The Wild Princess (28 page)

Thirty-three

Stafford House, London, 1871

Louise shifted away from Byrne's chest just enough to look up into his face, needing him to see her eyes and know that every word she'd confessed to him was the absolute truth.

“When Locock came into my room the next morning, he tried once more to convince me I was being foolish. I assured him if he killed my baby, he'd have to kill
me
to keep me quiet.”

Byrne was staring at her with an expression of such wonder that she knew he hadn't guessed this part. She thought she saw a subtle brightening in his gaze, and relief.

“Aren't you going to ask where the child is now?”

“I'm pretty sure I know.”

She smiled. Yes, she supposed he did. “By morning I'd come up with a plan.”

“And that plan involved a young woman who scrubbed floors at the art school where you'd met Donovan?”

“Yes. I sent a carriage for Amanda. Then I told Locock to summon his son. Henry was a medical student, soon to complete his studies. I'd met him at parties with my artist friends and liked him. He seemed generous of spirit, gentle, wise beyond his years. When they both arrived I introduced them to each other and made them a proposition. I offered a generous portion of my dowry to set them up in a nice house in a respectable part of the city—if they would marry and take my baby as their own. Amanda would never have to scrub another stoop, and Henry could open his practice years earlier than if he were struggling on his own or dependent upon his penny-pincher of a father. All they needed to do was provide a safe and loving home for my little Edward. And allow me to spend time with him whenever I could.”

Byrne closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, as though to cleanse away the wickedness of his accusations. “I'm sorry I thought for even a moment that you might have—” He shook his head. “This is a much happier tale than I'd imagined. You were terribly brave.” He touched her cheek with rough fingertips. “You stood up to your mother and—”

“And acted just as she would have done.” Louise didn't try to hide her bitterness. “I ordered people around, forcing them to alter their lives to suit me.”

“No. You saved an innocent life and brought two people together who seem very happy with the marriage you arranged for them.”

Louise had to agree with that at least. Although she'd often felt guilty for bullying Amanda and Henry into a marriage every bit as contrived as her own to Lorne, she had watched them fall in love during the years they were raising her son as their own. “I've just learned that Amanda is expecting a child of her own. Henry is as proud as a man can be.”

“So there,” Byrne whispered. “Fate put you in an impossible situation, but you did the very best anyone could. Your son is a healthy, happy boy, due to your courage.”

“But he'll never know I'm his real mother.” That alone broke her heart.

“There may come a time when you can reveal the truth to him.”

She looked up at Byrne, seeing something new and unexpected in the man. Beneath the facade of a rogue was an intelligent and sincere man. A man of moral strength.

“Why did you put me through this ordeal?” she said, pressing her palms to his chest to move a little away but not quite out of his embrace.

“Because you needed to heal. I told you that.”

“No, I mean, why do you care? You, personally. About me.”

He tipped his head to one side and smiled. “Because I just do.” She watched as he lowered his head, knowing what he was about to do. He kissed her on the lips, long and thoroughly.

Already weak from her emotional outpouring, Louise dissolved at the soft pressure of his mouth over hers. She lingered, enjoying the moment, then sighed. “No one in my family cared enough to face the truth. No one,” she said. “It's a forbidden topic. My fall from grace.”

The tenderness in his gaze shifted almost imperceptibly to something with more sizzle.

“Mr. Byrne?”

“My Christian name is Stephen,” he reminded her.

This would take some getting used to. “Stephen. I understand you're a compassionate man. Comforting me and being my confidant is one thing, but . . . I need to know what you're thinking. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, well—” He lowered his lips to her throat and kissed her once, twice, thrice in a descending pattern to the top edge of her bodice. “I'm just trying to convince myself not to throw you down on this stone floor and make love to you.”

She reached up and placed her palms on either side of his face to make him look up from her breasts and into her eyes. “That would be a very ungentlemanly thing to do.”

“I suppose so. But then—”

“—you're not a gentleman.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat and released her, as if the simple action of opening his arms required as much strength as lifting a smoldering timber off of Amanda. “But if you stay out here another five minutes with me, your reputation will be shot to hell.”

She smiled. “I suppose so.”

He took her by the hand. “Back to the ball, Princess.”

