A Scandalous Adventure

by Lillian Marek

  “Well, of course not.” Olivia did laugh now. “You would have charged into the ballroom and started pulling Mary around by the nose.”

  “Humph. Well, it’s long enough to serve as a leash.”

  They sat there for a few minutes while Susannah considered the ways she could make Mary Penobscot’s life a misery as soon as they got home. Then she remembered where they were right now.

  And what their immediate problems were.

  “Olivia,” she began again, “about Prince Conrad…”

  “Isn’t he wonderful?” Olivia smiled dreamily. “He isn’t just handsome. He’s kind and considerate and not at all domineering or arrogant. Not at all what I thought a prince would be like. He’s…he’s sweet.”

  “Yes, dear, he’s very sweet, but you have to remember that he is the prince. He’s supposed to marry Princess Mila. And you aren’t really Princess Mila. It’s just a masquerade.”

  “I know that. It’s just that I feel a bit sorry for him.”

  “Sorry for him? But he’s a prince. People don’t feel sorry for princes!” Susannah was getting a bit exasperated.

  “Yes, I know that, but he seems so lonely. As if he doesn’t really have anyone to talk to. And from what Captain Staufer said about the princess, I don’t think she’s going to be much of a companion for him.”

  “That is the prince’s problem, not yours. Don’t try to make him happy. Be a bit stiff and standoffish. Because we are going to vanish from his life as soon as Max finds the real princess.”

  Olivia’s head came up. “Max?”

  Susannah could feel herself blushing. “Yes, well, he asked me to call him Max, and it seemed sensible.”

  “Sensible,” repeated Olivia. The corners of her mouth tugged up.

  “We do have to work together, remember.”

  Olivia didn’t say anything, but her smile broadened.

  “The problem is the prince.” Susannah was determined to change the subject.

  Olivia sighed. “All right. The prince. You know, I really think we should tell him what is going on. This doesn’t seem fair.”

  “I know,” said Susannah. “I know. But that isn’t our decision to make.”

  * * *

  “What did you need to see me about so urgently? It’s getting too cold for conferences in the garden.” The general stamped his feet and shivered.

  Max ignored the complaint. He thought the shivers were more playacting than anything else. The general didn’t want to have to talk to him, so it was best to state his position baldly. “I think we should tell the prince what is going on.”

  The general snorted dismissively. “That would be a disaster. Telling Conrad would be no different from telling Count Herzlos, and we know that would mean ruin for all of us.”

  “I am not suggesting we tell Count Herzlos, but Conrad is the prince. He has a right to know.”

  “He is a boy, Max, not a prince.”

  “He is only three years younger than I am.”

  “Years don’t matter. You are a man, but he is still the little boy who obeys Herzlos’s every command. He never thinks for himself. We cannot let him find out.” The general waved his hand dismissively and turned to return to the castle.

  Max stepped quickly to block the general’s path. “That is because no one tells him anything. He is told only the decisions, never what he needs to know in order to make the decisions himself.”

  “And that is how it will be as long as Count Herzlos rules the prince. Don’t you see? Hugo is actually playing into our hands.”

  “Hugo is?” Max frowned. “By creating this disaster?”

  “Yes.” The general smiled. “We can foil his plot. We will find the princess and expose Hugo. When the son’s treason is uncovered, the father will be forced out. Even if he is not branded a traitor himself, he will be too shamed to be of any influence. Conrad will have to turn to us.”

  “To us?” Max was horrified. “What do you mean, to us?”

  “To the army, of course.” The general looked at him impatiently. “It is the army that can keep Sigmaringen free and independent. There is no need for alliances with Hechingen or any place else.”

  Max exploded. “That is not your decision to make! It is the prince who decides whether or not Sigmaringen shall enter into an alliance.”

  The general backed up a bit and made a placating gesture. “Of course it is the prince’s decision. And once he is free of Count Herzlos’s baneful influence, he will see who his true friends are.”

