A shudder racks me. “I meant it when I said I never want to return to that place.” While it saddens me to know I’ll never return to my childhood home, Stacia is the one person with happy memories of that house. It’s fitting that she should be its next mistress.
But wait…why would it revert to the Crown? Tremaine, much though I loathe him, owns the property. Unless Alistair used the threat of seizing possession of the estate as a cudgel to get my stepsisters to agree to marry the suitors he chose for them.
Or, something has happened to Tremaine. A chill traces my nape, raising gooseflesh—and my suspicions.
All of us will need our stepfather’s blessing to go through with our marriages. He knows this. Alistair wouldn’t have done anything to stop us from marrying.
“I wish them every happiness. What about Drucilla?” I don’t ask the questions that are wheeling chaotically through my mind.
Alistair pulls a face. “She is also willing, although it did cost me to secure her agreement.”
“Who is her betrothed?”
“His name is Lord Layton. Until about an hour ago, he was a prisoner in the Tower. He is old and a bit worse for wear. His one wish was not to die in prison. Now that he’s gotten the reprieve he craved, he probably won’t live very long. Drucilla will be a wealthy widow in no time.”
“She’ll love that. What was Layton imprisoned for?”
“Tax evasion. My father confiscated his lands and locked him away as punishment. To my knowledge, he isn’t violent. He’ll be grateful for the touch of any woman during his declining years.”
Alistair’s solution, though unconventional, shows a surprising amount of consideration to the kind of women my stepsisters are—awful—and the kind of men who might have a chance at making them into slightly better versions of themselves. He could be an excellent king, if guided in the right direction.
Is it arrogant of me to believe I could guide him? Perhaps. Yet Alistair listens to what I say. Look at how fast he worked to find me after the ball, and how quickly he’s worked to fulfill my requests. What a rush to discover I have real influence over this powerful man who accepts counsel from few others.
I intend to wield it well.
“And my stepfather’s permission?” I ask with unshakable optimism.
“I have it,” he says triumphantly, producing a scroll from his interior pocket. He unfurls it, stretching the document long and holding it out for me to read.
“That doesn’t look like Tremaine’s handwriting.” I lean in, squinting. Alistair snaps the paper closed.
“It satisfied the clerk,” he says in the sullen tone of a boy who’s been caught in a fib.
“Let me see that.” I try to snatch it, but he holds it high over his head. I glare at him until he relents. I stretch the parchment and scan the handwriting. I can tell at a glance that it isn’t his. Tremaine’s has a notable slant and usually wobbles due to his unsteady hand. This is crisp, rolling and…princely.
A forgery.
I twist the scroll back and tap him in the chest. “It doesn’t satisfyme.” I pin him with a narrow stare. “Are you sure nothing has happened to him?”
The faintest flicker of darkness passes over his handsome features.
“Your stepfather is fine. He simply had matters to attend to back home.”
“Such as?” I cock one eyebrow.
“The animals you left behind,” Alistair supplies without missing a beat.
I shake my head. He lies far too smoothly. “Tremaine wouldn’t care one whit if the foxes ate every chicken in the coop. I doubt he would notice if the pigs got out. I know he doesn’t care about my wedding, but he would never miss his own daughters’ nuptials. Don’t lie to me again, Alistair. Produce my stepfather or the wedding is off.”
The darkness that flickered over his features earlier descends. I turn on my heel and stride away. I am not afraid of his anger.
I am only afraid of what he might have done to Tremaine.
21
ALISTAIR
I watchmy bride’s retreating back, her maid having shown up just at that moment to summon her to a dress fitting. The black cat that’s been shadowing me pads out from hiding and winds between my ankles before heading toward the open balcony. I follow it.
