“Ah.” He smiled thinly. “So you permitted the illusion of choice.”
“I permitted observation,” she corrected. “And the result has proven…instructive.”
He exhaled through his nose. “You were meant to steer her elsewhere.”
“I attempted to,” Lady Hertford said calmly. “She resisted. And Winslow, bumbling idiot that he is, refused to see heras anything more than a potential for increased consequence. Elizabeth is intelligent and saw through his empty flattery.”
His expression hardened. “She is not in a position to resist.” Miss de Bourgh was supposed to bend to his will. He was in control.
“She is in a position to be noticed when she does,” Lady Hertford replied. “And she has been.”
That, more than anything else, unsettled him.
Elizabeth de Bourgh had been watched from the moment she arrived in Town. Her movements, her conversations, her associations—none of it had escaped scrutiny. And yet she had not behaved as expected. She had neither adhered to his wishes nor rebelled openly. The girl had not grasped at favor nor recoiled from it. She had simply…endured. Blast his wife for creating such a paragon.
“She has influence,” Lady Hertford continued carefully. “Not overtly. But perceptibly. Princess Charlotte listens to her.”
The Prince Regent’s jaw tightened.
“That,” he said sharply, “was never part of the arrangement.” He ought to have known it would occur. Charlotte adored her ‘only friend.’
“No,” Lady Hertford agreed. “But it is now a fact. Surely you noted your daughter’s outspoken manner at supper.”
He rose and began to pace, hands clasped behind his back. “Charlotte is already difficult. Observant. Questioning. She does not require additional encouragement.” It would be hard enough to marry the girl off without added conflict.
“And yet,” Lady Hertford said, “Elizabeth does not encourage rebellion. If anything, she tempers it.”
He stopped. “You are suggesting that she is a moderating influence.” That was a revolutionary idea. Was Miss de Bourgh’s influence a detriment to Charlotte’s behavior or a positive aspect of the relationship?
“I am suggesting,” Lady Hertford replied, continuing unheeded, “that Elizabeth commands loyalty without demanding it. That is precisely what makes her dangerous if mishandled.”
He turned back toward her slowly. “Dangerous?”
Lady Hertford met his gaze unflinchingly. “To those who insist on obedience without regard.”
Silence stretched between them.
At length, the Prince Regent returned to his chair. “Darcy,” he said slowly. “Let us speak of Darcy.”
“Yes,” Lady Hertford said. “Let us.”
“He is proud,” the prince said. “Stubborn. Inclined to independence.”
“And therefore not easily controlled,” Lady Hertford agreed. “Which is why he has never been a favorite.”
“Nor does he seek favor,” the prince added. “That, too, is tiresome.”
“And useful,” she countered.
He shot her a look. “You grow bolder.”
“I grow practical,” Lady Hertford replied. “Your Royal Highness, the men you placed before Elizabeth—Winslow among them—have all failed.”
“They failed because she refused to be impressed.”
“She refused because they treated her as an acquisition,” Lady Hertford said. “Darcy does not.”
The Prince Regent was silent for a moment. “He has not pressed his suit as they have.”
