Page 23 of Of Fate and Phantoms
"Why not?" Lincoln asked.
"He looked remarkably like my father. Exactly alike, as it happens, from his whiskers, hair style, the shape of his face. I found myself almost believing his claim. The queen would certainly have believed him, and her lady knew it. That's why she sent for me."
"What about his clothing?" Lincoln asked.
"What of it?"
"Did it look like the clothing he wore in his lifetime?"
"He died so long ago, I can't recall. He had a variety of suits, some formal, others not so much. I would say the imposter wore something unremarkable since I didn't notice his attire. To be honest, I was too busy studying his features."
"What about his voice?" I asked, recalling the spirit's German accent.
"Again, his death was almost thirty years ago. The accent was certainly spot-on, with a hint of the Germanic." He frowned in thought. "Now that I think about it, his voice wasn't quite the same. The imposter's was deeper."
Lincoln set off again. The prince and I fell into step alongside him. "You were right to send him away," Lincoln said. "He is an imposter."
"I know," the prince said through a set jaw. "I saw my father's body. He is very much dead."
"Now we know what Leisl meant," I said. "She didn't see thespiritof your father, she saw the man impersonating him."
"That seems to be the case," the prince said.
"Could he have fathered another child?" Lincoln asked.
The prince's step faltered. He stopped again. "I beg your pardon?"
"That offends you?" Lincoln asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yes! He was devoted to the queen."
Lincoln glanced at me. I suspected he was asking me to confirm if that was the impression I got from meeting the prince consort's ghost. "He did seem pleased to see her," I said.
"I assure you he did not stray from the marital bed," the prince hissed. "He was a good man."
Lincoln walked off. "Good men sometimes stray. Even good men of royal blood."
"And some do not."
"True," Lincoln conceded. "Some have willpower and moral fiber."
The prince slapped one hand inside the other behind his back and forged ahead. I had to quicken my step to keep up with them both. "Even men with willpower and moral fiber find themselves in need of comforts out of the marital bed," the prince said. "Although my father was not one of them."
The contest of wills had returned so fiercely that they'd forgotten I was still there. Not that Lincoln would think such a conversation too indelicate for me. He knew I'd heard and seen things that would scandalize even His Royal Highness. I cleared my throat.
"My humblest apologies, Miss Holloway," the prince said, his face reddening. "I don't know what came over me to say such things in your presence."
"It's quite all right, sir," I said. "You are not entirely to blame."
I felt rather than saw Lincoln stiffen. "Do you know where the imposter went after he left here?" he asked.
"The East End. I had one of the footmen follow him, but he lost him in Whitechapel. My man didn't dare go further."
Considering his royal livery would have attracted undesirable attention, his reluctance was understandable. One of the footmen now opened the door leading to the courtyard. Gus and Seth straightened and urged the horses forward to collect us.
"What will you do now?" the prince asked Lincoln.
"I haven't yet decided." He nodded. "Good day, sir."
