Even when Anna had finished most of her crying, she remained sitting in the same position. She wondered how little of her headache had been physical pain, because it was certainly less after letting her tears out.

Seton had not been caught up in his own thoughts like Anna had been, but he had been paying attention to whoever had looked in and there had been quite a few people: two bodyguards, two doctors, three nurses and a small child with a plush rabbit. Of those, the three nurses were the most dangerous. He had listened to her sobs, wondering when she would begin to speak. He did not really like crying women and he was glad that she was only hiccuping now.

Suddenly Anna lifted her head off his shoulder. "Maman," she said in alarm.

He turned his head to see Princess Eliane. He had not heard her come in. She was looking at them in mild surprise, but this was Anna's mother, so it would not at all be odd to assume that when she looked mildly surprised, she was in fact extremely stunned. He expected the worst.

Anna's mother had merely been out to have dinner and she had returned to find the sound of sobbing coming from the room. It puzzled her, because Anna would not cry in front of a stranger and yet she did not know that any family members were with her at the moment. As soon as she was over the threshold, she halted. Anna seemed to be crying in front of stranger after all, although maybe he was no stranger to Anna, otherwise she would not be hugging him like that. La porte, Anna, la porte! She thought in dismay and closed the door behind her. How could Anna do this with the door open?

"Anna Juliette, you should have closed the door." It was hard to tell whether this was merely a remark, or expressed disapproval.

Anna looked, but the door was closed now. Apparently her mother had done that. How long had she been there? What would her mother say? She was afraid of her mother's reaction. "Maman…"

She reclined onto her pillow and Seton stood up. He liked to have a good view of everybody and if he sat down in his chair, he would not be able to see a thing.

"You're upset with me? I thought you had left," Anna said in a small voice.

"I had dinner. I told you," Eliane sat down on the couch that the room had considerately been furnished with. "Ta tête -- ça va mieux?"

Anna nodded. "Oui. Maman, ce n'est pas poli de parler Français."

"That's alright," said John. "Je le comprends assez bien." So far Anna's mother had exceeded his expectations and from up close she looked a remarkable lot like Anna and she sounded a lot like her too. Certainly more like Anna than like Celeste.

"Do you understand Italian too?" Anna wondered. If he did, then how much had he understood of what she had said to Fabio? It would be a bit embarrassing if he had understood it all.

"Poco poco, carissima," he grinned.

She looked a little unsettled, trying to gauge how much a little actually was. "It was not meant for your ears."

"Carissima?" Eliane repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Yes," said Anna. "Tell me you don't approve."

"Non. Don't act like a child. I will tell you what I think in privé. Maintenant, you must tell me what you are doing, messing in politics. And why you faint in public, Anna. Tu n'as pas d'autres problèmes?" she asked suggestively in French, to doubly cloud her meaning.

"No," Anna said decidedly. "Thank you for making it worse, though." She was a little insulted that her mother could think that she would be so stupid as to create even more problems. Fortunately John did not start screaming or protesting, he merely looked as if the comment went completely over his head, which was a good thing, because she did not like her mother to confront them with the touchy subject of the future of their relationship. Thinking of the future only brought more worries. John might not know what her mother was getting at, but she certainly did and whatever his reaction to the suggestion of a pregnancy would be, it would certainly not make her happy. Suppose he did not want any children, but even if he did, it would be an impossible thought at the moment. Well, she was probably being very silly, wanting to know what he thought and not wanting to know it at the same time.

"That is serious, then, Anna," her mother said seriously, watching the mix of emotions on her daughter's face. Anna had got herself into a fine mess with this fine young man, but she was glad that it was merely a fine mess at the moment and not yet a disastrous one.

"I don't want to look ahead."

"You should. You should think about the implications for your health."

"Maman!" Anna cried in vexation. "Stop it!"

Eliane regarded her earnestly for a while and then concentrated on her bracelets. The tension in the room was almost palpable and it was making John feeling very uncomfortable. He began to wish that he had not come. Tomorrow he had to play and this was not the most perfect way to prepare himself for it. Would he be able to shake this off when he went home? He should.

He looked at Anna, but she was plucking at her sheets with an unfathomable expression. Whatever was going on between her and her mother was something he could not follow, but he was struck by the similarity of their reactions. One was plucking at her sheets and the other at her bracelets. What were they waiting for? Were they thinking of anything at all? Maybe he should leave them alone, but somehow he did not think that that would accomplish anything. Anna was very good at remaining silent and by the looks of it her mother was too. It was likely that they would not speak while he was gone. It made him wonder if they ever spoke to each other. Probably not. "I can see you are mother and daughter," he said to break the silence. "You act exactly the same."

While this did not seem to surprise Eliane, it seemed a new thought to Anna and she looked startled. "What do you mean?" It had never occurred to her.

"I'm glad it's not something I did," he continued.

"What is?" Anna was baffled.

