“I’ve also made the acquaintance of several lovely goddesses at a particular establishment,” Nando admitted wryly.
Truly, if it was a woman who had shot him, then discovering which of his lovers was the one responsible might well prove a Sisyphean feat.
“Bloody hell,” Tierney muttered.
“Bruno,” Nando called out to his bodyguard. “Would you be capable of compiling a list of my recent…friends?”
Bruno nodded. “Of course, Your Royal Highness.”
That was excellent. Bruno was dutiful in all tasks, and he likely knew the names of Nando’s recent conquests better than he did.
“We will compare our lists and reconvene,” Tierney said, rising from his chair at last. “For now, you should rest so that you can heal, Your Royal Highness.”
Nando didn’t want to rest. He wanted Eleanora. But he also didn’t want to cause any problems for her. She was currently guided by the thoroughly wrongheaded notion that she needed her position. He would rectify that presently. As soon as he was no longer an invalid, dash it all.
“Fear not,” he told his reluctant host. “I’ll be gone soon enough. I’m already feeling stronger.”
Of course, he had no intention of healing too quickly. He was enjoying the proximity to Miss Brett far too much.
Tierney raised a brow. “I’m pleased to hear it, Your Royal Highness. You are welcome to take all the time you need.”
The invitation sounded almost as if it had been torn from his reluctant host.
Nando grinned. “That sounded rather pained.”
“It was. To be perfectly blunt, you’re trouble, Your Royal Highness. However, I’ll do anything my lovely wife asks of me, and she has asked that I keep you here until you’re well enough to leave for the sake of her friend, the queen.”
Nando hadn’t been wrong about his suspicions, then. Archer Tierney didn’t like him. Hardly a disappointing discovery. Nando didn’t particularly like the other man either. Tierney was far too perceptive and clever.
“I’m indebted to Her Royal Highness,” Nando said smoothly.
Which only made Tierney pin him with a glare. “If you attempt to seduce my wife, there will be another attempt on your life. However, I’m a far better marksman. I wouldn’t miss.”
Nando chuckled. “Have no fear, Tierney. Your wife is perfectly safe from me.”
It was another member of the man’s household that he wanted. And Nando fully intended to have her.
Soon.
Eleanora returnedfrom a trip to the modiste with her charges utterly exhausted. Her feet ached. Her back ached. And her head ached. The twins were a whirlwind of garrulousness. Princess Emmaline had insisted upon wearing trousers for the excursion, which she had done despite Eleanora’s firm opposition. Theshocked stares and horrified whispers they had endured had made her wither inside. But outwardly, she had maintained her serene poise, quite as if she weren’t accompanying a hoyden who refused to take propriety into account when she dressed.
She handed off her wrap, gloves, and hat to a diligent servant and waited as her charges did the same.
At least Annalise had worn a lovely sprigged-muslin gown, Eleanora thought as she watched the less rebellious of the twins removing her bonnet. To their credit, the attending servants didn’t even bat an eyelash at Princess Emmaline’s trousers. The latter was likely down to the princess wearing them with alarming regularity for the entire time Eleanora had been in residence.
She had a great deal of work ahead of her if she wanted to polish the tarnished reputations of the princesses. They were wayward, they were loud, and they were rebellious. All of which was to be understood, given the repressive nature of their upbringing.
Their father had gone mad, leaving their depraved tyrant of an uncle to usurp the throne. He’d had the former queen put to death, and the young princesses had come of age under their uncle’s harsh rule. At last freed of the despot, they were now like caged birds who had suddenly been allowed to roam the world beyond the gilded bars that had been keeping them.
Eleanora couldn’t blame them for the unabashed joy they found at their new liberty. However, she hadn’t been hired to allow them to run roughshod over polite society and its many rules. Rather, she had been hired specifically so that she might persuade the princesses to conform to propriety. To do what thetonexpected of them. To dress properly, to eschew scandal, to speak and dance and even walk with elegant grace.
It was the same role she’d taken on many times before, and quite the opposite of the one she had once played, whatseemed a lifetime ago now. Eleanora had always found a sense of accomplishment in her duties. Strange that today, every minute of the passing hours had felt hollow and meaningless. She refused to believe it had anything to do with the handsome, wounded prince she had attended well into the darkest depths of the evening the night before.
“Pray tell me that is the end of our lessons for today, Miss Brett,” Princess Emmaline said as Eleanora began shepherding her charges from the entryway.
If only.
“I’m afraid we must also attend to your dancing,” she answered with a serene smile she didn’t feel.
