Be My Prince (31 page)

“I have just received a letter,” she told him, “and I don’t quite know what to do about it. I am seeking your advice.”

He regarded her questioningly, then stepped forward to take hold of the letter she held out to him.

He frowned as he read it, and set it down on the table.

“You cannot possibly go alone,” he said. “This woman is not balanced in the head. There is no telling what she might do. Your life is far too valuable to risk it.”

Alex rose from her chair. “I agree completely,” she replied. “Besides, no one orders me about in such a way, demanding that I do this or that.” She paused. “I don’t want to tell Randolph about this just yet. He is not well enough and will insist on accompanying me. Therefore I need
you
, Nicholas. Someone I can trust. You must bear witness to whatever she wishes to say, and I will rely upon you for protection and the safeguarding of your brother’s unborn child.”

Nicholas kept his blue eyes fixed upon hers, and for a long moment they stared at each other intently. She recalled those first days in England when they had danced together and he had worked so hard to be charming and amiable. Much had changed since then, and they had weathered a great deal of suspicion and conflict.

“Will you stand by me?” she asked, keeping a keen eye on his expression.

He took far too long to answer, but when at last he did, she was overcome by gratitude, for he bowed down on one knee and nodded.

“I am the king’s champion,” he replied, “and it is my solemn duty to protect him and all that he holds dear. Therefore I am at your service, madam.”

Alex let out a breath and smiled, laid a hand on his shoulder, and urged him to rise.

*   *   *

To Alexandra’s surprise, when she walked through the chapel doors—with Nicholas and an armed escort of four palace guards—the countess had not changed her mind about the meeting. Wearing a hooded black cloak, Lady Ainsley was kneeling before the altar in prayer.

The instant she heard the door open, she leaped to her feet. Her face went pale with shock and fear when she saw the five men with weapons at the ready.

Nevertheless, she performed a deep curtsy.

“As you can see, I did not come alone,” Alex said, gesturing toward her protectors.

The countess lowered the hood of her cloak, and for the first time Alex was able to clearly see the woman her husband had once loved and nearly married. The woman who could have been queen.

Her hair and eyes were brown. She was petite with freckles, which was not how Alexandra had envisioned her when she read about the scandalous events at the masquerade ball. She’d imagined someone tall and swanlike, with flaxen hair.

“Am I to be arrested?” the countess asked, swallowing uneasily.

Alexandra studied her frantic eyes. “Why do you ask? Have you done something wrong? Do you wish to confess it?”

The woman hesitated. “Your Majesty, may we speak in private?”

“Absolutely not,” Alex replied, “for you may be hiding a dagger in your cloak. I will not risk it. Whatever you wish to say you will say in front of Prince Nicholas and my guards.”

Lady Ainsley began to back away. “I cannot.”

Alex moved to follow. “Why?”

“I am frightened.”

“Frightened of what?”

“I am not certain.”

Beginning to wonder if the woman truly was half-mad, Alex tried to move up the chapel aisle, but Nicholas barred her with his arm.

“Not without me,” he said.

Alex nodded at him, then addressed the countess. “Prince Nicholas and I will approach you together. You can speak privately to the two of us. No one else will hear.”

Lady Ainsley agreed, and they gathered, all three of them, at the front pews.

“What do you wish to confess?” Nicholas said. “Did you poison the king?”

“Good heavens, no!” Lady Ainsley replied. “But I believe he may be in grave danger. There are plots against him.”

“There are always plots against the king,” Nick said. “Be more specific, madam.”

She turned her stricken eyes to Alexandra. “Nothing untoward ever happened between us. I give you my word. The king has been faithful to you, despite all my efforts.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she demanded to know.

“They said it was to make you jealous, and that they wanted to remove
you,
not Randolph, because you sought revenge on the New Regime. They paid me a handsome sum, but I would never have agreed to any of it if I had known they wanted to harm Randolph, for he is a good man.”

“But you were willing to harm
me,
” Alexandra challenged.

The countess lowered her eyes in shame. “I apologize, Majesty. It was wrong.”