"This reluctance to communicate."

"Inability," said Eliane. "Anna can't do it."

"Reluctance," he maintained. "Anna can do it if she wants."

"As if you're so good at it yourself!" she snapped, feeling accused.

"Oh, I'd be the first to deny that," he admitted. "And I don't want to upset you, but it's not going to bring us anywhere if we all sit here out-silencing each other. I'm playing tomorrow and I don't have the time to wait here patiently in case you're going to say something in three hours' time. I'm beginning to wonder why I came here at all. You obviously don't need other people, do you, Anna?"

Anna said nothing, but looked down.

"I wish you'd at least tell me I'm utterly selfish," he said in exasperation. "Don't just sit there and say nothing."

Anna sighed. "I don't know what to say. Too many problems to overwhelm me at once…sorry."

"It's my fault," said Anna's mother suddenly. "I gave her an additional problem to think about, non?" She had been thinking for a while. Anna had looked afraid of her reaction ever since she had come in and she realised that she had not yet given one. She had not yet let Anna know what she thought about finding Anna here with a man.

Anna nodded.

"But it shouldn't be a problem. I don't know how big your political mess is, Anna, but I honestly don't see why you are worrying about your personal life."

"Maman?" Anna looked confused. "Why not?" It seemed to her as if there was a lot to worry about.

"Well, there is not a problem," Eliane gestured with a shrug. "You are not married. There would only have been a problem if you were married."

"I don't follow."

"You can still marry him. I read the newspapers. I was worried that he would be a bit of a poser, but I have changed my opinion. I would not normally be so frank, but I believe he wants us to be, non?" she looked at John. "I think you are tougher than Anna, so you will be less hurt by frankness than Anna. Right?"

"Hurt by frankness?" he repeated.

"Anna takes everything as an attack."

"I do not," Anna protested.

"Yes, you do. When I come in here, you think that I will scream at you for being with a man, when I'm only curious. Why should I scream at you? I'm only reassured that you're normal."

"Normal!"

"Yes, I thought all my daughters would remain single! You are too shy, Celeste is too critical and Alexandra…" she sighed, "…is too un-single."

"Are we only good daughters if we are not single?" Anna asked sarcastically.

"Not if it makes you happiest, but I was beginning to wonder if I had done something wrong in your upbringing. Maybe I should have --" Eliane broke off. "No, you are good daughters and I hope you don't look too much like me."

Seton had been leaning against the wall, but he pushed himself off it. "I'll get us drinks." There would be a place to get them, somewhere. He did not want to be involved in a mother-daughter argument.

"And get a nurse," said Anna reluctantly. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Why do you want a nurse for that?" He glanced at the bathroom door, which was only a few paces away from the bed. Anna had only hit her head, had she not? There should not be anything else wrong with her.

"I don't want a nurse, but I suppose I need one. Because walking makes me dizzy and I'd fall."

"Is that all?"

"Yes." She winced as she nodded a little too eagerly. "Please, could you hurry?"

He was sure the nurses would love to come, to see what was happening in here. They must all have seen Anna's mother arrive and they certainly all knew he was here, but it was none of their business what exactly was going on. "I'll do it," he said curtly, pulling back the covers and lifting Anna off the bed.

"You don't have to," she said as he placed her on her feet. "Let me try alone." But the room swayed before her eyes and she clutched his arm. "Alright, bad idea."

He assisted her back and forth and she squeezed his hand when he sat her down on the bed again. "Thank you. What do you mean, Maman, that you hope we don't look too much like you?" Anna asked. She had been thinking of that remark for the past few minutes.

"Oh, I made a mistake," Eliane brushed it off lightly. "I came to accept it, though I'd rather not see you do the same thing."

"You make something nice of it, Miss Russier," said Hegge. "Write that I was wearing a false beard for all I care, but don't write that you met me here."

Nathalie watched the white coat flap around his legs as he walked around the room energetically. Her neighbour's cat meowed in his plastic basket. "I won't."

"Do I have to examine your cat?"

"No, he's merely some couleur locale."

Hegge laughed. "I suppose you want me to start now."

"Please."

He told her the story, without giving the names of the team, and Nathalie recorded it with her tape recorder. "So, do you work here?" she asked when he had finished.

"Yes, sometimes. I might try to get in here fulltime," he answered. "Or not. It depends on which job I like best. What do you suggest, Miss Russier?"

Because the Parliament meeting had taken place behind closed doors, the press had to rely on eye-witness accounts and the brief glimpse of Anna being taken away by an ambulance. Fortunately, there was no lack of willing eyewitnesses to tell the story.

"…she threw a glass at him. Now is that the sort of person we want to represent the country?" a republican said. "And Marie-Celeste was calling the Prime Minister names. In my opinion, they showed a blatant disregard of propriety. I think we should just do away with the Royal Family and then we won't encounter such problems anymore."

