The Book Of Scandal (40 page)

Nathan’s heart began to flutter madly in his chest. “Who?”

Wilkes considered Nathan a long moment. “Between you and me?”

“You and me and these four walls.”

“We’re calling ourselves the coterie,” Wilkes said low. “Moorhouse, myself, Davis, Gillings, and Brockton.”

“The five of you have the prince’s ear?”

Wilkes chuckled. “We have his ear, all right. He’s scarcely aware of it, he’s so bloody thick at times, but yes, we have his ear. And when he is king, you might guess what favors will be bestowed on us—particularly if we can find a way to bring this Delicate Investigation to a mortal end once and for all.”

Nathan was so stunned he could hardly speak. To hear Wilkes all but confess to treason without the slightest bit of conscience was staggering.

“So now I shall put the question to you, Lindsey—would you like to help shape the future of this nation and perhaps rid yourself of your own burdensome wife in the course of it? We’ve room for more.”

Nathan couldn’t tolerate another moment. The betrayal and disappointment was suffocating. “You bloody bastard,” Nathan breathed, and watched the smile fade from Wilkes’s face. “You tried to kill my wife!” he cried, coming to his feet.

Wilkes quickly came to his. “Oh, I see,” he said, his eyes going cold. “This is some sort of revenge, is it? What the devil for, Lindsey? Your wife cuckolded you!” he snapped. “I meant to do you a favor and rid you of that whore!”

Nathan meant to respond with his hands around Wilkes’s neck, but George, Prince of Wales, burst forth from behind the screen where he’d been hidden, knocking it over in his haste. “And what did you mean to do for me?” he asked sharply. “Enlighten me, sir! I am too thick to take your meaning otherwise!”

The color bled from Wilkes’s face; he turned to the door, but Nathan was prepared for it. He lunged for him, catching him from behind and knocking him to the ground just as men listening on the other side of the door rushed in. But it wasn’t until someone pulled Nathan off the bastard that he realized he was still hitting Wilkes.

Two footmen held Nathan to one side as men who had accompanied the prince brought Wilkes to his feet, forcing him to face the prince. “Have you any idea what you have done?” the prince asked angrily. “What you have cost me with your ridiculous scheme?” He looked at one of his men. “See to it that the others are rounded up at once!” he snapped. “And take him from my sight!”

“Your Highness!” Wilkes tried, but they were dragging him out.

The footmen let Nathan go. He kept his fists clenched at his sides—his heart was still racing, his rage still mushrooming. He could not see or hear anyone but Wilkes, wanted nothing more than to kill him.

It was the touch of Evelyn’s hand to his arm that calmed him somewhat, at least enabling him to draw a breath.

“I cannot thank you enough, Lindsey,” the prince said. “I had no idea such lying, traitorous jackals were in my midst.”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, your thanks should be directed to my wife. It was her friendship with your sister, Her Highness Princess Mary, that brought this evening about.”

“Ah, yes,” he said, smiling a little. “I admit to being a bit skeptical when Mary told me I would witness a performance unlike any I’d seen.”

Evelyn blushed.

“I beg your pardon, Lady Lindsey,” the prince said, his smile fading. “I would that you had not had to see such an ugly side of Sir Wilkes.”

“I was glad to hear it from the traitor’s own lips, Your Highness. At least I know he’s been caught and you will see that justice is done.”

“You have my word. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve a few more questions for Wilkes. Richard,” he said, looking at one of his men, “I require an audience with the king at once.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The prince took his leave of them, and with their arms around each other’s waist, Evelyn and Nathan walked together from that room and the awful betrayal. Nathan did not see Benton or the prince’s men who lined the corridor. He could see nothing, think nothing, could feel nothing but a betrayal that cut so deep, it physically pained him.

“You heard it all?” Nathan asked Evelyn as they moved up the staircase.

“Every last word. Benton left the door adjoining the study open. We all heard it.”

“It must have been difficult for you.”

She smiled. “I was more relieved that he was admitting it, that we could at last put the scandal behind us.”

“I wish I knew what made him turn against me,” Nathan said.

“He didn’t turn against you. He was never with you to begin with.” Evelyn opened the door to his suite of rooms and looked up at him. “He will pay for what he has done, the king will see to it, I know he will.” She walked across the threshold of his room and glanced at Nathan over her shoulder. “We’re safe, are we not?”

“Completely,” he said, and believed it.

She smiled.

Nathan suddenly laughed. “Madam, did you engage in acting lessons whilst in London? Your performance was disturbingly real.”

“Mine?” She laughed. “Your tone was rather biting, as I recall.”

“Oh no, love,” he said, enveloping her in his arms, “this is biting.” He nuzzled her neck.

Evelyn giggled as she twisted around in his arms. “I should punish you for grabbing my arm so violently.”

He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. “What did you have in mind?”

She shrugged as she began to untie his neckcloth. “I rather liked tying you up, actually. That seemed to torture you properly.”

Nathan lifted a brow. “Lady Lindsey, are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?”

She glanced up as she began to unwind the long silk. “I’m not suggesting. I am demanding.”

Nathan laughed and grabbed her up, walking with her to the bed as she continued to untie his neckcloth. “I’ve never wanted to receive my punishment quite as I do at the moment,” he said, and tossed her on the bed, then pounced on her.

