Chapter Five: Let's Split Up
"Darling, you were sensational!" Queen Jane was all smiles as she tossed the morning tabloids onto her stepdaughter's bed. "Just look at the two of us on the front page. You look so grown up and glamorous in those pearls and that blue sheath dress. A rather brilliant makeover, if I do say so myself."
"Great," Mary mumbled, fighting the urge to turn over in bed and go right back to sleep. She didn't feel like facing photographers and smiling through another hectic day of crowds and commotion. But if she buried her head in the pillow and slept through the morning, Jane might not take her shopping in the afternoon. Though it wasn't really the shopping Mary was looking forward to so much as a chance to get another look at that luxurious spa . . . and possibly learn more about her stepmother's mysterious past.
"Well, don't just lie there, silly! It's time to get up and get going." Jane wasn't as stern as Mary's mother Katherine, who had made her royal daughter start every day with an ice-cold shower and two hours of silent prayer and religious study before breakfast. But in her teasing, playful way Jane could be just as demanding. She poked and prodded till her sleepy stepdaughter finally stirred.
"You're already dressed." Mary sat up stretching and yawning, a bit embarrassed by her thick tangled hair and rumpled white bed gown. Her stomach growled, as though clamoring for breakfast.
"Yes, and you should be too," Jane replied, putting on a pouting, disapproving look that was only partly a joke. "The king warned me that you can be very stubborn about resisting change, Mary."
"Well, I'm not much good at resisting you!" Mary was feeling awkward and self-conscious as a middle-aged maid brought in her breakfast on a silver tray. Jane was sweet and good, the best friend she'd ever had. Mary had lost her mother so long ago, and shut her feelings out. Now Jane had opened her heart to new feelings. But still, those new feelings hurt. Expressing her feelings was never easy for the shy, lonely princess.
"It must be hard, letting go of a mother you loved so deeply." Jane's quiet words were accompanied by an unusually serious look. Her blue eyes seemed to see right into Mary's heart.
"I miss her," Mary said, her eyes filling. "I don't want to forget her. But you've been so kind, and . . . maybe I'm just weak!"
"You're a remarkable girl, Mary. A strong, brave, loyal girl. Now eat your breakfast. We'll be late for the children's hospital!"
Mary couldn't understand how Jane did it. All morning long, the long-legged blonde with the winning smile and the sensational figure was on the go, charming journalists and dignitaries and common citizens with equal ease. One minute she was kissing a crippled child and the next she was laughing with nurses and reporters over some silly celebrity gossip. Her bright-eyed, energetic appeal was obvious from the moment they stepped out of the limousine till the last tiny patient was waving goodbye.
"Well, that's enough goodness for one morning, don't you think?" Jane never showed any sign of fatigue in public. But when they were finally alone together, relaxing in the long stretch limousine and hidden from view by the tinted windows, Mary noticed the way her poised and perfect stepmother almost seemed to roll her eyes at the exhausting demands of her public role. "The children are so sweet, but the cameras and the press and all that noise . . . what a zoo!" Carefree Jane laughed as she sank back in her cushioned seat, resting her feet on a carpeted footrest.
"Are we going to the spa now?" Mary yawned and put her feet up just like Jane. She had been planning to snoop around more and find out about carefree Jane's mysterious past. But all she could think about now was getting out of her high heels.
"Of course, darling," Jane replied, sounding a bit distracted. She was texting someone on her device, her lovely features rather pale. "Tell you what, let's split up for a bit. You have a massage and a rest and I'll join you later."
"But I thought . . ." Mary's face wore a look of stunned disbelief as the long limousine let her out in front of the lush spa. Her stepmother smiled and waved and then she was gone!