  Max closed his eyes in despair. “You are just using this as one more step in your endless battle with Herzlos. Think, General, of the damage you can cause. We must let the prince know what is going on.”

  “No, you think, Max. Think it through. If Herzlos finds out, his son will find out, and what happens then? There are two possibilities. First, Hugo will decide his plot cannot succeed. To save himself, he will make the princess disappear. Then he can deny everything and we are the ones who have plotted to foist an imposter on the prince.”

  Max shook his head. Conrad was not a fool. He would see through that…wouldn’t he?

  The general continued. “The other possibility is that if his plans are far enough advanced, Hugo will set his little revolution in motion. Even if we manage to defeat him in the end—and there is no guarantee of that—all our lives will be at risk, the prince’s most of all. You think those women are in danger now? Just think of the danger they will face in that situation.”

  This could not be right. But…but the general might be right. Could Max insist on a course of action that would put Susannah in even more danger? “You don’t know,” he said. “You don’t know that Conrad would tell Herzlos. Not if we warned him that Hugo is involved.”

  “But he might.”

  “It is the prince’s right to know,” Max insisted stubbornly. “You cannot keep this from him—not the princess’s disappearance, not Hugo’s plotting.”

  “And you cannot put Sigmaringen at risk by placing such a burden on a boy who is not yet ready to bear the burdens of rule. Those who serve the prince have a duty to protect him, and sometimes that protection means we must conceal situations from him that he is not prepared to handle.”

  “And the ladies who are engaged in this masquerade? What of them? This is not their country. Their loyalties are not involved. How can you expect them to endanger themselves for your purposes?”

  With a flourish, the general dismissed that concern. “You can handle them. Lady Olivia thinks this is a game and looks no further than that. Lady Susannah—well, she could be a problem, but you can manage her. She may not be a fool but she is clearly enamored of you. You have enough experience with women. You can use her emotions to bend her to your will.”

  “You dare to speak of her in such a way? You dare to suggest…?” Max could not speak, but his hand flew to the hilt of his sword.

  The general’s eyes widened, but he straightened and stared at Max. “Captain Staufer, you are a soldier, and you are under my command. I order you to keep silent.”

  Max stood at attention and stared back for a long minute before he spoke. “Three days. I will give you three days. If we have not found the princess by then, I will tell the prince everything. And if any harm comes to those ladies…” He saluted stiffly, spun around, and marched away.

  Sixteen

  Bradenham Abbey

  Once their carriage had pulled to a stop, Lady Penworth flung the door open and leaped down the moment the footman lowered the steps. The butler barely managed to open the door of the Abbey in time to let her in.

  “Where are they?” she demanded, barely pausing.

  “The blue drawing room,” the butler called after her as she raced down the corridor, not bothering to remove her cloak or hat. Lord Penworth hurried along in her wake.

  She
burst into the drawing room, where her oldest daughter—Elinor, Lady Doncaster—was sitting beside her husband, Harry. Lady Penworth halted so abruptly that her husband almost crashed into her.

  The Doncasters looked up in surprise. Harry jumped to his feet. Elinor, who was extremely pregnant, tried to rise but everyone waved her back into her seat.

  Arms akimbo, Lady Penworth looked at her daughter, her anxiety giving way to irritation. “You look perfectly well,” she said accusingly.

  “I am.” Elinor blinked. “Except for looking like a whale and being unable to find a comfortable position for sleeping, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Her mother sat down in the nearest chair and pulled off her gloves, finger by finger, with great concentration. She laid them on the table beside her. Next she undid the fastening at the neck of her dark-blue woolen cape and pushed it off her shoulders onto the back of the chair. She then folded her hands in her lap and looked at her daughter.

  “When one receives a telegram from one’s daughter—one’s daughter who is barely weeks from giving birth—and that telegram says, ‘Come at once,’ it is not unreasonable for one to assume that something dire has happened.”