Thirty-four

In the days following Louise's encounter with Stephen Byrne at Stafford House, Louise found it a challenge to think of anything but him. His strong arms holding her. The scents of leather and earth that seemed always to cling to him even when he was indoors. His eyes, as black as the onyx stone in the signet ring her father had left to her. In her dreams, he kissed her again, and again. Each time demanding more from her.

Louise's only defense for shutting out these fantasies, and others far too vivid and intimate to even think about, was by keeping very, very busy. She decided the necessary distractions should come in the form of helping the American investigate the rat incident. While he was in pursuit of Darvey, she would lessen his load by doing a little sleuthing at Buckingham.

The first step, she decided, was to confer with her mother, a task she looked forward to with even less enthusiasm than usual, so soon after revisiting the most traumatic days of her young life.

Byrne had forced her to acknowledge her feelings of guilt, deserved or not, for giving up her son, and for hating (or at least deeply distrusting) her mother. That emotional catharsis was no doubt long overdue—though she failed to see why Stephen felt it his particular duty to bully her into confession. The problem now was—she feared this awakening of emotions might renew the tension of her daily encounters with her mother. Until this moment, their relationship, though strained, had survived. They had come to an uneasy truce. By unspoken agreement, neither spoke of the past. Her mother even seemed capable of pretending, while around Amanda and Eddie, that she wasn't the boy's grandmother. Incredible.

When she arrived at her mother's office, she found the door shut. Her personal Cerberus looked up from his desk. “Your Royal Highness, I hope you're well.”

“I am. Quite.” In fact, she felt positively renewed. As if she saw the world through fresh eyes, unclouded by self-doubt. “I need a few words with my mother.”

The secretary blinked at her apologetically. “I'm afraid she is in conference with Mr. Disraeli. I don't know how long they'll be.”

Louise sighed. “It's quite urgent that I see her soon. I don't suppose—”

The door swung open, and the magnetic gaze of Benjamin Disraeli peered around the doorframe's dark wood. “I thought I heard your voice, Princess. Please, if you'd like to join us?”

She smiled. “I would indeed. Thank you, sir.”

An elaborate tea service for two had been arranged on a butler's table.

“Ring for another cup if you like, dear,” Victoria said when Louise walked in.

Louise waved off the invitation. “It's not necessary. I don't want to interrupt, but I do need to discuss something of importance with you.”

“If it is of a personal nature,” Disraeli said, “I'll be happy to take my leave.”

“Oh, Dizzy, no. Please don't, you've only just got here,” her mother cooed.

“Only if you wish for me to stay, my Faerie dear.”

Louise rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she'd heard the two of them exchanging pet names. This was a side of her mother she didn't understand, or much enjoy. The woman could be a harsh taskmaster to her children, ruthless to politicians and clergy who stood in her way, as tough as a general when crossed by the court. But she always kept around two or three pet males whom she pampered and flirted with outrageously. The suave Disraeli was a current favorite. A choice she made obvious and which, Louise suspected, annoyed John Brown to no end. Not to mention Disraeli's adversary, the present prime minister, Mr. Gladstone.

Brown was all physical masculinity, the gillie from Balmoral that Victoria had made into a personal bodyguard and attendant. The commoner from Scotland wasn't much liked in court, whereas Disraeli's charm and elegance won him the admiration of many women in and outside of the English court. Predictably, neither man seemed particularly fond of the other.

“What is it you wish to speak to me about?” Victoria asked, setting her cup down on its saucer in her ample lap.

Louise arranged her skirts around her feet as she settled into the chair Disraeli pulled up for her.

“I wish your honest opinion and observations, Mama.”

“I would never give any but honest ones, my dear.” Victoria tossed Disraeli a coy smile.

Louise wished she'd caught her mother in a more serious mood, but saying so would only set her mother against her. There was nothing to do but begin. “Neither Mr. Brown, nor your agent Mr. Byrne, have discovered who released the rats into the nursery. Is that so?”

“It is,” her mother said then glanced at Disraeli with sudden anxiety. “Oh, Dizzy, it was such a terrible scene. So disturbing. And with a threatening note to my dear children. Horrifying!”

“I was here that day. Remember, dear lady?”

“Oh, yes, of course you were. As was Mr. Gladstone.”

Now this is something, Louise mused. She had worried that someone among their staff might not be trusted. But she hadn't considered visiting dignitaries. Including men of such stature as the current and past PM among the suspects, well, that seemed illogical.

