Royal Blood - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,111

if she didn’t mean to.”

We fell silent.

“I couldn’t really vouch that Vlad was in bed with me all night,” she said. “He could well have slipped out and pushed that English woman down the stairs.”

“Or his father did it to protect him. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know now.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said at last.

“I do,” I said. “Vlad was awfully good-looking.”

She smiled sadly. “Yes, he was, wasn’t he? And I was alone in Paris and ripe for romance, and he appeared, my childhood playmate now turned into a gorgeous man. And what’s more he was no longer a servant’s son but a confident man-about-town. I was innocent and self-conscious and no man had ever looked at me that way before. It’s no wonder I fell madly in love.” She looked at me, pleading for understanding. I nodded. “But I should have seen,” she said. “He took too many risks. He courted danger. He has the heritage of his terrible ancestor, after all.”

“I think you’ll find happiness with Nicholas,” I said.

“He has been very understanding and kind,” she said. “It could have been far worse. Speaking of which, I’m sorry that you are not going to be my sister-in-law.”

I haven’t yet mentioned that Siegfried and I had a little talk. He told me that after he heard about my wanton behavior with Darcy there was no way he could consider marrying me. I tried to keep a straight face when I said I quite understood and wished him well.

“You realize you have ruined my reputation forever, don’t you?” I said to Darcy afterward.

Darcy grinned. “Which would you rather have—a sullied reputation or a lifetime of marriage to Siegfried?”

“So that’s why you said it, wasn’t it? You didn’t really think either of us would be considered suspects in the murder of Miss Deer-Harte. You thought Siegfried would never marry me if he knew I’d spent the night with another man.”

“Something like that,” Darcy agreed. “My only regret is that we spent that night sleeping.”

“I liked it,” I said. “It felt so comforting having you beside me.”

He slipped an arm around my waist. “I liked it too,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not open to other nocturnal pursuits with you, at a more suitable time and place.”

“There will be other opportunities,” I said.

And so the wedding took place with all the pomp and ceremony one expects at royal weddings. I wore my tiara and the smashing fur-lined cloak over my Parisian dress. I looked so good that even Mummy was impressed.

“If you weren’t so tall you could go to Hollywood and try a career in films, darling,” she said. “You have inherited my bone structure. The camera loves us.”

Trumpeters heralded our procession down the aisle of the castle chapel. The organ thundered. A choir sang from the gallery and the congregation was resplendent with crowns and dashing uniforms. Nicholas and Matty made a handsome couple. There was only one small thing—she wore a thick collar of pearls, so I never did have a chance to see her neck up close. So I suppose I’ll never really know, one hundred percent, whether Vlad really was a vampire or not. But I’ll tell you one thing—I was really glad for once to be going home.

Queenie echoed those sentiments as we stood on the deck of the Channel steamer as it docked in Dover. “I ain’t half glad to see the coast of good old England again, ain’t you, me lady?”

“Yes, I am, actually, Queenie.”

Belinda had got wind of a house party at a villa in the south of France and was headed to Nice. She was going to try the car-breaking-down-outside-the-gates trick again and begged me to come with her. “Think of it: sun, good food, gorgeous men,” she had said. It was tempting, but I had turned her down because I wasn’t the party-crashing type; also I sensed that Queenie had had enough of being abroad, and I felt it was my duty to get her home safely. Besides, I too longed for the familiarity of life in London, even if it would include Binky and Fig at close quarters. At least I knew where I was with them. At least they didn’t grow fangs in the middle of the night. And Darcy had promised he’d be back in London shortly, after a little matter he had to look into in Belgrade.

I glanced at Queenie’s vacant moon face. I was actually coming home with a nice amount of money in my pocket, thanks to those roulette winnings. I could afford to pay a maid for a while, especially now that Binky and Fig would be buying the food. I took a deep breath, feeling that I might well regret what I was about to say.

“Queenie,” I said, “I’m willing to keep you on as my maid, if you are prepared to learn how a lady’s maid behaves properly.”

“You are, miss?” She looked thrilled. “I did all right then, did I?”

“No, you were an utter disaster from start to finish, but you were brave and you didn’t complain, and I’ve somehow grown fond of you. I can offer you fifty pounds a year, all found. I know it’s not much, but . . .”

“I’ll take it, miss,” she said. “Me, going to be a toff’s lady’s maid. Just wait till I tell her down the Three Bells, what gives herself airs just because she went on that day trip to France and brought back a frilly garter.”

“Queenie,” I said. “It’s not ‘miss,’ it’s ‘my lady.’ ”

“Bob’s yer uncle, miss,” she said.