‘How could you?’ Marjorie sobbed. ‘You’re certainly not the man I fell in love with.’
Queen Georgiana shook her head. ‘Why, Lloyd? I don’t understand. You’ve never expressed any interest in being King before.’
‘Because I’d rather anyone be King than that feeble-minded son of yours,’ Lloyd hissed.
‘Steady on. That’s our father you’re talking about.’ Edgar walked over to Lloyd and poked him in the chest.
‘I know Freddy can be a bumbling twit at times but this is so extreme. You were the best of friends when you were boys. What happened between the two of you?’ Queen Georgiana asked softly.
‘He pushed my sister from the tower and ruined her life – that’s what happened,’ Lloyd fumed.
‘No, he didn’t,’ a tiny voice said from the back of the room.
‘Lydie?’ Lloyd breathed. His jaw dropped and he looked completely shell-shocked.
Alice-Miranda ran around behind the footmen.
‘Are you all right, Miss Lancaster-Brown?’ the child asked. Lydie nodded. Alice-Miranda held the woman’s hand and led her to the centre of the room.
‘But … how?’ Lloyd stumbled backwards and steadied himself by grabbing hold of the desk.
‘It doesn’t matter. But you owe Cousin Gee and Freddy an apology,’ Lydie said. ‘I didn’t remember that day until now – until Braxton came to see me and things started to fall into place. He took me to the tower, Lloyd, and it was as if all the missing pieces were there. You and Freddy were so awful to me. You told me you’d ruin everything if I married Braxton. You said that he wasn’t good enough for me. We argued, then you stormed off and Freddy stayed. I was so cross with both of you.’
‘He pushed you,’ Lloyd said, tears swimming in his eyes. ‘He was like my brother and he pushed you out of the tower and ruined your life. I hated him from that day on. I hated him even more because he lied about it.’
Lydie shook her head. ‘But he didn’t push me. It was my fault. We were arguing and I ran upstairs to get away from him. Then I spotted a nest in the tree outside. Three little baby birds were chirping for their mother but I saw her lying on the ground. Freddy followed me. I told him to leave me alone but he just kept at me. He said it would be a disgrace for me to marry a farmer’s son. But I wasn’t listening. All I cared about was getting to that nest and rescuing those tiny creatures. I leaned out of the window and that’s the last thing I remember about that day.’
Lloyd looked at his sister bewilderingly. ‘All this time I’ve wanted to find a way to ruin Freddy’s life the same way he ruined yours.’
‘Well, you’ve done a very good job of ruining your own life, Lloyd.’ Her Majesty shook her head at the man and walked over to his sister. ‘Lydie, darling, welcome back to us, welcome back.’ She embraced the woman warmly.
Alice-Miranda strode over to Lloyd Lancaster-Brown and stood in front of him. ‘You’re lucky you committed treason now and not a couple of hundred years ago. Now you’ll only go to gaol. Back then you would have lost your head.’
Lloyd’s bottom lip trembled.
‘Take Thripp, Lloyd and Bunyan – or whatever her real name is – to the dungeons,’ Queen Georgiana ordered.
Braxton Balfour nodded at Her Majesty. He and five footmen marched forward and positioned themselves in pairs beside each prisoner.
‘The dungeons!’ Caprice looked at Alice-Miranda. ‘I thought you said there weren’t any dungeons at the palace.’
Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘I guess Aunty Gee can never be too careful.’
‘Oh, darling girl, you’re right about that,’ Queen Georgiana said, and hugged Alice-Miranda tightly.
Millie raced over to the desk where Her Majesty’s abdication paper was sitting. ‘What would you like to do with this, Aunty Gee?’ the child called.
‘Tear it up, Millie,’ Queen Georgiana said with a nod. ‘Tear it to pieces.’
Lloyd Lancaster-Brown, Thornton Thripp and Rowen a Treadwell, also known as Miss Broadfoot and Frank Bunyan, were all sent to prison for their treasonous plot. Though none of them would admit whose idea it was in the first place, each blaming the other as the mastermind behind the evil plan, their roles became more apparent over time.
