“I know how to approach it,” Dominic said flatly. “I worked for Rochford, remember? Does he know? About Minuette, I mean.”
“My uncle knows I need to marry Elizabeth strategically. He is not opposed.”
Dominic stood. “May I?” he asked. William waved his permission, and Dominic began to pace. “If Elizabeth marries Philip, she’ll leave England to become the future Queen of Spain. You’ll be choosing a rather permanent alliance.”
“I’ll need it,” William remarked wryly.
“Why don’t you want Minuette to know?”
William shifted uncomfortably and reached for his wine goblet. “Because Elizabeth is not happy about it. I don’t need dramatics from Minuette as well.”
“Why not? You’ve never minded Minuette arguing with you before.”
“But now I need her support!” He jumped up, and once again it was familiar, William pacing in agitation while Dominic stood motionless and watched. “I need her, Dom. She is my center, my still calm in a stormy sea. She keepsmebalanced and that is good for England. You are my right hand, Dom—but Minuette is my soul. I need you both. You can see that, can’t you?”
Dominic, after a weighted pause, answered tonelessly, “Yes, I see that. Of course I’ll do what you ask.”
“Thank you, my friend. And remember—the Spanish ambassador is secondary. Keeping Minuette safe is always your first mission.”
“I won’t forget.”
They talked together for another hour, politics and treasury and military—nothing pressing, just the easy conversation of two young men who inhabited the same world. When they separated for the night, William waited five minutes, then made his way to Minuette’s room. He knocked softly, hoping she was expecting him, and sure enough she opened the door to him herself. William grinned, sweeping her into a kiss and closing the door behind him with his foot.
Dominic did not sleep. He had heard William go to Minuette’s room, and he had counted every minute that the two were together. He had promised himself that if it were any longer than thirty minutes, he would get Carrie to intervene, but after twenty minutes he heard William’s footsteps return and his door close firmly. It had stayed that way the rest of the night.
So it was partly fatigue and partly jealousy and partly exasperation that sent him to William’s door at dawn. He knocked once and let himself in, seeing as William was not accustomed to being entirely alone and probably wouldn’t know how to open a door himself.
The king was still in bed, but awake enough to scowl. “What are you doing?”
“We’d best get an early start.” Even to himself he sounded clipped and angry.
Yawning, William sat up and swung his legs out of bed. He had been given the nicest chamber in the house, which had once been that of Minuette’s parents. Dominic thought it quite pleasant with its dark wood and embroidered linens and the diamond-paned windows that overlooked the rose garden.
It did not suit William at all—he looked like a Barbary horse kept incongruously in a farmer’s field. “Why do I think I’m about to get a lecture?”
“Do you deserve one?”
With a roll of his eyes, William replied, “Just get it over with, Dom. It’s about last night, isn’t it? You’re going to tell me I shouldn’t have been in her chambers.”
“No, you shouldn’t. Court gossip is one thing—but this is Minuette’s home. It’s not fair to put her in the position of either refusing you or losing her people’s respect.”
“Nothing happened. You know that, don’t you? She doesn’t have to refuse me, because I’m not asking anything wrong of her. Even you can’t see anything inappropriate in spending twenty minutes alone with the woman I love. It’s not nearly what I want, but it’s the most I can have, so yes, if I can steal a private moment in a private house to kiss her, I will.”
Dominic snatched up the nearest linen shirt and tossed it at William. “Get dressed,” he said.
“Don’t be so self-righteous,” William grumbled. “Just try to put yourself in my place—loving a woman you can’t openly touch. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a woman? Surely you cannot grudge me the smallest of comforts.”
Do you know how long it’s been for me?Dominic wanted to shout. He hadn’t had a woman since Aimée in France more than eighteen months ago. And he wouldn’t, until he could have Minuette.
William pulled on his shirt and said thoughtfully, “You know, Dom, I wasn’t going to bring this up until after France, but I think it’s time you and I had a serious discussion about your own marriage.”
Feeling as though he might choke, Dominic said, “I don’t need you to marry me off.”
“But you will eventually need my permission. Not only are you a duke, but you also have royal blood through your grandmother. Honestly, can you not see how the women are angling for you these days? You’re going to have to choose soon. And as to that choice…I would like you to seriously consider Jane Grey.”
Dominic had no patience for this conversation. All he could think of was William and Minuette alone last night, kissing (And more than kissing? he wondered savagely. Where do Will’s hands wander when he’s alone with her?), and he had to force himself to respond.
“I don’t think Jane Grey likes me,” was all he could manage.
