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Monsieur DuPree’s arms waved toward the audience as he explained something to the princess.
“And, if I may add, it would also be advantageous to have her and Princess Amelia out of the country until...events are all but forgotten?”
The queen slanted a dark look at him. “Meaning the Gustavs.”
Dante was very careful to keep his expression neutral. “We might catch two fish with one net. If we are to send her to London to apprentice, we could also see to it that our preferred list of potential suitors are presented there. Think of it—she might return with someone she wishes to marry.”
“Are you mad, Robuchard?Suitors?” The queen looked at her daughter on the stage, leaned toward Dante and whispered, “After all that has happened? Without me there to keep watch over her? I can’t leave my husband.”
Dante had expected her to leap at the chance to put distance behind what the newspapers had dubbed The Great Princess Predicament. Was it possible the queen was more maternal than he’d given her credit for being?
No, not possible. Actually, so far from the realm of possibility as to be laughable.
“Would you not agree that it is preferable to have the princess married than not? Particularly if it becomes necessary to revisit abdication.”
The queen stiffened. The subject had been broached with her and the king before, but only in theory...the theory being that if the king’s health declined to the point he could no longer effectively carry out his duties, for the sake of the nation and the stability of the monarchy, it might become necessary to abdicate in favor of Princess Justine.
“Naturally, I would not suggest this were I not assured thatallproper precautions will be taken. She would be advised and supervised by a master of the chamber, Lord Bardaline, and his wife as lady-in-waiting.”
The queen pondered this. “Lady Bardaline is clever.”
Of course she was, or Dante wouldn’t have suggested her. She was the queen’s close friend, but she was a lady who knew to keep all windows open, so to speak, and frequently whispered in his ear. “I would also suggest that if you and the king allow, we might retain the services of Lady Lila Aleksander of Denmark.”
The queen’s eyes widened with surprise. She leaned back and looked him up and down. “I beg your pardon?”
“Lady Aleksander is a matchmaker—”
“I know who she is, Robuchard.”
“She is the best in all of Europe,” Dante calmly continued. “She has made matches for the most difficult subjects. The German prince, Heinz Jäger, who everyone says is a half-wit, was brought to a successful match by her ladyship. If he can be matched, imagine what could be done with her highness—”
“Are you suggesting my daughter is a difficult match?”
“Not at all,” he said quickly, raising a hand, kicking himself mentally. “But she is achallengingmatch given that she will be queen. Her future husband must be the right man if we are to have any hope of her ruling effectively. We know the few candidates we would entertain,” he said, making it sound as if it was the queen’s thinking and not his, “but what we need is an opportunity for the princess to meet them and form an attachment with one.”
“We can’t have amatchmaker, Robuchard!” the queen whispered hotly. “What will people think? They will think something is wrong with my daughter!”
“That’s why I suggest you proceed with Lady Aleksander’s impeccable service while the princess is in England. She will see to it that when the princess returns to Wesloria, it will be with a formal engagement to an excellent man who might lead her. Everyone wins.”
Queen Agnes gaped at him. But then she closed her mouth and looked at the stage, where Monsieur DuPree was leaning so close to Princess Justine that she was leaning back. “Amelia, too?”
Yes, of course,Amelia, too, that little troublemaker. “Princess Amelia is her sister’s truest companion and would likewise benefit from the tutelage.”
Monsieur DuPree, having delivered his instruction, leaped off the stage once more, and the princess stood with her head high.
“Their father might not survive the summer, you realize,” the queen whispered.
“All the more reason to move with due haste, Your Majesty. The crown princess will need a husband to lean on through grief and coronation and the assumption of all the sovereign’s duties. The people of Wesloria will appreciate a man’s steady hand behind the throne.”
She snorted. “You have greatly overestimated the value of any man’s hand, sir, but I do see your point. You are wise to suggest it, I think. How do we approach Victoria?”
Dante almost leaped from his seat with a victorious shout. “It’s already done, Your Majesty.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is it?” she drawled. “And what guarantee do we have that Lady Aleksander will act in the direction we want?”
The guarantee was that Robuchard was never without his royal ducks neatly in a row. He was working through every part of his plan, including the engagement of Lady Aleksander’s services and installing a spy who would report solely to him. “The compensation for a successful conclusion to this particular task is motivation enough, I assure you. But there are telegraphs, and I have eyes in England. We will be aware of everything that happens, down to the amount of milk her highness drinks each day.”
The queen chewed her bottom lip as she stared at her daughter on the stage, who had walked out from behind the podium to appeal to Monsieur DuPree. “Really, monsieur, I think this problem would be solved if I had my eyeglasses.”