  Harry’s jaw dropped and he looked at his wife. “That’s what you said in the telegram?”

  Elinor looked defensive. “Well, telegrams are supposed to be brief, aren’t they?”

  “Not so brief that they strike terror into the hearts of the recipients,” he said, starting to smile.

  Lord Penworth handed his hat, gloves, and coat to the servant who had followed them in. “Well, now that we are here with hearts beating normally again, perhaps you could tell us why we are here.”

  “I’m sorry. I truly am. It never occurred to me that you would think…” Elinor broke off. “Now that I hear it, it does sound rather drastic, doesn’t it? But the thing is, I don’t know if it’s something dire or not.” She looked at her husband.

  “We’ve had a letter from Olivia, you see,” he said.

  “Ah.” Lady Penworth nodded. “And what does your sister say?”

  “Not a great deal. She says they are off to Sigmaringen for a few days to have an adventure.” Harry looked worried. “But that’s all she says about it.”

  “You know how enthusiastic Olivia gets,” said Elinor. “It could be anything from a trip to buy a new bonnet to an expedition to climb an unclimbable Alp. But I don’t like the sound of that. We were hoping you had heard from Susannah and could tell us what it’s all about.”

  “Oh dear.” Lady Penworth and her husband exchanged worried glances. “We did have a letter from Susannah, a rather odd letter. All she said was that they were going to Sigmaringen, and she didn’t know where they would be staying so we couldn’t write to them.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Susannah.” Elinor looked worried as well.

  “The situation doesn’t improve,” said Lord Penworth, removing a paper from his pocket. “I had a letter from Augusta. It didn’t arrive until today because she sent it to Penworth Castle rather than to London.”

  Lady Penworth turned a look of astonishment on him.

  “I didn’t tell you about it because by the time I saw it, you were already distressed about Elinor’s telegram.”

  His wife closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Very well. What does she say?”

  “That they are going to Sigmaringen, which we already knew. However, she adds that they are going to be staying in the royal palace, but we should not write to them there because they will be incognito.”

  “What?” Lady Penworth leaped to her feet in outrage.

  Harry and Elinor echoed her.

  Lady Penworth began to pace back and forth across the room. “I’ll wager Augusta sent that letter to Dorset on purpose. She knew we were in London. She just didn’t want us interfering before they had their little adventure.”

  “She wouldn’t do such a thing, would she?” Harry looked shocked.

  Lord Penworth looked not in the least surprised. “Yes, of course she would. That’s why we sent Susannah with her.”

  “Now that was not at all fair,” said Elinor. “You shouldn’t expect Susannah to rein in Aunt Augusta. You can’t do it yourself.” She stopped and a slow smile appeared on her face. “On the other hand, Susannah might have decided that she’d like a bit of adventure herself. It’s high time she broke out of that prim-and-proper mold.”

  Her parents looked at Elinor in surprise. Then Lady Penworth, unaccustomed to uncertainty, said, “You may be right. About her wanting to break out, I mean. I’m quite certain you are right that we were unfair in expecting her to shepherd Augusta, who is old enough to be her grandmother. That still leaves us with a problem. Susannah is all alone in a strange country with no one to watch out for her. She certainly can’t rely on either Augusta or Olivia for help.”

  “If they were going to be in Sigmaringen for only a few days, they should have left by now. It’s been a week since we got the first letter.” Lord Penworth was frowning. “We should have heard from them.”

  “Something has gone wrong,” said Harry. “Olivia is my sister. I should go…”

  He looked at his wife. His very pregnant wife who had a sudden flash of panic in her eyes before she resumed her look of calm interest.

  “No, Harry. You cannot possibly leave Elinor at this point,” said Lady Penworth. “Phillip and I will go.” She began putting her gloves back on. “After all, we were the ones who sent the girls off on this trip.”

  Lord Penworth nodded. “We can set out tomorrow.”

