Yes, his initial attraction to Pen had been beyond his control—fate-the-trickster’s play. But when Chev had been lost at sea and believed dead by everyone, himself included,he, not fate, had proposed marriage to Chev’s wife.
Pen had forgiven him. As for forgiving himself…
He dropped her hands and took a deliberate step back.
“Well…” He cleared his throat. “My presence at the Congress was in constant demand.”
“Oh, I see.” Her brows rose playfully. “Heaven forbid the world turn without your by-your-leave.” She leaned in. “Now, how was Vienna,really?”
He closed his eyes, immediately drawn back into the shadows of the old city.
What could he say that would succinctly capture the intrigue, the life-and-map-altering decisions shaped by backstabbing and ever-shifting alliances—not only in official meetings, but in bedrooms and ballrooms?
And what of the people? Each ruthlessly bargaining to retain every possible power? People like the now-disgraced prince Karl? Hurtheven had caught him secreting double-crossing letters in a doll the prince then claimed belonged to his daughter.
How selfish did a man have to be to put treason on the head of a child?
He sighed. “Vienna was war-ravaged and yet glittering. A gathering of kings and emperors likely to remain unrivaled for centuries.”
“So the papers said.” She tilted her head. “But that doesn’t tell me much aboutyourexperience.”
“My experience…” He echoed, resting his gaze on the horizon.
Despite the complications that arose and the rather unsavory role he’d been tasked to play behind the scenes, threatened invasion no longer menaced the blue-grey channel waters shifting lazily in the sun—thatwas something.
Great Britain was safe. Hisfriendswere safe.
“I’m happy for peace,” he added.
“But areyouhappy?” she asked.
Happy.He sniffed.
For himself, certainly not.Happywas not an objective, no matter what the unhinged Americans had written in their Declaration.
“I am grateful the war ended.” A hellish spring, beginning with Napoleon’s escape from exile, had turned into a bloody summer. “Despite the limitations and concessions of the Congress, order has been restored and a Bourbon is once again on the throne.” He forced a smile. “Though the peace, I imagine, will render any skills I have acquired about as useless as a frigate run aground.”
“Useless? You? Never.” She threaded her arm through his.
He braced for a surge of physical longing. Surprisingly, desire did not come.
What did this absence of feeling mean?
Could his initial response to her have been roused, not, as he’d assumed, by the scars of love long denied, but merely by the sight of a dear friend, deeply missed?
Had this particular “labor” been successful after all?
“Worry not.” She doubled back toward the castle, pulling him along. “Soon enough, you’ll be embroiled in yet another puzzle that you and you alone must solve.”
He glanced askance. “Am I being mocked?”
“Of course you are,” she replied.
All remaining discomfort evaporated in the warmth of her cheerful expression. Hewascontent to be home. Or, at least in a place where he needn’t stand on ceremony.
His friends knew his flaws, and yet they took him into their safe hands, chaff and grain together. Despite all that had passed—and perhaps because of it, as well—Ash, Alicia, Chev, and Pen were family.
Family he’d chosen.
