Page 39 of Dare to Risk it All

Louis,

The best revenge you could have upon those who wronged you so badly is to find happiness. I know I will never truly understand what you suffered, but you are free of that now. I wish I could take the memories away from you as easily as I took you from that evil place, but you have so many possibilities now. You have friends, and the duchess truly wishes for you to be a part of the family. She has welcomed me as she might a son, despite everything. I know she wishes to do the same for you, and I think she understands you are not as whole as you appear.

I know how difficult you find this time of year, but perhaps with people who care for you at hand, you will not find it so hard to bear. Please, Louis. I know you will not try on your own account, so do it for me, and Agatha, and for your Miss Evie, who will be so disappointed if you do not appear as promised. You see, I am not above a little blackmail.

I am afraid I will never let you alone, brother mine. Not so long as there is breath in me.

―Excerpt of a letter from Nicolas Alexandre Demarteau to his brother Louis César de Montluc, Comte de Villen—translated from French.

Still the night of the 13th of December 1840, Royle House, Derbyshire.

Greer had almost escaped the ballroom, but looked up with a start as Aisling caught her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to complete my dare,” Greer replied, putting up her chin. She knew her timid friend would try to stop her, but tonight was the night, she had decided.

Aisling’s eyes grew wide with shock. “What, now?”

Greer nodded. She often made momentous decisions on the spur of the moment, and it was a dreadful idea, but she was unsettled and unhappy and cross with herself for it.

She had no one to blame but herself. Elspeth had warned her what Raphe was, as if she hadn’t known already. He didn’t want to marry, and it was none of her business if he was lonely and unhappy. Raphe was a grown man and did not need some silly chit of a girl to force him into wedlock with some misguided belief that she could mend him. Romantic nonsense. Not everyone had exciting stories of courtship and happy marriages. She knew that. Perhaps her own story would be dull and predictable. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be happy. Mr Norris, with whom she’d danced earlier, was a perfectly pleasant fellow, and he’d been very nice. He’d clearly admired her and offered her some pretty, if clumsy, compliments. Raphe might be far more intriguing, and fun, and he might make her skin burn and her stomach squirm every time he was near, but those were only shallow attractions that would fade. His problems were his own. She couldn’t fix him, certainly not if he had no desire to be fixed. It would be a disaster and they would make each other wretched. So, she’d had a lucky escape and had better put it behind her and move on.

“Are you well, Greer?”

Aisling’s lovely face paled with concern.

“Of course,” Greer said briskly. There was no point in feeling sorry for herself. Wallowing was too self-indulgent. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. There are bound to be some spare maid uniforms in the laundry. I shall nip downstairs and smuggled one up to my room. Then I’ll come down again as a maid and carry some trays to the refreshment room or something. It will be easy. There are so many people here, no one will notice me.”

“Oh, but, Gee,” Aisling exclaimed. “If someone recognises you—”

“No one will. No one ever notices servants at a ball like this. They’re far too interested in themselves and the other guests, and I’ve got to complete it sometime. I’d rather get it over with before I worry too much about it.”

Aisling looked rather like she might be sick, but she steeled herself and put up her chin. “C-Can I help?”

Greer smiled at her, touched that she would offer even though she clearly thought it a terrible idea. “You can play look out whilst I sneak downstairs, please.”

Aisling nodded, mute and unhappy, and Greer bore her away before she could change her mind.

Raphe did yet another circuit of the ballroom, but still found no sign of Greer. He pushed his way through the crowds, deciding to take another turn about the corridor and refreshments room in case he’d missed her there. There was an anxious sensation churning in his belly and a sense of foreboding he could not shake off. Bonnie’s warning about what Greer might do if she were unhappy kept ringing in his ears. The churning sensation heightened, with a growing sense of panic. She was unhappy because of him. He’d been hateful and hurt her feelings and he’d not even meant what he’d said. Of course he’d not known he hadn’t meant it, or at least he’d not yet admitted it to himself, but that was neither here nor there. This was his fault. He’d seduced her and then thrown her over as if she meant nothing to him, which was so far from the truth it made his throat tight with regret. Lord, he had to find her, had to explain that….

He frowned, thrown from his anxious thoughts as he caught sight of a maid carrying a large tray of petits fours into the refreshments room. She walked quickly, head down, but there was something about her, a sense of energy that seemed strangely familiar.

Following his instincts, Raphe moved to follow her. Surely, they’d not sent a lone maid to the refreshments room at this late hour? The guests would all be half seas over by now, and there were too many ignorant brutes who thought female servants were fair game. Before he took a step, Dare waylaid him, stalking towards him with a face like thunder.

“What?” Raphe asked warily.

“Is it true?”

His friend’s anger was unmistakable, and Raphe felt guilt and regret coalesce in his stomach, cold and slimy with disgust.

“Is what true?” Not that he needed to ask. The only question was how Dare had found out.

“You and Greer.” Dare grabbed hold of his lapels and gave him a shake. “My wife’s sister, you bastard. What did you do? And don’t lie to me because I’ll know.”

Raphe swallowed. “She’s still a virgin,” he said, feeling he’d sunk about as low as he could get. “But it’s not—I’m going to ask her to marry me,” he said in a rush.

“Oh.” Dare’s face cleared instantly, and a smile broke over his face, delight in his eyes. “Oh, I say. That changes everything. That’s… That’s marvellous. We’ll be brothers-in-law!”