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“Lady Aleksander. Lord Aleksander has come.”
She gasped with delight. “He’s come early! Please show him to my suite of rooms and tell him I will be there as soon as possible.” She turned back to Prince Michel. “My husband has come from Denmark.”
“Then you must go, madam.”
“Thank you, but he’ll be perfectly fine—”
“I insist,” he said. “That is, if the princess agrees. I would much rather you greet your husband than watch us argue over points in a game.” He smiled warmly.
He was a good man, Prince Michel. One day she would find him the perfect match, whether he wanted it or not. “Thank you.” She watched him walk down to where the princess and the marquess were now examining arrows, then started for the house and Valentin.
One thing was clear to her—the match had been made. She would ask Valentin’s advice on how to address the rumor around William Douglas, as it really was rather awful.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“HOWCOULDTHIShave happened?” Justine asked frantically. “How the devil did we lose aprince?”
“Whendid we lose him?” William asked, frowning with confusion. “He was present for the last round.”
“He was present for allfourrounds, William. He joined us for the discussion of the book afterward. Do you think he’s in the maze?”
They both looked at the entrance to the maze from where they stood on the path.
“Where else could he be? We’ve searched the garden and the park.”
They walked to the entrance of the maze, the guards trailing behind them. “I don’t understand it,” Justine said as they walked into the maze.
“Aye,” William agreed. “I’ve never known anyone to simply disappear.”
“I mean that he didn’t seem to care for the story of Henry Esmond. He said he was an avid reader and that he’d enjoyed Thackeray’s works. Didn’t he?” She looked curiously at William, wondering if she had imagined that he’d said it.
“I...think so?” William said uncertainly. He glanced at her, looking a bit remorseful. “Perhaps we might have saved the discussion for another time.”
Justine felt remorseful, too. She hadn’t paid Prince Michel the attention she ought to have paid him today. She’d been so intent on besting William at archery, and then talking about the book, she had almost forgotten the prince was there. And now he was missing. She tried to think of a way to make her crime seem less of one. “But the question of whether or not Henry Esmond should have told the truth about his bloodlines was a questionanyonemight discuss without having read the book, wouldn’t you agree?”
William suddenly caught her hand, forcing her to stop walking. The feel of his hand on hers brought to mind the memory of his hands on her body. Again. It was a memory that kept flooding back to her at the least opportune moments.
Oh, but she’d been thinking about this man all day, and therein lay the problem. She’d watched the way his body had moved when they’d played at archery. She’d tried not to stare at his shoulders when he removed his coat. She’d had to glance away from ogling his thighs. She’d brushed past him twice, deliberately making contact with his arm, like a girl in a ballroom trying to gain a man’s attention. What could she say for herself? She couldn’t bear to be this close to him and not touch him. And she had treated Prince Michel poorly because of it.
She looked up to see what had captured William’s attention. Lila was striding toward them, arms swinging, stride long, as if she had something terribly important to impart. Justine and William exchanged a worried look. Lila stopped directly before them and put her hands on her waist.
“Lila, thank heaven,” Justine said. “I’m afraid we’ve lost the prince. We can’t find him anywhere! We think he might have gone into the maze. We’re just about to have a look.”
“Well, Your Royal Highness, he’s gone all right, but not into the maze. He is in Belgravia by now and will be boarding a ship very soon.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s leaving England! He’s returning to Miraval! I dare say he almost took the lovebirds with him.”
Alarmed, Justine looked at William. William looked at her and looked just as baffled as she was. “But...butwhy? We’d invited him to dine. He left without a word? Not even a farewell? I don’t understand!”
Lila frowned darkly at her. “I think, ma’am, if you consider it carefully, you will understand. As for supper, the two of you will have to share it. Such a waste.”
“What do you mean, the two of us? What about you?”
“My husband has arrived from Denmark and I have ordered a private supper for my rooms.”
Justine wasn’t allowed to dine alone with a gentleman who was not her relative. Her parents were ridiculously strict about presenting even a whiff of impropriety. “But the Bardalines are—”
