#reynolds

"Do you have any opinion?" Sophronia Pratt looked at him with disinterest and disdain and yet the head maid to Princess Augusta was the only maternal figure he had in his life. There were only fifteen years between them and yet it felt like a lifetime.

Reynolds sat across from her in the downstairs dining room alone. He had not been the only other person at this impromptu meeting, but the head butler had just gotten up to deal with a clatter of plates in the other room. Reynolds ignored his shouting.

"What am I saying, of course you have an opinion," Pratt laughed, closing her small notebook and leaning back in her chair.

He had no opinions about who should be the new queen's secretary. The announcement that Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was on her way by boat came suddenly and Reynolds hadn't slept since he heard the news. He either followed the king's pacing and attempted to ease his anxieties or he was in meetings like this, discussing and fine tuning every detail for her arrival and their inevitable nuptials.

Objectively, he had some thoughts about who would best fit the role of chief servant to the Queen. They would have to be adaptable. The new queen was unpredictable as they hardly knew anything about her, but she certainly didn't know the way things were meant to be done in England. She would need guidance without judgment or pity, she would need persistence, but she would also need someone without an ego. Someone who could take harsh criticism and smile through it, saying "yes, Your Majesty" and moving on from it.

"Well?" Pratt prompted him again, impatiently.

Another clatter from the kitchen and Reynolds nearly startled at the noise. Nearly.

"I haven't really thought about it," he confessed.

"Haven't—" Pratt scoffed and laughed humorlessly. "This is the second most important role of the house and you haven't thought about it?! You. Reynolds. The King's Man. You haven't thought about it?"