The butler hesitated, clearly thinking along the same lines. “His Royal Highness is in his study. If you’ll accompany me to the salon, I shall send for him.”
“There’s no need; I will call upon him directly,” Alix declared. A new energy crackled through her, a bold and uncharacteristic sense of daring.
The butler had no choice but to point her down the hall. Technically Alix wasn’t breaking the rules; she had a maid with her, and besides, couples were allowed unchaperoned time together—within reason—once they were engaged. Which everyone apparently thought she and Eddy were.
Outside Eddy’s office, Alix turned to the maid, Amelia. “Would you mind waiting in the hall? I shall leave the door open,” she offered, in concession to propriety. Then she knocked once and, without waiting for a response, pushed open the door.
Eddy was seated in an armchair, one leg crossed over the other knee as he studied a leather-bound tome. Without looking up he said, “Can it wait, Jonathan?”
“I’m sorry, but it can’t.”
Eddy startled, nearly dropping the book. “Alix?”
“I know you weren’t expecting me, but I was hoping we could talk,” she explained, taking a few cautious steps into the room.
Unlike his father’s study, which occupied a whole corner of the ground floor, Eddy’s was an extension of the Marlborough House library. A pair of double doors connected it to the main space, though they were currently shut. It was a handsome room, despite the half-eaten meat pie on the desk and scattered papers on the tables, the faint hint of tobacco smoke lingering in the air.
Eddy obviously hadn’t planned on receiving company here. Especially female company.
“Of course.” Eddy stood and took a few steps forward, glancing toward the windows. Storm clouds hung low and ominous in the skies, mist fogging the glass. Still, he half-heartedly asked, “Shall we head outside?”
“I’m quite all right here.” Strangely enough, Alix rather liked that she’d caught Eddy off his guard. She was in no mood for artifice and social niceties.
The door to the hall was still open. Eddy kicked it partially shut—don’t kick at doors like a common innkeeper,their grandmother would have said if she were here. Seeming to decide that leaving it half-open was good enough, Eddy gestured to the pair of armchairs near a bookcase. “Shall I ring for some tea, or…”
“I only need a few moments of your time.” Alix settled onto one of the armchairs, a heavy, masculine thing that seemed to swallow her up. She shifted so that she was perched on its edge.
“Of course,” Eddy agreed, bemused. He lifted the book he’d been reading and set it on a small wooden table. Alix stole a glance at the title:The Old Regime and the French Revolution,by Alexis deTocqueville. Not what she’d have expected Eddy to be reading.
“Did you receive a summons from Grandmama?” she asked, cutting right to the chase.
A nervous expression darted over Eddy’s features, and he ran a hand through his hair so that it stood up like a dark halo. “Actually, Alix, I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to discuss it with you. That is…” He fumbled, started again. “I will always have the utmost respect for you, and I meant the sentiments that I expressed to you last year—or at least I meant them at the time—”
He looked so utterly miserable that Alix decided to interrupt. “If you’re saying that you would rather not announce the engagement, I am in agreement.”
“Oh. Yes—exactly.”
A strange silence fell between them. Alix was acutely aware of the hiss of the wind outside, the rustle of her skirts as she shifted in the enormous chair.
“Should we formulate a plan?” she suggested. “We could still go to Grandmama’s for tea, as she requested, and then together we can explain that the wedding is off.”
When Eddy nodded morosely, Alix let out a breath. “I don’t understand. Are you upset?”
He leaned forward, head in his hands. “It’s just that…even without being engaged to you, I hardly expect Grandmother to approve of Hélène.”
“Hélène?” Alix repeated the name slowly. “You mean Hélène of France?”
Eddy looked at her in surprise. “I thought you knew aboutus.”
Eddy was interested inHélène? Now Alix understood why he’d wanted to delay the engagement announcement. “What? How would I know about you two?”
“I have no idea! Hélène was very upset that you’d figured it out,” Eddy proclaimed. “She said that you spoke to her at Mother’s photography show. You told her that she should have been ‘more discreet.’ ”
“I was angry that she’d been gossiping about me!” Alix burst out.
It all made so much more sense. Alix had never understood why Hélène had started talking about that fainting spell a year after it happened, but now she saw: Hélène was trying to undermine her, to break off Alix and Eddy’s engagement in the hope of getting Eddy for herself.
Eddy frowned. “What do you mean, Hélène has been gossiping about you?”
