Duke Crovan seemed relieved. “We’ll still send her away. Hopefully the rumors won’t spread far and will have died down by the time Julia returns to us. I think a few years would be best. Thank you, Your Highness. Please, let us return the favor.”
Duchess Crovan nodded. “You’ve done so much for my family tonight. If there’s anything I can do…”
“There is, in fact.” Helena gave them a winsome smile. “Help me. I would consider it a favor returned if you’d come to my engagement luncheon and serve as a character witness against Gillespie. I do not want to marry that man.”
“After seeing what he’s willing to do? I don’t blame you.” Duchess Crovan nodded firmly. “We’ll be there.”
“Oh, we’ll be there. I’ll be quite loud about how a man of his caliber shouldn’t marry into the royal family.”
I grinned. “Excellent. Then we’ll see you both there.”
Thirty-five
James
I spent the next week putting things into motion and gathering the last of the information I needed. The rumors revolving around Julia Crovan didn’t get very far, mostly in part because everyone present that night kept their mouths shut. Victor sulked in his rooms the entire week and only opened the door to call for more wine or company, so he certainly wasn’t spreading rumors around the court. He was probably attempting to protect himself by not saying anything, as his parents would flay him alive for this, but whatever his reason, I’d take advantage of his silence.
After all, he wasn’t going to be spared. I’d received all the information from Aurora that I needed in order to prove the business was a house of smoke.
And today…well, today was the day to put all those plans into motion. The luncheon was in full swing and going well. Everything looked lovely, of course, all the tables containing finger foods and cool dishes like sorbets to offset the hot weather. In one corner, a quartet played lively popular tunes,and people happily milled about and chatted. The mood was festive, the party the perfect stage for our plan. We’d organized it with many small round tables scattered around the garden area, allowing people to mingle with a plate in hand without a formal sit-down. It would give people a front-row seat to the action.
The better to make pretty fireworks go off.
Everyone had arrived, no one daring to refuse an invite from both a prince and princess. Beatrice probably had the impression I was throwing this luncheon in Helena’s honor as a sign of approval for Gillespie. She remained quite delusional about such matters. Well, she’d see soon enough.
Helena smiled brightly because she knew what this party was truly about. She spied me standing next to the table with her parents and winked before moving on, being the good hostess.
Her wink meantshowtime.
Did I look serious enough? Hmm, felt like I was grinning. I lifted a hand to my mouth and subtly rearranged it into firmer lines. There, better.
“I’ve never seen Helena so cheery,” Beatrice commented near my elbow. “I think she’s finally seen Gillespie is a good match for her.”
I chose not to comment because, well, far too many pitfalls there. Instead, I addressed the king and queen as a brother earnestly concerned for my sister. “I do realize your heart’s set on the match, Mother, but do you have a plan in place to deal with everything?”
She turned her head carefully due to how her dark hair was piled in an elaborate way, making her top heavy. Her eyes held no thoughts. “Plan?”
“To deal with his illegitimate offspring, of course.”
From the expression on her face, she had no idea what I spoke of.
The king didn’t either and immediately demanded, “What children? How many?”
“Well, I’m no authority on the matter, I just looked into things as they came up, but I do believe he has three children. The eldest is a son”—I threw that tidbit in because it wassureto cause inheritance problems—“and by, I believe, three different mothers.”
King Patrick’s face turned stone-cold hard, and he stared at his wife with a growing tic at the corner of his mouth. “You didn’t know about this?”
“No!” Her hand lifted to her cheek, a high spot of color from both anger and embarrassment growing there. “No, my friend didn’t say a word about this! James, are you sure?”
“Perfectly sure. It’s part of why I asked. I’d hoped you did know and had a plan. Otherwise, well…” I gestured a helpless hand toward Helena. “How is she supposed to deal with them? I mean, a man’s indiscretions are one thing, but this? Oh. Wait, please tell me you know about the other things too.”
King Patrick closed his eyes in a manner suggesting he was already trying to rein in his temper. The tic was now at double time. Seemed his temper was unraveling quickly. “What things?”
It was like poking a sleeping bear. How many pokes to fully awaken its anger?
We were about to find out.
“Well, you do know he’s in massive debt?” I looked between them, and Vuheia help me, it was hard to keep this concerned face on when I wanted to cackle. From their horrified looks, no, they had no clue. Didn’t surprise me. They were very careless people. “It’s been reported to me that he’s in debt to banks, three loan sharks, various gambling dens, and of course Victor—they’ve both been embezzling from Aurora, you see. In fact, the whole company I think was created in order to give them both more money. They use its business account like a personalspending account. All that included, the sum total of his debt lies along the lines of three hundred and fifty million gold.”
