Reckless in Pink by Connolly Lynne

Author:Connolly, Lynne [Connolly, Lynne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

He walked forward, his heels rapping on the uneven floorboards. Then he swept a bow, a low one. “I wanted to meet the newest member of the house of Stuart,” he said. “I regret our paths have not crossed before.”

Dominic returned his bow, after he’d put his glass down. The man was a duke, and Dominic gave him his due. “The head of the Dankworth family. I have briefly met your son.”

“Which one?”

“Alconbury. Your heir.”

The duke grimaced. Out of the shadows he appeared older than Dominic had supposed. He kept himself in good shape, but he must be at least fifty. Alconbury was in his late twenties or early thirties, so the duke was probably a few years over fifty.

“Alconbury has his own way of doing things that aren’t always mine. His highness has agreed to meet you partly on my account. After all, we will be working together, will we not?”

Dominic regarded him steadily. Then he retook his seat, claiming his right to sit in the presence of a duke, as a king’s son should. He hated the situation, but he would use every bit of it to his advantage. His aims remained consistent. He wanted to ensure Claudia’s safety. That above all things. He wanted to discover more about this family trying to claim him as its own.

Perhaps he’d discover more about himself. He had to know more about them, and to do that he needed face-to-face meetings. “I haven’t yet made up my mind.”

“We have other proofs,” Northwich said. “Paper, your looks, and circumstances. We can show that the people who reared you were not in Paris, but in Rome. We can show that you were born in a private house close to the Palazzo Muti, where the King has his court.”

He meant the Old Pretender. Dominic refused to call him king. No one not consecrated and approved by the people could be his monarch.

“We can show any number of things that will prove you are who we say you are. You are with us. Either that, or we will condemn you to the authorities.”

Charles Stuart was watching Dominic strangely, as if he would say more, but was holding his tongue. Northwich took care, as Dominic did, to keep all the occupants of the room under observation. Stuart was not appearing the confident prince of a few moments earlier. Tension filled the space between them.

“I will do as I think right, and I will take whatever consequences I have.”

“What of this house?” Northwich demanded. “We know who owns it. What if it is exposed as a nest of sedition? Of a stronghold of the true King and his son? What would happen to the precious reputation of the Emperors?” He said the last word with a sneer. “One of their number, the wild daughter of the Marquess of Strenshall, has thrown her lot in with the Jacobites. I can bring enough witnesses to attest to that. She walked in here, bold as brass, displaying herself to the assembled company.

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