“I did.” The king was solemn as he turned his attention to Eleanora. “You will have to forgive my rogue of a brother. He is presently indisposed. He will come to you as soon as he’s able, however.”
The news did nothing to reassure her. Indisposed? Did that mean he had moved on to another woman? Or, worse, to multiple women? Her gut curdled as she recalled the rumors she had heard about him in London. Rumors he hadn’t denied. Perhaps it had been foolish of her to believe he could fall in love with one woman and remain faithful.
“I see,” she managed, rising from her chair. “I think that maybe I should not have come. This was a dreadful mistake.”
He had asked her for an annulment. And what had she done? She had boarded a ship and crossed the ocean for him, only to find himindisposedwhen she arrived. But then, she had always known, had she not, that he would break her heart?
“You mustn’t go,” Tansy said urgently, reaching for Eleanora’s hand in a beseeching gesture. “My husband was being politic with his explanation just now, but let there be no confusion. Nando was thoroughly in his cups last night after receiving your letters. I suspect he is suffering the lingering effects of overindulgence this morning.”
“Indeed,” the king said, inclining his head. “I can assure you that Nando has not been himself since his return to Varros, which is to say I haven’t even seen him look twice at a woman, when before…well.”
She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle a hysterical laugh that threatened to bubble forth. She knew what Nando had been like before—a rakehell to the core. The king did not spare her sensibilities.
“Eleanora, are you well?” Tansy asked, concerned.
“Quite,” she managed, feeling the room spin.
Her emotions were running wild again, sadness turning to amusement, then back to deep, abiding sorrow. Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked furiously in an effort not to humiliate herself utterly. She hiccupped, then felt her cheeks go hot with mortification.
“My dear.” Tansy wore a troubled expression as she linked her arm through Eleanora’s. “Come and sit down. I suspect I know what is amiss.”
She swallowed hard. “You do?”
“Yes.” With a meaningful look at the king, Tansy told her husband. “Leave us for a few moments, my love. There is something I must speak to Eleanora about in private.”
“Your servant, spitfire,” the king said with a courtly bow before straightening. “I’ll tell my brother to make haste before I have him thrown into the dungeons.”
Eleanora’s eyes went wide, but Tansy waved a hand as the king took his leave. “Don’t listen to my husband’s bluster. He is only jesting.” She guided Eleanora back to her chair. “Sit, if you please.”
Feeling suddenly weary, Eleanora did as her hostess ordered, sinking into the chair once more. Her travel had left her exhausted, but it wasn’t merely the journey that had left her feeling that way. Tansy seated herself and gave Eleanora a look that was equal parts sympathetic and knowing.
“You’re with child, aren’t you?” the queen asked.
Eleanora closed her eyes against a rush of emotion, struggling to compose herself before she opened them again. “Yes. But please don’t tell Nando. I want him to make his decision based upon his feelings and not out of a sense of duty.”
“My dear woman, you have just crossed an ocean for him while you’re carrying his child. If he doesn’t fall to his knees and kiss your feet, I’ll push him out the nearest window.”
Eleanora chuckled, thinking she liked the eccentric queen. Yes, she liked her very much indeed.
“How do I look?”Nando asked Maxim nervously.
He had made his ablutions, dressed, and shaved with more haste than he had known he possessed, desperate to see Eleanora. It had only been the desire not to come before her, bedraggled and stinking of his misdeeds of the night before that had him shaving and washing at all. Every atom of his body had been roaring to see her, to the devil with how he appeared.
But this was Eleanora, and she had come to Varros.
For him.
He owed her every respect.
Maxim cast a narrow-eyed look over his form, hands clasped behind his back. “Less like a corpse.”
Nando ground his jaw. “That is all you have to say?”
“I’m not a woman. I don’t offer flowery platitudes. What would you prefer me to say?”
“Something a bit nicer,” he groused. “But never mind that. I don’t want to waste another second bickering with you when I could be with the woman I love.”
“By all means, let us proceed,” Maxim said wryly. “Forgive me, I hadn’t realized how much you loved her, given the way you abandoned her.”
