Chapter 149

"I wanted to see you before I left."

In Draven’s gloved hand was a slim portfolio bound securely with twine. He held it out to the Prince Consort, who accepted it with a questioning glance.

They were in one of the palace’s rarely used sections, with no one else around, exactly as they had agreed beforehand.

"These are the latest reports from my investigation into the poison used against the Queen," Draven explained. "I have included everything we have managed to uncover so far. The name of the apothecary believed to be selling the poison, her location, and the type of poison being distributed."

The Prince Consort lowered his eyes to the portfolio.

"There is also a sample enclosed," Draven continued. "It is a very small quantity, but you can have your physicians and scientists examine it independently. Perhaps they will discover something our own investigators have overlooked."

The Prince Consort’s fingers tightened around the portfolio.

"And the buyer?"

"We have not found them yet.Which is why I would advise caution," Draven said. "We should be careful about what we do with this information and who we allow to see it. Until we know who is purchasing the poison and who else may be involved, I think it is best that we keep whatever we discover between as few people as possible." His expression hardened. "We still do not know who we can trust."

"I have already taken every precaution available to me," the Prince Consort assured him. "The Queen’s personal servants have been discreetly replaced. I have also been sending her personal belongings away to be examined for foreign substances. Anything that might have been coated with the poison without her knowledge."

"And?"

"The most recent examinations came back negative."

Draven nodded, though the news did little to assuage his concerns.

"I intend to continue testing them regardless," the Prince Consort went on. "And I shall continue rotating her personal servants until we have a better understanding of who is involved."

It was the only sensible course.

They still did not know how the poison had reached the Queen in the first place or who wanted her dead.

The apothecary was nothing more than a supplier, while the person purchasing the poison remained somewhere beyond their reach. Worse, there was no way of knowing whether those responsible had spies or informants within the palace itself—someone close enough to the Queen to administer the poison without attracting suspicion.

Until they knew otherwise, every servant, attendant, and visitor had to be regarded as a potential suspect.

"That is for the best," Draven said. "Hopefully, it will not be long before we apprehend the buyer. If we can get our hands on someone who knows who is behind this, perhaps we can finally put an end to this madness."

The Prince Consort finally looked up from the portfolio in his hands, his expression thoughtful.

"I do not know how to begin thanking you. If you had not suggested that the Queen’s illness might be the result of poison rather than some ordinary ailment, I cannot imagine what would have befallen her." His throat tightened with emotion, and for a moment, he could not get the words out. "More importantly, her life would still be in grave danger, and we might never have understood why."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Draven.

"I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life."

"You owe me nothing."

"That is not true. How can I thank you?"

Draven considered him for a moment.

"For a start, I want you to walk my wife down the aisle on our wedding day."

Their wedding was only two weeks away but he already called her his wife in his mind.

When Theodore’s brows lifted slightly, Draven cleared his throat and continued, as though he had not just revealed more than he intended.

"Cassandra and I have agreed that we do not want her family anywhere near the wedding. Ordinarily, it would be her father who gives her away. Since her family will not be there, I thought it only right that you should have the honor. You have cared for Cassandra as a father, and you have also been one of the few people who have consistently looked after her interests. I cannot think of anyone more fitting."

It only took Theodore a second to make up his mind.

"I would be honored." He said. Then he smiled. "Truly. It would be a joy to walk Cassandra down the aisle. I would be very glad to have that honor."

– – –

Lady Waverly’s ball was already in full swing when Cassandra arrived.

The ballroom seemed to glow beneath the light of the chandeliers. Hundreds of candles burned in tiers of crystal and gilt, their flames reflected in polished mirrors and catching upon diamonds, pearls, and silver until the entire room glittered whenever someone moved.

The air carried the mingled scents of perfume, beeswax, and flowers.

Women in silk dresses conversed in clusters, their fans fluttering lazily in gloved hands, while gentlemen in dark evening coats stood among the brighter colors of the ladies’ gowns.

Music drifted from the musicians seated at the far end of the room, its lively tune occasionally swallowed by sound of laughter and conversation.

Everywhere Cassandra looked, there were familiar faces mixed with strangers, old families and newer fortunes, titled men, fashionable dandies, and ladies whose names she knew only because they appeared regularly in society columns.

She stopped to greet the host and a few of her acquaintances. When that was done, her eyes moved across the room in search of one man.

Draven was not difficult to find.

His height made him conspicuous even in a crowded ballroom, and when Cassandra finally spotted him among a cluster of gentlemen near the refreshment table, something warm stirred inside her.

She had been looking forward to seeing him all day, though she told herself that she was simply looking forward to the ball itself.

That was not entirely true.

She had invited him because she wanted him there.

Cassandra began making her way toward him, weaving between guests and offering polite smiles whenever someone caught her eye.