The Thrill Is Gone

“You fucking wanker!” she cried at the top of her lungs, face flushing in embarrassment. “Look at what you did! You fucking chomped down and left a huge hickey! It’s massive!” Oddly enough, she wasn’t exaggerating. There was a rather large hickey at the base of her neck, and against her lightly tan skin, the dark awkwardly shaped mark stood out for all to see. “And I’ve told you not to give me any, even before we went public; I told you not to because they make me think of those lame teenagers that walk around with their necks all bruised up to show off to their idiotic friends. But what did you do? You gave me a massive fucking hickey and you didn’t even bother putting it somewhere people wouldn’t be able to see. You should’ve added it to my tits. I'm sure another hickey wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“What are ya goin’ on about?” he asked, half awake. He hadn’t heard her entire rambling, having barely woken up during the second half of her last sentence. “I’ve not done anything. I'm trying to have a bloody nap before we go out, so quit your rambling for awhile. Let me have an hour’s rest, and then you can go on about whatever it was you were goin’ on about.”

“Well you can’t have a nap until you see what you did,” she said, pointedly.

“Fine,” he sighed, and rolled onto his side to better look at her. He watched as she turned around, her figure completely devoid of clothes, and for a moment his eyes lingered on her hips where his hands had left marks and to her breasts where his lips had done their part. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat that his eyes shot upwards and landed on her neck, on the darkening hickey. “That what you’re going on about?” he nearly laughed. “Honestly, it’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?”

“It’s really not.” He rolled onto his back and lazily scratched at his chest. “And there’s no use in complaining about it now. Ya should’ve done that while we were having ourselves a go, then that wouldn’t have happened. But ya didn’t. And it did. And it’s not even so bad, just a bit of a blotch is all. No one’s gonna notice.”

“Everyone’s gonna notice.” She huffed. “We’re gonna be out and about for a week and a half, and whenever we’re out the fucking press is always all up in our face so there’s definitely gonna be some pictures in circulation. And my parents are gonna see it, and your grandma, and your dad! Ay Dios mio! He’s gonna see it and he’ll know what we’re doing in here.”

“Come on, now. My dad’s not daft. He knows we’re having ourselves some shags in here. It’s not like he thinks we’re sitting about, playing scrabble. He’s not in denial like your parents.”

“I know he’s not, but I’d rather not think of him as knowing. That’s embarrassing.”

She turned around, and in the mirror, inspected the damage. If she wore t-shirts, she’d be able to hide most of it, but a decent amount would still be visible just above the above the collar, a scarf would do well to hide that chunk, but even she wasn’t going around wearing scarves in the middle of an English summer. And it wasn’t like she could wear a t-shirt out to dinner with Kate and William. She’d brought dresses for that, but none of her dresses had a high enough neck to cover even part of the hickey. Her best bet was make up, she’d have to do her best to conceal, and hope that she’d do a decent enough job for it to go unnoticed by the press. The last thing she wanted was for her parents or the Queen to see her walking around with a hickey on her neck. That was tasteless, and she knew they’d disapprove of it even more than she did.

From his place on the bed, Harry stared at the mirror, watching as Paulina ran her fingers along the bruised skin, tracing the outline of the hickey with her fingertips. He honestly didn’t think it was all that bad. Was it noticeable? Yeah, of course it was, but it didn’t take up the entire side of her neck. It was only about the size of his middle finger and thumb pressed together, the misshapen circle that formed when he did that was the extent of the so called damage, but it wasn’t damage, not really. Everyone gets a hickey at some point or another, some people even make a sport out of giving/receiving them. In fact, he knew a bloke that had once paid a bird to give him a hickey just so he could brag about it to their circle of friends when they were younger. Hickeys were normal, nothing worth fretting over. And it wasn’t like a stranger had left that mark on her neck. That was his doing. It was his mark, and truth be told, he was rather pleased by it.

“No one’s going to say anything about it.” He assured her as he left the bed, and made his way over to her. “It’s nowhere near as interesting as us fumbling about in the backseat of a car. It’s a hickey that was done in private. That’s it.” He walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close. “They won’t make a fuss. I promise. And if it makes ya feel any better, you can have a go at me. That way we’ll both wander about with them.”

