Chapter One

Holborn Underground Station, London, Friday 24 June 2016, 7am

Elizabeth was too tired to even climb up the escalator stairs and allowed the city commuters to hastily pass her. She took a sip of her lukewarm coffee and rustled around her bag to find her purse. She had been working late into the night watching the votes of the previous day's election come in. No one had expected the vote to leave to win, and the loss was felt severely in The Guardian offices.

She swiped her purse against the oyster card reader and walked out of the station to catch the 243 bus to her offices once again. She had barely slept and had just had enough time to change her clothes and tie her hair up.

Her mobile phone started ringing. It was her mother. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

" Hi Mum," Elizabeth answered trying to sound unemotional. When she had telephoned her best friend, Jane Dashwood, when the results had been announced, she had burst into tears, " You're awake early, did Dad's new alarm clock wake you up again?"

" That bloody clock, I tell you Lizzy, it's grounds to divorce," Her mother grumbled. Lizzy could tell that she had definitely not had enough sleep.

" You told him to start exercising," Elizabeth replied, " I'm just impressed that after three weeks, he is still jogging each morning before heading off to Longborne, you should be pleased,"

Elizabeth was the eldest of three daughters to Tom and Sasha Bennet. Tom Bennet was a gentle and caring father. He owned Longborne, a two star Michelin restaurant in Elizabeth's hometown of Meryton in Hertfordshire. Sasha who was previously a hairdresser, now spent much of her time supporting Tom in the running of Longborne. Grace, their middle daughter was in her first year at University studying Oceanography and their youngest daughter, Florence, was still at school.

Elizabeth loved her family, but like most twenty-something year olds, could only manage them in small dosages.

" Busy night?" Sasha asked knowingly trying to contain any hint of gloating.

" Don't Mum, I've had enough of that with whatsapp messages from Billy,"

" Poor Billy, I can imagine your responses," Sasha replied about her nephew Billy Collins, an outspoken out campaigner.

" Anyway, I'm about to arrive at work, was there any purpose to this call?"

" Not really," Sasha answered

" I'm sorry, but I've really got to go,"

" Did you take a look at the link to that dating website I sent the other day?"

Ever since Elizabeth had graduated from university, her mother had been obsessed with finding her a boyfriend and more importantly, getting her married. Truth be told, Elizabeth had been so focused on her career, she'd barely had a date. Of course she wanted to settle down in the future, but right now wasn't the time. She did not want any distractions. She had finally started writing pieces she had always dreamed of. Only the other day had her opinion piece on the relevance of the monarchy had gone viral. She had even been asked to appear on Channel Four News. No, she was not going to allow anything to get in her way.

" Right that's it, I'm off,"

" You know I only have your best…" Sasha began but Elizabeth ended the call and jumped off the bus at the stop outside her offices. She glanced in the glass of the revolving door. Although, she would never admit it, Elizabeth knew she was quite pretty. Her hair was dark, she was slim and tall, with an envious natural all year healthy glow, but it was her eyes that stood out. Bright and blue like two sapphire stones. Her one and only serious ex-boyfriend had once admitted they were mesmerising, something that Elizabeth had laughed at. Today even her eyes seemed to struggle to sparkle. She noticed a smudge of mascara under her eye and quickly wiped it away. It was going to be a long day.

Ever since she had been little, Elizabeth had wanted to be a journalist. She found it humbling walking into the Guardian offices each day. Today however was not a day to be sentimental. Today was going to be a busy day. But no one could have quite prepared her for what was going to take place.

Islington, London, Friday 24 June 2016, 11am

Lydia was bored with all the political talk. It had dominated media outlets for weeks and yesterday's result didn't seem to slow the headlines. And now the Prime Minister had resigned. She watched the continuous footage of David Cameron standing outside Downing Street. It bored her to tears. She quickly emailed her colleague Dennis to write a post about Samantha Cameron's fashion choice. She could always count on Dennis to write a sharp piece.

Lydia looked at her page hits for yesterday. They were the lowest in months. She needed something new. She needed some A-list scandal.

Celebip had never meant to be anything big. It started out as a hobby but quickly gained momentum and by the time Lydia was in her third year of university she was making a living out of advertisement buys on her webpages. In the three years since, Celebip had expanded beyond recognition. She had central London offices and a team of employees. At just twenty-four Lydia could easily retire. But she loved the thrill of breaking stories and more importantly, she loved being at the centre of the celebrity world.

She was all set to pop to the shops when an email appeared in her inbox. Lydia smiled at the senders name. He always passed her the best leaks. She quickly opened the email and laughed.