  Seventeen

  It was just as well that Mama had taken them to Paris in preparation for this trip, Susannah thought. Her own gown didn’t matter so much—well, of course it did. One’s gown always mattered, and she loved the blue and lavender brocade of hers. The color made her eyes look more violet than blue, and the rich fabric was enhanced by the simplicity of the cut. It was perfect for a lady-in-waiting—rich but not gaudy.

  However, what mattered for this ball was Olivia’s gown, and tonight she was wearing one of her own, not one of the princess’s. It was of pale-gold satin, almost the exact shade of Olivia’s hair, with lace-trimmed scallops over an underskirt of soft green. The same green trimmed the wide bertha collar that skimmed over the top of her shoulders, baring just the right amount of space for the filigree necklace of gold and peridots.

  The sight made Susannah sigh with pleasure. It also made her nervous. Was Olivia having doubts? Did the fact that she was wearing her own gown mean that she wanted to stop being the princess? A grand ball in honor of the princess did not seem the best time for such indecision.

  Olivia did not look as pleased with her appearance as she should. She held herself very still as the maid adjusted the ribbons in her hair and twisted a ringlet into the proper position, but she did not seem to be taking any interest in the process.

  Lady Augusta sighed impatiently. “Really, Your Highness. Anyone would think you had never attended a ball before.” She waved a hand to dismiss the maid and waited for the door to close before she began to speak softly. “Surely you are not worried about your ability to play this role. The prince, the court—everyone has accepted you. And the prince seems quite entranced by you.”

  Olivia’s lower lip stuck out the way it did when she was about to be stubborn. That was enough to worry Susannah. There were times when Olivia was impervious to reason. She took Olivia’s hand. “What is the matter? Is it the danger? Are you afraid? If that is it, I will tell Max and he will have us out of here tonight. You know he will.”

  “No, no, it’s not that at all.” Olivia wrapped her arms around herself and looked angry. “It just isn’t right. The prince has been so kind, so trusting. We should not be playing this dreadful trick on him. Think how humiliated he will feel when he discovers it. We should tell him what is going on. We really should.”r />
  That prompted a snort from Lady Augusta. “Stuff and nonsense. Just what do you think will happen if we tell him what has happened, or what we think has happened, since we do not really know? I’ll tell you what he will do. Like a child, he will run to Count Herzlos and ask what to do—because that is apparently what he has always done. It seems to be accepted here that Conrad is the prince, but Count Herzlos is the ruler. And then? Why, then Herzlos will confront his son, who will realize that his only recourse is to stage his revolution immediately and kill the prince, the count, and all of us. Is that what you want?”

  Susannah felt slightly ill. What Aunt Augusta said sounded frighteningly possible. On some level she had known all that. She just hadn’t thought of it in quite such brutal terms.

  Olivia grew pale and looked about to burst into tears. “I feel so sorry for him.”

  “Stop that,” commanded Lady Augusta. “You are not to pity the prince. It seems to me that the problems in this country have been caused by his weakness. If he had taken up the reins of government himself and not just sat there in his pretty uniform, he would not have been vulnerable.”

  “He’s not weak,” insisted Olivia. “He’s kind. All of you seem to think that’s some sort of weakness, but it isn’t.”

  Lady Augusta held up a hand. “Whether he is kind or weak is not the issue at the moment. Do you want to put Captain Staufer and General Bergen at risk, to say nothing of Susannah and me?”

  “Oh no!” protested Olivia.

  “Then stiffen your spine. Now that we have put this masquerade in motion, we have no choice but to follow it through. Hold up your head and remember that you are a princess.”

  Lady Augusta flung open the door, and Olivia did as she was told. It was the princess who walked into the corridor to lead the procession to the ballroom. Susannah took a deep, steadying breath and followed.

  Sometimes Lady Augusta could be quite frightening, Susannah thought. That thought was followed by another one. Would Lady Augusta be quite as vehement about preserving the secret if General Bergen were not involved?