“How kind of you to come,” Philip said flatly, not rising from his seat by the fire. “Sit.”
A moment later, George entered, looking flustered.
It had been an eventful few days for the baron. He had been sworn to secrecy about their plan, and from the satisfied smirk on Alicia’s face, he had obviously kept his word.
They settled into a tense silence. Anna positioned herself beside Philip, wanting to present a unified front. Alicia was visibly unimpressed, gritting her teeth while tea was served to them. A tower of petit fours stood between them, but Anna was too nervous to eat.
“How does one possibly begin a conversation like this?” Anna asked, once the maids left and closed the door behind them. She kept her tone even, not wanting to give Alicia the satisfaction of watching her cry. “You know why we have called you here.”
“I assume you wanted to see the proof of your husband’s degeneracy with your own eyes,” Alicia said, sipping innocently from her glass of lemonade. “I did try to warn you, Anna.”
“You’re wasting your breath by keeping up this lie,” Philip grunted, and Anna was grateful for his interruption. “None of us here doubt my innocence. I only regret to see how far you have fallen that you would shame yourself thus.”
Alicia was a decent actress, but Anna noticed the tremor in her hand when she set down her glass. Had she expected Anna to turn on Philip and make things easy for her? Once again, she had underestimated her cousin.
“Alicia…” George sat beside her, and he placed a hand on her knee, flinching when she scowled. “There is no one here who believes you. We did not come here today to strike a deal with Philip, but to help you.”
“Help me?” Alicia scoffed, whirling toward George and slapping his hand away. “The only way to help me is for the duke to admit what he has done. Or would all of you see me alone and destitute?”
“If that’s what you deserve,” Anna muttered.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Alicia laughed. “Now that you’re married, you’ve become a slave to your husband and his wicked inclinations. I should not be surprised. Like mother like daughter, after all. I had hoped for so much more for you, Anna. We have both been duped by the Duke of Darkness.”
“You will not relent?” Philip asked, looking cautiously between the cousins.
“Relent how? I have come here to get what I am owed.”
Alicia opened her mouth to continue, but at that moment, someone knocked on the door. The butler had been informed not to wait when their next guest arrived, and the man appeared looking exactly like Anna remembered him.
Anna relished the shocked look on Alicia’s face as she turned to see the impresario of The King’s Theatre standing in the doorway. Her cousin’s mouth contorted as if she had been ready to blurt out his name, before thinking better of it.
“Mr. Vincenzo Olivieri,” Anna announced, grateful beyond measure that he had actually come. “You are a most welcome sight. Allow me to introduce my husband, His Grace the Duke of Wells. My cousin, Baron George Walford. And of course, you will recognize theSeconda Donnaof the Anglo-Milano Theatre Company.”
The impresario executed a perfect bow. He rose and began speaking with a slightly affected accent, a testament to his many years traveling back and forth from England—or so Anna had heard from Lady Jane when she had tracked him down.
“I thank you for the invitation, Your Grace. But it is Mr. Vincent Oliver now. I am seeking to be naturalized.”
“I see,” Anna murmured. “Mr. Oliver, for the sake of those present, would you kindly let them know why I have invited you here today—and why you have agreed to come.”
Mr. Oliver nodded. “Alicia—” he began, but she cut him off immediately.
“I won’t stand for any of this.” She pointed a finger at Anna. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’ve managed to get everything wrong in typical Anna fashion.”
“Mr. Oliver’s presence speaks for itself,” Anna corrected, struggling not to smile now that Alicia was cornered. “You were seen with Mr. Oliver in public months ago, arguing loudly enough to attract the attention of passersby. It was no easy feat to locate Mr. Oliver, especially given that we had to act quickly. But he is here, and he has agreed to tell us the truth about your relationship.”
Alicia turned red. “Why are you so quick to believe that I am lying, but will take this stranger’s story at face value?”
“You have everything to gain by lying about the paternity of your child,” George said carefully, trying to defuse the tension between them. “And he has everything to lose by revealing that the child is his.”
“Vincenzo has obviously been bullied into this by all of you!” Alicia shouted, looking around the room. “What else could he do but admit to something he hasn’t done, when the Duke of Wells himself has all but ordered him to take the fall for his crime? An impresario going up against a duke? It’s extortion.”
“Enough, Alicia,” Mr. Oliver interjected. He crossed the room to face her, standing close enough to put all doubts to rest about their familiarity with one another. “I was a craven fool the last time we spoke. You wanted more than I was ready to give you. Now I see what you have become because of me, and I must do what is right.”
His interruption disarmed Alicia, who stood gaping at him with her arms hanging limply by her sides. Anna looked hopefully at Philip.
“Why bother to hide a secret that is already public?” Mr. Oliver continued, gesturing toward Philip. “It will be His Grace’s word against my own, and I will not shame myself by lying any longer. Yes, the child is mine.”
Anna bit her cheeks to stop from smiling, her chest rising and falling with her nervous breaths. George’s mouth hung open as he watched Mr. Oliver and Alicia. And Philip… Anna had never seen him look so relieved.
