But the plan was far too dangerous. At the Bancroft mansion, and at Minister Saquille’s mansion… Gordon’s sinister gaze was still burned into Giles’s memory, and Prince Grenville knew nothing of it.
“I implore you,” Grenville said. “Once they’ve met, I will abdicate any claim to the throne forevermore.”
“What?!” the crown prince exclaimed, his face pale with shock. Apparently, not even he had been apprised of this part of the plan.
“I never wanted to be king, nor do I want it now. But Minister Saquille pushed so strongly for me to rule, and I am partially at fault for not reprimanding him more strongly.”
“B-but, Uncle!”
“Forgive me. Let me have this one selfish wish,” Grenville said, bowing in humble apology. A hushed silence fell over the room. “Other opportunists like Minister Saquille will rise, and I am utterly exhausted. I will take this opportunity to disappear completely from the public eye alongside Gordon.”
“Prince Grenville,” Giles murmured. He kept his eyes fixed on the king’s brother, sensing Richard’s gaze on the side of his head all the while.
“I want to dedicate the rest of my life to raising flowers in mourning for Justine and the victims of the war,” Grenville said.
He’d always distanced himself from politics and palace affairs. Beneath his devout passion for flowers lay love and grief for the artist who painted them. The wrinkles in his suntanned skin were signs of his mourning. Regret cast a shadow over his peaceful violet eyes.
“Is this an order, Your Highness?” Giles asked.
“No, but I can order you, if you’d prefer that. My first and final command as your prince.”
I suppose he means to say he would order me to arrange the meeting, but he would not force Fiona into it. Excluding Fiona from this meeting was a diplomatic move. As the daughter of a low-ranking baron, she could not possibly refuse him if she heard his confession.
Giles took a heavy breath. “She will be the one to decide.”
“Very well.” Prince Grenville smiled in relief over Giles’s answer, the tension loosening from his shoulders. Now that they had been granted a means to refuse, Giles could offer no further objections. “Gordon is in a spare room in this palace under guard.”
So, he wanted the meeting to take place that very night. Giles was not expecting that, but given the ample security and the presence of all the other people around them, it was opportune timing.
“Once the ball is over, you may go to him—”
An urgent knock at the door interrupted Prince Grenville and set them all on edge. There were guards posted at the door to keep anybody from disturbing them. A knock at the door could only mean unforeseen circumstances had arisen.
“I’ll answer.”
“Rick—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”
Richard cautiously opened the door to reveal a flustered attendant of the crown prince and Jeremy, Fiona’s bodyguard. A purple-faced guard stood beside them. “I am terribly sorry to intrude,” the attendant said, “but this is an emergency.”
Caroline took Fiona away, and Gordon attacked his guards and escaped. The brief report was enough for Giles and Richard to understand everything.
“Oh no. Not Gordon,” Grenville muttered, nearly falling out of his chair in anguish.
Leaving him in the crown prince’s care, Giles and Richard flew out of the room. Jeremy took the lead, explaining as he went that Caroline had threatened Cecelia’s safety to coerce Fiona into coming with her.
Fiona did not dwell on the rumors about her, but she could not ignore any threat to her family, especially her frail little sister. Knowing the deep bond the two sisters shared, Giles understood why Fiona had given in to Caroline’s demands. She would do anything to protect her sister.
Jeremy went on to tearfully explain that Caroline had threatened his own little sister in addition to Fiona’s. He was racked with guilt, both for failing to perform his duty and for letting Fiona sacrifice herself for his sake. Giles and Richard continued to hurry after Jeremy, matching his desperate pace to the room where Caroline had taken Fiona. The only thing preventing them from outright sprinting there was the need to avoid causing a stir.
Suppressing his feral heart with everything in his being, Giles hurried down the hallway discreetly enough to leave the party guests who saw him none the wiser. I should have trusted my gut, he thought, his body flooding with impatience and guilt. I shouldn’t have left her side. He had no concrete evidence of Gordon’s connection to Caroline, but it was hard not to connect the two events that had coincided so closely.
Gordon did not steal his guards’ weapons when he slipped out of custody, but a lack of weapons was no cause for relief. Giles desperately needed to ensure Fiona’s safety as soon as possible.
Just when it began to seem that they would never arrive, they did. “This way, my lords,” Jeremy said, leading them to the closed door of a room. Giles sensed nothing amiss from the outside of the room, but this was a royal palace; the walls and doors were thick. Nobody could hear what was happening inside.
“Rick, you take the rear,” Giles said.
“Absolutely.”
Richard moved protectively behind him, and Giles carefully grabbed the doorknob. He forced it open and found Caroline reclining languidly on the bed.
“Oh my! Lord Giles!” Caroline looked briefly shocked by his unannounced entrance, but it wasn’t long before a satisfied smile filled her face. She rose to greet him. There was nobody else in the room.
She’s…not here?
Forcing himself to breathe steadily, Giles marched into the room without so much as a word to Caroline. He walked to the back of the bed and unceremoniously ripped the long curtains open.
The window behind it was at waist height and had no balcony. The only way in or out of the room was the door, and there was no furniture that could hide a person.
Squinting suspiciously, Giles turned to Caroline and growled, “Lady Burleigh, are you alone?”
“Why, yes.”
“Did Miss Clayburn return to the party?”
Caroline’s face twisted in disgust to hear him say Fiona’s name instead of her own. “I couldn’t care less,” she said—coyly, for some reason. She lifted a flirtatious eyebrow and then shrugged as if to say she never cared to hear that name again.
It was indisputable that Caroline had dragged Fiona away from the party, and Giles had a hard time believing that they’d just had a conversation and parted ways amicably. Were Caroline a man, Giles might have restrained her and demanded answers, but there would be consequences to face if he were even slightly rough with a young lady. Having a long history of noble ladies taking advantage of such social rules, Giles ground his teeth.
Don’t panic. Get the answers you need.