Tasha Alexander - A Fatal Waltz

“Yes.”

“With the countess?”

“She’s one of my primary contacts in Austria.”

“Are all your contacts so beautiful?”

“Unfortunately not.” He held my hands. “You’ve no need to worry.”

“I trust you,” I said. “But I can’t say the same for her. I’m not naïve enough to think she’s content with being merely your colleague.”

“For a long time she was more. I can’t apologize for that, Emily. But you don’t know Kristiana. She’s not pining for me—she’s not the sort to give her heart to anyone. She likes to flirt, likes the game of it. Everything’s a waltz to her. And she knows that many men would not view marriage as an impediment to continuing a relationship with her.”

I didn’t believe she hadn’t pined for him. But that did not bother me so much as the fact that he didn’t say he had never pined for her. I stifled a sigh. “The world is so different from what young ladies are led to believe,” I said.

“I’m certain the subterfuge does no good.” He frowned. “People do better when they have the truth before them. I’ve never understood why a man would want a wife who’d been set up for nothing but disappointment.”

“You’re more cynical than I thought.”

“No, I’ve just no use for hypocrisy.”

“I share your opinion on the subject, but many would not. There are those who prefer a happy ignorance,” I said.

“If you marry for purely practical reasons—to preserve a title, an estate, gain a fortune—there’s no reason to be sentimental about the arrangement. Get an heir and a spare, your duty’s done, and at last you can pursue someone who sparks a passion in you. So long as all parties are discreet and neither husband nor wife is hurt in the process, what’s the harm?”

“I imagine there is none in such a case. But it seems a most unsatisfactory way to live. I’d rather be alone.”

“Being alone has its drawbacks too. How did we stumble on such a morose topic?”

“Your good friend, Kristiana. And so long as we’re on the subject of all things morose, I received a letter from my mother yesterday. She wrote to inform me that the queen would like us to be married at Windsor. Next summer.”

“Next summer? Why would we want to wait so long?”

“I don’t believe our desires factored into the equation. My mother and Her Majesty are rather taken with the month of June. It’s to be quite an event.”

“An event?”

“Yes. Fireworks were mentioned.”

“I see.” There was laughter behind his eyes.

“After our aborted attempt at an English wedding, I was rather hoping we could be married in Greece,” I said.

“Just the two of us, the necessary witnesses, and one of Mrs. Katevatis’s feasts afterwards?” The cook at my villa had unparalleled culinary talents, and the thought of the sun on Santorini and a platter of spanakopita was more than a little tempting, particularly when I was trapped on a dank English estate.

“Precisely,” I said.

“Lots of ouzo toasts and a rather late night.”

“One that extends all the way to morning.” Our eyes met.

“I don’t see how we can go against the queen’s wishes,” he said.

“I was afraid you’d say that. I admire your loyalty and sense of duty to your country, Colin, but you go too far. I can’t bear the thought of waiting so long.”

“You were perfectly willing to put me off yourself for more months than I care to count.” His smile warmed every inch of me.

“I was dreadful.”

“You weren’t. I understand perfectly why you waited to accept me. If you did not value your independence so well, I wouldn’t have wanted to marry you in the first place.”

“We’re disgustingly well suited to each other.” I raised my lips to his, but he did not kiss me.

“Regardless, we shall have to wait. It wouldn’t do to displease Her Majesty.”

“I don’t suppose there’s even a hint of sarcasm in that statement?”

“Perhaps just a touch.”

“I do adore you,” I said. He pressed my hand to his lips. “But there will be no changing her mind. She’s offering Windsor to thank my mother for her assistance in machinating the engagement between Prince Eddy and May of Teck. Everyone’s convinced the girl will make an excellent queen.”

“If only Eddy would make an excellent king,” Colin said. The Prince of Wales’s eldest son had a reputation for being rather slowwitted and had been embroiled in any number of scandals, each worse than the last.

“Speaking against the royal family, Colin? If you’re already this disaffected, there’s hope that I may be able to persuade you to go against the queen’s wishes. I shall do all in my power to tempt you.”

He put his hand on my cheek. “My dear girl, resisting you will take all of my will.”