“Don’t be daft.” She fought back a smile. “I'm not giving you any hickeys.”

“But it’ll balance things out. Put things to right, if you will.”

“It’ll make us look like we can’t keep out hands off each other.”

“That is true though.”

“That doesn’t mean I want everyone to know.” She turned around to face him. “If they see this, it’ll be like that time we got caught making out in the backseat. Everyone went ape shit. It was like they’d never seen people making out before. They were all obsessed with it. It took two weeks for them to move onto something else. And with this,” she touched the base of her neck, “It’ll take even longer.”

“It won’t.” He placed his hand on her neck, and gently traced the outline of her hickey as he spoke. “You’re just worrying to worry. So quit it. And let’s get back to bed. I need a lie down before we get out tonight.”

“I can’t have a lie down,” she told him. “I’ve got to shower and get ready.”

“We’ve nearly an hour and a half till we have to leave. It won’t take you that long to put your make up and all that on.”

“I have to shower, straighten my hair, style it and put make up on. I’ll definitely be using that entire hour and a half. So why don’t you go have yourself a lie down? And I’ll wake you up in an hour or so, so you can jump in the shower. How’s that sound?”

“Tedious.” He honestly wasn’t looking forward to showering or going out for the night, not when he could just stay in and spend his night with Paulina. “You know, I reckon we can cancel on Wills and Kate. I’ll make something up, tell ‘em I’ve come down with something, and we can have our own dinner here, order something in from one of your favorites, and make our own entertainments.” He wiggled his brow suggestively. “I reckon it’d be loads better than going out with Wills and Kate. We can even reschedule, see them tomorrow for breakfast before we head out to where we’ll be heading out.”

“We’re not rescheduling.”

“But –” Harry began to protest.

“Go have a lie down.” She interjected. “It’ll just be for a few hours, and once we’re back, it’ll only be us for a week and a half. So quit pouting.” She placed a soft kiss on his lips, and then slipped out of his arms. “Go nap. I don’t want you being grouchy.”

“Fine, fine,” mumbled Harry. “But wake me up when it’s twenty minutes till we have to leave, not thirty. I reckon I’ll be needing those extra minutes.”

“Alright then, I’ll wake you up in twenty.”

It wasn’t long before Harry dozed off into his nap. He knocked out almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. And while he napped, Paulina gave herself a thorough scrubbing; wanting to wash off all trace of her and Harry’s afternoon romps, and when she felt clean enough, she started the process of straightening her hair and then gently curling it. She planned on covering her neck with the soft curls, the dark brown hair would hopefully be enough to keep the press from noticing the hickey, well, the hair and the make up she intended to apply. She was going to be meticulous in her application of the make up. She didn’t want to have to deal with the bullshit the press would surely come up with, if they were to spot it. They’d blow the hickey way out of proportion, which would then lead to her receiving phone calls from home telling her that she ought to look after herself better, and it just wasn’t worth it. She didn’t want to upset her parents or the Queen, because despite her not completely trusting the Queen, she didn’t want to create unnecessary tension, they had enough to sort between themselves.

Twenty minutes before they were meant to leave the flat, Paulina woke Harry, who at first kept grumbling on about how it was far too early to be awake and that he needed at least another five minutes before he’d be able to get up, but she was persistent, and was eventually able to coax him up, and then usher him into the bathroom.

While Harry showered, Paulina contacted Alistair, and asked if he could please drive over to take them to dinner. She knew that if they would’ve waited to call Alistair until Harry had gotten out of the shower and finished getting dressed, that they would’ve been late for dinner. So she took the initiative, and by the time Harry finished slipping on his shoes, Alistair had pulled up to the flat.

“Can you see it?” asked Paulina just before they stepped onto the street. “Because if you can, I should probably go grab another coat, maybe the one that buttons to the top so it looks like I don’t have a neck. Yeah. That one could work. Or do you think that’d be too obvious? I mean it is too hot to be wearing that sort of thing around. Then again I could always –”

“Quit fussing about.” He said with a laugh. “Ya can hardly see it.”