Rowena had been clearing out some old filing cabinets at SPLOD HQ when she came across the unsigned abdication document. Marjorie was away at the time, so Rowena had taken it to Thripp in his capacity as the Queen’s chief advisor. He’d told her to sit tight and had hatched a plan to interrupt the line of succession and stop Freddy from becoming King. In return for her cooperation, Thornton promised Agent Treadwell the position of Chief of SPLOD as soon as Marjorie became Queen. This suited Rowena perfectly as she’d always resented Marjorie getting the top job over her.
Lloyd had hacked into Fiona, taking control of SPLOD’s master computer. Agent Treadwell switched the surveillance in Millie’s camera and took the photographs of Alice-Miranda while she was at school and, much to Her Majesty’s disgust, Thripp was the poet and author of the appalling notes. When she later questioned Thripp about his reasons for committing his treasonous acts, he said that he simply couldn’t bear the thought of Freddy ascending the throne after the reign of his gracious and elegant mother. Queen Georgiana couldn’t believe his stupidity.
Lloyd was desperately sorry for being such a fool and apologised to his sister Lydie, and cousin Freddy. He even tried to make it up to Marjorie by creating a completely hack-proof shield for Fiona 2.0.
Vincent Langley was given the option to retire on a very handsome pension. To everyone’s surprise he leapt at the chance, allowing Braxton Balfour to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming head butler at Evesbury. He and Lydie rekindled their romance and planned to marry the following spring. As time went by, her memory grew stronger and stronger. Lydie was more than happy to continue making Her Majesty’s hat too. Marjorie Plunkett had only ever known that the person who lived in the cottage provided her cover – she had never known who the woman was.
After breaking off her engagement with Lloyd, Marjorie chose to focus on her professional career for the moment and work on making SPLOD a more transparent organisation. She even agreed to be interviewed by the famous talk-show host Michael Frost about her role and the responsibilities of the organisation. That way, she no longer had to pretend that she was Her Majesty’s milliner. Marjorie was stunned to find a whole host of important original documents stored in the tower vault and promptly had them safely moved to HQ.
Together with Her Majesty, Marjorie turned the hunting tower into a tourist attraction and charged visitors to view the very first SPLOD computer, Fiona 1.0. They even had Fiona reprogrammed to answer the public’s questions – to a certain extent, of course.
The Prime Minister of Samoa’s visit to the palace had been part of Thripp’s plan to create yet another diversion. Fortunately, by the time dinner was served that night, order had been restored to the palace and the man was none the wiser.
Queen Georgiana decided that it was much safer to keep a close eye on Edgar and Louis and their inventions, and set them up in the attic. Though, their gadgets constantly caused her to question her decision – particularly after a stink bomb went awry and the entire palace had to be evacuated and the bomb squad called in.
Caprice’s grandfather recovered from his stroke and, though her mother was annoyed that Caprice had chosen to stay at the palace instead of going to be with her family, Venetia was pleased to hear that her daughter had played a positive role in apprehending the threesome that would have brought down the Queen.
Her Majesty took Hugh’s advice and gave Freddy more responsibility. He and Elsa had just represented her on a trip to the Pacific Islands. Apart from mispronouncing Prime Minister Tuitua’s name as Prime Minister Tutu, Freddy didn’t fare too badly.
Queen Georgiana appointed Mrs Marmalade as her chief advisor on top of her services as lady-in-waiting. Marian couldn’t wait for Dalton to return and realise what had gone on in his absenc
e. Never mind the answer when he applied for leave again.
Alice-Miranda and her friends had the most wonderful week with Aunty Gee and Mrs Marmalade. As promised, Aunty Gee took Alice-Miranda and Millie riding, and Caprice tagged along too. Even Millie had to admit that the girl was a very accomplished rider. The children had picnics and midnight feasts, and they used the clothes from the attic wardrobe for a play they presented to the palace staff on their very last night. Of course, they insisted on Aunty Gee and Mrs Marmalade performing in it too. It wasn’t a stretch for either of them, though, playing a queen and lady-in-waiting.
Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies staff
Miss Ophelia Grimm
Headmistress
Aldous Grump
Miss Grimm’s husband
Miss Livinia Reedy
English teacher
Science teacher
Mr Cornelius Trout
Music teacher
Miss Broadfoot
New teacher
Family and friends
Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones
Millicent Jane McLoughlin-McTavish-McNoughton-McGill
Alice-Miranda’s best friend and room mate
Jacinta Headlington-Bear
Friend
Sloane Sykes
Friend
Sep Sykes
Lucas’s best friend and brother of Sloane
Lucas Nixon
Alice-Miranda’s cousin
Cecelia Highton-Smith
Alice-Miranda’s adoring mother
Hugh Kennington-Jones
Alice-Miranda’s adoring father
Ambrosia Headlington-Bear
Jacinta’s mother
Charlotte Highton-Smith
Cecelia’s younger sister and Alice-Miranda’s aunt
Lawrence Ridley
Famous movie actor and Aunt Charlotte’s husband
Marcus and Imogen Ridley
Twin babies of Charlotte and Lawrence
Valentina Highton-Smith
Alice-Miranda’s maternal grandmother
Royal Family and staff
Queen Georgiana
The Queen
Mrs Marian Marmalade
Queen Georgiana’s lady-in-waiting
Thornton Thripp
Queen Georgiana’s chief advisor
Vincent Langley
Head butler at Evesbury Palace
Braxton Balfour
Under butler at Evesbury Palace
Frank Bunyan
Butler at Evesbury Palace
Freddy
Queen Georgiana’s only child
Elsa
Freddy’s wife
Louis
Twin son of Freddy and Elsa
Edgar
Twin son of Freddy and Elsa
Lady Sarah Adams
Cecelia and Charlotte’s cousin
Lord Robert Adams
Lady Sarah’s husband
Lord Herbert and Lady Lisbeth Luttrell
Guests
Lord Tavistock
Guest
Lord Lloyd Lancaster-Brown
Queen Georgiana’s second cousin
Lady Lydie Lancaster-Brown
Queen Georgiana’s milliner
Tom
Kitchenhand at Evesbury Palace
Others
Venetia Baldini
Famous television chef
Caprice Radford
Venetia Baldini’s daughter and student at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale
Marjorie Plunkett
Head of the Secret Protection League of Defence
Agent Rowena Treadwell
Operative of the Secret Protection League of Defence
Jacqueline Harvey taught for many years in girls’ boarding schools. She is the author of the bestselling Alice-Miranda series and the Clementine Rose series, and was awarded Honour Book in the 2006 Australian CBC Awards for her picture book The Sound of the Sea. She now writes full-time and is working on more Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose adventures.
www.jacquelineharvey.com.au
Books by Jacqueline Harvey
Alice-Miranda at School
Alice-Miranda on Holiday
Alice-Miranda Takes the Lead
Alice-Miranda at Sea
Alice-Miranda in New York
Alice-Miranda Shows the Way
Alice-Miranda in Paris
Alice-Miranda Shines Bright
Alice-Miranda in Japan
Alice-Miranda at Camp
Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor
Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster
Clementine Rose and the Farm Fiasco
Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape
Clementine Rose and the Treasure Box
Clementine Rose and the Famous Friend
Clementine Rose and the Ballet Break-In
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Alice-Miranda at the Palace
978 0 85798 273 5
First published by Random House Australia in 2015
Copyright © Jacqueline Harvey 2015
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Harvey, Jacqueline
Title: Alice-Miranda at the palace/Jacqueline Harvey
ISBN: 978 0 85798 273 5 (ebook)
Series: Harvey, Jacqueline. Alice-Miranda; 11
Target audience: For primary school age
Subjects: Friendship – Juvenile fiction
Queens – Juvenile fiction
Anniversaries – Juvenile fiction
Detective and mystery stories
Dewey number: A823.4
Cover and internal illustrations by J.Yi
Cover design by Mathematics www.xy-1.com
Loved the book?
* * *
There’s so much more stuff to check out online
AUSTRALIAN READERS:
randomhouse.com.au/kids
NEW ZEALAND READERS:
randomhouse.co.nz/kids
* * *