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Now she gave him an icy smile. “Thank you.” She glanced at the prince, but he did not seem inclined to move away and introduce his companion to another unsuspecting lady. Emily was forced to make more conversation.
“How is it you know the prince?”
“We’re old friends,” Galloway said, slapping the prince on the shoulder. Albert stepped forward at the force of it then managed a smile.
“Yes, old friends,” he agreed.
“How did you meet?” she asked, genuinely curious. The prince had grown up in Saxony, and as the son of a viscount, Emily had to assume Galloway had been raised and educated in England.
“Mr. Galloway and I met in Saxony years ago,” Albert said, returning the slap on Galloway’s shoulder, though not as forcefully.
“I was on the Grand Tour,” Galloway said. “Albert and I spent several years traveling and exploring the duchy and beyond.”
“Several years?” Emily raised her brow. “I was under the impression a gentleman’s Grand Tour is but a year.”
The scampwinkedat her. “For some of us it lasts a bit longer.”
The prince coughed, and Emily thought she heard him say, “Quite a bit longer.”
Galloway was obviously one of those debauched libertines who spent his life overindulging in drink, cards, and loose women. Though Albert did not strike her as such a man, his brother Ernest had a similar reputation. Emily looked about, hoping for some escape from the conversation. Seeing the queen still engaged with the prime minister, she despaired of ever being called to dinner and escaping Galloway and the confusing emotions she felt in his presence.
“I am surprised I have not seen you at the palace before,” she said, glancing at Galloway but avoiding looking into his eyes too long. She wanted to catch sight of those gold flecks in the brown of his eyes, and she wanted to look more deeply.
“I’ve only just arrived back in London,” Galloway said.
“Surely not from your Grand Tour.”
“No. I’ve been in France the past few years on business.”
She smiled with genuine interest. Perhaps there might be some conversation to be had after all. She could converse at length about French fashions, wine, and furnishings. “And what kind of business took you to France?”
“The business of making new friends, of course.” He gave her another half-smile and she had to stop herself from sighing in disgust. He meant women, of course. Paris was notorious for its courtesans. She told herself she was unaffected by his smile, but it wasn’t quite true. For some reason, his closeness, his smile, the look in his eyes made her flesh warm and her heart beat faster. She couldn’t understand it. She did not like rakes. One of the reasons Victoria had asked her to come to court was because Emily’s reputation was untarnished. During her marriage there had never been even a whisper of infidelity, not even a harmless flirtation. The other reason for the queen’s kindness, of course, was that Emily was a distant cousin of Victoria and had noclose relatives still living. No doubt the queen felt it her duty to take Emily under her wing after Jack died. But she had asked Emily to come to Court even before Jack’s death. It had often been a topic of conversation between Emily and Jack. Emily had wanted to serve the queen and experience life in Buckingham Palace, and Jack had said that the queen only wanted her because she’d been advised to keep her friends close and her enemies closer.
But Emily had never been the queen’s enemy, even if Jack had seen himself as such.
“And how do you find life at court?” Galloway asked.
“I’m very fortunate to be asked to serve the queen,” she replied as she always did.
“Ah, excuse me,” the prince said. He moved toward his wife, and Emily felt a flicker of hope that dinner would begin soon.
And this conversation would end.
Galloway folded his arms over his dark blue coat paired with a robin’s egg blue waistcoat, which seemed much too bright a garment to be proper. “Life at the palace sounds quite tedious.”
Now that the prince had moved away, Emily did not feel compelled to hold her tongue. “Perhaps to some.”
Galloway leaned closer. “Perhaps to you,” he murmured. “It’s a good thing I’m here to liven things up a bit.”
“And what makes you think I want anything livened up, as you say? I am quite content with the status quo.”
He gave her a long perusal, starting from her face down her body, clad in gray half mourning, then back up again. He looked so long and so thoroughly that she felt her cheeks warm.
“Are you quite through, sir?”
He gave her a mischievous smile. “I haven’t even begun. And to answer your question, I can look at you and see you want livening up. I’d say I am just the man to give it to you.” And withanother wink—really, the gall of the man—he bowed and moved away.
Emily sputtered, trying to think of a reply to call after him, but nothing came to her. She would probably think of the perfect rejoinder tonight when she was half asleep and then kick herself for the next few days for not conjuring it earlier.
