Page 24 of Of Fate and Phantoms
"Be sure to keep me informed at every step. Understand?"
"Perfectly."
I bobbed a curtsy. "Good day, your highness. It was a pleasure to be invited to your home and meet your mo— queen."
He took my hand and assisted me up into the carriage. "Good day, Miss Holloway. It was delightful to have your company. I hope to see you again shortly." He kissed the back of my hand and smiled as he stepped away.
Lincoln climbed in beside me and the footman closed the door and folded up the step. The coach rolled off and out of the courtyard.
"You goaded him," I said.
Lincoln arched a brow. "That's the first thing you have to say?"
"If these were medieval times, he'd have you executed."
"I doubt it. Not his own son. Thrown in the Tower to teach me a lesson, perhaps."
He said it so calmly and casually that it was easy to think that talking about the prince being his father didn't affect him. But I suspected it did. His smile did not reach his eyes. They were broody and grim.
I switched places to sit next to him, and curled into his side. He shifted his arm and placed it around my shoulders, holding me firmly. I kissed his cheek.
"I understand why you spoke to him that way," I said. "I do. But…" I sighed. "Give him a chance, Lincoln."
"To be a father to me? The time for that has long past, even if he wanted it, which I suspect he does not. I don't want or need a father." He kissed the top of my head. "You're everything I need now."
I tilted my face to peer at him. He squeezed my shoulders and set me aside. That was it, just a friendly squeeze.
I sat up straight and swallowed my sigh of disappointment. "What do you think about the imposter?"
"I think we have a problem."
"You mean the royal family have a problem—and the police. It seems to have nothing to do with us after all. Pity. I wouldn't mind returning to the palace again, or perhaps taking a turn around the garden. They're unlikely to invite us back now, unless the prince decides he'd like to get to know you better."
"He won't. Gone are the days when the illegitimate offspring of royalty enjoyed favor at court. I would be an embarrassment."
I covered his hand with mine. "You wouldn't have made a very good nobleman anyway. You hate dinner parties and small talk."
"And fine clothes. I'd have to wear a tie all the time." He drew my hand to his lips and kissed the back. "By the way, I think you're wrong."
"About what?"
"About the matter now being one for the police and not the ministry. I think there may be something supernatural at play. The Prince of Wales mentioned how similar the man was to his father in every way. The queen's lady must have thought so too or she wouldn't have sent for him."
I shrugged. "An illegitimate son playing a cruel trick. The prince may think his father a good man, but that doesn't mean he was."
"It's a possibility, but I want to explore more."
"Explore what? How could someone make themselves look like a dead man yet not be a blood relative?"
"A body changer."
I waited for him to go on, but he did not. "Like Lady Gillingham and my two friends from the School for Wayward Girls?" I asked. "But they look like beasts in their other form, not princes."
"Something similar to them but not the same."
"Then what?"
He looked out the window. The high hedges and ornate gates of the manors on the edge of Hampstead Heath passed us by at a swift pace. "We're nearly home. I'll explain everything to you and the others there."
