Page 52 of The Secret of Flirting
Ignoring the barb, she strode around the design, careful not to step on the chalk marks that not only laid out the pattern but described in words what plants went where. “Kudos to your mother. Does she intend to have a true knot garden with the effect of overlapping hedges to make the strands? I can’t tell from the design.” She stopped in the middle of an enigmatic circle. “Might she be planning a fountain here?”
“How the devil should I know?”
“Sacrebleu, you really do not spend much time at your estate, do you?” She eyed him askance.
“Not since my father died, no. And even when he was alive, I spent most of my time right there.” He gestured to the pavilion. “I used to sneak books up there from Father’s library and read the day away.” His voice hardened. “Or the night, if they were fighting.”
Her heart constricted at the thought of the lonely little boy reading to avoid the painful realities of his parents’ marriage. “Is that why your mother is putting the knot garden here? To coax you back home by improving your favorite spot?”
He snorted. “If it is, then it won’t work.”
“Don’t be too sure. Your mother’s work is amazing, and I daresay it will look spectacular from up in those windows. This is a very ambitious effort for a knot garden.”
“Where do you think I get my ambition from?” he quipped.
With a laugh, she shook her head. “Lady Fulkham is quite a force, isn’t she?”
“Since she runs this place in my stead, she has to be.” He came over to stand beside her. “I’ve offered time and again to hire a manager, but she won’t hear of it. She likes to keep her hand in.”
Monique kept her gaze fixed on the design. “Apparently she’s not as bothered by ghosts as you.”
“No,” he said softly. “Though she ought to be.” Just as Monique was about to ask why, he added, “So how long ago did Prince Leopold offer for you?”
The abrupt change of subject caught her off guard. Especially since it wasn’t the question she’d expected. And she didn’t know how to answer.
She chose to be careful. “I’m not sure. I was only informed of it a few months ago. It might have been before that, however.”
“You’re lying,” he said bluntly. “I saw the surprise in your face when Lady Ursula suggested including him in this party. And when the count mentioned the offer of marriage, you were stunned. I’d already heard rumors of it, but apparentlyno onehad informed you of the prince’s interest in Aurore until that very moment.”
“Gregory—” she began, turning away.
He stepped in front of her to clasp her shoulders. “I should warn you that even as we speak, one of my men is in Dieppe, trying to determine exactly what deal you made with the devil that led you here. Actually, you know my man, Lord Hartley. He was with me at the theater the night we saw your play. More recently, he witnessed your presentation in Parliament and agreed with me that you quite possiblyareMonique Servais.”
The gloves had come off. He was clearly done waiting for her to confess.
Leaving those words to knock about in her brain and make her frantic, he released her before continuing. “So rest assured—your masquerade will be exposed eventually. I won’t stand by and let an impostor take the throne of Belgium. I was willing to let the idiotic scheme ride at the beginning, to give me time to figure out what was going on, but not after I heard about Prince Leopold’s designs on Princess Aurore. Surely you cannot think I would let youmarrythe man in her stead.”
“I have no intention of marrying the man!” she protested. “And he’s already been refused, so his designs don’t matter.”
“They matter far more than you think, you little fool. Don’t you see? A union between Prince Leopold and Princess Aurore would ensure that the two together are made rulers of Belgium. It would solve so many diplomatic issues that all sides would eagerly approve it.”
His expression grew fierce. “Your dear ‘uncle’ or manager or whatever you choose to call him would like that very much indeed. So you may find yourself pressured into such a marriage, especially if the princess is dead and Beaumonde hopes to put you in her place.”
“Dead!” Had he heard something the count wasn’t telling her? Had the princess not survived her cholera or poisoning or whatever it was? If Gregory had spies everywhere, as apparently he did—
She seized his coat lapels. “What have you heard? What has happened?”
He met her gaze coldly. “Towhom?”
“Damn you! You will make me say it, won’t you?”
“I will. Or I will drag you in front of the count and makehimsay it, if I must.”
“No, you can’t,please. I’ll do anything... just don’t let him know you know the truth.”
“You didn’t tell him about our previous—”
“Certainly not. And you mustn’t, either.” She shifted away, frantic to think how to convince him. “Surely there’s a way we can... All I need is...”
