“It had not occurred to me that you might...” he began.
She stopped sweeping and bowed her head over the broom. “It’s not the pageantry,” she said softly. “It’s being forgotten. And left behind. Honestly, why even introduce the notion of ‘royal birth’ only to be so very forgotten?”
“Actually,” Luke said, speaking without really thinking, “you’ve reminded me of something.”
“Do not placate me, Captain. I’m not a child.”
“No, no—when you said ‘pomp,’ I remembered.”
“We’ll not speak of it again. I’m being ridiculous. Andthat’swhy I’m upset, not the lack of a family crest or... or what have you. I’m mortified over my own presumption. I never presume, and for good reason.”
“It was a fair question,” Luke assured her. “And there is something. How careless of me to forget.” His heart thudded. He was swimming toward another lie, and he could not stop.
“I am foolish,” she recited, “and you are careless, and it doesn’t matter.”
“There is a crown, actually.”
She shot him an exasperated look. “Stop.”
“Very old, I believe, this crown. Bejeweled, naturally. Priceless.”
“What crown?” A bitter laugh.
“An Orleans heirloom. It was especially thick of me not to remember, because I chose the sapphire ring to match it.”
She stopped sweeping. She narrowed her eyes at him and then raised her hand to check the ring.
“I was told blue stones feature prominently in the crown,” he said. “I’ve not seen the thing; it’s being sent down from London. You are a princess and on your wedding day, you should wear a crown.”
He exhaled. There, he’d said it. And it wasn’t even the wrong thing to say—she should have a bloody crown. Who cared if it was a made-up thing?
It was a way to avoid saying the other things. She’d been crying, for God’s sake. He could hardly tell her about his revenge plot in the same moment.
“And what do I know of wearing a crown?” she asked.
“You pin it to your head, I think, and off you go.”
“Hmmm. How consistent with all the other mysterious bits of my alleged royalty. An afterthought, held in place with pins.”
“Well, some balance may also be required,” he said, watching her. Luke had no idea where he’d procure a bloody crown, but he realized suddenly that he wanted to give it. When it came to Danielle Allard d’Orleans, he wanted to give, and give, and give.
After she earns me what I need, he amended,I will give her Eastwell Park and a whole new life.
In the meantime, he thought, he could give her the actual gift he’d intended for this day. A sister.
Chapter 13
“Princess Danielle,” the captain asked, “when you spoke of your true identity with your parents, did they mention anyone else in your family?”
“And would you be referring to my aunt and uncle, the bloody king and queen of France?” Dani chuckled, not looking up from her sweeping.
“Well, any other family members? Any at all?”
“What they said was,” she recited, “my real father is—was—from a cadet branch of the French royal family, executed during the Revolution, just as you’ve said. After he died, I was stolen out of France by crown loyalists. Because I was only a vulnerable baby, someone—they could not say exactly who—made the decision that I should be raised up in secret by a surrogate family. Whittle was serving as a social secretary to King George at the time, Miriam a lady’s maid to Queen Charlotte. They were married but childless and desperately wanted to be parents. Their proximity to the king and queen afforded them the chance to appeal directly for my adoption. My real family was in crisis, and the ruling households of Europe were flooded with exiled French aristocrats. It was easy, I think, for the English royal family to accept Whittle and Miriam’s offer. Before anyone could change their minds, the Dinwiddies retired from the palace and relocated, quickly and quietly, to Kent, taking me with them. They hoped, I think, that if they asked for nothing and never inquired about my family—if theyvanished—both English and French courts would forget about me. And that is what happened. I was forgotten.”
“Well I was wondering if they knew of sisters or brothers who remained in the royal court. Or who exiled with someone else?”
“I beg your pardon?” Dani paused with the broom.
