He stared into the fire. “If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that nothing in life is ever certain.”
“You see? That’s why I need some independence. I don’t want to give up my income, meagre as it is.”
“Independence,” he mused. “Security. Is that what this is about?”
How could she explain the terror she felt at the thought of losing her independence and sole source of income? What if things went badly? What if he changed his mind about her and her future?
“Tell me what is troubling you, Lena.”
“I’m frightened,” she confessed. “In case this—” she gestured between them again “—fails. What if you decide it was a mistake? What if you change your mind? What if you find us a burden and no longer want us? What if I am a dreadful duchess? I’m no longer accustomed to social functions.” She took a deep breath. “I’m afraid I’ll embarrass you.”
His gaze softened and he took her hand. “It concerns me, too.”
She stared at him. “You’re afraid?”
“You disappeared once. What if you disappear again?” His voice was rough with emotion. “Who’s to say you won’t change your mind? That you won’t disappear like you did eight years ago?”
“Oh. I…see.” Tenderness flooded through her.
“As for your music,” he continued, “let’s make a compromise. Perform as much as you like, but without payment. Continue your correspondence with Metternich and let him pay you. In fact, tell him to increase the payment. Now that you will be back in society, you have even closer access to the kind of intelligence he wants. You can charge double what he pays now.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t mind if I keep on spying?”
He smiled thinly. “Feed him carefully controlled information, some true, some not. Let him figure out what is what.”
Her eyes sparkled with understanding. “Mislead him. It would serve him right!”
“It would serve him right, indeed.”
ChapterThirty-One
The children stood in a line;their heads tilted upwards as they gaped up the magnificent baroque mansion that was to be their new home.
“This is a palace.” Theo was the first to find his voice.
“Are you sure the coachman didn’t make a mistake?” Mona asked sceptically.
Since several footmen rushed out of the front door to help unload the luggage from the second carriage that arrived behind them, Lena assumed that this must be the right place.
They were ushered into a splendid marble hall with a sweeping staircase leading to the upper rooms, from which Mr Mortimer hurriedly descended to greet them.
“His Grace is not here at present, having been called to an urgent meeting. It has therefore been left to me to welcome you here.” He opened his arms as if to embrace them all. “Welcome to the current residence of the Duke of Aldingbourne. I hope you will feel at home here. If you would please follow me.”
There were enough rooms in the palace for every child to have their own.
Lena did not have a room; she had a whole suite. The room covered in blue and gold velvet left her speechless. Even the stucco on the ceiling was gilded. It was almost too much.
“The canopy bed is so big, we could all sleep in it,” she said to the maid, who was busily unpacking her trunks.
She smiled politely. “Yes, Your Grace.”
“Do let me help.” Lena took the nightshirt out of her hands. The maid’s eyes widened in horror.
“Oh no, Your Grace. You mustn’t. This is my work, if you please.”
Your Grace!
The words were strange, and Lena’s first reaction was to correct her. Then the echoes of the past came back. It was not the first time people had called her ‘Your Grace’.
