The Prince's Secret (Prince Harry Fanfic)

Part 57 - Someone We Can Trust

Harry

"What?" I barked.

"Meg did not want to speak of it to me, but she was so upset. Crying, almost hysterical, because she was afraid that you wanted to break your engagement. Finally, she told me that she found out she was pregnant while she was in Toronto. She begged me to make you see reason, and I agree. You must marry. And soon."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. And once I started to laugh, I couldn't stop.

The Queen sat there looking at me disapprovingly. At last I choked down the laughter, leaning forward, elbows on my knees.

"Do you find that news amusing?" she asked.

"You don't believe her, do you?" I asked. "Claiming to be pregnant? That's the oldest trick in the book!"

"Do you think she's lying to me?" the Queen said, bristling.

"I know she's lying to you," I said. And then I said words I never thought I would speak to my grandmother. "We haven't had sex since the middle of December. That's over two months ago. If she were pregnant, I would have known by now."

"She's been in Toronto for a month and you were not speaking to her. She didn't feel comfortable telling you."

"I wasn't speaking to her? Did she tell you that she was the one who walked out on me, in the middle of the night? And left only a note?"

The Queen pursed her lips. "She told me she confronted you with evidence that you were having an affair with this...other woman, and you were so angry she was afraid you would get violent."

I was on my feet before I realized it. "Samantha is not the other woman," I said, and knew that my voice was too loud.

"You will sit down," the Queen said, looking up at me. "You will not speak to me in that tone of voice."

I sat, clenching my knees, my hands shaking from anger. "Who are you going to believe? Meg or me?"

"She was quite convincing. Very distressed. I don't think she was faking anything."

"She's an actress! Of course she is convincing. And she is distressed, because she knows that our relationship is over," I said, fighting to keep my voice low.

"If she is pregnant, that child is an heir to the throne. And you will marry her."

"If she is pregnant—and I am very doubtful that she is—that child is not mine," I said. "I want to see the results of a positive pregnancy test, done here in London, by a doctor we all trust. And then I want to see a paternity test that names me as the father, before I will believe this pregnancy story."

"You won't take her at her word?"

"I won't throw my life away on the word of a woman desperate to lock me into a marriage," I said, getting to my feet again. "And you shouldn't trust her either. She's playing you. She's playing all of us. She is not someone we can have in this family."

"That is my decision to make," the Queen said.

"Then I hope you gather all the facts before you make your decision," I said. Bowing sharply, I turned on my heel and left.