"…he should step down. It's absolutely not done to accuse Her Majesty of something like that. How could we have faith in someone who comes with such unfounded accusations?" said a female member. "She was absolutely stunned. I would have fainted too! We should introduce a vote of no-confidence."

"…no, she did not throw a glass at him. He accused her of having organised her own abduction and then she looked really angry with him -- understandable -- and she pushed that glass off the desk. I thought she was going to tell him off, but instead she fainted."

"…I think she did not have lunch and that is why she fainted. Once again, I should like to stress that women are not being seen as equals."

"…she couldn't take so much evil, she said."

"…as a head of state, Her Majesty should have taken care to express herself in all the official languages of her country and not just in one," an indignant member said. "She was discriminating against all of us who have a minority language as our mother tongue. I clearly heard her use only one language when she came to. My head, she said. And not ma tête or mein Kopf."

"In today's modern egalitarian society," a socialist member began, but he was quickly abandoned in favour of politicians with more juicy news.

"…I thought Marie-Celeste was going to knock him out. Pity that she didn't -- she would have succeeded. I never knew she was such a hot-tempered thing!"

"…of course she did not fake her own kidnapping. Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard? But even if she did, the PM shouldn't have accused her of it, because she is above the law. Anyway, there was absolutely no reason for her to do that, to gain sympathy, as he put it, because there are a million other ways to gain sympathy."

"…oh my God, she's dead, I thought, but the doctor said she only fainted. I was a bit surprised to see that she was human."

"…this raises the question of whether she was truly abducted or not and I should like to ask the PM what he based his statements on. If he indeed possesses any vital information, then I should like to ask him why he has not shared this with us. You would agree with me that it is of national importance."

"...she was taken to hospital for no reason. I'll raise this question in the next meeting, because I'm sure she's occupying much needed hospital beds, not to mention taking up the doctors' valuable time."

"…whoever said that politics was boring?" asked the youngest member of parliament with shining eyes. "And Anna is a lady with guts! She was going to explode, but that's of course not stylish, so she had to keep it all in, so she imploded, sort of. Away with the old guys! The PM is clearly going senile. I think they should introduce a maximum age. Something like forty."

"…I believe the Prime Minister would not come with an unfounded accusation, but I'm not willing to make any further statements on the subject."

Luckily, there were more people supporting Anna than supporting the PM and the papers would undoubtedly be on her side the next morning. The Prime Minister himself spoke to the press at length and he even appeared on TV in an interview. Whatever he said was not very convincing when it was compared to the statements given by the other politicians, although it all sounded very plausible when taken separately.

The nurses had been paying close attention to whoever visited Anna. "The door's closed. What are they doing?" one asked.

"They did that because they were sick of you peeking in," said another. "Somehow I don't think she likes it here. She looked mighty miserable when I last looked. Oh boy, there's Doctor Bernard. Hello! Aren't we the most popular ward tonight, girls? Does everybody love us or do they all want a bit of sensation and see the Queen in a low-cut lace nightgown? She's wearing pyjamas, Doctor. There's nothing to see, I'm afraid."

The doctor did not look very pleased with that remark.

"She's got visitors, Doctor."

"So?"

"You might not want to interrupt," the nurse suggested. "A few more doctors looking in and she'll discharge herself, I daresay, and Poogie will be seriously upset. He almost dared not go home, you know, and it was amazing that he suddenly stooped to socialise with us lowly nurses, because he wanted to be close to the room of his high visitor. I could see she didn't like Poogie. You know, Doctor, a word of advice. If she has her eyes closed while you're in there, she wants you to leave. She is a sweetie, though, and she'd rather not tell someone to his face, but she very nicely opened her eyes to thank me for getting rid of Poogie."

"Hmm," said the doctor. He did not believe the nurse for one second.

The doctor appeared before Anna could ask her mother about her mistake. John watched him with growing repulsion. Why did he not see that Anna had no need for doctors and their stupid talks? Why did Anna's mother not tell him to bugger off? Why did Anna not tell him that herself? Why did she let it happen? Why did she lie there as if she was far worse off than she actually was, looking half-unconscious?

"Doctor," he interrupted at a certain point. He could not stand it any longer. Something had to be done.

"Please move aside," Seton said with determination.

The doctor looked at him, surprised that he should be interrupted. "Aside?"

"Yes."

The doctor was not a very tall man and he chose to obey someone who was far taller than he. He might be pushed aside, for all he knew. He watched in amazement as Seton lifted Anna off the bed. "Where are you taking her?"

"Away. Could you get her things?" he asked Anna's mother. So far Anna had not protested, but he wished she would show at least some reaction, rather than allow herself to be carried as if she did not care. Maybe she had been sedated. "Have you been put on meds?" he asked her.

"No."

"B-B-But you can't just take her," the doctor protested.

