Читать книгу A Visitor at the Palace: The perfect feel-good royal romance to read this summer - Georgie Crawley, Georgie Crawley - Страница 15

I woke the next morning from a deep sleep, after doggy dreams about chasing rabbits through puddles of gravy.

The other dogs were already awake, so I hopped down to stand beside Willow.

‘So?’ I asked, nudging her side to get her attention. Because even though they weren’t the friendliest I wasn’t ready to give up on finding some allies in the palace who at least understood me. ‘What’s the plan? You said you were going to let me join in with your Palace Dogs routine today, right?’

Sighing, Willow turned slowly towards me. ‘Fine. But really, without Her here, it’s a pale imitation of the real thing.’

‘Well, I’ve never spent a day with Her Majesty, so I doubt I’ll really notice the difference.’ I was just excited to be included. I’d spent a lot of the previous day trying to imagine what the other dogs might be doing – what adventures they were having. Did they spend time chasing rabbits in the gardens? Or taste-testing the gravy? Were there Royal Pet duties I knew nothing about, like greeting important guests? Or special meals I’d missed out on somehow, like the afternoon tea Amy took Claire to with Father Christmas when she was smaller?

I wanted to know it all.

‘First, we have breakfast,’ Willow said, turning away again. ‘I trust you can remember how that goes?’

I did, and this morning, when a new housemaid came to feed us, I waited patiently for my turn before eating. I didn’t want to give Willow any excuses to shut me out again.

‘Now what?’ I asked, the moment the housemaid had gone.

Willow, Candy and Vulcan all exchanged annoyed looks.

‘Are you going to be like this all day?’ Vulcan asked.

‘Like what?’

‘Vulgarly excited,’ Willow answered. ‘And yes, I rather suspect he is.’

Candy rolled her eyes. ‘It doesn’t do, you see, to get too excited about things here in the Palace. Apart from anything else, you’re supposed to be used to this sort of life, remember?’