Nan long ago that it's not the presents that come wrapped in ribbons and bows that count as much as the ones that come from the heart. You know, she made me promise to tell you of my love ... and to let her know the outcome."
"What are you going to tell her?" Clarisse smiled in the darkness. Nanny was no longer a rival. She was a friend of them both.
"To mind her own business." Joseph chuckled, and his lips covered hers again.
O o O o O o
Once on the airplane, settled into their seats in first class, Nanny leaned back against the headrest and turned her head to smile at Sir Wilkes. "Sir Wilkes, I must say, I do, do, DO want to thank you for your invitation ..."
"Nanny?" he interrupted her.
"Hmm?"
"Just Wilkes. Please. And ... I know you told me, but so much has happened, and I must confess I have completely forgotten ... when did you meet Joseph before?"
She smiled reminiscently. "When I was eighteen. He ..."
"And you two were ... that is to say, you ... in short, were you in love?" He pressed on with his question despite his obvious discomfort with the topic.
Nanny considered that for a moment, looking at her hands twisting in her lap, and Sir Wilkes' face dropped. Then she smiled at him again. "Aoww, if it was love, I suppose it would have, have, HAVE to be called puppy love. Joey was a dear, dear, dear friend, and I thought I loved him ... well, I still DO love him ... but I'm not IN love with him."
Sir Wilkes looked confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
Now Nanny was feeling a little uncomfortable. "Well, there's love and there's ... being IN love. I love Eloise, but I am IN love with ... Oh, I cannot apologize enough. All this talk of love, and you and Queen Clarisse ..."
"Clarisse ... and I? In love? Nanny, I'm afraid you've made a dreadful blunder if you think ..."
She stared at him. "You're not in love with her?"
"It appears we are both at odds when it comes to love ..." he said, after a moment. "Unless, that is ..." and his hand tentatively reached over and rested on hers. He opened his mouth to say something more, and Nanny was holding her breath, hoping he might say what she was longing to hear, when the flight attendant came by and stopped at their seats.
"Are your seatbelts done up?" she asked.
"Oh, er ... yes," Sir Wilkes jerked his hand away from Nanny's as if he had been burned. "I DO apologize!"
"Would either of you care for a drink before your meal?"
"That would be lovely, thank you." Sir Wilkes forced a laugh.
"Ma'am?" the flight attendant looked at Nanny, then her eyes went wide. "Oh! Your MAJESTY! I'm so terribly sorry I didn't recognize you! I didn't expect ... no one told me that you were ..." she began to stammer, very flustered.
Nanny shook her head. "I am NOT Queen Clarisse," she said quietly. "I might look a little bit like her, but no, I am not the Queen."
"You MUST be! You look EXACTLY like her!"
Exaggerating her accent greatly, Nanny said, "Aoww, I don't think I look like a Queen, but I thank you for the compliment! Doesn't she 'ave 'er own bloody jet? 'Ave some sense, luv!"
Sir Wilkes chuckled, and said, "I can vouch for her. She is not Queen Clarisse."
Relaxing, the flight attendant perched on the arm of the seat across the aisle. "I'm amazed at how much you look alike! It must be just like looking in a mirror when you see her! How long were you in Genovia? Was it your first visit? What do you think of our country?"
As Sir Wilkes attempted to converse with the talkative woman, Nanny sighed. It was going to be a long, long, long flight! She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself doing as Queen Clarisse had suggested; asking Sir Wilkes to marry her.
O o O o O o
When Nanny and Sir Wilkes got out of the taxi at the door of the Plaza Hotel very late that night, George greeted them with a smile. "Ah, our royal couple has returned."
Nanny teetered on the edge of the step as she looked at George incredulously. "Royal?" She didn't want to even get into the 'couple' aspect of his comment.
"Of course! We all saw you on television the other night. The reporters SAID you were Queen somebody of some country, but we all knew it was you, Nanny."
"You ... you knew it was me?"
"Of course! We recognized your shoes. And Miss Thompson knew your walk." George beamed. "We're glad you're back with us, and looking so well, thanks to Sir Wilkes. Obviously you took excellent care of her, Sir Wilkes!"
"Er, yes, for sure, sure, sure," Nanny murmured, even as Sir Wilkes stammered a little in response as well.
With George's help, as well as the taxi driver's, they got their luggage into the foyer of the hotel. There, Mr. Salamone met them, looking as if he had just risen from his bed. His countenance was, as it often was, distressed and worried. When he realized they were looking at him, he visibly gathered himself together, and put on a big smile. "Welcome home to our resident celebrities. Especially YOU, your Majesty!" and he bowed.
