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Lady Jocelyn moved to stand beside her. “Who was that man?”
Emily blew out a breath. “The most horrid creature. A friend of the prince, if you can believe that. I do hope I never have to see him again.”
“Really?” Lady Jocelyn fanned herself. “I think he’s quite handsome.”
Emily shook her head, unable to outright deny the observation. Galloway was handsome. “If you like that type,” she said.
“I dare say every woman likes his type.”
They were summoned to dinner, and Emily used the short walk to the dining room to compose herself. She spotted her place card easily enough and moved toward her seat, but just as she did so, she saw Mr. Galloway lift his place card and trade it with the card of the man whom she had been seated beside. Emily’s jaw dropped open. He could not do that! The queen had spent quite a lot of time and effort on the seating chart.
But if she pointed out Galloway’s effrontery, surely she would make a spectacle of herself, not to mention draw attention to the fact that he had moved cards to seat himself beside her. Then tongues would wag as to why he had wanted to sit beside her.
Emily met Galloway’s eyes and he raised his brows as if in challenge. He knew she knew, and he dared her to call him out.
Gritting her teeth, Emily said not a word and instead allowed Galloway to pull her chair out and seat her himself. Determinednot to look at him, she turned her head to the man on her opposite side.
It was the prime minister.
Galloway sat down, and Emily was surrounded.
Chapter Two
Will knew Lady Averley didn’t like him. He’d misjudged her. He’d thought a widow living under the thumb of the queen would want excitement.
He still thought she wanted excitement. But not the sort he had offered just now.
If his instincts were correct, she wanted another sort all together. And though her role in the recent assassination attempt was still just a suspicion, Will was here to find the proof. She may not like him. Not yet. But he would persuade her to like him. That’s why Baron had sent him. Everyone liked Willoughby Galloway, and it would take a man of considerable charm and patience to uncover and sabotage the effort to kill the queen.
Will looked about the table at the ladies-in-waiting, the prince, the prime minister, and various other lords and secretaries. He didn’t suspect a single person at the table tonight would harm the queen directly. Lady Averley wouldn’t stab Her Majesty or poison her, butsomeonewas helping the Irish assassins who wanted the queen dead, and at this point all evidence pointed to the blond woman on his left. Lady Averley had suggested a ride in the park that day. The excursion had not been planned. How would the would-be assassins know of such an occurrence if they hadn’t an accomplice inside Buckingham Palace?
The first course was served, and Will went about making himself agreeable to everyone at the table. He made easy conversation with the lady on his other side and those seatedacross from him. He attempted to speak to Lady Averley several times, but she was either in conversation with the prime minister, seated on her other side, or the queen.
Finally, the queen addressed him directly. “Mr. Galloway, you have a sister, if we recall correctly.”
“I do, Ma’am.” He gave her an engaging smile, and she smiled back, looking almost like a girl again when her cheeks turned pink.Take that, Lady Averley. Icanbe charming.
“Do you know Miss Galloway, Lady Averley?” the queen inquired.
Will wanted to groan. Obviously, the queen had noticed the frostiness at this end of the table and decided to intervene.
Lady Averley set down her spoon. “I’m afraid I do not know Miss Galloway, Ma’am. I only had one Season before I was married.”
“That’s right. Lady Jocelyn?”
“I met Miss Galloway a time or two,” Lady Jocelyn answered. “She was quite a lovely, vivacious woman, if I remember correctly.”
Vivaciouswas putting it mildly.
“Galloway, why do we not recall news of her marriage?” the queen asked, piercing him again with her shrewd eyes. Will was certain she knew the answer to her own question, but he obliged, nonetheless.
“She is not yet wed, Ma’am.”
“Not yet wed? But she must be five and twenty.”
“Six and twenty,” Will said, sipping his wine. He didn’t often feel sympathy for Lucy. The two siblings were rather competitive, but he did understand how tiresome it must be for her to always be asked when she would wed. He was one and thirty, and no one ever asked him.
“Your mother must be quite beside herself,” the queen remarked.