"Why not? Everybody is treating her as an object. Why can't I do the same?" He saw that Anna's mother was staring at him expressionlessly, but he could not tell if she approved or not. Suddenly she shook her head and her mouth twisted. He felt a little more reassured. Now the only one who mattered was Anna. She would not screech that he should put her down, he knew that, but she there was a chance that she might become angry in private.

"Maman, mes affaires," said Anna. The advantage of being carried was that she could whisper in John's ear without being overheard. "Where are you taking me?"

"I don't know," he whispered back. "Away." He noted with approval that Eliane was collecting Anna's belongings.

"You can't just carry her out of here," said the doctor.

"Oh, you're going to get me a wheelchair? Very considerate of you." While Anna was not very heavy, she was heavy all the same and he was playing tomorrow.

Anna stifled a snort and hid her face against his shoulder.

"I must take this up with the staff," said the doctor. "Don't leave," he warned as he left.

"Yeah, right," said John when he was gone. He let Anna down on her feet. "Let's go."

"Where to?" Anna asked as she was pulled along the corridor and through a fire exit. "Do you know your way around here?" Her head throbbed with every step, but she ignored it, just like she ignored the curious stare of one of the nurses -- the one who had very nicely removed that hospital administrator from her room -- and she smiled politely as if this was the most normal thing to do.

"My knee, you know. Where's your mother?"

"Coming up right behind us."

John looked over his shoulder and let the trail of people catch up with them when he was in the empty stairwell. "There are far too many of you bodyguards. Four?" he asked sceptically. "Where did the other two come from?"

"They are mine," said Eliane.

"Tell me how I'm going to get Anna out of here unnoticed if I've got four bodyguards on my tail. This is a hospital. People move in ones or twos, not in sevens."

Anna leant against him because she felt a little dizzy.

"Are you abducting her, sir?" asked one bodyguard.

"A fine bodyguard you are. Do you expect anyone to say yes to that? Anyway, the answer is no. I'm only rescuing my…" John paused as he searched for the right word. "…girlfriend," he said quickly and a little uncertainly.

"Nevertheless, sir. We can't leave you alone with her."

"Not even if I tell you to?" Anna interrupted. "Leave us alone. Nobody would dare do anything to me now. I'm perfectly safe. Go to the car."

"But Madam --"

"I'll see you there. Maman, you too?"

"Good," said John, pulling Anna further down the steps to a lower floor. They walked through an empty corridor. Near the end of it, he grabbed a wheelchair. "Sit, dear."

"You can't just steal somebody's wheelchair," Anna said in horror.

He shrugged indifferently. "They'd be honoured if you borrowed it, besides, it's a hospital wheelchair. It doesn't belong to anybody. It's here for husbands who want to -- yes." He pushed her into it and then wheeled her into a corridor to the right at a dizzying speed. "Labour," he told a surprised woman they passed on the way. Halfway he turned another corner and he halted in front of the lifts. "Are we being followed?"

"No," said Anna anxiously. They could not have been followed. They had gone too fast.

"Good."

"What would they do to us?"

He smiled at her anxious expression and wheeled her into the lift when it arrived. He bent down to kiss her. "Absolutely nothing, as long as you pay your bill."

"Then why are you -- John, you big child!" Anna cried out. "This is all a game to you, isn't it?"

John grinned. "Oh well, they might bother you and try to convince you to stay, but that's all." He rolled her out of the lift. "See? We're very inconspicuous now," he gestured at two more men pushing women in wheelchairs.

"How did you know?" Anna asked.

"Read the signs. This is the only place I ever saw wheelchairs that were being used. I don't know why."

She did not really see the connection either, but she liked babies. "Oh, the baby ward! How do you know where to find the baby ward?" she asked in a curious voice.

"It's a shortcut to the car park if you know your way through the rest of the maze," John answered. "It's got a separate entrance." He patiently wheeled Anna towards the window of the baby room so she could look in, because she obviously wanted to.

"Why?"

"Let's ask the architect. How's your head? Are you still dizzy?" He stopped near the toilets and waited until there was nobody around to pull her to her feet. "Have you got a coat? Are you going home in your pyjamas or do you want to change?"

"I feel a little unwell because we went so fast."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Good that you're only a little unwell. Stupid of me to ask if you want to change -- you don't have anything to change into, do you? Your mother took that."

"Yes."

He took off his coat and sweater and gave her his sweater. "Put that on. Your pyjama bottoms look like trousers that look like pyjama bottoms, so they're alright."

Anna giggled. "I don't have any shoes."

"Who cares? It's not raining outside and you're wearing socks. Maybe people won't notice." He linked his arm through hers and they walked towards the doors.

"Excuse me?" someone asked. "Aren't you that tennis player?"

Anna froze and tried not to look at the speaker, in case he should ask her if she were not the Queen.

"Yes, I am," John said politely.

"May I have your autograph?"

