Page 74 of The Secret of Flirting
It was Gregory’s turn to be shocked. “What do you mean, ‘friendly’?”
Lady Ursula shrugged. “They’ve known each other for years. I believe they became boon companions after Leopold married Princess Charlotte.”
His mind reeling, Gregory roamed the room and tried to make sense of her claims. There was a close connection between Danworth and Leopold? Hard to believe. Then again, Gregory had still been at university at the time—it wasn’t as if he could have known.
So what was Danworth’s game now? Why would he lie and say he wanted to confirm the “rumors” about Leopold renewing his interest in Aurore if all he’d had to do was ask Leopold?
Unless Danworth thought that stirring such rumors would make Leopold a more attractive candidate. Which begged the question—how far would Danworth go to help his friend?
Would he stoop to murder? It seemed unlikely. What could he gain from it except Leopold’s gratitude? That was rather far to go for such a thing.
Still, the merest possibility of it made Gregory uneasy.
Lady Ursula was watching him with avid interest. “What about the count? Does he know about your... past association with Monique?”
Damn. Now he had to explain allthat.
“Of course not,” Monique said. “If he did, I’d already be headed back to Dieppe. And you mustn’t tell him, either. It wasn’t my fault that his lordship met me before I came here. I’ve done everything my uncle asked, and my grandmother deserves her reward.”
“Absolutely,” Lady Ursula said in a placating tone. “If you keep my secret about Aurore from him, I will keep yours.”
That reminded Gregory of something. “Are you sure that Beaumonde is unaware of the full extent of your feelings for the princess? Is it possible he’s hoping to put Monique in Aurore’s place because Aurore refuses to marry?”
Lady Ursula gaped at him. “Then why have someone shoot at Monique?”
“Good point.” Gregory scrubbed a hand over his face. Today’s attempt had rattled him so much, he wasn’t thinking straight. “It’s unlikely there are two assassins—one for Aurore and one for Monique.”
Lady Ursula smoothed her skirts. “And you’re assuming that Aurore’s illness was caused by poison. It might just be cholera.”
Gregory stared her down. “You don’t believe that, and neither do I. It’s too much of a coincidence that someone would make two attempts on Monique’s life no more than two weeks after Princess Aurore falls deathly ill.”
“True.” Worry furrowed Lady Ursula’s forehead. “But I don’t see how anyone could have poisoned her. We were always with her.”
Monique went to sit beside the woman. “It would be easy enough to slip something into even a princess’s food, especially in a hotel. And how would you know?”
As usual, Monique went right to the heart of the matter. Gregory stared at the lady-in-waiting. “Is there anything that Princess Aurore preferred to drink or eat that no one else generally partook of?”
Lady Ursula shook her head, then paused. “Actually, she did always like hot chocolate before bed.” She lifted her gaze to him. “But I was the one to fetch it.”
“And who gave it to you?”
“Someone in the hotel’s kitchen.”
“The same person every night?” he prodded.
“We were only there one night before Aurore fell ill.” Lady Ursula frowned. “But come to think of it, the kitchen maid who gave it to me wasn’t there the next evening when I went to fetch wine for Aurore in hopes that it would settle her stomach. Indeed, I never saw the maid again.”
Gregory nodded grimly. “There you go. Find that maid, and we find who poisoned Aurore. Or was paid to poison her.”
Lady Ursula had gone deathly pale. “That meansIwas the one to hurt Aurore!” She burst into tears. “I—I put the p-poison in her hands m-myself!”
Monique laid her arm around the woman’s shoulders. “You couldn’t have known what was in the chocolate. It wasn’t your fault.”
Pacing the room, Gregory thought through everything they knew so far. “I somehow doubt that even the maid knew fully what she was doing. She was probably paid by someone. And the assassin hung around until he got word that Aurore was ill. Then he likely saw no point in remaining there to watch her die.”
“If that’s true,” Monique said, “he must have been shocked to see me show up at the conference.”
“Indeed,” Gregory said. “Which would explain why he then set out to kill you. He thinks you’re Aurore. He thinks she survived somehow, and he’s trying to finish what he started.”