"Oh, please ..." Nanny begged. "I'm MUCH too tired for sarcasm tonight! I just want to crawl into bed ..." She exaggerated a little, as she had slept for much of the flight since the flight attendant had sat and visited with Sir Wilkes most of the time.
"Of course. Bed. Yes. Well, I must say, that presents a problem."
"Oh?" Nanny sagged. She did NOT want this end to her holiday!
"Yes, you see, it was decided that we would renovate while your suite was empty. We took Weenie and the ... turtle ... to a pet boarding house. Of course, the renovations were to have all been finished by yesterday, which would have given us today to air the rooms out. Unfortunately, what with one thing and another ... I'm afraid the painters did not leave until about a half an hour ago. Yes, they worked late. Yes, they work quickly. They did. But they did not work quickly enough. I have failed in my attempt to be helpful." Poor Mr. Salamone looked so utterly dejected that Nanny couldn't help but try to cheer him up.
"Oh, Mr. Salamone, please don't worry about it!" she urged him. "I really don't mind ..."
"I'm so terribly, terribly sorry," he said, but then he brightened. "However, I COULD give you a courtesy room for the night!"
"No, really," Nanny insisted. "I'll be fine, fine, fine. Why, it's spring. I can sleep with the bedroom window open all night, and won't freeze, freeze, freeze!"
"If you are certain ..." he looked hopeful.
"Quite certain," Nanny nodded.
"Well, then, I will summon someone to help you and Sir Wilkes with your luggage ..."
"Thank you," Sir Wilkes murmured.
In no time, they were all on the elevator going up with Max. Max eyed them surreptitiously, but said nothing until the doors opened. Then, as they dragged the suitcases out, he said quickly to Nanny, "I saw you on TV, and they coulda fooled ME by saying you was the Queen! You always look and act like a queen in MY books, Nanny! I'm glad you're back here."
"Why, thank you, Max," Nanny smiled gratefully, feeling tears pricking her eyelids. She did NOT want to be Clarisse, but so many people HAD thought she was a queen ... except for many of the people here at the Plaza, it seemed. It was nice to know that someone considered her a queen ... even if it was Max.
The men waited until Nanny opened the door of her suite before carrying her luggage in and setting it down. Then Sir Wilkes paid off the others, telling them he was quite capable of carrying his own suitcase down the hall. When they left, he turned back to Nanny. She was staring around at the living area which was covered with dust sheets, and which was smelling quite powerfully of paint. "Oh, my Lord," she mumbled under her breath.
"You can't stay here!" Sir Wilkes said, wrinkling his nose against the smell.
Nanny hurried over to the windows and flung them open, then went into her room and did the same. "It will air out eventually, for sure, sure, sure."
"Please, Nanny, at least come to my place for a little while to let the rooms air a bit. I will make you some tea ... or we could have some wine ... or a nightcap ... I say, actually, I do believe I have just the thing! Yes, yes, it's a brilliant idea! I recently purchased a select new ale ... Please, do say you will come."
Nanny hesitated, then nodded. She took off her coat and hat, then locked the door carefully and walked down the hall with Sir Wilkes. Should she say something to him tonight ... about marriage? Studying him furtively as he unlocked his door, she tried to decide.
As he ushered her in, locking the door after them, he ushered her to the sofa then scurried into his kitchen and began opening cupboards. In moments he was back, beaming, with two foaming beer glasses in his hands. "There you are, Nanny! Try that!"
Nanny accepted her glass and sipped. Then she smiled. "Aoww, yes, it's fine, fine, fine. Thank you so much."
"Tosh, tosh, tosh, it's the least I could do, Nanny." He waved away her thanks as inconsequential. Then his face sobered. Nanny tensed. What was he going to say? "Nanny," he began slowly, "I ... I daresay we should talk about the ... er ... unfortunate incidents ... not ... that is, not that they were entirely unfortunate ... what I mean is ... oh, dash it all, Nanny, to be quite truthful, I ENJOYED kissing you!"
Nanny's mouth fell open in amazement. She couldn't think of anything to say. Now that he had blurted out what he wanted to say, Sir Wilkes was rambling about what the maids must have been thinking, and how he worried about Charlotte's reactions. Nanny only half-listened to him as she considered the enormity of what her life would be like should he agree to her suggestion of marriage. She would have to meet all his friends as their equal, wear fancy clothes all the time, act sophisticated, and live the rest of her life the way she had for the last four days in Genovia. "Your life is so different from mine ..." she murmured hesitantly, not realizing she was interrupting his circuitous speech. He stopped mid-stream. Then Nanny summoned all her courage, for broaching this subject was quite as difficult as she had expected when Clarisse had first encouraged her to do it. "Sir Wilkes, I ... I ... I think you need a ... a ... a ... wife!" Nanny finally managed to say it.