" Thank you George Wickham,"

Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge, Friday 24 June 2016, 7pm

Jane Dashwood met Elizabeth Bennet on their first day at University when they bonded over their love of spicy food in the shared halls of residence kitchen. From that moment they became the best of friends and had lived together ever since. Upon graduating, they had moved to London and into Jane's flat that her father had bought her, where Elizabeth paid a very reasonable rent for one of the bedrooms.

Jane was the renowned beautiful daughter of the Earl and Countess of Exeter. Throughout her teens she had graced the pages of Tatler and other society magazines, and had been asked to model by several designers, but Jane had come to crave her privacy and so declined the many offers. She still loved the world of fashion and since graduating she had launched a fair trade clothing line and opened a small on the Kings Road.

" Shall I cook enough for Lizzy?" Jane's boyfriend Charles Bingley asked and poured two glasses of the opened rioja. Charles was a doctor and worked at St. Thomas's Hospital just south of the river.

" I'm not sure when she'll be home. I should imagine it will be late,"

" She must be seething. This has to be the craziest day in British politics,"

Jane didn't reply. She never liked to say anything negative , " I am sure it will all turn out right in the end,"

" If she is going to be late, is it okay if Will pops in? He's got an engagement later on this evening, but wanted to chat to me about something before it hits the press,"

" Of course," Jane answered and felt a pang of anxiety hit her, " Did he give you any inkling as to what it would be about?"

" No, but it doesn't sound good," Charles replied. For Charles to say that, meant it was bad news. He was the biggest optimist that Jane had ever met. It was something that she loved most about him.

" Do you want me to pop out for a bit? I could go and see Lydia?"

" Not at all, it's your flat after all," Charles teased and Jane smiled. Everytime she smiled, he was reminded how lucky he was. He could not wait to marry her.

Charles and Jane had dated for since she was at University. He had asked her to move in with him numerous occasions, but Jane was an old fashioned girl. She had vowed she would only ever move in with her husband. And so Jane waited patiently for a proposal as Charles waited for the right moment.

Within 20 minutes there was a buzz at the door. Charles let his best friend into the flat and they made their way into the kitchen where Jane had taken over the cooking of the paella.

" Hello Will," Jane greeted as he kissed her cheek, " Did you want some dinner? It's Charles's special paella,"

" Tempting, but I've got an emergency meeting with our press team shortly,"

" Wine?" Charles asked

" Anything stronger?" Will replied and Charles poured him a whiskey.

The two old school friends sat on the sofa as Jane continued to cook the paella. She was unable to hear what was being said, but could tell from Charles's face that it was not good news. She wondered if it was something to do with his mother. She seemed healthy, but the Firm were always good at putting on a show.

Before the paella had finished cooking, Will stood up and said his goodbyes leaving Jane and Charles to their dinner.

Will walked towards the lift and waiting for it to come to his floor whilst sending a message to his driver to let him know he was on his way down. The doors opened and there stood Jane's roommate. He had never met her before but knew who she was. Her recent story on the monarchy had a serious repercussions amongst his team.

Elizabeth lifted her head and was startled to see the man before. She had never seen him in real life before. He seemed taller and more disapproving than ever.

" Miss Bennet," He curtly stated. Elizabeth didn't know what to say. She could not believe he knew who she was. What's more, she could not believe that he seemed to be annoyed with her.

" Your Royal Highness, sir," She managed to say, before taking a deep breath and feeling in control once again, " What a surpr…"

" You can leave the pleasantries Miss Bennet," His Royal Highness, Prince William, the Prince of Wales began, " I know what you think of my family and I,"

Elizabeth knew she should keep quiet and make her way towards the flat door, but she couldn't.

The Prince walked into the lift and she turned to face him, " My article was not meant to be personal. It was against the whole institution of the monarchy and all it represents,"

" What do you know about what the monarchy represents," The Prince began, angered by her seemingly ignorant comment, " My family have devoted their lives to the monarchy and this nation, of course it is personal. Typical bloody journalist,"

Their eyes met and there was a moment of silence before the lift doors began to close. For a split second Elizabeth noticed a flicker of pain in the Prince's eyes. There was more to his words than she understood.

" Goodbye Miss Bennet,"

Elizabeth turned and walked towards the flat, opened the door and was instantly met with the smell of Charles's paella.

" Just in time Lizzy," Charles commented, " We've got a big glass of red ready for you in the kitchen,"

Elizabeth didn't respond. She was still in a bit of shock from her conversation with the Prince. First the election result, then the Prime Minister's resignation and now this, her head was ready to explode.

" Lizzy?" Charles called and Lizzy slowly walked into the kitchen.

" Where's that glass?" She asked and took a big gulp of it.

To be continued...