Page 72 of A Fragile Enchantment

“And you? What do you plan to do now?”

“I confess,” Niamh said, before she could lose her nerve, “that is what I asked you here to discuss. I need your counsel.”

“Oh!” Miriam’s eyes went round. “Well, I can assure you that what Rosa told you is the truth. She would not object to such an arrangement, not that any wife truly can—”

“Not that.” Niamh flushed. “I think I know who Lovelace is.”

“You do?” Her fingers tightened on Niamh’s arm. “Who?”

“Princess Sofia.”

“What?” Miriam dragged her into a shadowed curve in the garden path. The sunflowers seemed to lean in conspiratorially.

Miriam listened silently but with increasing alarm as Niamh explained her reasoning. When she finished, the mothering disapproval in Miriam’s eyes was almost enough to make her wither on the spot. Niamh buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, Niamh,” groaned Miriam. “What have you stumbled into? This is a complete and utter mess, not to mentiontreasonous.”

“I know.” Her words were muffled by her palms.

She sighed fretfully. “Why have you come to me with this? I am happy to listen, of course, but…”

“I am sorry to burden you with it. I didn’t know who else to turn to.” She took Miriam’s hands in her own. Sinclair had already counseled her against making more trouble for herself, and he had his own history with the column. “If you want to pretend we didn’t have this conversation, I understand completely. However, I know you care about Infanta Rosa’s happiness as much as I do about Kit’s.”

Miriam looked startled to hear her say it. Her face drained of color. “I… Yes. I do.” She recovered quickly enough, tucking aloose curl behind her ear. “Rosa is determined to go through with this; Castilia is in sore need of allies. However, I fear Lovelace may be right. I have been worrying about the prince regent’s intentions myself. During the negotiations with the king, His Highness was quite insistent on Rosa’s dowry.”

Niamh frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t unusual to want to talk money, of course, but apparently it was quite uncouth. And I have heard some rumors about him. Nothing substantiated, of course, but…”

“Jack isn’t paying his staff,” Niamh said grimly.

“Yes.” Miriam steepled her fingers together at her lips as she thought. It was such a quintessentially Rosa gesture, Niamh almost smiled. “I wonder if it is intentional, or if he is distracted.”

“No matter the reason for his behavior of late, if it comes out, it will be disastrous. The king will call off the engagement.”

“Certainly he will. He has threatened to at least twice already.” Miriam settled onto the lip of a granite urn. “But what can we do? You cannot baselessly accuse the princess of being a radical or, God forbid, inciting sedition against her own husband.”

“There must be proof! Surely, there will be something in Sofia’s chambers. A wax seal, a letter with matching handwriting,anything.”

Miriam’s brows shot up. “And how do you propose to break into the royal quarters to find it?”

The skepticism in her voice was not appreciated. Niamh scowled. “I can be very stealthy.”

Miriam gave her a pitying look. It said,Not even the gods can help you.But she did Niamh the small mercy of keeping her thoughts to herself. Very diplomatically, she said, “You only have one chance to do this before they catch on. If you’re caught, you will be dismissed or worse.”

“I have to try.”

“Why?” Miriam asked. “You are wading into a pool you can’tsee the bottom of, Niamh. You are talented and charming, and everyone has seen how wondrous your creations are already. There will be other opportunities for you to make a name for yourself as a tailor, even if you walk away now. Neither Avaland’s nor Castilia’s problems are yours. Is it truly worth it?”

Perhaps not. But the Machlish’s were. She couldn’t turn her back on what she’d seen, knowing all the suffering she would leave behind her. She couldn’t go back home to that cottage with its broken window, working away her life, watching her family wither along with the plants in the earth, mourning as more and more people left every day. There was nothing left for her there.

She’d hardly lived at all before she arrived in Sootham—until she met people like Sinclair and Miriam and Kit. Whether she was as foolish as Miriam believed or as self-destructive as Kit accused her of being, it did not matter anymore. Even if she could not truly be with him, Kit Carmine was still hers, and he deserved protection, too.

He would not be rid of her so easily.

Niamh met her eyes steadily. “It’s worth it to me.”

“I see there’s no convincing you, then. But I suppose I understand. There is a way the prince looks at you when he thinks no one is watching.” The dreaminess in her voice faded as mischief sparked in her eyes. “Yes, he has a certainintensityabout him that I imagine could be appealing in certain circumstances.”