Page 88 of The Secret of Flirting
“You were not. You had come home for the holiday already.”
Gregory tensed. “What makes you think so?”
With a smirk, Danworth circled the study. “I found someone in Canterbury who remembered seeing you on your way home.” He lifted an eyebrow. “A certain shopkeeper was adamant that you passed through town the very night your father died. He saw you looking out of a coach window. Imagine that.”
“Imagine that, indeed,” Gregory clipped out, his tone cold. “Some shopkeeperthoughthe saw me peering out of a coach window on a night more than twenty years ago? Assuming that I did anything wrong, which I did not, no court in the world would convict me on the basis of such flimsy evidence.”
Danworth snorted. “I’ve no need to prove it in court. I merely need to prove it in the court of public opinion, and I damned well have enough evidence to do that. Any insinuation of your being involved in your father’s death would ruin you in politics for decades to come. Especially if the papers got hold of it.”
Gregory certainly couldn’t refute that. “So what do you want from me?” he snapped. “I assume that you wantsomethingor you wouldn’t have gone to such trouble to drum up this ridiculous tale.”
Danworth marched toward him. “I want only one thing from you. It would cost you very little. I want you to throw the weight of your influence behind Prince Leopold to be chosen ruler of Belgium.NotPrincess Aurore.”
That told Gregory two things. One, Danworth was still unaware of “Princess Aurore’s” true identity. And two, the man might very well be behind the attacks on Aurore’s and Monique’s lives.
What a pity that he couldn’t prove it. Danworth might have been missing for part of the day, but Gregory somehow couldn’t see the man hiding in the woods in an attempt to assassinate Monique. Or lurking about in Hyde Park for the same purpose.
Still, Danworth was a damned good shot, so it was conceivable. And it didn’t rule out the possibility that the man had hired someone to do the deed for him.
But before he accused Danworth of anything, he needed more information. “Why are you determined to put Leopold on the throne?”
Danworth crossed his arms over his chest. “As you know quite well, Wellington is about to lose his position as prime minister. As long as I remain tied to him, I will lose any chance of advancement.” Bitterness crept into his tone. “I’ll end up an aging private secretary to an ancient relic of a politician, whose only usefulness is in writing his memoirs. But if Leopold becomes king of the Belgians, he has promised me a post there worthy of my talents. No more toadying to the likes of Wellington, no more putting up with nonsense from lords like you.”
“And all you have to do to gain your post is to blackmailme.”
The bloody arse shrugged. “You may call it blackmail if you wish. I would call it quid pro quo. A favor for a favor. I keep silent about your family secrets and you put your influence behind Leopold.”
“I see. And whose idea was it to ask for this ‘favor’? Yours? Or the prince’s?”
“Leopold knows naught of this. But I daresay he’d have no quarrel with it if he did.”
Gregory wished he could be sure of the truth of either of those statements. “And what about attempted murder?” He bore down on Danworth. “Does he know aboutthatlittle strategy of yours for eliminating his competitors?”
A slight twitching of the man’s eyelid gave Danworth away, though he stood his ground. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t attempted to murder anyone.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. As you already know, we’re here in the country precisely because someone shot at the princess in Hyde Park a few days ago.”
“I thought you saidyouwere the target?”
“You know damned well I was not.”
Danworth stared coldly at him. “I was nowhere near Hyde Park then. Ask Wellington.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I intend to.” And while he was at it, he would ask if Danworth had been dispatched to Calais around the time of the princess’s poisoning. “But even if you had nothing to do with that attempt, I know you damned well had something to do with the second attempt on the princess’s life this morning.”
“I don’t even have a gun with me. How could I possibly have shot at the princess?” Danworth snapped, though sweat broke out on his brow.
Gregory pressed his advantage. “According to my mother, you conveniently disappeared for most of the shopping trip. Which makes you the only one of my guests not accounted for during the attack.”
“Your mother?” Danworth snorted. “She was so busy cozying up to Beaumonde that she wouldn’t have noticed if Ihadbeen there.”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy?” Gregory said, seizing on his opponent’s weakness. “Were you hoping to feather your nest by gaining my mother’s affections yourself?”
Though Danworth colored, he shook his head. “I have no need of a wife so much older than I, sir. I can have any woman I want.”
“True. Which is why I question your flirtations with her. Or were you perhaps hoping that she might tell you something about my father’s death that you couldn’t learn by deceiving the constable?”
He saw he’d hit his mark when Danworth’s jaw flexed. “No deception was required. The man was more than ready to reveal what he knew.”