In a sudden flash of movement Nicholas grabbed Lady Ainsley by the throat. “Who are
they
?”

Four swords scraped out of their scabbards at the rear of the chapel as the palace guards dashed forward to assist, but Alex held them off with a raised hand.

“Let her go,” she calmly said to Nicholas. “Can you not see she is frightened?”

He refused to release her, while the tension in the chapel rose to a very high pinnacle. The countess gasped for air.

When at last he loosened his grip she fell to the floor, coughing and choking.

Alexandra dropped to her knees beside her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I apologize. Please understand that Nicholas is very protective of his brother, but it will not happen again. Please tell us what you know. If you reveal the name of the person who paid you, I promise no harm will come to you.”

“He did not tell me his name,” she explained, “but he was a handsome older gentleman in a top hat. I believe now that he deceived me in order to smear Randolph’s good name, and to cause the people to turn against him. The man is a Royalist; I am certain of it. I believe it with all my heart.”

“Would you recognize him if you met him again?” Alex asked.

“Yes. He was very tall.”

Nick glared down at Alex with raging ire. “Your blasted benefactor…” Then he grabbed
her
by the sleeve and pulled her roughly to her feet. “Do not try to tell me you didn’t know about this, Alexandra. Where the devil is he? And I swear when I find him I will drown you both.”

He let go of her and stormed out. “Arrest the countess,” he said to the guards.

“I didn’t know about any of this!” Alex shouted after him. “And we must tell Randolph!” She stood back as the guards seized the countess and escorted her to the door. “Have no fear, Lady Ainsley,” she said, following them out. “I will speak to my husband on your behalf. You did the right thing coming to me. It will not be forgotten.”

Then she hurried to catch up with Nicholas before he reached her husband first.

Chapter Thirty-four

Alex chased Nicholas across the icy courtyard. “Where are you going?”

“To speak to my brother. Where else?”

“I will go with you,” she insisted, catching up with him.

“Why? Do you not trust me to convey all the proper details?”

“Quite frankly, I do not,” she replied. “Would you trust
me
to go and speak to Randolph alone? Would you not insist on being present while I told him about Lady Ainsley’s confession?”

He did not answer the question. He merely continued at a brisk pace into the palace.

Their boots pounded up the grand staircase, and a few short moments later they were admitted to Randolph’s chamber.

He was out of bed and fully dressed. His trusted valet was tying his cravat.

“You’re feeling better,” Alex said as an almost dizzying swell of happiness bubbled up within her. She laid a hand on her heart and fought back tears. “Thank God.”

He stared at her with confidence and affection, and she could have wept with joy.

Nicholas stepped between them.

“What’s wrong?” Randolph asked. “You both look as if you just escaped a burning building.”

“There is news to report,” Nick replied. “The Countess of Ainsley sent a letter to Her Majesty to request a private meeting this morning, which has just taken place.”

Randolph dismissed his valet. “Why was I not told of this?”

“It was early,” Alexandra explained. “We did not wish to wake you and hinder your recovery, but now I see you look very well.” She withdrew the letter from the pocket of her cloak. “Here it is. You must see it for yourself.”

She handed it to him, and he read the contents. “You’ve already spoken to her? What did she say?”

Alex repeated every word of their conversation.

“Someone paid her to follow me to Vienna?” he asked. “Who? Why?”

“She did not know the gentleman’s identity,” Alex replied, “but she said he was very tall. We believe it may be Mr. Carmichael.”

Randolph regarded her with dismay. His eyes seemed to impale her. She could barely keep her heart still.

“Did you know about that?”

“Of course not,” she replied. “I am shocked, just as you are.”

“But why? Carmichael was a Royalist from the beginning, as you have always been, and do not try to deny it, for you are a Tremaine.”

She felt all her muscles clench into tight knots. “That does not mean I wanted to depose you. I’ve always been clear on that point. I wanted to rule beside you, to unite the country. I am carrying your child now, Randolph, and you know I love you. Why would I wish to destroy all that we have accomplished and enjoyed?”

He glanced uncertainly at Nicholas.

