Page 8 of Falling for the Widowed Prince

“King Fulke made it abundantly clear he wanted his wife to be the regent, and even codified the surviving parent as regent in a Letters Patent…”

It clearly wouldn’t be as simple as he hoped or she wouldn’t look so scared and refuse to look at him.

“I found reference to a addendum to the Letters Patent forced on her by his advisors shortly after his death. I’ll keep digging, but it appears that it was never revoked or invalidated. They were required to confirm King Fulke’s widow as the regent, but only on one condition.”

Here it came. “What was the condition?”

Ms. Woodward closed her eyes briefly as though praying for strength.

Finally, she looked at him. “She had to be married.”

3

It had taken Madeleine nearly twenty minutes to work up the nerve to go to the prince’s office. That was after she spent thirty minutes staring in disbelief, and another hour double checking everything.

From the look on his face, he was processing through the same things she had, but on a much deeper level.

“What does that mean?” The strangled sound to his voice tore at her heart strings.

“It means it’s possible, legally, for you to be regent regardless of anything else, but requires the approval of Parliament and the Council. However, changes to their guidelines since the death of King Fulke specifically discourage that. Under this addendum to the Letters Patent, if you’re married, they can’t stop you from being regent without going to the courts to have you removed for treason or a couple other very specific things.”

The prince stared, unseeing, toward the window. “I see.”

“It appears she married Gilead, the late king’s brother. Her son then died mysteriously. I don’t have any evidence yet, but I’d guess he forced her to sign it in order to take over himself as soon as he could arrange the death of his nephew.”

“That poor woman,” he murmured, standing to walk to the window. With his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his dress pants, he looked out at the capital city. “First her husband, then her son.”

Madeleine remained perched on the edge of her seat, too anxious to sit back. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t shoot the messenger as it were, but she still wasn’t sure she wanted to be around as the implications set in.

She didn’t know how long he stared out the window but it seemed like an eternity. Eventually, he turned.

“So, I have to get married.” His voice now sounded lifeless. “Are there any requirements on who I have to marry?”

“No.” Madeleine shook her head to confirm. “Not that I’ve found.”

“Understood.” He turned to look at her. “Can we keep this between us for the moment? I’d like to wrap my mind around it a little more before the rest of the world finds out.”

She tipped her head his direction. “Of course. I’ll keep looking to see what else I can find.”

“Thank you, Ms. Woodward.”

Madeleine stood. “My pleasure, sir. I’m just doing my job.”

When he turned back to the window, she decided she’d been dismissed. She knew him well enough now that she felt she could leave without him actually saying so, especially under the circumstances. Six weeks earlier, she wouldn’t have dared.

Walking quietly toward the door, she stopped when he called her name.

“Ms. Woodward?”

Maybe she was in trouble for leaving after all? “Yes, sir?”

“Please tell Maxwell I’m not to be disturbed.”

Though he couldn’t see her, she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The door had seemed much heavier when she entered than it did when she left. After passing the message on to the aidesitting at the desk outside the prince’s office, she went back to the archives.

In her office, Madeleine stared at a spot on the wall. Unable to sit still any longer, she picked up her pen to make some more notes before going back to look at the source documents again.

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