Page 121 of The Duchess Curse

“But it is not rare,” Diana said.

The queen lifted her chin, cleared her throat. “I, too, find myself at the middle of a marriage storm. They all know best who I must wed. And each suitor is a political choice, not just a matrimonial one. I wish… I wish it was all a lie I could disregard, too.”

Guin reached across the table, palm up, an offer. “We will support you, whomever you choose, as long as you are happy with the choice. As long as you support our causes, too.”

The queen lifted a brow. “And what causes are those?”

“A woman as Master Alchemist,” Sybil said.

“Women allowed into Oxbridge,” Diana added.

“Potion laws created equitably,” Guin suggested.

“Consider it.” Sybil leaned forward, her voice charged with energy. “We are, arguably, the four most powerful women in London. There are hundreds of men beyond that door who think themselves more powerful. Isn’t that tediously infuriating?”

The queen shook her head. “Politics is not about brute force. It is about, more often than I would like, manipulation, compromise. It is choosing who I allow to tug my puppet strings.”

“Why not pull them yourself?” Guin asked. “Let us control our own futures, so we can break our curses, and our children may live happier lives.”

Guin’s hand still remained palm up on the table between them, and the queen regarded it like a snake or a treasure she dared not believe in.

Then the queen’s little hand shot out and grasped Guin’s. She shook it with a strong grip and a cunning smile. “Very well, ladies. I look forward to our future… ventures together.”

They left the queen in the conservatory and found their husbands across the street. Apollo lounged against a tree, and Temple paced back and forth.

Bran stood tall as an oak, steady as one, too, and he saw her as soon as she saw him. She ran into his arms and hugged him tight.

“Well?” he asked, holding her at arm’s length.

“It’s the start of something.”

The others were walking down the street ahead of them, and Guin used the private moment to kiss him, a short, sweet thing that made her heart sing.

“Yes,” Bran said, kissing her knuckles and pulling her along to catch up with the others, “I think it is. You have my voice in parliament.”

“I know.”

“And you have my blades in the streets.”

“I know.”

“You just have me, Guin.” He pulled her tight against his side and said so low only she could hear, “I love you.”

“I know.” She buried her face in his chest and said so his very heart could hear, “I love you, too.”

Author’s Note

Thank you for reading The Duchess Curse! I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing. If you’re not ready to leave my Victorian fantasy world, you can sign up for my weekly Book News Blast to receive a short story featuring Hesperus and Poppy.

Or, dive into the two novellas set in this world:

Naughty for Sir Nicholas

Til Death Duke us Part

Take a peek at the first chapter of Naughty for Sir Nicholas!

Prologue: That Arse is Breaking and Entering