Cora (Virtue & Vice #4)

Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CORA

“H ow much did you overhear?” Cora finally gathered the courage to ask.

“Enough.”

The silence that descended in the wake of this brief exchange weighed heavily. For a long while, there was only the rolling of wheels on cobblestones, hoofbeats, and the faint squeak of well-oiled springs. The fact that she could hear Titi breathing from her place on Gideon’s lap was a testament to the quiet between them.

When she thought the pressure of all this silence might break her in two, Cora said in a rush, “I owe you an apology?—”

Her husband chose precisely the same moment to speak. “I have so much I want to say to you—” He broke off when their words tripped over one another in a tangle. “Ladies first,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“I am sorry for humiliating you at the concert last night.” In the distance, the bell tower rang two in the morning. “If I have cost you the Queen’s account, I know there is nothing I can do to make up the loss to the Wentworth family.”

“Victoria would not summon us at this hour for a matter that could be resolved tomorrow. Moreover, she specifically requested you. This is not about the bank.”

For once. “What else could it be?”

“You have been making inquiries about Countess Oreste’s whereabouts, have you not?”

Cora nodded, bewildered.

“Her Majesty has a strange relationship with Belladonna. Like everyone in London, she is wary of the woman’s power.”

“Bella’s?” Cora laughed nervously. “All of those rumors are only rumors. She has no more power than Honey Caldwell does.”

The look Gideon gave her spoke volumes to the contrary. Oh dear. Now that she knew about the House of Virtue, she could concede that she might be wrong on that score as well.

“Is that where you got ideas for the bedroom? By visiting the House of Virtue instead of Miss Caldwell?”

She nodded. “I am sorry I lied. I was dishonest with you and with Honey.”

“Save your explanation for the Queen. I will stand beside you no matter what your reasons were for poking into her affairs. I have several things I want to say before we go before the Queen, and none of them have to do with Belladonna.”

She nodded, suddenly wary. Titi had no such compunctions. She found a gap between Gideon’s glove and his sleeve and began licking that strip of exposed skin as tenderly as if he were her own pup.

“I have done everything possible to set us on the wrong track.” He sighed heavily. “I told you my reasons, but ensuring you would be cast out of Society so that no one else could have you was an act of cowardice. I never did the one thing that could have saved us so much heartache. I didn’t tell you how I felt. If I had done that eleven years ago, we might have been happily married all this time.”

“If your father had tried to take over for you he might be dead now. You were right to wait,” Cora pointed out.

“But I wasn’t right to conceal my intentions or my feelings.”

“No,” she conceded. “I had to guess. I was so afraid I had guessed wrong.”

“You didn’t.” He couldn’t lean forward lest he crush Titi, though he tried for a moment before letting out a sigh of exasperation. “I should have said this years ago. I have desired you since I first laid eyes on you. I shouldn’t have started that rumor. I should have asked you, instead of retreating into cowardice a second time. I promise you it will never happen again.”

Into the silence, thick and pensive, he asked, “Is it true that you could be with child?”

“It’s possible.” Anxious excitement fluttered in her stomach. “I have never been pregnant before. The signs can be subtle. I could be wrong.”

“I want it to be true,” he said fiercely, and it was Cora who launched herself across the gap between the seats and pressed a kiss to his lips. He was pinned by a seven-pound dog, but he twisted to cup the back of her head and deepen their kiss. Cora tasted his longing and matched it with her own.

“If it isn’t true,” she said when their kiss broke. “I want to make it happen. I am tired of fighting you, Gideon. Let’s try being open with one another from now on?”

He searched her face, then nodded. Titi pushed her head between them forcing her to move back.

“Whatever comes, we will weather this. Together.” Gideon bent forward, crushing the dog between their bodies to press one last kiss to her lips. The footman opened the door and in rushed a cool spring breeze, rustling her skirt and reminding her that she had stormed out of the house in a plain day dress.

“You. Stay.” She pointed at Titania, who whined as she was closed into the carriage.

“I am not presentable,” she whispered, her heart slamming her ribs as they were led into the grand palace.

“Neither am I.”

“Men are always presentable.” She eyed her clothing. “I would have commissioned a gown.”

“I loathe wearing breeches,” Gideon complained, low enough that the servant would not overhear. “I wonder if Victoria will recognize me in trousers.”

Cora giggled. The footman shot her a quelling glare. She stifled it, but the crinkle at the corners of Gideon’s eyes told her he knew she had needed the momentary relief. She hooked her hand through his arm and stayed close as they were ushered into a well-appointed parlor, where the Queen sat in gloomy darkness broken only by a single candle, looking for all the world like a ghost in her black bombazine gown.

