“You’re a wicked girl.” William accused her, as he got back into bed beside her, suddenly wondering if after all this lovemaking for the past week, they might have made a baby. He wanted to ask her about it, but he still felt a little awkward, and finally, later that night, he got up his courage. “You … uh … you never got pregnant, did you, when you were married before, I mean?” He was just curious, and he had never asked her. But her answer surprised him.
“Yes, I did, as a matter of fact.” She said it very softly, and she didn’t look at him as she said it.
“What happened?” It was obvious she didn’t have a child, and he couldn’t help but wonder why. He hoped she hadn’t had an abortion, it would have been so traumatic for her, and might have left her unable to have more children. He had never asked her about that before their marriage.
“I lost it,” she said quietly, the memory of that loss still pained her, even though she knew it was for the best now.
“Do you know why? Did something happen?” And then he realized what a stupid question he had asked her. With a marriage like hers, anything might have happened. “Never mind. It won’t happen again.” He kissed her gently and she drifted off to sleep a little while later, dreaming of babies and William.
The next morning, they left the ship at Le Havre, and took the boat train into Paris, and they laughed and chatted all the while, and as soon as they arrived they went straight to the hotel, and back out again to go shopping.
“Aha! I’ve found something you enjoy doing as much as making love. Sarah, I’m bitterly disappointed.” But they had a wonderful time going to Hermès, and Chanel, and Boucheron, and a handful of small jewelers. He bought her a wonderful wide sapphire bracelet, set with a diamond clasp, and a ruby necklace and earrings that were really stunning. And a huge ruby brooch at Van Cleef in the shape of a rose.
“My God, William… I feel so guilty” She knew he had spent an absolute fortune, but he didn’t seem to mind it And the jewelry he had bought her was fabulous and she loved it.
“Don’t be silly!” He brushed it off as an ordinary event. “Just promise me we won’t leave the room again for two days. That is the tax I will demand of you each time we go shopping.”
“Don’t you like to shop?” She looked briefly disappointed, he had seemed such a good sport about it the summer before.
“I love it. But I’d rather make love to my wife.”
“Oh that…” She laughed, and addressed his needs the moment they went back to their room at the Ritz. They went shopping repeatedly after that. He bought her beautiful clothes at Jean Patou, and a fabulous leopard coat at Dior, and an enormous string of pearls at Mouboussin, which she wore every hour of every day after that. They even managed to go to the Louvre, and on their second week there, they went to tea with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. And Sarah had to admit that William was right. Although she’d been predisposed to dislike her, she actually found the duchess extremely charming. And he was a lovely man. Shy, cautious, reserved, but extremely kind when you got to know him. And very witty when he relaxed with people he knew well. It had been an awkward meeting with them at first, and much to Sarah’s chagrin, Wallis had tried to draw an unfortunate comparison between them. But William was quick to discourage any such comparison, and Sarah was faintly embarrassed by how cool he was to the duchess. There was no question about how he felt about her, and yet he had the utmost affection and respect for his cousin.
“Damn shame he ever married her,” he said on their way back to the hotel. “It’s incredible to think that, if it weren’t for her, he could still be the King of England.”
“I don’t get the feeling he ever really enjoyed it. But I could be mistaken.”
“You’re not. He didn’t. It didn’t suit him. But it was his duty anyway. I must say though, Bertie is doing a bang-up job of it. He’s an awfully good sport. And he absolutely hates that woman.”
“I can see why people are so taken with her though. She has a way of winding you around her little finger.”
“She is one of the truly great connivers. Did you see the jewelry he’s given her? That diamond-and-sapphire bracelet must have cost him an absolute fortune. Van Cleef made it for him when they got married.” And she had an entire parure to go with it by then, necklace, earrings, brooch, and two rings.
“I like the bracelet she was wearing on her other hand better,” Sarah said softly. “The little diamond chain with the little crosses.” It was far more discreet, and William made a mental note of it for a present for her later on. She’d also shown them a wonderful bracelet from Cartier that she’d just gotten, all made up of flowers and leaves in sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. And she’d called it her “fruit salad.”
“Anyway, we’ve done our duty, my dear. It would have been rude if we hadn’t called them. And now I can tell Mother we did. She was always so fond of David, I thought it would kill her when he gave up the throne.”
“And yet she said she didn’t mind when you did,” Sarah said sadly, still feeling guilty for what she’d cost him. She knew it would bother her for a lifetime, but it never seemed to bother William at all.
“That’s hardly the same thing,” William said gently. “He had the throne, darling. I never would have. Mother feels very strongly about these things. But she’s not ridiculous, she didn’t expect me to be king.”
“I suppose not.”
They got out of the car a few blocks before the hotel, and walked slowly back, talking again about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. They had invited them to come back again, but William had explained that they were going to begin their driving trip the following morning.
They had already planned to visit the Loire, and he wanted to stop and see Chartres on the way. He had never been there.
And when they left the next morning, in a small hired Renault, which he drove, they were both in high spirits. They had taken a picnic lunch with them, in case they couldn’t find a restaurant along the way, and an hour outside Paris, everything was wonderfully rural and still green here and there. There were horses and cows and farms, and after another hour, sheep wandering across the road, and a goat stopped to stare at them as they ate their lunch in a field by the roadside. They had brought blankets and warm coats, but it wasn’t cold, and the weather was surprisingly sunny. They had expected rain, but so far, the weather had been perfect.
They had reservations at small hotels along the way, and they were planning to be away from Paris for eight or ten days. But on the third day, they were still only a hundred miles from Paris, in Montbazon, and loving the inn where they were staying too much to leave it.
The owner of the inn had told them several places to go, and they had gone to tiny churches, and a wonderful old farm, and two terrific antiques shops. And the local restaurant was the best they’d ever been to.
“I love this place,” Sarah said happily, devouring everything on her plate. She had been eating a lot better since they’d been in Paris, and she wasn’t quite as thin, which suited her very well. Sometimes William worried that being quite that thin wasn’t healthy.
“We really ought to move on tomorrow.”
They were both sorry to go when they left, and an hour later, much to William’s annoyance, their car stalled on the road. A local peasant helped them to get it started again, and gave them some more gas to get on their way, and half an hour later, they stopped for lunch near an ancient stone gate, with an elaborate iron grille that stood open, leading to an overgrown old road.
“It looks like the gate to heaven,” she teased.
“Or hell. Depending on what we deserve.” He smiled back. But he already knew his fate. He had been in heaven ever since he married Sarah.