“Your Highness,” he said carefully, “where, pray, do you expect me to take her? I can hardly put her in my closet at The Albany. No ladies are permitted, and besides—”
The Prince scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool? The lady must be hidden. You must take her somewhere to that effect.”
Darcy’s blood—what remained of it—rushed to his head.No. No, no, no… Anything but—
“Another name,” the Prince went on, “another place of residence. I trust no one but you, Darcy—you owe no man anything.”
Darcy’s tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. “Your Highness, I am… I am a bachelor.”
“You are a gentleman by reputation,” the Prince continued as he drew another pinch of snuff, “so I expect the lady will remain intact in your keeping.”
Darcy’s breath hissed in through his teeth.Intact… how very delicate. And entirely out of character for the Prince to even care about.
“And the fewer who know her whereabouts, the better.Ido not even wish to know where you take her.”
A sharp inhalation.
Darcy felt it rather than heard it, and Lady Elizabeth Montclair’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “What am I to tell my father? Does His Highness expect I will not be missed?”
She had spoken out of turn, her voice sharp with disbelief.
Darcy glanced at her in alarm, but she did not look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the Prince. She lifted her chin defiantly, waiting for an answer.
The Prince blinked. “Well, by Jove, she is a sprightly creature! I could have you hanged, dear thing.”
Darcy rose from the desk, his paper and quill abandoned. “She asks a reasonable question, Your Highness. One cannot simply ‘disappear’ with the daughter of a peer.”
“Oh, Her Majesty will manage the affair.” He waved a bored hand. “It will probably be reported that you have been invited on a pleasure tour with some of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting—one of those dreadful little excursions to the countryside. I know nothing of such matters, but my mother is very clever in these things. Your father will think nothing amiss—will likely be terribly flattered, in fact. And of course, we shall see to it that he receives regular ‘letters’ from ‘you’ while you are away.”
Darcy winced.
Lady Elizabeth’s mouth fell open. Slowly, stiffly, she turned her head and stared at him.
Darcy was not a coward. But at that moment, he rather wished he wereanywherebut here. Dead would be easiest.
The Prince yawned and motioned away the servant who was offering to refill his glass. “Well, then,” he said brightly. “That is all settled.” He flicked his fingers at his guards. “Escort them out.”
Darcy’s stomach clenched.
The guards immediately stepped forward, gesturing toward the doors.
“I expect your reports in the usual way,” the Prince called.
Darcy barely heard him. He was too busy considering the many, many ways this was about to become a disaster.
“Oh, and I shall have satisfaction within a fortnight, Darcy. No show of it this time—just a body. Am I quite understood?”
Darcy clenched his jaw, inclining his head. Then—before Lady Elizabeth could unleash the treasonous outrage he could see simmering on the tip of her tongue—he turned, grabbed her hand, and dragged her out of the Prince’s sight.
Chapter Five
LadyElizabethMontclairhadnever been forcibly removed from a royal residence before.
There was a first time for everything.
The moment the doors shut behind them, she yanked hard against the grip on her arm. “Unhand me!” she snapped, breathless with fury, twisting against the unforgiving hold of the man dragging her down the marble steps of Buckingham House.
He did not let go.