"But of course. Bend over," he nudged Anna and placed the piece of paper on her back. This would also effectively conceal her face from anyone. He knew there might be more people with the same request, even if they had not recognised him -- it often happened that way -- and he was right. After giving five autographs, he pulled Anna upright and quickly went outside. "I'm sorry, Anna."

"Oh," said Anna. "I'm glad they didn't get to see me. Especially after what you said to them about me."

"I couldn't say you already had one, because quite frankly, all those babies in there were pretty ugly, except that black one and that one couldn't be yours."

"Yes, it could. It couldn't be ours, but it could be mine."

"Well, if it were yours, then what would I be doing here with a woman who just had a child by another man?"

"I could have cheated on you," Anna suggested. "If this were a soap, the music would start to play the moment they hold up this little black baby. What would they say to you then? Assuming that you're there. You have a son, sir? They couldn't. Nah, the episode would end and we wouldn't know your reaction till after the summer break."

"It's December 30. You might be quite right about that. I'm glad it's dark outside so they can't see you're not wearing any shoes," he added quickly.

"Hmm," said Anna, who was still digesting his previous remark. "John, do you mean that you…"

"Only if you…" he sounded just as uncomfortable as she did.

Anna smiled and felt a great desire to skip, except that she feared that her head would probably protest if she did so. "Only if I what?"

"Well, you know…"

"I can sort of guess, but not quite."

He stopped. He had no idea where her car was, but he did not want to ask in case they got there before they concluded this conversation. "Only if you…umm…under one condition…is that too much to ask of you?"

"I can think of several conditions."

"Anna, don't tease me," he begged.

"But the conditions depend on what you want."

"True," he pulled her out of the way of a passing man. "But what I want depends on what you want."

"You'd have to tell me first what exactly we were talking about," Anna frowned. "December 30?"

"Well," he said awkwardly. "If you'd ever have a baby, it would be after next summer, because it's December right now. I shouldn't have said that. It just slipped out."

"They have a special name for such slips of the tongue."

"I don't doubt that. And what did your answer mean? What did you think I meant?"

Anna stood on his shoes because that was less cold than the ground and because it made her less small compared to him. "I thought you meant that we'd still be -- well, whatever we are now -- after the summer. Actually I meant a lot of things."

"Yes to everything."

"But your one condition?"

"You can guess that I have some problems with the queen-thing and the circus that it involves."

"The queen-thing," Anna repeated with a smile. "I'd never have guessed that. I thought you just enjoyed hide-and-seek and running away from people. Does this mean you're going back on your word? If you still love me in three weeks, you won't marry me regardless of my title?"

"Well," he said seriously. "Are you sure you're not cold?" He pulled her inside his coat as far as he could. "I think the queen-thing has a negative effect on you. The more I see of you, the more I'm convinced that I'm right. What I do know for certain is that the queen-thing will have a negative effect on me. I don't want to tell you what to do, but -- I hope -- am I not offending you terribly?" he tried to read her expression, as well as that was possible in the dark. "No wait -- does that mean you'll marry me regardless?"

Anna chuckled softly. "I wouldn't do anything to you that you didn't like."

"Anna, do you think one of us should just be bold and speak up?" He felt they were talking in circles.

"Yes and to show you that you're not bullying me into an answer, I'm going to ask you, because I'm sure that if you asked me, you'd think I said yes because I was afraid to hurt your feelings, right? Now," Anna took a deep breath. "Will you marry Princess Anna if she promises you that the wedding won't take place in the Cathedral, that there won't be more than -- oh, how many can I stand? -- ten handpicked guests, that we won't have to dance or anything, basically that we get to decide what happens."

"I will."

"I hope you can endure the princess-thing, because I can't go any lower than that. It's like having brown eyes. I can't change it."

"I'll have to."

A few minutes later they pulled apart when a car caught them in its headlights. "Will you turn that light off?" John called in irritation.

Anna peered at the car. "I think they're waiting for us. It looks like my car."

"Oh, well…in that case…"

She smiled. "No. Better not. You're playing tomorrow. Where are you taking me? Or maybe you shouldn't take me anywhere. You're playing tomorrow. You don't want to have to look after me and besides, even if the Palace confirmed that I was staying with a friend, I'm sure everyone would find out which friend."

He coughed. "I hadn't actually considered what I'd do with you once we got outside."

"It would be the sanest option for me to go home," said Anna, walking to the car. It was very boldly parked on disabled parking space. She suddenly felt a little nauseous again and she leant against it to recover. "We haven't really been behaving very sanely so far."

Eliane got out of her car. "Anna, are you coming home?"

"Yes. Oh Maman, do you think we should have done this differently?" she winced.

"There are always things of which we think we should have done it differently," her mother answered in resignation. "C'est la vie, chérie. I don't know who you saw on your way out."

"Nobody."