“But you can see it.”

“Well, yeah, but the wankers would have to be right at your neck to be able to tell anything’s off, and I never let ‘em that close. So you’ll be alright, darling, then again, if ya don’t feel up to leaving the flat quite yet, I can always call to cancel.” He took possession of her hips, and drew her closer to him. “We can still make a night of it, just us two.”

She giggled lightly. “How are you not tired?”

“Ya really think I could get tired of shagging? Do I need a break every so often? Of course, I'm only human, but give me a few meals, a couple of naps, and I'm sorted out for another go.”

“Well you might be sorted out for another go, but I need a break.”

“Do ya now?” he asked, trying not to grin so brightly.

“I do.” She peered up at him, her dark brown eyes twinkling mischievously. “There’s only so much a woman can take before she feels her vag might fall out.”

A booming laugh passed through Harry’s lips. “You’re mental!”

“It’s part of my charm.” She flashed him a toothy smile. “Should we get going then?”

He nodded.

“Well then you should let go of my waist.”

“What? Right, right, forgotten about that.” He dropped his hands from her waist, and redirected his attention towards the door, taking the doorknob into his possession. “Just so you know, when we get back, we’re having ourselves another go.”

“Are we then? I guess I’ll have to make a note of that.”

“You will.” He smirked.

“And you better not even think of leaving another hickey.”

“Fine, fine, I won’t muck about on your neck, but I can’t say the same for the rest of you.”

“Cheeky bastard,” she playfully smacked his arm.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. We both know you’re keen on it.” He wiggled his brow suggestively. “And we’ve plenty of time for me to be a cheeky bastard. We can always be a few minutes late. I reckon we –”

“Ought to be going,” she stated. “Now, come on, güerito. Let’s head out.”

He grumbled something beneath his breath, but didn’t say anything further. The truth was that Harry honestly didn’t want to spend the evening with Kate and Wills. It wasn’t because he’d quarreled with his brother or any of that. They were on good terms, like they normally were. The problem was that he and Paulina had been living on a weekend or two during the course of each month, and now that he finally had her all to himself, he wanted to be selfish with his time. He didn’t want to have to share her attention with anyone else, it was just the pair of them, and he very much wanted it to stay that way, but alas, he’d promised his brother that they’d meet up for dinner. And there was no getting out of it.

When they finally stepped outside, Harry and Paulina didn’t rush into the backseat of the car like they accustomed. The exclusivity of the gated community afforded them the luxury of leisurely walking towards the vehicle, without the worry of having photographers shove cameras into their faces or having questions flung at them. They were able to breathe easy as they walked, and as soon as they climbed into the backseat, and Alistair had situated himself behind the wheel, they drove off to the restaurant.

Heavy traffic made the drive take longer than it should have, but they somehow managed to not be obscenely late. It was barely ten after seven when they finally turned up at the restaurant, and luckily for them, William and Kate had also found themselves caught in the traffic, which resulted in their arriving at the restaurant only long enough to settle into the table before Paulina and Harry showed up.

They exchanged warm greetings. Paulina curtsied politely to William, and then William laughed it off, telling her that it was unnecessary to do so when it was just the four of them out. He placed two kisses on her cheek, the same treatment he would’ve given Zara or one of his other cousins, and when he moved onto Harry, Paulina redirected her attention to Kate, who was smiling brightly. Kate looked as if she were seeing a dear friend after months of separation, instead of an acquaintance that she’d only been around a handful of times. The truth was that Kate and Paulina got on well, better than they did with most people. They understood what the other was going through with their relationship and the press, and it was nice to not have to be so guarded and to not feel like the company was looking down on them for being commoners, which happened fairly often to them whenever they were among members of the aristocracy.

“It’s lovely to see you again,” gushed Kate after they pulled apart from their friendly embrace. “I’ve so been looking forward to tonight.”

“Same here,” said Paulina, smiling warmly. “I wish we could’ve met up sooner, but Harry was hard at work with training, and I was buried beneath a few mountains of books. Apparently my professors decided it’d be brilliant to assign the entire library as course material.”

