What if...?
Was it crazy?
What if he genuinely chose Lily Marchant to be his wife?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TWENTYMINUTESLATER, towelling himself dry after a shower, Khaled decided he’d found the perfect solution to the question of his marriage.
Marry Lily and there’d be no awkward father-in-law to placate. No risk of poor chemistry between husband and wife. He was physically drawn to her, and that kiss they’d shared hadn’t been all for show on her part. She’d get as much satisfaction from the marriage bed as he would.
She seemed unfazed by palace life. She’d even handled their encounter with the press. With guidance from his mother, he had no doubt she’d be able to manage the demands of being his princess.
Better still, his strange yearning, this inconvenient concern for her, would disappear. They were just the symptoms of sexual frustration. His focus and concentration would return and he would be able to get on with being the Crown Prince.
God knew, that was the least he owed to his father.
As ever, on the next breath, Faisal came to mind. What would he have advised?
With a clench of pain, he recognised the question was irrelevant. The advice would have been going the other way. His brother should have been choosing the next Crown Princess of Nabhan.
Brooding on that, when the phone rang he answered automatically—and cursed himself when he recognised the caller.
‘My apologies for disturbing you,’ said George Hyde-Wallace, his tone, as always, hovering just on the wrong side of deferential. ‘I understand Miss Marchant has been injured and I want to offer the assistance of my personal physician.’
Khaled bit his tongue. He knew for certain now that Hyde-Wallace was definitely plotting against him. And the endless impertinence of the man. As if the royal family didn’t have access to the finest doctors already.
‘It’s merely a twisted ankle,’ he said, waiting for the real purpose of this call.
‘I’m relieved to hear it. Such a charming young woman. You seem to be growing rather fond of her yourself. Some are even suggesting you might propose to the girl—though of course sadly that’s impossible. The Constitution forbids it.’
‘TheConstitution?’
‘Lily Marchant is illegitimate.’
As a shock tactic, the statement was masterful. It rendered Khaled temporarily speechless.
Illegitimate? It couldn’t be true. Her parents had been married. Famously so. It was what had cut them off from her father’s family. But icy shards pricked along his spine. George was too careful to make a claim like that without evidence.
‘And you know this how?’ he said eventually, as casually as he could.
‘I’ve always had my concerns about Nathaniel Marchant, so I had him and his stepsister investigated some time ago. For your protection, of course.’
Yeah, right.
‘It turns out her parents’ romantic beach wedding was merely a handfasting performed by an unlicensed celebrant. Certainly not legal in Nabhan. However, in light of your interest in the girl, I’ve taken the precaution of concealing what I’ve discovered from anyone else who bothers to look. For now.’
Khaled didn’t miss that tagged-on veiled threat.
For only the second time in his life he experienced a feeling of utter impotency. There was nothing to be done if this were true, because George was right. The Constitution forbade such a marriage. The requirement has been built in to it to ensure peace amongst Nabhan’s senior families. Both monarch and consort must be legitimate.
But George hadn’t finished. ‘It would be terrible if this information reached the press... I imagine it would destroy her. All those stories about her disgrace of a mother would resurface... There would be no chance of reconciliation with her grandfather... Apart from that stepbrother of hers, she would be completely alone.’
His thoughts landed with a ferocious determination.She would not be alone. She would have me.
But how? How could Khaled stand between her and harm when the best way to protect her from George’s threats was to push her away.
‘May I suggest a solution?’ George drawled into the silence. ‘Announce your engagement to the Qaydari Princess and the media will quickly shift their interest. Who would bother to search any further into Miss Marchant’s background then? Her reputation would be safe.’