“Where is Carmichael?” Randolph demanded to know.

“We have not yet summoned him,” she tried to explain, “but I suspect my stepmother will be able to tell us where to find him.”

“I shall summon Her Grace to the Privy Council Chamber,” Nicholas said, turning to go.

“No, wait,” Randolph replied. “We will go to her now, all three of us, for she must not suspect anything and find a way to send him a warning.”

Alex followed her husband out of the room and prayed that everything would not come tumbling down onto her shoulders like a deadly avalanche.

*   *   *

Alexandra knocked on her stepmother’s door, but no one answered. She knocked again, more firmly a second time. “She must be here. She never rises early.”

There was a heavy
clunk
on the other side of the door.

“It sounds like she just fell out of bed,” Nicholas surmised.

“Knock again,” Randolph said with an impatient bark of command.

“Who
is
it?” Lucille asked in a sweet, singsong voice.

“It is Alexandra. I must speak with you immediately.”

Lucille opened the door. She was just donning her dressing gown, and when she spotted Randolph and Nicholas standing behind Alex, she covered her mouth with a hand.

“Good heavens, Your Majesty! I am not dressed. I do beg your pardon—”

Randolph brushed by her and entered the room to look around. The bed was in shambles, though the curtains were drawn to let in the morning light.

Lucille spoke shakily. “I am pleased to see you are looking so well, sir.”

“He is much improved since yesterday,” Alexandra replied, though it was hardly a time for polite conversation. “That is not why we are here, however. We must know the whereabouts of Mr. Carmichael. When was the last time you saw him?”

Lucille’s anxious eyes darted back and forth among all three of them. “I … I don’t know.”

Randolph approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Take your time, Lucille. Please tell me where he spends his days. And nights.”

The color drained from her face. “I really do not know. I … I have not spoken to him since…”

“Since when?” Nicholas asked.

She seemed to lose all capacity to put words together in a coherent fashion, and a tense silence enveloped the room.

Tick, tick, tick,
went the clock. Then a hinge creaked alarmingly, like a whining cat.

All eyes turned to the wardrobe.

The door was open a crack. It was quickly pulled shut.

“Mama,” Alexandra said. “Are you hiding a man in your room?”

Lucille pursed her lips, as if trying to decide how best to reply. “Um … Well, you see … Oh, I cannot lie.
Yes!
”

Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose. “What a bloody circus,” he whispered.

“Mr. Carmichael. This is the king speaking,” Randolph said. “Come out of there at once.”

The door opened a crack, and Alexandra’s benefactor, wearing nothing but a loose linen nightshirt, spilled out of the tiny space onto the floor on all fours.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and bowed. “Your Majesty.”

Alexandra cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Good morning, sir,” Randolph said. “We have some questions to ask you. Have you any connection to the Countess of Ainsley?”

Mr. Carmichael paused. “I know who she is, but I have never had the pleasure of meeting her.”

Alex glanced down at his bare feet and scrawny ankles. This was awkward. Most awkward indeed.

“I suspect otherwise,” Randolph replied.

Carmichael’s mouth began to twitch. “I assure you, sir, I have never even been in the same room with her.”

Randolph approached him. “Have you ever entered into a financial arrangement together? Have you sent her funds in exchange for a particular task? Have you purchased gowns for her, or paid for her travel to Vienna?”

Carmichael shook his head frantically. “No, I have not!”

Randolph’s charming blue eyes turned to ice. Without ever breaking eye contact with Mr. Carmichael, he said to his brother, “Nicholas, take this man to the old wine cellar and lock him up.”

“Please, Your Majesty!” Lucille pleaded. “He has done nothing wrong!”

“That will be determined by the Royal Court,” Randolph replied as he shouldered his way past and took hold of Alexandra’s hand to pull her roughly from the room.

*   *   *

As soon as they were alone in the corridor, Randolph used his body to trap Alexandra up against the wall. “Tell me, Wife, what have you been plotting?”

Both his hands were braced on either side of her head, and his lips were mere inches from hers. She breathed in shallow, rapid gasps.