“How awful,” commented Kate, her nose scrunching at the memory of all the nights she’d spent awake at university, obsessing over texts. “I absolutely hated having to revise at uni. The books just kept going on and on, and even when I was keen on a subject, I’d somehow manage to get fed up with it, because it doesn’t matter how keen you are on a particular topic, at four in the morning, it all turns to rubbish. And then –”

“Then you end up chucking books out windows,” stated William.

“I wasn’t going to tell her that.” Kate said in a hushed voice, her cheeks flooding with color.

“Wait. You mean to say that you got so fed up that you threw a book out of your window?” asked Paulina, finding it hard to believe that Kate had done such a thing.

Kate bit her bottom lip, and nodded. “It’s not like I’d planned to or anything. I was just . . . I was very much fed up, and had had enough of that bloody book. So I threw it and sort of, well, I broke the window.”

“You broke a window?” Harry’s eyes widened in amusement, he’d never heard that story before.

“I didn’t mean to.” Kate shifted nervously on her feet. “It was an accident is all.”

“It was hilarious.” William told them, his eyes twinkling in delight. “One moment, the flat was absolutely quiet except for a record we had on, and the next, I hear this crash, so I look up, and there’s Kate, looking mental.”

“How didn’t I know about this?” Harry laughed. “Honestly, I feel like that should’ve been in the papers.”

“It was before we went public.” Kate explained in a small voice, her features still very much displaying her embarrassment. “About a month or so . . .”

“That was good timing then.” Paulina said, trying to alleviate Kate’s embarrassment. “The damn press would’ve gone wild if they’d seen a book flying out your window. Then again, with a little luck, maybe it would’ve hit one of them.”

“That’s awful.” Kate laughed lightly, a subdued laugh which strongly resembled the way Paulina laughed in Lady Fellowes presence. “Though I must admit, it would’ve been worth it to see that history of art book strike one.”

“It was an art history book?” asked Paulina. “That would’ve done some serious damage. Those things are like volumes of the encyclopedia.”

Kate nodded in agreement. “That’s why I hated them so much.”

“I hate to interrupt your conversation regarding your mutual hatred on course material, but I really do think we ought to take our seats before we start blocking the pathways for servers.” William commented. “I can already see them staring at us with fear, they want to get by, but they don’t want to annoy us.”

“Annoy you more like it.” Kate teased William. “S’alright though, we’ll take our seats.” She waited until everyone was seated to continue. “So you must be terribly thrilled to be done with uni, Paulina.”

“I am.” Paulina said as she fixed her hair so more curls covered her neck. “Now I can finally sleep and not have to freak out over due dates and readings. Well, I mean that I won’t have to freak out over that stuff for two months. As soon as September comes around, I’ll be back to that.”

“And for how long?” inquired William from his seat beside Kate. “I hate to pry, but I'm not very knowledgeable about the structure of law school.”

“You’re not prying at all.” Paulina assured him. “Law school’s going to be about three years.”

“Three more years?” repeated William.

“That’s what I said.” Harry spoke from beside Paulina. “She’s been putting herself through hell for the last six years with uni, and now she’s going to add on another three. She’s a masochist, she is.” He scrunched his nose playfully at her.

“Not even,” she playfully smacked his shoulder. “Alright, maybe a little, but it’ll be fine. I'm used to not sleeping well.”

“As long as she gets her coffee in, she’s alright.” Harry said, knowingly. “Otherwise she’s a massive prat.”

“Not as massive as you are,” she shot back in a playful tone. Harry tilted his head back, allowing a hearty laugh to pass through his slightly chapped lips, and as he laughed, Paulina redirected her attention to William and Kate. William watched them with curious eyes, but in Kate’s, there was only confusion. “I think we’re freaking Kate out,” she told Harry when she noticed the look in Kate’s eyes. “We sometimes insult each other out of love,” she explained, suddenly realizing how odd that must have sounded. “Well, it’s not really so much insulting. It’s more along the lines of calling each other names.”

