Oh, the super strict temple on its own island? The one known to reform errant teenagers? Excellent idea. That should keep her safely out of trouble for a while.
Lady Julia raised her head sharply, her mouth open on a protest.
“It’s either that,” Duke Crovan rumbled, his anger a live, pulsing thing, “or I throw you out of the family immediately. If you’d rather whore your way through life, that can be arranged.”
Lady Julia’s mouth snapped shut. She nodded in resignation and walked out of the room, presumably up to her bedroom.
Duke Crovan seized my hand in a tight grip. “Your Highness, and you as well, Princess Helena,thank you.As tempted as I am to beat sense into her, I wouldn’t wish my daughter in such a situation.”
“You’re of course very welcome, but there’s a few things I must make you aware of.” I tried to appear sympathetic to his situation but I was also crowing inside, because this would surely get Victor inlotsof trouble. In fact, this might be the tipping point, so it was rather difficult to keep my face straight.
“First, may we sit? I promise this won’t take five minutes.”
“Of course.” Duke Crovan seemed to realize he wouldn’t like this conversation but willingly waved us to the sofa.
Edwin took his usual stance near the door. I truly detested him being way over there. I wanted him next to me, dammit. I couldn’t very well insist upon it, though.
I sat, Helena at my side, and faced the Crovans.
“First of all, your daughter was brought to my brother by Lord Gillespie,” Helena said. “My supposed fiancé. We’re not entirely sure why, only that Gillespie owed my brother some sort of favor, and your daughter was payment rendered.”
Both parents immediately issued noises of shock.
“What?!” Duchess Crovan screeched.
Duke Crovan, on the other hand, went very, very still, his grey eyes burning with rage. “My daughter. As payment. How can you possibly know this?”
“I’m trying to break my engagement,” Helena stated plainly. “For, well, obvious reasons. James has been helping me. He’s kept a spy on Gillespie for several weeks now, and through the spy, learned of tonight. Once we were warned, we left to intercept the girl before she could have something worse done to her.”
“We found her in Lunar,” I interjected quietly, and watched the duke’s eyes close in resignation. No one had good intentions when meeting there. “She was in bed with Victor by the time we arrived, but fortunately not, uh, fully engaged in intercourse. No risk of her being pregnant.”
“There’s that,” Duchess Crovan said, despairing even as she slumped sideways over the chair’s arm. “Kaysn bless you. If not for your intervention, she’d be either despoiled or pregnant. How stupid of her.”
“You have indeed done us a huge favor tonight. Can I ask your silence?” Duke Crovan asked.
I spread both hands. “I normally would promise silence but there’s no point. Victor won’t keep her confidence.”
“Zinos damn it.” Duke Crovan rubbed his face with both hands. “A good point. Her reputation is beyond tarnished, then.”
His wife hissed angrily, “That’s the least of our worries at the moment. She’s so close to being an adult and still makes these decisions? She’ll ruin herself completely if left to her own devices.”
Carefully not saying anything there either… “I’ll do what I can to squash him, but Victor’s a loudmouth. The best I can offer is shoving him back under house arrest.”
Duchess Crovan didn’t like my offer, but saw there was nothing to do about it. Her brows compressed into a straight line. “Unfortunately true.”
“No,” Edwin corrected from his place near the door. “There’s a way to turn this about.”
I twisted in my seat to see him. “What are you saying, dear heart?”
“Frame it as an abduction.” Edwin’s grin was not at all to be trusted. “Despite a lapse in judgement, the girl’s innocent, a victim. The true perpetrators get their due justice.”
Helena laughed in delight. “Edwin, this is why I love you. Yes, let’s do that.”
“I do like this idea very much,” Duchess Crovan said, expression also lifting. “My daughter doesn’t deserve the grace, but I hate to see her life destroyed by one childish decision. If you’re all agreeable?”
“We are,” Helena promised her.
“Then let’s use an abduction as our cover story. I’ll coach my daughter in it well.”