And as she tied his hand to the bedpost, her breasts just above his face, Nathan realized that with every slip knot she tied, they were rebuilding the foundation of their marriage.

And if she continued to tie them so artfully, he would never have cause to worry again that it might all come tumbling down.

A crisp wind blew across Eastchurch, making the day gloriously bright and blue. In the graveyard, Evelyn paused to rub her gloved hand beneath her nose before she finished planting the bulbs that would come up in the spring and mark the grave of her first child.

When she had finished, she sat back and looked across the yard. Frances was raking leaves from the graves of a pair of Lindsey ancestors. He still met Evelyn here two or three mornings a week, but he had given over the care of the grave to her. “He’s your baby,” Frances offered by way of explanation.

But Evelyn was in a bit of a rush this morning—their parents, having heard the news about her pregnancy, were filled with such elation they had blessed them again with a visit. This one was far less tiresome than the last, Evelyn had to admit, but she and Nathan had very little time to be alone.

This morning however, they had vowed to revisit the nursery and determine what was to be done for their new arrival. It was, they had agreed, another important step toward their future.

“Good morning, Frances!” Evelyn called as she gained her feet.

“Good morning, milady!” he called back.

She smiled and waved as she began the walk to the house. She was free to move about as she pleased now, of course. They’d heard that the coterie had been rounded up and all were awaiting trial. Darlington had sent word that he suspected Wilkes would be the one to be hanged, as he had been the one to carry out their dastardly deeds. If Nathan felt any grief or remorse for his old friend, he would not own to it.

The only thing that remained of the scandal for them was the shambles of Evelyn’s reputation.

It was strange, Evelyn thought, as she marched briskly along, her arms swinging, taking in as much of the air as she could, that she hardly cared. The only thing that seemed to matter now was that she and Nathan had reconciled and that together, they were overcoming their past and were preparing for another child. She rather imagined she could be happy here at Eastchurch the whole of her life, with her family and the memory of her darling little boy.

Benton met her at the door of the house with a message. “His lordship has unexpected callers,” he said. “He asks that you meet him at the appointed place in a quarter of an hour.”

“Thank you, Benton,” she said, and ran up the grand staircase to divest herself of her cloak and gloves.

A quarter of an hour later, she stood before the closed door of the nursery. She could hear Nathan below telling Benton he was going to sweep chimneys if he didn’t send the marquis and marchioness to visit the DuPauls. She listened to the sound of his footfall up the stairs, and had the tingling sensation of that same footfall across her heart.

He smiled the moment he saw her, the skin around his eyes creasing in the corners. “There’s a sight,” he said, and kissed her temple.

“Who were you seeing?” she asked.

“Some of the prince’s men,” he said with a wink. “They are looking for Lambourne.” At her look of concern, he smiled. “I had to give them the distressing news.”

“That he’d fled to Scotland?”

“Was it Scotland? I rather thought it was Italy.”

Evelyn laughed.

Nathan looked at the door of the nursery. So did Evelyn. “I wish Robbie were here,” she said.

“He is,” Nathan assured her, and opened the door.

Evelyn drew a breath, lifted her chin, and without looking at Nathan, she put her hand out. Just as she guessed, he knew her hand was there and took it in his, surrounding her fingers with his, infusing her with his strength. Together, they walked into the nursery and stood in the sunlight streaming in from the windows. Their family was together again.

Charles and Diana were not the first Prince and Princess of Wales to suffer marital woes.

More than two hundred years ago, in 1795, Prince George agreed to a marriage to his distant cousin arranged by his father, George III, in exchange for money from Parliament to pay off his debts. However, he and his bride, Caroline of Brunswick, a German principality, did not suit each other. Their vitriolic relationship, as described in this book, is historically accurate.

In 1806, the king established a council from the House of Lords to look into the allegations of Princess Caroline’s bad behavior. Her friends and staff were suddenly hauled away to be questioned in the course of the Delicate Investigation. And because she was being investigated for treasonous charges, Caroline was not welcome in royal households and fell out of royal favor—particularly the king’s, with whom she had managed, up to that point, to maintain a good relationship. When the prince demanded a more thorough investigation, claiming at the very least he had grounds for divorce, Caroline countered that if she was not restored to favor, she’d publish correspondence between her and the king, as well as reveal the royal family’s deeper, darker secrets.

The threat of publication of what was simply known as “the Book” hung over the king’s head in late 1806 and early 1807. When Caroline claimed to have had five hundred of these so-called books printed, the king acted. Because Caroline had won the sympathy of the people, he went against his son and chose not to bring charges against her, and the Delicate Investigation came to an end.

In The Book of Scandal, I have condensed the timing and slightly rearranged key events that occurred over a year to a few months’ time to mesh with the series story line. The people and events presented here, including the Lindseys, are fictional. In addition, I reference the carriage accident that took the life of the Lady Cholmondeley, a lady in waiting of the Princess of Wales. This was a true event, but there is no evidence to suggest the tragedy involved foul play.

If you would like to read more about this royal marital drama, I recommend The Unruly Queen: The Life of Queen Caroline by Flora Fraser, George III: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert, Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser, and George IV: The Rebel Who Would Be King by Christopher Hibbert.