“Exactly,” nodded Harry. “She’s quite keen on calling me an arse.”

“And he calls me, mental and a stubborn ass.” Paulina’s cheeks brightened, suddenly realizing how inappropriate that was to say in a restaurant. Everyone was listening into their conversation, it might have been discreetly, but there were two princes in their midst, and it was only natural for people to try to overhear bits of their conversation. “Uh, well, I think that’s enough of that, I’ve rambled awkwardly enough for the night.”

Noticing her distress, Harry decided to place the attention on himself. “Have you lot ordered?”

“Not yet.” William replied. “We’d only just got in. Of course, we meant to arrive earlier, but the traffic was ghastly.”

“So that means you were late as well?” Harry paused. “Here we were, thinking we’d have you lot waiting ages for us, but the traffic got you as well. That’s a relief. Ain’t it, darling?”

“It is.” Paulina agreed. “I honestly didn’t think traffic wasn’t going to be so bad at this hour. It was almost as bad as in Los Angeles. Once time, it took me nearly an hour to go five miles. Granted, there was some construction going on, but it was such a pain.”

“How awful,” commented Kate. “I don’t think I’d be able to move about in that sort of traffic.”

“That’s why I avoid going to LA during rush hour.” Beneath the table, Paulina played with the fabric of her dress. “It’s best to keep away from it unless it’s absolutely necessary to go through it.”

“Why was it necessary?” asked Kate.

“My niece and nephew wanted to go to the zoo.” A dreamy look befell Paulina’s face as she remembered all the trips to the zoo that she’d taken with Isabel and Ronaldo. “Isabel’s obsessed with lions and Ronaldo’s really into monkeys so they always want to head over to the zoo. And if it’s not their parents taking them, it’s my parents, or my bothers, or sometimes me, when it’s my turn to go with them. They love it more than they love Disneyland, which is so weird because little kids love Disneyland. I mean I'm nearing my mid twenties and I can honestly say that not going to Disneyland during Christmastime was one of the hardest things about being in Europe, but I digress. They love the zoo, and it’s a blast to be able to spend that time with them. So I drive them out, even if that means I end up getting stuck in traffic.”

“That’s so adorable!” Kate gushed. “I'm terribly jealous of your having a niece and nephew. I’ve none of my own. My brother and sister are very much staying away from that at the present, but I can’t wait to be aunt, it’ll be brilliant.”

“It honestly will.” Paulina smiled warmly as she spoke. “And you’ll be a great aunt. I'm sure the kids will absolutely adore you.”

“I hope so.” Kate paused, shifting slightly in her seat. “Oh my, I’ve only just realized we’ve been talking on and on, and haven’t glanced at the menu. The server’s going to come around and we won’t know what to order. What are you in the mood for, Paulina? Wine, perhaps?”

“I’ll have a Scotch neat.” Paulina stated without looking at the drinks menu.

“Scotch with dinner?” William arched his brow. “Isn’t Scotch best left till after dinner’s been had?”

“Scotch is best at any moment,” replied Paulina with a smile. “Before, during, or after dinner, it’s always a good drink, but personally speaking, I have a soft spot for some Scotch with a medium rare steak.”

William looked at Harry for confirmation.

“That is true. She is fond of that.” Harry chuckled. “I know it sounds off, what with us always thinking of Scotch as being an after dinner, drink, what with father going into his sitting room to indulge in it, but she’s fond of it with steak. It’s quite good, actually.”

“I’ll take her word for it.” William stated.

“You should try it.” Paulina proposed. “I don’t know if you’ll be ordering steak or not, but I am, and you can have a piece of mine and a drink of Scotch, if you like.”

“Thank you for the offer, Paulina, but Scotch doesn’t sit quite well with me. There’s something about it that doesn’t agree with me.” William responded.

“But it agrees with me.” Harry chirped. “And I’ll be having one as well, along with the steak.”

