Page 1 of The Highlander's Princess Bride
Chapter One
November 1816
London
“I never meant to kill him. Not for the most part.” Victoria Knight hesitated, because honesty compelled her to make the hideous admission. “For just a second, I probablydidwish him dead,” she added.
When Sir Dominic Hunter and Aden St. George exchanged knowing glances, Victoria grimaced. “I know that makes me an awful person. I wouldn’t blame you for marching me straight to Newgate and washing your hands of my very existence.”
Chloe, Lady Hunter, patted Victoria’s hand. “Nonsense. Fletcher was obviously a villain of the first order. No sensible person could blame you for defending yourself.”
Victoria and Chloe sat on the silk chaise in the back drawing room of the Hunters’ London town house. The late afternoon sun filtered through the sash windows, casting a soft glow on the cream- and rose-colored carpet and the elegantly papered yellow walls. An elaborate silver tea service sat on the low table in front of the chaise, but the generous plates of little sandwiches and iced teacakes were mostly untouched. Apparently, Victoria wasn’t the only person in the room lacking appetite.
“I do blame myself,” she said gloomily. “If I’d thought about it, I’m sure I could have found a better way to manage the situation than pushing Mr. Fletcher down the stairs.”
“But you didn’t have time to think, that’s the point,” said Lady Vivien St. George. Perched opposite Victoria on the edge of a Sheridan chair that was as graceful and dainty as the lady herself, Vivien gazed at her with earnest concern. “Besides, Lord knows how many people Aden has killed over the years. It’s not like the tendency doesn’t run in the family.”
Victoria blinked, unsure how to respond to that startling declaration. Aden had served for several years under Wellington’s command in some vague capacity she had yet to understand. It apparently involved dispatching large numbers of people. As she eyed his tall, powerful frame and his austere, intimidating air of competence, she could well believe it.
“For God’s sake, Vivien,” Aden said from the wingback chair beside her. “That is hardly a helpful observation, nor is it germane to this particular situation.”
Vivien shrugged, unmoved by his scold. “I’m simply telling the truth, dearest. And, by the way, your cousins are just as bad when it comes to piling up dead bodies.”
“My goodness,” Victoria said. Those cousins were hers, too, and all illegitimate sons of royal dukes. She’d never met them and was beginning to think she preferred to keep it that way. They sounded much too exciting.
“The blackguards were all deserving of their fates,” Aden said, “as you well know.”
“As was the man who attacked Victoria,” his wife replied. Then she flashed an apologetic smile at Victoria. “Forgive me. I mean to say, Miss Knight.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” Victoria said, smiling at the charming, willowy blonde. “After all, we are . . .”
“Sisters-in-law?” Lady Vivien finished.
“Yes, I suppose we are,” Victoria said, feeling awkward. She’d been introduced to Lady Vivien only this morning.
Like Aden, Victoria was an illegitimate child of the Prince Regent. She’d met her half-brother for the first time last year, and had only seen him once since then. Aden’s mother was a wealthy dowager countess, whose husband had accepted her son as his own. Victoria’s mamma, however, had been the unmarried daughter of an innkeeper. While he was a fairly prosperous innkeeper to be sure, Grandpapa had spent his life waiting on members of theton, not socializing with them. To the lords and gentlemen who’d passed under the lintel of the Royal Stag Inn, Rose Knight had been little better than a barmaid—good enough for a romp, but certainly not marriage.
Aden was a powerful man, with a position at court and a wife who was the daughter of an earl. Victoria was only a governess and an unemployed one at that. She would never presume on her relationship with the St. Georges, despite their kindness.
“Indeed we are in-laws,” Vivien said with a warm smile. Then she tilted her head. “Although we look enough alike to be sisters. I always wanted a sister.”
“That’s very kind, but no one could ever think so,” Victoria protested. “You’re so elegant.”
She winced as soon as the clumsy words had passed her lips. But they were true, since Vivien was a diamond of the first water. Victoria, on the other hand, was entirely ordinary—perfectly neat and pleasant to look at, but no more than that.
“You’re both delightful young women and, Victoria, you’re as much a member of this family as Vivien,” Dominic said. “As I’ve said on more than one occasion.”
“And look how I’ve repaid you,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve handed you quite an awful mess.”
“I’ve dealt with far worse, as has Aden. We’ll get you out of this, never fear.”
“Lady Welgate said she would see me hanged for murder.” Victoria pressed a hand to her chest at the memory of her former employer’s rage.
Chloe wrapped her in a comforting hug. “I’m sure that was simply her grief talking. Please remember that you were defending yourself from a monstrous attack.”
“I wish Mr. Fletcher’s family shared your view,” Victoria said.
Dominic went to a sideboard that held a number of crystal decanters and matching tumblers and wineglasses. “You may be sure I will be telling Mr. Fletcher’s family exactly how to think about this matter,” he said as he brought her back a half-filled tumbler.
