Free Seducing the Princess by Mary Hart Perry Page A

Henry’s trusting gaze, drew a breath for strength, and took a leap of faith. “The thing of it is, Mama—as you yourself have so often stated—men are very different from women. Men think of love and romance in a less…” She paced the carpet, wishing the perfect word would come to her. “In a less enduring way. But that doesn’t mean they are disrespectful of the memory of a beloved wife.”
    “What in heaven’s name are you babbling on about, child?” Victoria’s face flushed with irritation.
    “I’m just trying to say that, often, when a gentleman is widowed, he chooses to remarry.
    This happens all the time.” She forced out the words, rushing for fear her mother would cut her off again. “And is it not better that a man remarry and be public about his affections than take as his company various ladies of poor reputation, thus invoking scandal, gossip, and ruin to his reputation, not to mention his family’s—”
    The queen rose to her feet, peering at Beatrice through narrowed eyes. Her regal chins trembled. “You are hiding something from me, child,” Victoria accused. “Say what you mean and stop this stuttering and stalling.”
    “Of course, Mama,” Beatrice murmured. “I was just trying to say—”
    “Speak up, Baby! No wonder everyone thinks you clumsy and poor social company. Nobody can understand a word you say when you mumble so.”
    Beatrice lifted her chin and forced herself to meet her mother’s turbulent glare. How her sisters had ever made a place for themselves in this world, despite the queen’s attempts to control every aspect of their lives, she’d never know. Now that she was the only daughter still at home with their mother, every ounce of the queen’s obsessive need to control her family had focused on her, the youngest child. The last princess.
    Beatrice very nearly gave up delivering the news of the duke’s intentions. But she’d promised Henry. She couldn’t let him down. She just couldn’t.
    With an effort, she kept her voice calm. “What I’m trying to say to you, Mama, is meant to save you from grief. If you’ll just give me a chance to shape the news in my own words, I believe you will be grateful to me.”
    Victoria raised an imperial brow. “I shall be the judge of whether or not to feel gratitude. Now out with it, girl.”
    Oh Lord, Beatrice thought, there’s no hope now. But she plunged on.
    “It has come to my attention that the grand duke intends to announce his engagement to the woman he invited to the wedding yesterday.” She rushed to keep her mother from interrupting again. “Mama, the duke was a fine husband to my sister and has been a loving father to their children. He has deeply mourned Alice’s passing for almost six years. Now he deserves some happiness. If he is in love with this woman and truly cares for her, isn’t it a crime that they should be kept apart?”
    There. She’d finished. Beatrice stood gasping for breath, her hands trembling while she clutched the folds of her skirt, her stomach cramping.
    The queen stared at her, mouth agape, eyes as black as cinders.
    Say something , Beatrice thought. Please . Silence as a response was worse than a wail of sorrow, cursing, or even a thrown vase.
    Beatrice slid her tongue between dry lips. “Mama, I am sure he will ask for your blessing. As you so love your grandchildren, his and Alice’s sweet children, it would be a kindness to him and to the children to accept this woman into the family. I am told she is gracious, and one only has to look at her to see her beauty. What a lovely addition to your Court in London she would make, and—”
    “Enough!” The queen held up a hand, glowering at her. “We don’t know where you heard such vicious, evil gossip. But we do not want it repeated in our hearing. The grand duke would never be so foolish as to think he could marry that whore. And he certainly can’t expect me to ever speak to the woman, let alone accept her in my Court. She