She looked at the sky. “Andyoubelieve this?”
“Yes.”
“You believe it, but you didn’t tell me right away. You value information and knowing so highly, and yet you withheld this from me?” She had begun to ever so gently lean against him. His body tingled where their shoulders touched.
“There is no excuse, but I’ll make one. On the first morning, in the parlor of your parents’ cottage, you left the room to prepare tea. In the moments you were away, your father informed me that you did not know, and he asked that I not tell you. It’s as simple as that. It was your parents’ fervent wish thattheyexplain it. I honored their intention for a night. When I returned for the tour of Eastwell Park, and they admitted to telling you nothing, I realized that it would fall to me, in the end, to say it. I never imagined that my own hesitation would set in.”
He rocked gently, pushing against her.
“It’s no small thing,” he went on, “revealing royal blood to an unsuspecting woman. Even here, now, when I’ve actually said the words, I regret the way it’s happened. You are unhappy. You literally jumped into a pond to escape the news.” He heard a giggle. “You’re soaked through and freezing. I’m shoeless and my boat has drifted into a lily quagmire. Your friend was meant to be here to offer support and Fernsby has absconded with her. You’ve only me and the marine life of this pond. I’m so sorry.”
She dropped her head on his shoulder and Luke was hit with an unexpected wave of relief. She was overwhelmed but she did not seem to blame him. He exhaled, enjoying the heavy rope of her wet hair sticking to his arm, the weight of her head on his shoulder.
“At Eastwell Park,” he said, “I couldn’t find the words. And then we became... distracted. I took...” and now he exhaled “...liberties, and I felt like an absolute letch. All of it has been bungled fifteen different ways—I’m bungling it still. I can only imagine how very shocked and confused you must be.”
“It’s the disbelief. Honestly.”
“I’m not sure how to convince you other than to say the words.”
“Well, you could saymorewords. You could say if the Prince Regent believes me to be this...princess?”
“Yes, Prince George was entirely certain you are an exiled French princess.”
“He knows this Orleans family so well? He keeps a running list of exiles?”
Luke chuckled. “He has equerries to keep up with these things.”
“And when did he tell you this?”
“When I was awarded Eastwell Park for my service.” Not precisely a lie.
“What did he say about my family?” With every question, she burrowed deeper into his side.
“The details of your family were not his focus at the moment, I’m afraid.”
“If you’dnotbeen given Eastwell Park and betrothed to me, what would’ve become of me?”
“I cannot say.”
“Would the Prince Regent have allowed me to remain with Miriam and Whittle forever?”
“I don’t know.”
She pushed off of him and stared into his face. “Thisis why the Prince Regent arranged the marriage, isn’t it?”
Luke blinked at her. In the back of his mind, he felt the new lie take shape—a real one. He had a decision to make. It was like trying to leave the pub only to have his friends arrive and compel him to stay. It was so very easy to simply go along. She made up the excuses for him, and he agreed.
“You were given Eastwell Park as a reward,” she guessed, “and I was betrothed to you because... because... I am this unclaimed French princess who’s been, in a way, languishing in everyone’s way. Not literallyin their wayif I’m forgotten in the countryside, but like an annoying debt that was never squared. Not significant enough to bankrupt anyone, but mildly dishonorable if not eventually sorted.”
Luke stared up into her beautiful face and did not contradict her. God help him, he went along, and along, and along.What a coward you are, he thought,to simply go along.
“So the prince had a national hero in need of a reward,” she guessed, “and a French princess in need of a future, and he killed two birds with one stone by engaging us to be married and installing us in Eastwell Park? Is that it?”
And now he was compelled to contribute. “I think,” Luke said, “he wanted me settled with a local girl who had a stake in the success of the property. I also think, in absence of available relatives, he views you as his responsibility, and he wanted to see you settled, too.” The second lie had veins of truth. She’d made it too easy. She’d set the table before him, and now he ate.
“I should’ve forced my parents to show me Prince George’s letter,” she said lowly, tears in her voice. “I should’ve demanded that Miriam and Whittle tell me my personal history years ago.”
And now his arm moved of its own accord. He settled it on her shoulders and tugged. She fell against him, burying her face against his neck.