"Well, then. Now get in the car before somebody does see you." She gently pushed Anna into her car, took something out of it after exchanging a few words with her and walked over to John. "How long have you known Anna?"

"A week and a half." He hoped she would not immediately connect this time to the kidnapping.

This seemed to astonish her. "How serious are you?"

"She proposed to me and I accepted."

"The hurry!" Eliane exclaimed. "I hope you are not so madly in love that you are blind to her faults. But I shall not interfere in the matter, because I think this is Anna's business. You seem to know how to handle her. Such a difference with before I had dinner! She was very withdrawn -- very helpless."

"Those are the times that I'd like to -- that she irritates me no end," John admitted. "It cost me a great deal not to run away, but only the knowledge that she can be different kept me there. You should ask Anna to tell you about the kidnapping," he added as an afterthought.

"Here, you take this," Eliane placed something in his hand. "It's a remote control for our back gates."

He looked at it. "What do I..."

"You take it and if you want to visit Anna, you can. There are no guards at the back gates."

"Shouldn't Anna be telling me that I can visit her?" he asked.

"Anna is telling you that," she said calmly. "She told me to give it to you. It means that now we can't get into the back gates ourselves anymore, but hopefully they know who we are at the front."

"With Queen Anna currently in hospital with a concussion after fainting over the Prime Minister's accusation that she organised her own abduction, we are tonight talking to the Prime Minister himself about recent events," the interviewer announced. "What did she do it for?"

"She wanted to gain sympathy," said the Prime Minister to the interviewer. "In every poll she's been ranking lowest of all and it's common for the head of the Royal Family to rank highest. There is no better way to make people feel sorry for you than to suffer some hardship."

"Therefore you are suggesting that she organised her own abduction?" the interviewer asked incredulously. "How?"

"She bribed her bodyguards and then she went on a little holiday. She sent a fake video message with fake demands --"

"But Prime Minister, there were two video messages."

"I thought it had been determined that the second one was a reaction sent by an opportunistic pressure group," the PM shrugged. "She waited for a while before she surfaced again and in the meantime she was driving all over the country with somebody --"

"Who?"

"I don't know that. I was not with them. And then she came back with her ridiculous demands, visiting hospitals and smiling as if nothing had happened --"

"Ridiculous demands that oddly enough were exactly the same as the demands voiced by the allegedly impostor queen in the second video," the interviewer pointed out sharply. "Listen to part of this interview that took place shortly after the reception of the second video." He had been thinking about the situation beforehand and he had prepared himself well. He had all sorts of video fragments ready.

"As you hear, our royalty expert -- although he was not believed at the time -- was convinced that the second tape was real. In the light of subsequent events, I have to say that I think he was correct," said the interviewer. "The question raised is then: why did she make the tape?"

"To create confusion." The PM was good at not appearing perturbed.

"Confusion? Interesting thought, but what for? She did not make both tapes. You maintain that she made the first, while simple evidence points to her having made the second."

"I have evidence that she made the first."

"What kind of evidence?"

"I cannot reveal that."

He would say that not to lose face, the interviewer thought. "Nevertheless, the simple surface evidence suggests that the Queen made the second tape. Not only was she identified as being the woman in the second video but also is she sticking to her demands after her return. She no longer demands that you resign, but she will dismiss you. Now to me, this could also be interpreted as a direct result of your ignoring her demands the first time. She first tried to get you to resign, you wouldn't, so returns and sacks you."

"I'm sure there are all sorts of far-fetched explanations possible," the PM said with an insincere smile. "What do you suggest she that she's been doing all this time that she was away? The way you tell the story certainly makes it sound as if she had the liberty to return whenever she wanted. Does that not mean that she faked her kidnapping? That she wasn't really kidnapped at all?"

"That is something that we do not know. But there must have been something going on, because if there weren’t anything wrong, she wouldn't have felt the need to dismiss you. Obviously, Mr. Keller, you did something that we don't know about, but that she knows and that didn't quite please her."

"I find your conclusions highly amusing," the PM answered.

"Again I have some more fragments," said the interviewer. "We'll now listen to some of the members of our parliament, who witnessed the famous fainting scene."

"Stunned. Angry. Imploding. I rather think that last remark was rather perceptive, even if this young man has some pretty bizarre ideas about older people," said the interviewer. "These do not sound like the reactions of a guilty person, would you agree with me, Mr. Keller? But we've got more:"

"She said. Her own words, paraphrased or almost literal, but her own words. Evil. In reaction to whatever you said to her, Prime Minister. You accused her of something very serious. She found your words evil enough to faint over. Faint, Prime Minister! A healthy young woman does not faint easily. Perhaps you ought to reconsider your evidence."

