“Some privacy, please,” Lilac commanded to the room, her face aflame, too stunned to say much else. Everyone but the guard behind instantly rose and obliged. “Whois coming here? Tell me now.”
Hands shaking, Marguerite sat again and took a slow sip from the teacup Hedwig had placed before her shortly before being ordered out. “We’ve received communication from one of the counts in the Austrian court. The courier brought a letter by.”
A count?They’d received it while she was at the Fenfoss Inn, recovering. The room suddenly grew hot. “By courier? From Austria? Wouldn’t he send a pigeon?”
“We received it the third morning after you’d departed for the haberdashery, when you failed to return. He’s already in country and has been staying at a local inn after arriving ahead of time.” Marguerite gesturedjabbed a hand toward her. “Can you imagine the upset, the anxiety it caused us? It is a wonder you even chose to return.”
Of course, it was her absence for a foreign count that had concerned them. This was probably why they’d refrained from sending out a search party; drawing attention might affect this count’s perception of her family. Of her.
“Which inn?”
“He did not specify,” said Henri.
There had certainly been no Austrian count present at the Jaunty Hog. “What’s his name?”
“Albrecht Fritsch,” her mother said, reaching for her teacup again but knocking it over with her knuckle in her excitement. “He’s on the Habsburgs’ court.”
The Habsburgs.He was one of Maximilian’s men. An important figure. Highly favored.
“We can fetch John to retrieve the note, if you wish,” her mother offered.
“Did this not seem too important to keep from me? You told me at breakfast that I received no propositions.”
“Youhaven’treceived any propositions. Not by letter.” Henri leaned forward and raised his eyebrows, willing her to listen. “No leader is willing to claim a public stake in a war against France unless your hand and dowry are secured in private.”
Lilac laughed dryly. “You mean they aren’t willing to risk their standing if they aren’t certain I’ll accept and that their return is secured, because becoming France’s enemy might not be worth it otherwise?”
Henri gave a disgruntled shrug. “That is how this works, is it not? Information can be gleaned or even ambushed from a courier, they scarcely travel armed enough. Albrecht has made it clear he would like to meet with you and sent a letter ahead of his expected arrival come Monday.Tomorrow. That was all it relayed, among other fine details.”
“He sent a letteronhis travels? He didn’t bother sending a request of any sort beforehand?”
“He must be confident in his offer.”
Now everything was starting to make sense. Shehadthought her parents seemed a tad too calm that morning.
What would she do? What of Garin? “Send it back. Tell him I—” Her hand flew to her mouth as she launched into a sudden coughing fit, throat tight.Denywas the word that failed to make it out. “I have too much to lose,” she managed. “I will not give up my freedom and name for a count.”
“Marriage to a noble might give you more of that than you think,” said Marguerite. “You do not have the time nor resources to be selective. Marriage to anyone in the emperor’s court will still highly benefit you.”
She wanted to shrivel into herself at the thought of some decrepit noble making his way to her castle on his pudgy old steed. “I can’t marry just any—” She exhaled. Any broken attempt to explain that this was not what she wanted for herself would fall on deaf ears.
“Well dear,” Henri said, “Albrecht’s name would come with its own benefits and protections. He is in favor of the emperor, and you’d become one of the ladies of the Holy Roman Empire. Think of the benefit to you, to your kingdom. He’s already nearly here, why don’t you hear what he has to say? He is expected at some point in the morning.”
Marguerite steeled herself against her daughter’s burning glare. “If he has anything to offer you, he will be welcome to remain at our castle until you’ve made a decision. Hopefully before your coronation ceremony Saturday evening. He will be in attendance at the ball following. You will get to know him. Maybe even grow fond of him.”
“But what about the Le Tallecs?” she pointed out. “No one knows that Vivien and Armand are dead. We haven’t made an announcement, have we?” Garin had listened to the proclamation from Henri’s carriage window and said that they’d proclaimed Sinclair’s arrest. To her knowledge, it was all that was said.
“We haven’t,” Henri confirmed, lowering his voice. “But a statement must be made since they won’t be in attendance. Any delay will stoke suspicion. You can make a preemptive announcement to your guests, so they are not caught off guard. Then, we will send out a notice with the town criers.”
She imagined what the notice might say. “After discovering Vivien, murdered and dismembered by Sinclair, Armand traveled here and killed himself on the floor of our Grand Hall. Their son is in my custody and not a threat to society any longer.”
“Precisely,” Henri said. “Simple. Brilliant.”
Her father was right; any effort to hide their deaths would besuspicious. It felt like he was covering her, but she reminded herself, were she accused, Henri and Vivien would shoulder the same blame. It was the truth, so far as her parents knew. The only thing he hadn’t spoken a word of was Armand’s insistence of Lilac’s involvement with the vampires. She would not mention it any further. More Daemon scandal would not help her in boosting morale in the case of a war; luckily, it hadn’t seemed anyone else in the Grand Hall at the time of Armand’s accusations had believed him.
What did Henri believe, though?
“So it would behoove you to remain here to welcome everyone coming to celebrate you. Maybe even proposition you.” When Lilac didn’t answer, her mother intently sliced her grape in half, popping it into her mouth on the end of a fork and savoring it.
