Page 20 of A Queen's Match

It didn’t matter; May could have finished the sentence on her own.With Kiril.

An idea began to coalesce in her mind: an outrageous, farfetched, completely absurd idea.

“Why don’t we go get some air,” May suggested.

Ducky shot her a grateful look, and each of them took one of Missy’s arms, leading her forcibly through the room and onto the terrace.

May waited until they were near the iron railing, far enough from any other guests to be overheard. Then she looked at Ducky. “Missy told me about you and Kiril.”

Ducky’s eyes widened, and she whirled angrily on her sister. “Howcouldyou?”

Missy winced. “I only remarked upon his muscles. I never said that you two—”

“I promise, your secret is safe with me. I want to help,” May assured Ducky, before Missy could say something worse. Really, that girl needed to learn how to hold her tongue, even after a glass of champagne or two.

“Help?” Ducky barked out a humorless laugh. “Are you visiting Russia soon, and offering to slip Kiril a note?”

“I can helphere.With your situation regarding Prince Eddy,” May explained.

“Good luck with that. Grandmama has decided that Eddy and I will marry, and so we shall. How in the world can I get out of it?” Ducky asked bitterly.

“Alix of Hesse got out of the very same engagement. She didn’t want to marry Eddy, either.”

Ducky gave May a long, searching look. “I see,” she said at last. “You want to be in contention for Eddy yourself.”

May didn’t correct her. Out on the lawn, guests still drifted in and out of the white tent, which seemed to emit a ghostly glow in the moonlight.

Ducky’s hands fell to her sides. “I appreciate your help, truly, but I don’t see how I can avoid this engagement. There’s no telling Grandmama no.”

May nodded. “Youcannot tell her no, but Eddy can. He needs to call it off.”

“And how am I to accomplish that?” Ducky demanded. “Just walk up to him and politely say I don’t wish to marry him? Even if he felt the same way, well…word would get around. It would destroy me,” Ducky added helplessly.

Of course it would. A single woman could never admit to not wanting to marry a man, let alone a future king.

“You’ll have to be more circumspect,” May agreed. “You’ll pretend to go along with the engagement, but when you are with Eddy, you will undermine your own cause. Make yourself unattractive in his eyes.”

To her immense relief, Ducky seemed to be considering this unprecedented suggestion. “You mean that I should sabotage the engagement?”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“And how exactly would I do that?”

May started to reply, but Ducky and Missy’s mother steppedout onto the terrace. “Girls! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“We’ll talk soon,” May promised, as the Coburg sisters followed their mother back inside.

May leaned against the railing, lost in thought. Agnes would be amused by this plan, but of course May couldn’t tell Agnes. She couldn’t tellanyone,could keep no counsel but her own. The stakes were simply too high.

From now on, May worked alone. Which was just fine with her.

Other people had always proven a disappointment, anyway.

Chapter Nine

Alix

“Tell me, what did youthink of last night?” Queen Victoria cracked a spoon against her soft-boiled egg, placed before her in a golden egg cup. “It was a bitcrowdedfor my taste, but then, Bertie isquitesocial. And he made such a fuss about guests coming from all over! I don’t mean you two,” she clarified, nodding at Alix and Ernie. “It just felt excessive, having the Saxe-Meiningensandthe Oldenburgs. Not to mention that the King and Queen of Denmark come all the way from Copenhagen!”