Page 54 of The Secret of Flirting
“Yes.” She flashed him a sheepish smile. “As it happens, I’m Princess Aurore’s cousin.”
He gaped at her. “Really?”
She took a perverse pleasure in shocking him. “I’m her second cousin.”
“That’swhy you resemble her. You’re related!”
She smiled faintly. “In truth, we look astonishingly alike. Probably because my grandmother is one of her great-aunts.”
“So how did you end up in—”
“Dieppe? Grand-maman fell in love with an actor in her youth. As the youngest of four children, she thought she ought to be able to marry whom she wanted. Her family disagreed. So she married him in secret.” Anger crept into her voice. “And for her misbehavior, the royal family cast her out. She and Grandpapa joined his troupe and traveled the Continent, as did my mother before—” No, she would not tell him that embarrassing detail. “Anyway, we became a family of actors, which we’ve been all these years.”
Gregory cast her an incredulous look. “So the count reallyisyour great-uncle.”
“Yes. He was married to one of Grand-maman’s sisters. That’s why he chose me. He promised that if I pretended to be Princess Aurore until she gained the throne of Belgium, he’d make sure that Grand-maman spent her final days in the home of her youth. Chanay. The place she loves and misses. The place she was banished from when she married Grandpapa.”
“Good God.”
And for once, she quite agreed.
Thirteen
Gregory’s head reeled. Monique was Beaumonde’s great-niece. A member of the Chanay royal family. In a way, she was as legitimate a descendant as Princess Aurore. Just probably not directly in line for the throne, or the Rocheforts wouldn’t have ignored her branch of the family for so long.
A thought occurred to him. She was decidedlynotthe count’s mistress, which meant...
Well, he didn’t know what it meant, except that it pleased him inordinately. He hadn’t liked the idea of her with that ancient relic, Beaumonde.
But that shouldnotbe what he was focusing on. Her revelation raised a number of questions. “How did the count know about you and your resemblance to the princess?”
She shrugged. “Apparently he’s kept an eye on our family all these years. I had no idea. Though I knew I was from the royal line of Chanay, Grand-maman seemed sure that they had no use for us. They’d never made any overtures until he approached me in Dieppe a short while ago.”
“And you agreed to his mad scheme because—”
“It’s just me and Grand-maman, and I can’t take care of her on my own anymore,” she said bluntly. “I can’t afford to hire anyone to watch her day and night, now that she’s started to wander. Even good actresses don’t make that much money. So my only choice is to quit working and descend into poverty with her, or”—she wrapped her arms about her waist—“take a protector, which I have no desire to do.”
The thought of her being forced into that position twisted something in his chest, even as he realized with self-loathing thathehad wanted to be her protector. But he wouldn’t have wanted it at the cost to her freedom of choice. It would have been mutual.
Right, his conscience clamored.Mutual.
She went on in a hollow tone. “Plus, the more Grand-maman sinks into... senility, the more she longs for her home. So when my great-uncle offered to allow us both to return to Chanay and live there free of worry if I would just pretend to be my second cousin, it seemed the perfect solution.” She shot him a dark look. “I had no idea I would run intoyouagain, my lord. Or that you would remember me.”
“I would imagine not. Our encounter was brief.” He arched an eyebrow. “Although I should point out that you remembered me as well.”
She tipped up her chin. “Hardnotto remember a man of such arrogance.”
He ought to take offense, but she looked so adorably put out that he had to bite back a smile. “Is that all you remembered of me? My arrogance?”
Coloring, she glanced away.
“So I did not imagine the attraction between us that night,” he murmured.
“As I said,” she retorted. “A man of arrogance. In any case, your remembering me has ruined everything, especially considering the position you’re in.”
That jerked him back to the reality of the situation. “Yes, let’s talk about that. Princess Aurore is in line for the Belgian throne.” He bore down on her. “Is she dead?”
She blinked. “I thought you said that—”