Beside her stood a man in trousers and a dove-gray waistcoat, around her own height, perhaps an inch taller. His features were handsome but unremarkable until she registered the sharp blade of his nose and the fearsome intelligence in his eyes.

“There you are. I despise being kept waiting,” the Queen began querulously.

Gideon dropped to one knee. “Your Majesty.”

Cora quickly curtsied as deeply as she could.

“Get up, Wentworth. It is your wife I wished to have a word with.”

He straightened instantly.

“You. Come here.” Victoria gestured imperiously.

Cora glanced nervously at Gideon.

“You are one of Gryphon’s by-blows, aren’t you?”

“Not the current duke,” Cora corrected, then died a little inside at the thought that she had had the temerity to correct her sovereign. “The seventh Duke of Gryphon is my half-brother, Lysander.”

“We know him. We knew your father well.”

Of course she did. The upper echelons of the aristocracy were all interbred and related. Had she been born legitimate, she could have claimed Victoria as a distant cousin.

“I despise the existence of by-blows almost as much as I do women who would ‘unsex’ themselves by claiming equality with men. Such as that dreadful French countess.” She sniffed, her thin nose crinkling at the corners. “Such women are unnatural and would surely perish without male protection. They simply refuse to recognize it.”

She lumbered out of her chair, an ungainly motion that forced Cora to stumble back. She loomed over the tiny Queen, taller by nearly a foot. Victoria didn’t deign to crane her neck and meet her eye. Imperiously, she waved at the mysterious man and said, “Hawke will explain the countess’ whereabouts, after which, you will stop making inquiries about Countess Oreste. You will distance yourself from that woman and focus on the duties of a proper wife. Creating a family with Mr. Wentworth. If you do not, We shall be forced to find a more upstanding member of Society to manage Our funds.”

There it was. A choice. Abandon her friend, or lose her husband’s most important client.

The Queen glided away. Her somber black gown faded into the gloom, leaving only her collar and hair visible until she exited with the silent assistance of her servants.

“Her Majesty wants me to assure you that the countess has been recovered and is recuperating at an undisclosed location.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Hawke. I tidy up problems that she does not wish to be made public.”

“Such as the late Opposition Leader’s unexpected demise?” Gideon prompted.

“Or Countess Oreste’s disappearance?”

“Indeed.” Hawke clasped his hands behind his back but offered no further details. “You are friendly with Miss Honora Caldwell.”

His statement took her breath away. How could her friendship be of interest to the Queen’s personal spy? Reading between the lines of what Hawke had said, that was his role, wasn’t it?

“You will confide in your friend that Bella has been on an extended visit to France. She will return in due time. If you assist us in calming the rumors currently circulating about her absence, Victoria will personally ensure that the furor around your recent performance is perceived in the most positive possible light. It is of great importance to the crown that the entire affair of Belladonna’s disappearance dies down as quickly as possible.”

Gideon’s hand found hers and squeezed. This was a third chance at rejoining Society that she most certainly did not deserve.

“Has Bella been harmed? The Queen may not love her but many others do. Everyone at the House of Virtue has been worried for her safety.”

“That is the reason Her Majesty requested this private audience. I will answer as many questions as I can, as truthfully as I can. In return, you will never speak of this meeting.”

“Where is she?” Gideon asked.

“Safe.”

“Safe, where?”

“That information will remain private.”

“When can we see her again?”

“When she is ready to come forward.”

“How do we know we can trust you?”

“You don’t.” He shrugged. Cora had the fleeting impulse to pick up the candlestick and throw it at him. Gideon, sensing her frustration, squeezed her hand.

“We agree to your bargain. If the Queen sees fit to accept my wife socially despite what happened at the concert, we would be honored to help spread the word that the countess is safe.”

Hawke accepted Gideon’s offer thoughtfully.

“You have my thanks.”

“Will you tell Tulip and the Flowers, or should I?”

“I’ll go.” A faint smile ghosted across his lips. “The Flowers will be relieved to know their patroness is safe. Her son, too.”

Cora felt queasy at the notion of using Honey to spread gossip. But if she had to make a choice to protect her family, then she would do it. She was just as ruthless as Gideon could be, in her way. One thing she would not do, however, was drop her friend publicly again. Honey deserved better than that.

“Come,” Gideon said, taking her by the hand. “We still have much to discuss.”