The drink orders were soon taken, along with the order for the starters. If it had been up to them, Paulina and Harry would’ve ordered their meals, they already knew very well what it was they wanted since that restaurant was one they often frequented whenever they were in London, but William and Kate couldn’t say the same. So to fight off the hunger while the pair decided, three starters were ordered, and between the four of them, they were easily devoured. Though, if one was to be completely honest, Harry and Paulina did most of the eating.

Their afternoon of debauchery had left them absolutely ravenous. The moment the starters were brought out, their stomachs rumbled rather loudly, reminding them that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast. They had lost themselves in one another, and had completely forgotten about eating. All they’d had some water and some tequila, but nothing else. So they set to work immediately, and from across the table, Kate and William had to actively keep themselves from laughing, because they knew why it was the pair was so hungry. They’d been in that same position before, though whenever they spent the day being intimate, they preferred to eat in rather than go out in public.

In time, Kate and William decided on what to order. And shortly thereafter, the server came out with their food. Everyone enjoyed their dishes, and as they ate, they carried on with their friendly conversation. They were at ease with one another, perfectly comfortable, and in that moment, they were blissfully unaware of the glances people were shooting them, of the fact that they were the main attraction at the restaurant.

“I can see why you lot are so fond of this place.” William commented. “It’s quite good. Don’t you think, love?” he asked Kate.

“Absolutely,” replied Kate as she set down her fork. “To be honest, I'm rather surprised I’d never heard of this place before. How was it that you two came across it? Was it your doing, Harry? You’re quite fond of steak and this sort of food.”

“It wasn’t me.” Harry answered. “Paulin’s the one that introduced me.”

Paulina nodded. “This is my friend Alfred’s favorite place, so last year, when he first invited me over to stay, he brought me here and it was just really good. They get it right here. A lot of places think they can do steak, but they mess it up, but here, it’s a guaranteed good stake, even if you get it medium well or well done.”

“Perhaps next time, we’ll all order steaks.” Kate tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. “Make another night of it.”

“That’d be great.” Paulina said. “But it won’t be for awhile. Harry and I leave to . . . well, I don’t know exactly where it is we’re going since he says it’s a surprise, but we’re leaving tomorrow morning and after that it’s back home to California.”

“So soon?” inquired Kate. For some reason, she’d thought Paulina would spend the rest of the summer in Europe, and travel directly to Harvard when the semester started.

“It sounds a lot sooner than it actually is.” Paulina replied. “We’re going to be wherever it is that Henry’s taking me, for about a week and a half. And after that, we’ll have almost a month in California, and then Harvard.”

“We’ve a few engagements to attend while we’re in California.” Harry informed them. “Gran decided it wouldn’t be right for me to be on holiday so long without putting me to work. So we’ve a polo match to go to, as well as a few other publicity shots to get to.”

“That’s just like Gran to put you to work.” William chuckled. “She never misses an opportunity to make the firm look well.”

“She doesn’t.” Harry agreed. “It’ll be alright though. Polo matches are the same everywhere. It’s the same sort of people at those bloody events.”

William nodded in agreement. “What’s the polo match for? Which charity?” he asked.

“Sentebale,” replied Harry. “I'm pleased with that. At least my charity will be the one to benefit.”

“How do you feel about that?” Kate asked Paulina while Harry and William talked amongst themselves.

“Uh, to be honest, I'm a little nervous. I'm used to the charity events here. I know it sounds ridiculous, but here I know who I can be treated civilly by, and who to avoid altogether, but in America, it’s going to be a completely different ball game.” Paulina shifted in her seat. “But I'm hoping it’ll be good. I mean, there will be bitchy people, that’s true anywhere, but there won’t be any titled ladies, and those are the ones that are always the most annoying.”

“They are,” agreed Kate, leaning in slightly. “They’re always just looking with this displeased expression, like it’s so heinous for commoner to be with a royal. I honestly can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to deal with ladies that have been nothing short of rude. It astounds me how rude and disagreeable they can be. It’s like they honestly think that if we weren’t with our boyfriends, they’d have a chance.”

“I know I probably shouldn’t say this, but I'm so glad you’ve gone through the same thing. I thought it was just because I'm American that they were acting like that.”

