Page 34 of A Queen's Match
There was a heated pause. Hélène stared at May, who was breathing heavily, hands clenched into tight fists.
At least now they were fighting the way Hélène had always wanted to—in the open, with weapons drawn.
“I don’t like that word,blackmail,” May said at last, her voice tense. “You’re the one who slept with your family’s coachman. All I did was remind you of that fact. I could ruin you, yet I have shown great restraint in keeping your tawdry behavior a secret.”
Hélène drew herself up to her full height, grateful that she was tall, and stared down at May. “Give it to me.”
“Excuse me?” May spluttered.
Hélène strove for her most commanding, princess-like tone. “Give me the letter. After everything you’ve done, you owe me that much.”
“I don’t owe you anything!”
“I am going to marry Nicholas. Do you really want to get on my bad side? Or do you want tohelpme, and know that you have an ally in the next Tsarina of Russia?”
It hurt something deep inside Hélène, acting like Eddymeant nothing to her. Especially to May. But she needed to get Laurent’s letter back, and May would never surrender it if she harbored any suspicions about Hélène and Eddy.
May gave an incredulous little laugh. “You’re the worst sort of hypocrite! All your claims of loving Eddy, and now that you’ve lost him—through your own foolishness, I might add—you’ve moved on to hiscousin!”
Hélène shrugged. “As if you wouldn’t go after Nicholas yourself if you thought you had a chance.”
“I would have more chance than you if he knew how promiscuous you’ve been!”
“That’s why I need the letter,” Hélène said evenly. “You’re right, of course; you could show it to Nicholas’s family, and our negotiations would fall apart. But if you do that, I swear that I’ll bring you down with me.” She met May’s gaze. “I highly doubt that Her Majesty would be pleased to hear how cruelly you treated Alix and Ducky, two of her favoritegranddaughters. Or how you bullied and intimidatedme.”
Beneath her cool exterior, May flinched—slightly, but Hélène caught it. Good. She’d touched a nerve.
“You can’t prove anything,” May replied, but she sounded uncertain.
“I don’t need to. Don’t you know by now that the higher you climb, the more perilous it becomes? A mere hint of scandal would knock you forever out of reach of Eddy. As you helpfully reminded me in your note about Laurent, a future queen must be above reproach.”
May stared at Hélène for a long moment, then let out a breath. “Even if I had the letter, I wouldn’t give it to you.”
Footsteps sounded out in the hall, but neither young womanmoved. If someone walked in on them, Hélène would pretend that they were best friends, exchanging hair ribbons and gossip. The thought was laughable.
“What do you mean, you don’t have the letter?” she asked quietly.
“It’s in safekeeping with someone else. And as long as you stay out of my way regarding Prince Eddy, it will stay hidden with her. The Romanovs will never hear of your indiscretions—at least not from me.”
Her,May had said. The letter was guarded by a woman. May’s mother, perhaps; but if it was with her mother, wouldn’t May have access to it?
“I know you won’t believe me, but I wish you good luck in your pursuit of Nicholas,” May went on. “You are right: I would rather have a future tsarina as an ally than an enemy. Which is why you can trust that I won’t reveal your secret.” She gave a venomous smile. “I’m sure I’ll call in that debt at some point. When I do, I’ll expect you to pay up.”
This whole plan had failed miserably. Even after searching through May’s things, even after a direct confrontation, all Hélène had learned was that the letter was elsewhere.
At least May believed she’d moved on to Nicholas. Hélène knew that if May suspected the truth, she would have circulated the letter at the party and let Hélène live with the cataclysmic fallout.
Still, time was running out. Hélène needed to get that letter back in her possession before Eddy started to believe this nonsense about her and Nicholas.
If he gave up on her and agreed to the world tour—or worse, began to entertain the idea of marrying someone else—
No, Hélène refused to think of that. She would find a way. Somehow.
The next morning, the firstday of the races, Hélène emerged onto thePolar Star’s main deck and saw that Nicholas was already dressed.
Hélène’s parents were still below, probably drinking coffee and nursing their hangovers; they had returned with Vladimir in the early hours, all raucously singing what sounded like a Russian drinking song.
Nicholas nodded in greeting. “Hélène. I hope you slept well.” He paused, seeming awkward. “I wanted to…thank you, I mean. For helping last night.”
