Page 5 of The Heir
“I see what you have been doing.” Her breath was hot and smelled of Madeira wine and licorice. “You have been standing here, idle, staring out windows, rehearsing all your wrongs. Disparaging your mother to your governess, to your ladies, and your friend.”
“Jane is not my friend.” Victoria forced the words through clenched teeth. Mama’s grip hurt her. She should be still.
I will not be still.
“Jane comes because Sir John makes her, and you let him,” Victoria grated. “It is not fair. I would never treat anyone in my family so poorly!”
Mama’s grip on Victoria’s chin tightened. Dash poked his nose out from under his blanket and barked once.
“I did warn Your Highness,” Lehzen murmured under her breath.
Mama’s head jerked up. Her grip loosened. Victoria twisted her chin away. Dash slid out of his basket and scampered to her side.
“What did you say, Lehzen?”
“I beg your pardon, ma’am.” Lehzen lifted her own chin, as if she herself was a duchess rather than the daughter of a Prussian schoolmaster. It was an attitude that never failed to infuriate Mama. “It’s only that I had already told Her Highness that an outing on such a day would be quite inadvisable.”
“Well, yes, I am sure I am always grateful for your advice in how to best care for the health and safety of my child!” Mama’s words oozed condescension and a thick, oily suspicion. “You may say that you warned her, but I know your ways. I’m sure it was you who put this notion of a ride into her head!”
“This is not Lehzen’s idea!” shouted Victoria. Dash pressed closer against her shin. “You will not blame her!”
“Well, now. What is this?”
Sir John breezed into the room. Jane immediately looked around her in panic, clearly trying to discover what sheshouldhave been doing. Mama, however, plunged into an attitude of dramatic relief.
“Victoria is determined to go riding!”
You say it as if I had been planning to burn the stables down.
“She has been plaguing me this half hour!”
“I did tell her that riding on such a filthy day was not to be thought of, Sir John,” said Lehzen. “But she has insisted she will go out with Jane.”
It was, of course, entirely wrong that Lehzen should lie to Mama or to Sir John. But now she had, and—Victoria could not help but note—Lehzen’s addition of Jane to the story made Sir John smile down from his great height. His eyes were a brilliant blue color and showed every emotion that flitted through his mind. Or rather he could make you believe that they did. That, in turn, made people of all stations want to trust him. Some because they believed he was openhearted. Some because they believed they could keep ahead of him.
But neither thing was true. Victoria watched him, and she knew better. When he was not exerting himself to charm, Sir John’s clear blue eyes examined the person in front of him carefully, seeking weaknesses he might expose. His seemingly easy smile was in reality an expression of his smug satisfaction. It sent chills down Victoria’s spine that were far worse than when he frowned.
“Well, I see no harm in it, ma’am, if Her Highness will take Jane.” As he looked to his daughter, Sir John’s smile stretched to show his teeth. “She’ll make sure they return at the first sign of rain. Won’t you, Jane?”
Jane looked as if she would rather be banished to the Outer Hebrides. But she got to her feet, her gaze pointed resolutely at the floor.
“Yes, Father,” she murmured.
Dash growled. Sir John’s head jerked around. Dash barked. To Victoria’s horror, Sir John drew his foot back just a little, just enough to aim a kick.
Heart thumping, Victoria snatched Dash up in her arms. Sir John seemed to re-collect himself, and he smiled.
“Yes, I think a ride with Jane would be very beneficial,” he said.
He pretended nothing had happened, but Victoria had watched and she had seen and she would not forget.
But that was all before. Now she was out of doors, in the fresh air. Prince trotted determinedly across the green. Dash barked happily and nosed about the grass, far too smart to get himself in the way of the horse’s hooves. A raindrop thumped against the back of Victoria’s glove. Another smacked Prince’s head, causing him to shake his ears.
“We need to go back,” whined Jane. “My father will be furious we were out this long.”
Your father maybe, thought Victoria.My father was a horseman. My father would have loved to ride with me.
Her father also died from a chill he’d caught in the rain. Another drop hit the edge of Victoria’s bonnet, and another. Victoria had been told the story a thousand times. A hundred thousand. The recitation had taken on the shape of catechism. Only instead of saving her soul, it was meant to keep her trembling indoors when the weather turned gray.