“I wonder if you have quite so much will as you think?” I stood on my toes and kissed him, slowly, once on each cheek. “What a pity you have to go shoot today. I can think of much more pleasant ways to pass a morning.”

As it was, there was very little about the morning that could be called pleasant. We had all expected an influx of guests the previous day—the prime minister and others would have brought their wives—giving us ladies someone new with whom to converse. Ivy was still upstairs overseeing her packing, the countess and Lady Fortescue were nowhere to be found, so Flora and I were left with the count, finding almost nothing in the way of amusement.

“I don’t understand why we can’t shoot,” Flora said.

“It’s never made sense to me,” I said, looking up from the letter—already six pages long—that I was writing to Margaret. “We’re allowed to foxhunt. I suppose directly killing a bird is unladylike, but pursuing a fox and leaving him to be torn to bits by dogs is not.”

“Have you abandoned Aristophanes?” the count asked.

“So far as performance goes, yes,” I replied. “I don’t think any of us is in the mood for theatrical entertainment.”

“I am!” Jeremy Sheffield, Duke of Bainbridge, who’d been a dear friend since we were children and now as resplendent as a man could be in tweeds, strolled into the drawing room.

“Jeremy!” I leapt up to greet him. “What a surprise! Where have you come from?”

“Highwater, not five miles from here. I headed for Beaumont Towers the moment I heard you were here.”

“Yes, Margaret warned me to look out for you.”

“She’s a terrible girl. Tell me this party’s not as tedious as the one I’ve escaped.”

“Tedious is perhaps not the right word,” I said.

“Pleasantly soporific?” he suggested.

I smiled. “Mildly diverting.”

“We didn’t have it even that good. Langston, our host, wouldn’t let all of us shoot at once—insisted that we go out in small groups, which meant hours of sitting around doing nothing. But I suppose you ladies are used to that, and I now feel your pain keenly. Mrs. Reynold-Plympton was the most amusing person at Highwater, and she was in such a dreadful mood I was afraid to speak to her.”

“Really?” I asked. “I’m surprised she’s not here.”

“As am I,” he said, lowering his voice. “What a relief to be able to gossip with you.”

“I’m equally delighted to see you,” I said.

His voice returned to normal. “I’ve come to ask you to walk with me,” he said. “If your friends can do without your company?”

“Lady Ashton will be missed, but we shall bear it as best we can.” The count’s smile was rather more familiar than I would have liked. I took Jeremy’s arm and escaped with him as soon as I’d put on a coat and hat.

“I’m more pleased to see you than you can imagine,” I said as we walked, glad to turn my back on Beaumont Towers’ multitudinous turrets and chimneys. The weather was far from fine; the air was chill, and the wind bit through my coat, but it was a relief to be cold outside, where one expected it, rather than in the house.

“You’ve no idea how it affects me to hear you say that.” His smile was as winning as it had been when, as a little boy, he’d begged my forgiveness for any number of juvenile offenses, most of which involved frogs or snakes. “I don’t suppose you’ve decided to throw over Hargreaves.”

“Really, Jeremy. You’re awful.”

“Always. But a chap can hope, right?”

“Who am I to deny you amusement? Particularly as we’ve no unattached ladies at this party with whom you can flirt.”

“I’ve always preferred attached ones. They’re much less demanding.”

“Oh, Jeremy, it is good to see you. I can always count on you to make me laugh.”

“If only you knew how serious I am. I’ve every intention of making a bid for your affections the moment you’re married.”

“And I look forward to spurning your every advance.”

“Where’s Ivy? I thought she’s the one who dragged you here for this miserable gathering.”

“She’s preparing to go home.”

I had just started to explain to him what had transpired between Robert and Lord Fortescue when Flora, no coat covering her dress, tears staining her face, came running out of the house.

“Emily, I must speak to you at once!” Her voice sounded torn as she screamed. “Something dreadful has happened!”

“What is it?” I asked, running towards her.

“Perhaps we should go inside,” Jeremy said, shrugging off his topcoat and putting it around Flora’s shaking shoulders.

“Thank you, Your Grace. I’m most obliged, but I think it’s best that we speak out here.” The contrast between her formal mode of speech and her ragged voice was frightening. She clung to my arm, and I wondered if the gesture was meant to steel her or me. “There’s been a terrible accident.”