The PM had audaciously been thinking that he would have no trouble convincing everybody, but he was beginning to regret his decision to appear on national TV. "Yes, I shall certainly reconsider my evidence, but I am sure that my evidence is correct. I'm sure she only fainted to hide her guilt." He knew he had one thing in his favour, still. "If she was indeed kidnapped by a terrorist group as you seem to think, why did she keep silent about it? Not a word after her return! She did not once mention kidnappers. Not once. 'I don't want to talk about it.' That is all. Wouldn't this suggest that there were no kidnappers at all? Why act as if she were protecting the kidnappers? Why should she unless they were friends or people she bribed? Either there were none or she did not want them to get caught because she had been in cahoots with them."

"Ahh, we've got our correspondent at the Pius X hospital on the line," the interviewer skillfully passed over the PM's words. "Yes, Leon?"

A man with a microphone appeared on the screen. He was standing in front of the hospital. "We have just received news that Her Majesty has discharged herself --"

"Discharged herself?"

"Yes, about fifteen minutes after we saw Princess Eliane leave, the hospital spokesman came to the door and said that the Queen had discharged herself."

"Did you see her leave, Leon?"

"Nobody saw her leave. She must have taken another exit, but nobody thought of posting there, since we all thought she was going to be here till morning. We did think that her mother carried an awful lot of things when she left, so we could have known."

"Was she feeling better then?"

"The spokesman didn't really say so, but I assume that she felt well enough to go home."

"Whew," John said to himself as he watched the news. "Thank you, spokesman." He rang his parents' house and got his mother on the line.

Anna hit her head, didn't she? his mother asked.

"Yes, I went to see her. She went home."

"She's got a lump on her head and she has a headache, but otherwise she's alright. Mum," he said.

"She's going to marry me."

Trust his mother to be practical. "I don't know." Not at the Palace, that much was certain. He could see Anna in here, somehow, but he did not know if she would want to. Her summerhouse was a great place, though, and she felt completely at ease there. He heard his mother say something to his father and the receiver was taken over.

Well, well, John-Thomas, said his father.

"Yes." John understood his father perfectly.

"Yes."

"Because she has a headache and I have to play tomorrow."

Business still goes before pleasure, Mr. Seton chuckled. Despair not. Think of it as a tennis match. Don't you get more satisfaction out of five sets than out of two?

"Have you been talking to Anna?" John asked suspiciously.

"Thanks. Bye." John hung up the phone and unpacked his bag. He did not particularly like that, but he had to, because he needed it again tomorrow. "Of course I know how to work a washing machine," he muttered after he had stuffed it with clothes and towels.

He was probably going to have to take a sleeping pill, because it did not feel as if he was able to fall asleep easily. For a while he lay on his bed with his clothes on, reflecting on the situation. It was true that he had not known Anna for very long, but sometimes you knew right away that something might be what you wanted, he thought. And I should have had enough time to figure out what I want, he smiled at the lamp. She had some funny moods, but she had never had them when it was just the two of them, had she? He could not recall it, anyway. What he could recall kept him occupied for another half hour, until he pushed himself off the bed when he saw the clock.

After getting ready for bed, he took his sleeping pill. The phone rang just when it was beginning to work. It might be Anna, so he walked back to the living room and answered it. It was not her, but somebody asking him if he had been at the hospital. John was never really polite when he was called late at night and certainly not with a sleeping pill that was beginning to take effect. He merely broke off the connection and left the receiver off the hook.

As soon as she reached the Palace, Anna was taken care of at her mother's orders. For once she did not mind the fuss, but she let herself be put to bed and refused more painkillers, not wanting to overdose. Her mother asked her about the kidnapping and she told her the whole story, not leaving out any details. At first Eliane was a bit hurt about not having been enlightened straight away, but after a long and candid conversation, she and Anna reached a good understanding.

Anna went to sleep with a good feeling and the next morning she was not woken early as usual, but they let her sleep late.

The newspapers were full of the day before. Anna was universally pitied for the amount of misery she had to suffer in such a short space of time. She was portrayed -- she was portrayed daily, but with varying characterisations -- as weak and vulnerable today, because she had fainted, whereas earlier that week she had still been called resilient.

Seton did not take that very seriously. He was more interested in the interview with the person whose identity was not disclosed, but whom he knew to be Hegge. Nathalie had done a great job with it and everyone who read it would have serious questions about the government's functioning, and about the PM in particular. The article implied that he was behind it and the argumentation was convincing. He noticed that she did not only use Hegge's information but also what she had heard from Anna. The fact that she dared to ascribe certain thoughts to Anna herself would only serve to be taken more seriously. After all, the people would think that if she dared to say that this was what the Queen thought, she must be sure of it and it must be true.

It already looked as if there were going to be a few unsupportive noises here and there when it came to the Prime Minister. He seemed to be digging his own grave and a little push from Anna would suffice to make him fall in or perhaps Anna would not have to push him at all. For Anna's sake he hoped the man would just go.

Anna's hospitalisation and subsequent discharge was also front-page news, but there was no mention of him, fortunately. Despite that one phone call nobody seemed to know he had been there. He did not know who had called and neither did he care much at the moment, as long as it was not publicised.