But was it really?

She tried to remember if she'd seen either man, with or without accompanying secretaries, wandering the castle's hallways or anywhere near the nursery wing. But she couldn't say that she had. Then again, so much had happened since then to cloud her memory of that day.

“I know that thinking about that day is unsettling to you, Mama. But here's my question: if you were to consider someone in our midst who might turn on us from within, could you offer up any candidates?”

Her mother's jowls trembled and tiny porcine eyes sparked with displeasure. “God help us, Louise, how can you even suggest such a thing? Of course no one in our service, or in the court, wishes us ill.”

“I would like to think so as well,” Louise said carefully. “But the fact remains, someone did smuggle those rats into the castle. And, according to Mr. Byrne, the spy, intruder, or whatever you wish to call this person, also seems to be feeding information to the Fenians about our daily routine and travel schedules, making it easier for them to plot further assaults.”

“He's said as much to me.” Victoria pursed her lips in displeasure.

“Dear lady, if you will allow me.” Disraeli spoke to his queen but flashed a conspiratorial gaze toward Louise. “Princess Louise is right, as is your agent. Concern for your security outweighs your loyalty to those around you. No one should stand above suspicion.”

Victoria shook her head in denial but didn't interrupt.

Disraeli continued. “I myself have many enemies.”

“I cannot believe anyone would harm you, Dizzy.”

Louise rolled her eyes.
Oh, Mama
.

“Of course they would, for a purpose. One must be ever vigilant.” Disraeli sighed. “Thus your report from Mr. Byrne makes perfect sense.”

“Report? What report?” Louise said.

Disraeli reached over and patted her hand. “Violence between men is nothing new, Your Royal Highness. We have merely refined our weapons over the years.” He turned back to Victoria. “I'm grateful to Mr. Byrne for his acute eye and for warning me to take precautions.” He pointed to a copy of the
Times
that lay on the table beneath the tea service, then slid it out from under the heavy silver tray and handed it to Louise.

The page to which it was opened showed photographs of two men. They looked as if they'd been taken for government identification. The headline read:
BOTH MURDER VICTIMS MINOR SECRETARIES TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE.

Louise stared at the faces of the two men. Only after a moment did she look up at the former PM with understanding. “You and this one gentleman are not unlike in certain respects.”

“Yes,” Disraeli said, “that's what Mr. Byrne has pointed out. He believes it was my life the attackers intended to take—and these poor men were innocents. He also told your mother that my death would have served the Fenians well. The man has a way with words.” He shook his head. “Ice water runs through his veins, I'm sure.”

Louise covered her mouth with one hand, hiding her smile.
Not always
.

“Enough of this talk of assassins.” Victoria waved a hand in dismissal. “They're hooligans, all of them—out to cause mayhem to no purpose. Louise, you said you came to discuss our rats? I can think of no less delightful topic.”

“Yes, I did.” Louise ignored her mother's chiding glare.
This had better be worth my time,
the queen's eyes warned. “I've been thinking. Mr. Brown and your guardsmen assure us that no deliveries were made the morning the rats appeared. And all visitors were accounted for—those, at the time, being Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone, and their secretaries. And the rats could not have been in Bea's room for long without being discovered.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Disraeli agreed. “Have the staff as well as gentlemen and ladies of the court been questioned?”

“They have. To no good result.” Louise paused. “I believe, therefore, that the person to blame is someone not presently among us. Some person or persons who at one time deserved our trust but now harbors a violent grudge, and has become allied with the Fenians for the purpose of revenge.”

Her mother blanched to nearly the whiteness of her lace collar but said nothing.

“You know someone who fits that description. Don't you, Mama?”

Victoria's eyes met hers and slowly widened. Louise watched her mother's fear transform into revulsion. “The baron,” she whispered.

Louise shuddered at the mention of the man. There were, of course, many who owned that title, throughout England and the Continent. But she had no doubt who her mother meant.

“Baron Stockmar,” Louise said to Disraeli's questioning look. She turned back to her mother. “He's dead, though, isn't he?”

The queen broke into a smile and actually cackled her pleasure. “He hates me so much, maybe he's come back from the grave to haunt us.”

Louise chewed her bottom lip. Yes, she thought, if such a thing were possible, she had no doubt Stockmar would do it. The question remained—how?