Vanessa saw only her father and immediately ran to him. Everyone else in the room saw only Prince George.
Chapter Fifty
“WHY WASN’T I INVITED, when I reside only a paltry few blocks from here?” George asked calmly.
The Prince Regent had availed himself of Albert’s chair behind the desk in Albert’s study.
But Albert was enraged and not hiding it very well because he had come so close to getting Daniel married, only to have those machinations ruined by an interfering royal. “If your objection to the wedding is because of that oversight, Highness, I assure you it wasn’t intentional.”
“Not a’tall. I confess I was merely curious. So the reason was?”
“My son wanted a small ceremony—”
“Or you did?” George cut in. “I’ve been apprised that it was a ceremony steeped in the distasteful business of blackmail.”
“No! The marriage was arranged amicably.”
“Your terminating an earlier blackmail scheme in exchange for a wife for your son was the bargain, was it not? Amicable or not, that is still a new instance of blackmail. Are you beginning to see where you erred, dear Albert? What you did previously was to usurp a power that is only mine to wield. Only I can banish one of my lords from my kingdom.Doyou deny it?”
Albert dropped into a chair in front of the desk. “He killed my youngest brother.”
“So there was a duel?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” George said. “That was the missing piece of the puzzle.”
“There was no puzzle. Blackburn was asked, begged, to stand down, and he wouldn’t.”
“Perhaps you aren’t familiar with my father’s chronicler? A strange fellow with an even stranger memory. He doesn’t need to write down the facts he gathers from one end of the country to the other, though he still does, because everything he has heard, has been told, or has ferreted out as pertains to our kingdom stays in his head.”
“What has that to do with any of this, Highness?” Albert demanded.
“Everything, since I had reason to summon him this week once I became aware of your distasteful dealings. He told me immediately why there could have been a duel the year of your brother Henry’s death, though you managed to keep it quite secret, that your youngest brother had very obviously pursued Lady Blackburn that summer. So it would seem there was a reason for that duel, and it would seem you were less than honorable to blackmail Lord Blackburn because of it.”
And then almost as an afterthought, George added with a tsk, “As for your recalcitrant son, you should have approached me with your worries, Albert. I could have found a suitable match for your boy without resorting to the unsavory business of blackmail.”
“You don’t understand—”
George cut in, “But I do, actually. Remember the chronicler? Five disappointed debutantes, wasn’t it? I’m also aware that the gel has feelings for another and is only here to get her father home, which is redundant, since he now has my permission to return without consequences.”
“My boy won’t agree to this. He actually wants the chit.”
“I will deal with your son. I can be very persuasive. Be assured, he will marry whom I tell him to marry. And you will consider the revenge you exacted on the Blackburns to have run its course and is now over.” George stood, his affable manner gone. “You don’t want to cross me on this, Albert. You have broken laws that could have serious consequences for your entire family if the courts are so informed. Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly.”
“Splendid. Now about your son . . .”
AT THE BACK OFthe music room, even as she hugged her father fiercely, Vanessa exclaimed, “Why would you do this? You’ve exposed yourself!”
He hugged her just as fiercely, but in a calm whisper assured her, “It’s all right. I had hoped to sneak into London and speak to you privately to forbid this, but I didn’t get here in time, was almost too late to stop this nonsense that Peter informed me about.”
“Peter! I asked him not to do that.”
He smiled gently. “Don’t be mad at my friend. He knew I would never allow this farce of a marriage. But it’s still all right, Nessi. That was the Regent I came in with. He was also apprised of what was happening and why. He’ll be wiping the slate clean for us, or the Rathbans will know royal vengeance. Well, that is the Regent’s intention,” he said with a laugh. “Whether Albert agrees or not, we will know soon enough.”
There was no time to say more when the twins excitedly arrived for their reunion with their father. Vanessa laughed as she was pushed out of the way. She could never have imagined this wedding being aborted so—royally. And the relief she felt was so overwhelming she was afraid she was going to start giggling and not be able to stop.