"A wife?" Surprise flooded his features. Then caution edged his voice as he continued, "Did you have someone in mind for the position?"
"Yes." Nanny took another deep breath and crossed her fingers. "Me."
"You?" He stared at her.
Nanny wanted to crawl under the carpet and hide. Need he look as though marrying her was so entirely out of the question? "I, well, it seems to me," her words rushed out in a swift, unstoppable torrent, "that you need someone to look after you, and the Plaza can't begin to care as much as a wife could, and we have always gotten on, well, quite well, I thought, although I know I'm not in your station, for sure, sure, sure, but ..."
He placed a finger on her lips, effectively cutting off her comments, and chuckled. "If I sounded surprised, it was because I was afraid you were going to suggest that I marry CLARISSE! I hardly hoped for ... but I DID tell her you had a wonderfully direct nature." His finger traced her lips gently.
"If you don't go after what is in your heart, as Eloise says, you will very likely miss it," Nanny said breathlessly, staring at him. By her sainted Aunt Fanny, the touch of his finger on her mouth brought the most peculiar fluttering sensation to her stomach.
He took her hand and brushed his lips along the back of it in the manner she had seen Joseph kissing Clarisse's hand. But then, Clarisse was a QUEEN! Nanny felt like a queen at this moment, and wouldn't have traded places with Clarisse for an instant. She remembered vaguely that Sir Wilkes' lips felt as delightful on her mouth as they had on her hand. Longing such as she hadn't known for years swept through her. She desired a man, THIS man, more than she had desired anything before in her life. She steeled herself to look into his eyes, and found him still studying her closely, with an expression that concealed his thoughts. Her heart sank. He was obviously trying to come up with a polite excuse to turn her down.
Embarrassment pulled her to her feet. "Sir Wilkes, I'm so, so, so, sorry! I have no idea what came over me or WHAT you must think of me!" She turned away, her manner brisk, determined to hide the pain stabbing through her.
"I think you are quite refreshing, Nanny." His voice was soft and she realized he had jumped up with her and was now standing close behind her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he gently turned her to face him. A bemused smile hovered on his lips. "I also think you are correct. I DO need a wife."
"You do?" Her blood pounded in her ears.
His solemn nod belied the twinkle in his eyes. "I do."
"Aoww, I ... I ... I ..." Nanny couldn't think of what to say next. She wanted to melt into his arms, but was afraid to relax just yet.
"And I should think that YOU would be the most likely candidate for the position. That, that is, if you will accept ME?" Suddenly he looked as hesitant as she felt.
"Oh, Sir Wilkes!" Nanny trembled, and he drew her closer. Then his lips were on hers again, and she lost herself to the rich, warm currents coursing through her. Her arms slipped around his neck and she met his embrace with an eager need that should have shocked her. Her breath mingled with his, and she revelled in a passion she had never truly known before except in her dreams.
He pulled back at last and stared at her, the surprise on his face mirroring her own. "My ..."
"... sainted Aunt Fanny!" she finished. "That was certainly ... most definitely ..." she searched for the right words.
"Most definitely," he grinned and kissed her firmly again.
"I had no idea," she murmured. "No idea at all, at all, at all!"
He laughed. "Neither did I. Believe me, had I even suspected this was a possibility, I would not have hesitated an instant after last Christmas when you kissed me under the tree in the Plaza lobby! What a great deal of time we have wasted!"
Her brows came together in a frown of concern. "You don't think we are too old for this kind of ..."
"... passion?" he finished, trailing his lips along the side of her neck. She trembled with unexpected pleasure. "No, I think we are both just about perfect. It is actually quite a shame to waste passion on the young, I do believe!"
"Sir Wilkes, I ..."
"Not Sir! Never Sir. Not again. Please, Nanny. Just Wilkes ... or Will ... or even Willy ..." he smoothed his hand down her cheek. "My queen ... my Nanny. Nanny? You may not be Queen Clarisse, but you will always be a Queen to me ... Queen of my heart."
Nanny hoped it wasn't really possible to die from happiness. To think that he was willing to MARRY her! It truly would be such a shame to have waited so long before getting up her nerve to ask Willy to marry her if she had a heart attack and passed away before the wedding from the sheer pleasure of the unaccustomed physical activity!
THE END!