While he usually leafed directly to the sports pages, today he did not get there until after half an hour and he was not particularly interested in what was written there. Of course his doubles match with Patrick got good critiques and so did Patrick's singles match, but since he already knew how it had ended, it was not as important to read it, although it was very amusing. He in particular seemed to puzzle the press and the explanations they offered for his sudden revival were all as hilarious as they were wrong. Patrick had merely had a lucky draw, so it was no wonder that he had got into the third round and it puzzled John that the journalists had not caught on to that his fact was in no way related to his own game. Still, they felt they had to come up with something that explained why two old guys were suddenly doing well. John did not feel that Patrick and he were very old, or too old, but if they were older, it was merely because so many players gave up when they had won it all, seen it all, and done it all; and not because they were physically spent. He was not exceptionally fast, but there was no need to be fast when you were tall enough to reach any ball by just stretching out your arm? And fast was not better. Stamina was better and he still had that. So there. And he and Patrick had always played decent doubles, because they had been playing together since they were children, but doubles never received as much attention as singles, so how they did had gone relatively unnoticed.

He had to play a singles match today and he honestly did not know how it would go. He felt good, though. Who would not feel good, knowing that your beloved was crazy enough about you to want to marry you despite everything? Regardless of if he lost, too, so he had nothing to lose. He stood in front of his window that gave onto the tennis stadium. He lived right across from it, very conveniently. He was scheduled second, so there was no hurry, but he already saw the spectators gathering outside of the gates and the steady flow of them coming from the direction of the parking garage and the station.

As he sipped his coffee he noticed a car across the street that should not be parked there. If the parking police came around it would certainly get a fine or a wheel clamp, and the parking police would certainly come around. It was amazing how many people thought they were being smart by parking their car right in front of the stadium even though it was very obviously forbidden and then when they came back, they were always angry. He looked at the car, but the occupants were still in it. Were they waiting for someone? They must be. If the police came, they would be able to drive off instantly to avoid a fine. John opened the window to look down the road and noticed with satisfaction the two blue hats circling around cars about three hundred metres away. He knew they would be around. They were sharp enough to know a goldmine when they saw one.

There was a flash from the car as something reflected the light of the sun, just like the way in which Eagle Eye and White Feather always knew they were being observed by some crooks with binoculars from an opposite hill. John frowned. It was an awfully cliché way to discover that you were being observed, but he had to take it seriously. Why would anyone want to keep an eye on him? Actually he could think of several reasons and some were not as pleasant, since they had to do with his previous job. It was probably nothing, but he would not know unless he checked it out.

He closed the window, ran down and crossed the street. He tapped on the window of the driver, who rolled it down. He did not know the man, nor his companion and he supposed they had tucked away their binoculars or camera, because there was no sign of those. "You're up for a wheel clamp," he informed them. "Or a fine. Probably a fine, since you're in the car." The man -- a boy, really -- in the car looked a little taken aback. He also looked as if he had been there all night. John noted that he did not look like an agent of sorts, which meant that he was probably a reporter. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uhh…" the reporter had clearly not counted on being questioned.

"Are you studying the buildings across the street? Are you interested in architecture? Or are you just trying out how long you can be parked here without attracting any attention?" He noticed a roll of film on the dashboard. "If you take any nice pictures, send some to my Mum, okay?" The reporter looked caught. By the looks of it, both he and his pal had graduated from school the year before and John felt a suddenly pity for them. They had probably been ordered to sit here all night and nothing had happened. "The newbies always get the best jobs, don't they?" he asked dryly.

"Yeah," the reporter nodded gladly. He was glad that he was not being hauled out of the car for a thrashing, because he had heard that such things happened.

"Come in for a cup," John shrugged. If they were waiting for Anna to show up, they could wait forever, poor sods. He might as well show them that she was not there and send them off home.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Park around the corner and have a cup of coffee with me."

"Are you serious?" the young reporter's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Unless it's not me you're observing?"

"No, no, it was you, Mr. Seton," he said hastily, lest the offer of the cup of coffee should be withdrawn.

"Thank you for this info," John grinned in amusement. National journalism appeared to be in a pitiful state, apart from Nathalie.

"Which paper?" he asked when the two reporters were sitting on his couch rather uncomfortably.

"The Express."

"That's not a paper, that's a rag. What sensational event were you waiting for?"

"Umm…our editor said that you might be at the Palace or that the Queen might be with you," one admitted sheepishly.

"Search the place," John said invitingly. "And you'll find that she is not here. Why did your editor think that?"

"She's…just…" the reporter looked at his pal helplessly.

"Yeah, she's just…weird," the photographer agreed.

"Obviously!" John said. "But now that you are here, you might as well note that I don't eat twenty bananas for breakfast, as I happened to read in the Express yesterday."

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