“Oh no, of course not,” said Kate. “They don’t care where a person’s from so long as their titled. That’s the one qualification they need to accept someone. Your being American might have added to their snobbery, but it wasn’t the direct cause of it. They’re just foul.” She pursed her lips and shook her head at the memory of all the times she’d been treated less than just because her family didn’t have a title. “Enough of that, we’re having such a nice evening, and I don’t want to put a damper on it, by thinking about those snobs. I mean one time, when Wills and I were at a club, they bloody spilled champagne all down my top. And it was on purpose! I can still see that slag’s smug face staring back at me.”

“They did not!”

“They did.” Kate’s eyes hardened at the memory. “Sorry, sorry, one moment I said not to talk about that anymore, and then I go on and talk about that.” She laughed nervously. “So, do you’ve any idea where Harry might take you?”

“There’s a few places I think we might go, but he hasn’t really dropped any clues. Um, I think Bath might be an option.”

“Bath?” Kate’s eyes sparkled in delight. “Oh, I do hope he’ll take you there. Have you already been? It’s absolutely fantastic. The buildings, the area, it’s all so lovely. And it always makes me think of Jane.”

“Austen?” asked Paulina.

“Is there any other?” Kate replied with a smile.

“That just made me like you even more.” Paulina joked. “And as for your question, I have been to Bath. I’ve stayed twice, and it was just phenomenal.”

“Did you visit the Jane Austen Centre?”

“Yes!” Paulina nodded enthusiastically. “The costumes were perfect. I couldn’t help myself and bought a bonnet. I don’t even wear it or anything, but I just – it’s nice to look at it.”

Out of habit, Paulina began to fiddle with her hair, twirling the dark brown curls around her finger as she spoke, and as she did that, she unknowingly rubbed off some of the make up with her thumb.

Kate’s eyes widened in shock when she saw a dark mark being unearthed, and when she was able to make out that it was indeed a hickey, and not a bruise left by popping a zit that might have been there, she decided to warn Paulina.

“And I will get around to wearing the bonnet at some point,” Paulina went on, still twirling her hair. “Though I probably need to get a dress to go along with –”

“Paulina,” interjected Kate, a sense of urgency in her voice.

“Yeah?” replied Paulina, unsure of what had happened. Maybe she’d rambled on more than she should have.

“Put your hair back down.” Kate said as quietly as she could. “I . . . well, you can see . . . that is to say, what’s on your neck is –”

It was at that moment that Harry and William finished talking. William looked over just in time to see the hickey before Paulina covered it with her curls.

“Bloody hell, Harry,” William chuckled. “You should’ve minded yourself a bit more.”

“What you goin’ on about?” Harry hadn’t a clue as to what his brother was referring to.

“I said ya should’ve minded yourself a bit more.” William repeated, only that time, he motioned with his eyes towards Paulina.

It was then Harry realized what his brother was getting at.

“Did the make up come off?” he asked Paulina in a hushed tone, eyes scanning her neck.

“I guess so.” She fixed her hair, so more curls covered her neck. “Can you see it? Or do you think I should go and put make up on it? Fuck. I didn’t bring any though. Oh well. Hopefully no one will see.”

Harry’s brow furrowed as he looked closely at her neck, inspecting the damage. “Ya can’t see it like that, and I reckon if you tuck a bit of hair into your coat when we leave, the press won’t see.”

“Don’t be daft, Harry.” Kate chimed in. “If she tucks too much hair in, they’ll know something’s the matter. What she has to do, is wear a scarf.”

“I don’t have one though.” Paulina told her.

“No matter, I do.” Kate reached into her purse, and pulled out an ivory scarf with pastel floral details. “I know it won’t go with your dress, but it’ll do well by your coat. Unless, you don’t care for it, in which case I can –”

“No, not at all, I think it’s really pretty.” Paulina smiled gratefully. “I’ll just get it back to you in the car.”

“You’ll have to keep it until the pair of you, are home. Or else pictures might be taken, and that won’t do you any favors.” Kate leaned forwards and handed the scarf over to Paulina. “Give it back when you return to England to visit Harry. This’ll be insurance for you to make time to visit with me.”