“Oh?” Elswyth scarcely heard her. She didn’t much care for the definition of black coriander. But she could permit Mrs. Rose one last lesson. She supposed that soon she would miss them.
“Yes. Particularly obscure. But I’m sure of it. Black coriander meansLook within.”
Elswyth looked at the bouquet, her brow furrowing, and then back at Mrs. Rose. The woman only shrugged, tutted at the dead bouquet, and then made for the door.
A strange silence settled over the room. For months, Elswyth had longed to be free from Mrs. Rose’s constant chatter. Now her absence felt like a wound. She stood and moved to the writing desk, where the old bouquet waited.
Look within.
Elswyth picked up the vase. She pushed the flowers aside and peered within but saw nothing except moldering stems. She tried to reach inside, but the opening was too small, and the thorns of old roses dug into her fingers. Finally, she grabbed the dead bouquet by the vase, lifted it above her head, and smashed it on the ground.
The porcelain exploded into fragments, the shards bouncing against her wedding gown and sliding across the wooden floors. The flowers crumbled, their dead petals hanging in the air like snow.
She looked down at the mess. In the middle of the broken vase, between the dead stalks of flowers, she saw something white and flat, concealed in a curve of shattered porcelain.
Elswyth blinked. It wasn’t a trick of the light. There was a piece of paper in the broken vase. No—an envelope.
She knelt down, picking away the shards and taking it from between the dead stalks of flowers. The envelope was small and made of ivory paper. A broken seal showed the image of a bumblebee cast in golden wax.
Elswyth’s breath quickened. Why would Persephone hide a letter inside that vase? Or was this the letter that came with the bouquet? A note from whoever had sent it?
She folded back the flap and slid out the letter within. Instantly, she recognized the golden-brown ink—the very same invisible ink that Kehinde had used in his poisoned letter to her at the Royal Gardens. Brown burn spots at the letter’s edges confirmed the use of a candle to reveal the message.
Miss Elderwood,
I did not wish to send this letter, but I am afraid I have no other choice. Our affair has been a pleasant diversion, but I cannot seriously consider you a prospect for marriage. You understood this from the outset. I must do what is best for my family, and a marriage to a house like yours is unsuitable. I apologize if you understood our relationship differently.
With that said, do not attempt to contact me further. I am leaving for a tour posthaste and will be out of reach for some months. All communications you send to the palace addressed to me will be destroyed unread.
I feel I must make this very clear: I do not love you. I have never loved you, and any delusions you may insist upon are an embarrassment to yourself and your family. It is best if we lay this matter to rest discreetly while your reputation is still intact.
As for the matter you discussed in your last letter, I deny any involvement. I urge you to visit one Lady Sheers, Number 1 Hemlock Close. In exchange for your continued discretion, I have enclosed the funds necessary for Lady Sheers’s services.
I must inform you that if you do not agree to these terms, I shall have no choice but to prevent you from slandering the Crown by any means necessary.
There is nothing to fear from this, Persephone. It will be just like plucking a daisy.
No reply is needed.
My sympathies,
Oliver
“Proof,” Percival said. He held the letter in his hand, slumped in a chair in the drawing room. Kehinde stood over him, and Mrs. Rose sat on the couch across from them, hands twitching in her lap.
“It doesn’t… Perhaps it’s not…” Mrs. Rose said, trailing off.
“It is,” Elswyth said. “That is proof of an affair between Prince Oliver and Persephone. And proof that he was threatening her.”
“That doesn’t mean he killed her,” Kehinde said, but he seemed unsure as well.
“No, perhaps not. But it very much seems that he wanted the affair to remain a secret. How far would he go to ensure that no one knew?”
A stunned silence fell over the room.
Kehinde spoke slowly. “This address is in the Rows.”
“I know.That’swhy Persephone was there that night. She was going to see Lady Sheers.”
