Page 105 of A Royal Kiss & Tell
Ah, but she’d heard plenty from Eliza and Hollis.
Eliza wrote that Leopold arrived in Helenamar as rumors swirled about his supposed treachery. But then he’d exposed the plot to sell the poor Weslorian women, and some Alucian women, too, Eliza believed, into slavery.He is a hero, Caro. Everyone says so. He risked his reputation and his engagement to expose that horrible plot.Eliza said he was being feted for his noble deeds. She said the entire court was talking about him, as he was not the person anyone expected to care so deeply about anything.
Caroline smiled when she read that part. She wondered what Leopold thought of it all.
Hollis brought her news from town when she came to visit one long weekend. She’d been very kind to Caroline in her gazette, but others had not been kind. All sorts of rumors had surfaced about Caroline and her loose morals. Whispers of the gentlemen she’d entertained, of trysts, of lies she’d purportedly told to hide these things. And the one that stung the most? That she’dnotmade the dresses she had so very graciously handed around to her friends, but had employed the secret services of a trained modiste.
Hollis had more news—Lord Ainsley had offered for a coal heiress, and once again, Katherine Maugham was left in the cold. Caroline felt a little sorry for her, really. Katherine desperately wanted a match and to be married. Hollis also told her that Mr. Cressidian, the Alucian gentleman, would be tried for his crime of slavery. She said that facts came to light indicating that not only had he profited from brokering the sale of women, but he’d also offered to slander the prince for a price. “It’s so disturbing,” Caroline said.
“It’s horrible,” Hollis agreed. “Do you know what I think is the most remarkable thing about it?”
Caroline shook her head.
“That Prince Leopold would allow his standing to suffer as he did for the sake of those women. Eliza said he has vowed to find all the young women sold into slavery if it’s the last thing he does.”
“I always knew he was a good man,” Caroline murmured.
Hollis laughed. “No, you didn’t, darling. You despised him.”
Caroline smiled wanly. “I mean I always knew he wasafterI despised him. Oh God, Hollis, I miss him so.”
Hollis had moved to sit beside her and laid her head on Caroline’s shoulder. “I know, darling. I still miss Percy.”
CAROLINEHADSTARTEDgardening in the late autumn, intrigued by the way the roses managed to bloom in spite of the early frosts. Eliza wrote again with news that, at first, surprised and elated Caroline. The engagement with Eulalie Gaspar was ended, as her father was implicated in the slavery scheme. Nothing would happen to the Duke of Brondeny, of course, as the Weslorians accused Leopold of manufacturing such slanderous details about him. Neither would anything happen to Mr. Vinters, as the king relied too heavily on his counsel.This has displeased the prince greatly, and I think my husband, as well. It’s difficult for them to understand how their father would want the counsel of a man engaged in that sort of scheme.
Caroline understood it. To men like that, the women they’d harmed were just girls. Nothing to get upset about.
But her surprise and elation at the news about Eulalie soon vanished. She realized that Leopold would simply marry someone else. It would never be her. She could take some solace that the smug little face of Lady Eulalie would be smug no more.
But it would never be her.
She continued making dresses into the early winter, more than there could possibly be demand for in a village as small as Bibury. She took long walks in the afternoon to the extent that her boots began to wear at the heel. The weather was colder, so she began to wear Beck’s buckskins, belting them at the waist. And she continued gardening, shoving her hands into dirt, turning it over, preparing it for spring.
Beck came to call from time to time. He remarked one evening that she seemed different.
“How so?” she asked him as she stacked her feet into a chair at the dinner table and picked up a cheroot.
“More mature,” he said. “You’ve always been sure of yourself, darling, but now you are...comfortable somehow. I can’t rightly put my finger on it. It’s as if you don’t really care that smoking a cheroot is unacceptable and would ensure you’d not receive another invitation.”
She laughed. “I only mean to try it, Beck. Life is so boring without an adventure here or there.”
Beck leaned forward. “Are you happy, Caro?”
She shrugged. “I’m not unhappy. I suppose I’m as happy as I can be for the time being.” She drew from the cheroot and coughed violently. “You mustn’t worry about me, Beck. I always find my way.”
“I have no doubt of it, darling.”
The days grew short and now there was a bitter nip in the air each day. Caroline wrapped a shawl around her neck and wore Beck’s hunting coat when she walked. She had two dogs as companions now, having stumbled on them in a village market. They’d seemed happy to come along on her adventure, trotting along after her as if they belonged to her.
Today, Caroline hadn’t walked a mile when she realized that the dampness on her cheek was snow. She and the dogs turned back.
She cut through on a forest path and came down a hill to where the Hawke estate was spread below them. Caroline happened to notice three riders approaching the house. So did the dogs. They raced ahead, barking at the intruders. Lord, she hoped whoever it was would carry on. She did not like the idea of playing hostess to strangers on a snowy evening. She and Martha liked to play gin rummy on nights like this.
But as she walked down that hill, a strange little current slipped down her spine. The first rider suddenly spurred his horse forward, galloping ahead of the other two. Heat began to fill her chest and rise in her cheeks. She stared at the rider, certain it had to be an apparition. She had to be imagining it. Wouldn’t someone have told her?
But there was no mistaking the Arse of Alucia, her beloved. She threw off her hat and began to run, slipping and sliding down the hill to the road.
He leaped from his horse and raced toward her, pushing his way through the dogs and up the hill. They met midway, where Caroline vaulted into his arms. He caught her, spread his hand against her face and kissed her. He kissed her so hard that they tumbled to the ground and rolled a bit until he managed to stop them. When at last he lifted his head, he grinned at her.
