The trip to Normandy had been a rollercoaster of emotions so far for Henry. One minute he was regretting this pilgrimage and the next moment he found himself feeling happy that he had come.
Richard had been a great comfort to him and the trip had shown him how lucky he was to have him, Audrey and Maria in his life.
Henry was now standing next to Richard waiting for Prince Phillip to arrive at the main Event of the day.
"Did you phone Audrey last night?" Henry asked
"I did, everything's fine at home. She told me Mother is helping organise a summer fair at the manor to raise funds for the church".
What Richard didn't tell him was that he had gone to sleep late after speaking on the phone to Audrey for well over an hour.
After discussing the goings on at home the conversation had taken a more intimate turn. What had started with him asking what she was wearing had developed into an exchange of words that had left them both hot under the collar.
Remembering it now was bringing Richard out in a hot sweat, he wiped his forehead as he smiled at what just the thought of his Audrey could do to him.
A few minutes later the Prince stepped out of his car and started moving down the receiving line. When he came to Richard he shook his hand warmly "Richard how are you?"
"Very well thank you Sir"
Prince Phillip nodded "Good, good. Now before we get going I'd just like to tell you how pleased I am to have you involved in all this. It can be hard sometimes to get a man in your position interested in giving back to the community"
"I'm happy to do it Sir"
The Duke smiled moving his attention onto Henry "Ah and this must be Henry, it's very nice to meet you."
"And you Your Highness" Henry replied taking the Princes outstretched hand.
"Richard I don't believe you know our ambassador Alan Johnson" Prince Phillip said introducing the man standing next to him.
"Alan this is Sir Richard DeVere and his stepfather Henry Reed" Alan greeted both Richard and Henry before Prince Phillip decided to move the proceedings on.
"Well now the introductions are out of the way shall we continue with the days events" Prince Phillip said moving forwards with Richard and Henry following a few paces behind.
"Richard why did he call me your stepfather?" Henry whispered
"That was my fault, he asked me about you and I told him it was fine to call you that. I'm sorry Henry I should have asked you if it was alright" Richard replied
Henry was very touched that Richard was comfortable for him to be known as his stepfather and couldn't stop the tremble in his voice when he replied "Not at all Richard I am honoured that you think of me like that"
Later after the service they were waiting in one of the marquees to be summoned for lunch when Richard spotted someone he had a great dislike for.
"What on earth is he doing here?"
"Who is that Richard?" Henry asked following the line of Richard's gaze
"Lumsden, he used to be on the board at Cavendish until he tried to chuck me off, so I got rid of him."
Before Henry could reply lumsden had spotted Richard and was making his way over to him.
"Richard old boy still spending the companies money on fun jaunts are you?" Lumsden smirked.
Richard's temper instantly rose but he tried to control it, it wouldn't do to punch the man here in front of royalty. "Why don't you and your old school tie move away from me before I do something I won't regret"
"See this is what these foreigners are like no manners" Lumsden said trying to get a reaction from Richard but it was Henry who took more offence at the comment.
"How dare you speak to Richard like that" Henry snapped.
Lumsden laughed "And who's this, your bodyguard." He said getting close to Henry's face "I'm not scared of an old man like you"
Seeing this Richard reached out to grab Lumsden's jacket to push him away but was stopped by Henry's hand on his arm.
"It's alright Richard he's not worth it"
Deciding that he had done enough to annoy Richard, Lumsden began to walk away. The entire exchange had been witnessed by Prince Phillip who had decided that the man need to be taken down a peg or two.
Acting fast Prince Phillip stuck his foot out as Lumsden walked past sending him tumbling to the floor and landing on his backside.
Feigning concern Prince Phillip leaned over him "Oh dear are you alright?"
"Yes I'm fine" Lumsden replied getting to his feet.
"You know caterers are not supposed to be out here" the Prince said.
"Oh I'm not—" Lumsden began but was cut off by the Prince.
"You should be outside, off you go before you get into more trouble" Prince Phillip said pointing to the exit of the marquee.
Totally embarrassed he quickly made his way out of the marquee. Smiling as he watched Lumsden leave, Prince Phillip walked over to Henry and Richard.
"What a ghastly little man. You know he behaved terribly to one of my cousins, didnt know she was related to me of course. Are you alright Richard? That was quite a nasty comment he made to you " The Prince asked
Richard nodded "I'm fine sir thank you for your assistance"
"What assistance" Prince Philip said winking.
Phillip patted Richard's shoulder "Come on let's have lunch before the parade, they tell me they have a range of specialty beers here and I'm in desperate need of one"
"So am I" chuckled Henry.
As they walked over to the lunch tent they chatted about the days events before Prince Philip remembered his earlier conversation with Henry "Henry tells me you fly helicopters Richard"
"I do although I haven't flown for a few months. I used to fly from my office in London to Somerset."
"That saves a lot of time, why did you stop?"
"I had a few business issues but now that's sorted I'm hoping to get back into it, if my wife agrees of course"
"Well if I'm ever in need of a helicopter pilot I'll know where to come." The prince chuckled.
In the evening there was a parade of the veterans and Richard watched as Henry paraded down the main square, a sense of pride rising in him.
The lady standing next to him smiled and waved as the veterans marched past. "Do you know one of them?" she asked
"Yes I do, that gentleman there" Richard said pointing Henry out.
"He looks very distinguished, You must be very proud of your father." She said resuming her waving.
"Oh he's not..." Richard began to correct her but stopped and smiled "Yes...Yes I am, very proud." It was the truth he was very proud and in the last year Henry had become like a father to him.
When the parade had finished Richard went to find Henry. He found him sitting on a bench looking out over the beach.
Sitting down next to him Richard was worried something was wrong "Are you alright Henry?" He asked concerned.
Henry turned to look at him and smiled "Yes my boy I'm fine, I'm so glad we came here but now I think it's time we went home"