Page 25 of A Torn Allegiance
“I’m all ears. Do tell how I might have the exclusive honor of so many waltzes with so many sought-after princes?”
“You must come to Oldenburg.” He paused just long enough for the seriousness of his suggestion to sink in.
“Capital!” Kristoff called over to her as he circled with his partner.
“Absolutely. Return on our ship. Oldenburg would bow at your feet.” Prince Marc shuffled to the right.
Elsie studied Prince Hayes as she moved through the steps. Go to Oldenburg? The idea was not so preposterous, and her reaction was surprising. Go to Oldenburg. Suddenly the thought filled her with a wild exhilaration, and she shocked herself with the realization that she wanted few things more.
While Prince Hayes watched for her reaction, she didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing and tried to control the mad rushing of her heart. She just might visit Oldenburg.
Elsie rode home from Almack’s in high happiness. She chattered away with her mother about the ladies who were there and the many men who had asked her to dance, the amusing comments they’d heard, everything except the real reason she was so cheerful. As they approached their town house, her father tapped his thumbs on his knees and then looked at her with a slightly worried frown. “Elsie, I’d like to talk to you and Duncan in my study.”
Her mother rested a hand on Father’s arm. “I think I’ll come too, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.”
Elsie appreciated her parents’ relationship. Her father was very much in control of every situation—at least he appeared to be—until her mother’s quiet voice inserted itself, and suddenly her father’s determined stance on any subject softened. In those moments, the respect that existed between the two of them was clear. Elsie didn’t know any different from what she’d seen between her parents, but oddly, she’d never met a single man in thetonwho she imagined would look at her with the same respect her father showed her mother.
Until she’d met Prince Hayes.
She tried not to think too much of his hints at a growing respect. She didn’t know if their time spent together would grow into anything more, and she didn’t know if she wanted it to. She had found it difficult to be apart for a paltry five days in a week, but his conversation with a known enemy to England was concerning, to say the least.
The family entered through the front parlor, handed Timson their things, and filed into the study.
She took her favorite chair by the fire. Her father sat behind his desk. Duncan sat across from him, and Mother sat to Father’s side, also behind the desk and to the left.
As soon as they were settled, her father leaned forward. “Duncan, what have you learned of Prince Hayes?”
Elsie started. She’d forgotten her father had seen the prince leave the ballroom with Lamoreaux. Duncan glanced at her and winked. “He could fence circles around Elsie.”
She snorted, and her mother laughed.
“Perhaps you learned something of greater import?” Father’s frown grew.
“No, I didn’t. In fact, the more time I spend with him, the more I like him.” He turned his large and sincere eyes to Elsie. “We need more men of his quality in our lives.”
The truth of his statement crept into her heart, and she nodded without even thinking about it. “I agree.”
Every eye turned to her.
“You do?” Her mother’s eyes lit with that same happy, all-knowing expression she’d given Elsie earlier.
“He’s been a good friend to us, and his country is a good ally to England. The man will be King of Oldenburg one day.” She thought it might help them to remember they were talking about royalty, not some sneaky spy who had crept into their country.
“As a future monarch, we need to know his intentions toward England. Our navy is occupied in the North Sea. We are declared allies now, but will we always be?” Father turned to her. “What do you know?”
He peered at her, and even though she tried to keep the information to herself so she could attempt to further understand what she was about to say, the words came tumbling out. “It is true he had a private meeting with Pierre Lamoreaux tonight.”
Her father stood up. “That’s what I thought.”
“But, Father, he called him a weasel. He has no warm feelings for that man.”
Father began pacing behind his desk. “Why would he meet with him, then? Why did Lamoreaux seek him out? How can we be certain?” He turned back to Elsie. “You must become close to him. Learn his confidences. The war committee is not going to be pleased.”
Elsie huffed in exasperation, frustrated the man had come at all. “But why is Lamoreaux here? Why was he at Almack’s? Who let the man in?”
“We have diplomatic relations with him, but we don’t have to like him. We certainly don’t have private conversations with him.”
