She smiled. “Yes.”
“Even better to have you here with me.”
I love you, her mind, body, and soul screamed, but she wouldn’t give voice to the words, wouldn’t let her heart have the final say. It would only serve to make the parting that was to come that much harder.
Chapter 27
Marcus stood in an antechamber at Balmoral awaiting an audience with the Queen, his arm in a sling and his shoulder hurting like the very devil. Esme had been sent for as well and was presently with the Queen. Apparently, Victoria wanted to speak with each of them separately, while he thought they should be addressed together. After all, they were a team. They’d worked in tandem to bring things to an end.
When they’d gone down to breakfast, they’d been warmly greeted. He’d received a few slaps on the back and reassurances that he’d never been suspected of being involved in the conspiracy with his father. He was struggling with what Esme had told him about the threat Oglethorpe had made to his father. Might the duke have been spared the hangman’s noose if he’d confessed all?
He heard the tinkling of a bell and the footman standing at the door disappeared inside. Shortly afterward, he reappeared. “Her Majesty will see you now.”
Straightening his spine, he marched into the familiar room where he and Esme had met with the ruler a few weeks earlier. Her hands clasped in front of her, Victoria stood within a foot of the same chair she had upon their last visit. He bowed. “Your Majesty.”
She gave a nod and waited until the footman had closed the door with asnickto say, “I should have you flogged for daring to touch my person in such an unseemly manner when we were making our escape last night.”
“My sincerest apologies, but I thought haste was of utmost importance.”
“You were worried about Esme.”
He allowed his gaze to scour the room, searching for fronds behind which she might be hiding or shadows within which she could melt. “I didn’t see her leave this chamber.”
“No, she left through another exit.” Did all these Scottish castles have hidden doors and passageways? “She thought it for the best.”
His gut clenched so tightly that it nearly doubled him over. “Why would she think that?”
Elegantly, Victoria lowered herself to the chair and indicated the one closest to her. “Please sit, Mr. Stanwick.”
What he wanted to do was go tearing out of thisroom and through all the others until he discovered where she was.
“You won’t find her.” The Queen’s tone was laced with utter conviction threaded with a measure of pity. He wanted to prove her wrong. “Sit,” she repeated.
Would she see him hanged if he didn’t obey her order and instead stormed out? Was it worth proving himself a disloyal subject after spending the better part of more than a year striving to prove the opposite? He dropped into the chair, suddenly taking no satisfaction in the accomplishments of the night before because he was beginning to suspect success had come at a cost he hadn’t been willing to pay.
“Esme thinks very highly of you,” Victoria said.
“She is an incredible woman.”
“Do you love her?”
Before they were even spoken, the words tasted bitter on his tongue because he should have admitted it to Esme before he did anyone else. “With all my heart.”
“I have known her for a good many years now, and she has always served me well. But this latest mission... I do not think it was particularly easy. I feel that I owe her more than I can ever repay. I offered to give her anything in the kingdom that she desired. I hope you are deserving of it, Marcus Stanwick.”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“She wanted the Duke of Wolfford’s titles andproperties to be returned to his heir.” Reaching for the bell on the table beside her, she gave it a ring. “I bid you good day, Your Grace.”
Marcus had never exited a room so quickly in his entire life.
“Have you seen Esme... Miss Lancaster?” he asked a maid.
“No, sir.”
It was the same answer he got whether he asked the question of a footman, another maid, the cook, or a stableboy. Or John Brown when they crossed paths.
“Sorry, lad,” he said.
