A Royal Kiss and Tell

Caroline liked it here as well as anywhere, she supposed. Perhaps even more. Strangely enough, she didn’t miss society. In fact, she often wondered why that elite social circle had been so important to her. It seemed rather vacuous to her now. She had seemed vacuous. She’d allowed herself to empty out, to think of only her shell, too fearful to see what ticked inside her. Well, now she knew.

A lot had changed for her these last few months. It was as if being away from London and the constant swirl of parties and suppers, she’d finally come to terms with who she was. As if the cocoon of London she’d created had helped her avoid her true feelings about everything.

Since Leopold had left, she’d slowly realized that so much of her life was devoted to superficial things. Now she knew what she wanted. She wanted a love like she’d shared with him. She wanted her life to mean something. She wanted to make Beck proud of her. She wanted to spend her days doing something more important than dressing and being seen and admired. She wanted to help others. She wanted purpose.

She hadn’t heard from Leopold, which she’d expected. He was an honorable man and he would not correspond with her as he prepared to marry another woman.

Ah, but she’d heard plenty from Eliza and Hollis.

Eliza wrote that Leopold arrived in Helenamar as rumors swirled about his supposed treachery. But then he’d exposed the plot to sell the poor Weslorian women, and some Alucian women, too, Eliza believed, into slavery. He is a hero, Caro. Everyone says so. He risked his reputation and his engagement to expose that horrible plot. Eliza said he was being feted for his noble deeds. She said the entire court was talking about him, as he was not the person anyone expected to care so deeply about anything.

Caroline smiled when she read that part. She wondered what Leopold thought of it all.

Hollis brought her news from town when she came to visit one long weekend. She’d been very kind to Caroline in her gazette, but others had not been kind. All sorts of rumors had surfaced about Caroline and her loose morals. Whispers of the gentlemen she’d entertained, of trysts, of lies she’d purportedly told to hide these things. And the one that stung the most? That she’d not made the dresses she had so very graciously handed around to her friends, but had employed the secret services of a trained modiste.

Hollis had more news—Lord Ainsley had offered for a coal heiress, and once again, Katherine Maugham was left in the cold. Caroline felt a little sorry for her, really. Katherine desperately wanted a match and to be married. Hollis also told her that Mr. Cressidian, the Alucian gentleman, would be tried for his crime of slavery. She said that facts came to light indicating that not only had he profited from brokering the sale of women, but he’d also offered to slander the prince for a price. “It’s so disturbing,” Caroline said.

“It’s horrible,” Hollis agreed. “Do you know what I think is the most remarkable thing about it?”

Caroline shook her head.

“That Prince Leopold would allow his standing to suffer as he did for the sake of those women. Eliza said he has vowed to find all the young women sold into slavery if it’s the last thing he does.”

“I always knew he was a good man,” Caroline murmured.

Hollis laughed. “No, you didn’t, darling. You despised him.”

Caroline smiled wanly. “I mean I always knew he was after I despised him. Oh God, Hollis, I miss him so.”

Hollis had moved to sit beside her and laid her head on Caroline’s shoulder. “I know, darling. I still miss Percy.”

CAROLINE HAD STARTED gardening in the late autumn, intrigued by the way the roses managed to bloom in spite of the early frosts. Eliza wrote again with news that, at first, surprised and elated Caroline. The engagement with Eulalie Gaspar was ended, as her father was implicated in the slavery scheme. Nothing would happen to the Duke of Brondeny, of course, as the Weslorians accused Leopold of manufacturing such slanderous details about him. Neither would anything happen to Mr. Vinters, as the king relied too heavily on his counsel. This has displeased the prince greatly, and I think my husband, as well. It’s difficult for them to understand how their father would want the counsel of a man engaged in that sort of scheme.

Caroline understood it. To men like that, the women they’d harmed were just girls. Nothing to get upset about.

But her surprise and elation at the news about Eulalie soon vanished. She realized that Leopold would simply marry someone else. It would never be her. She could take some solace that the smug little face of Lady Eulalie would be smug no more.

But it would never be her.