Page 30 of The Secret of Flirting

Which she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. He refused to believe himself to be so far off the mark.

“You may be right,” Hart said.

“About what?”

“Her being Monique Servais. I can’t be sure, but I’m leaning toward your point of view.”

Perhaps hewasn’tgoing mad after all. “What did you learn?”

“Apparently, the count made a trip to Dieppe a few days before the Chanay contingent departed from Calais.”

“Does anyone know why?”

“If they do, they’re not saying. But it certainlycouldbe because he was going there to engage Mademoiselle Servais in his scheme.”

“It could.” He listened as she made an impassioned speech about the importance of choosing the proper ruler for Belgium. She was articulate and clever. If shewasthe real princess, he would champion her no matter what the cost. “Did you learn anything aboutwhyhe might have wished to engage her?”

“No. That’s the trouble. I tried to find out, but when it came to information of that nature, the servants clammed up.”

“Or they didn’t know anything. The English servants would have been told that she was the princess. They have no reason to believe otherwise. Did you speak to the French ones?”

“There really weren’t any, so no. Have you any theories?”

“None right now. I need to know more.” Gregory paused to watch as she seduced a roomful of men into believing whatever she said. It was astonishing what a pretty, young female could do to further her cause. He refused to let such manipulation affect him.

Right. Because you’re not attracted to her in the least.

He scowled. He could handle Monique Servais. If that was really who she was. “Do you have time to take a trip?” he asked Hart.

“To Dieppe?”

“Exactly. I’d go myself except that I have to be here for the conference, especially with the foreign secretary indisposed.”

“I can go. The steam packets cross from Newhaven to Dieppe in nine hours these days. I could probably be back with a report for you by Friday. What do you want me to find out?”

“Whatever you can about Mademoiselle Servais. See if the count visited her personally, and if so, when. And do some research into her background. I can’t figure out why they would choose her, beyond her facility as an actress. The more you learn, the more I’ll know how to act.”

“Very well. I’ll discover what I can.”

“Excellent.”

They sat in shared silence a moment. Then Hart cleared his throat. “If sheisMademoiselle Servais, she plays the role of princess to perfection.”

“She does, indeed.”

“Are you sure she isn’t—”

“Aren’t you?” Gregory snapped.

Hart cocked his head to listen. “I just can’t be certain. She does have the same dulcet voice. Not to mention that sensual glide of a walk, like a swan on the water... or one of the finer French courtesans in the salons of Paris, who knows all the secrets of flirting and uses them to her advantage. It’s something in the way her hips swing ever so slightly, making a man want to reach out and grab—”

“Yes,” Gregory said irritably, “I know what you want to grab.” Randy bastard. “No princess walks like that. Besides, Princess Aurore has never been in Dieppe acting on the stage.”

“So why the masquerade?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

He could feel Hart’s gaze on him as the other man assessed the tension in his face.