Her Secret Lover (Aphrodite's Club 2)

“You are his latest, are you?” Lady Appleby said, catching Antoinette’s hand and holding on.

“How did you know?” Antoinette whispered.

Lady Appleby gave a wan smile. “I don’t have a sixth sense. My old housekeeper came all the way from the country to visit me. She wondered if she had done the right thing in giving up my whereabouts, and she felt guilty she’d kept the secret for so long. She wept, so I suppose that was something.” She sighed and leaned back. “I was an heiress, too. He took my fortune and my youth, and locked me in a madhouse. My husband is a cruel man.”

On Antoinette’s other side, Gabriel leaned forward to see into the pale face under the hood. “So you will help us?” he said. “To see him punished for what he’s done?”

She looked white-faced and exhausted, but there was fire in her eyes. “Oh dear me, yes, it will be my pleasure, Doctor.”

As the hackney reached the end of the street, a river of fog swirling about the wheels, another vehicle drifted past them, going in the opposite direction, so for a brief moment they were side by side.

Lady Appleby gave a little scream. Antoinette looked up, and with a frisson of shock, she saw Lord Appleby sitting inside the other vehicle. He was still we

aring his top hat, but beneath it his face looked drawn and tired, lit by the coach lamps. He’d been looking down, but when the hackney rattled past he raised his head. Recognition of Antoinette snapped his brows together, and then his gaze slid to the huddled figure at her side. He lurched forward, palms pressed to the glass window.

But it was already too late. They’d moved on.

Gabriel thumped his fist on the roof and shouted for the driver to hurry up. “That was close,” he added, his pale eyes sparkling, as if this was just another game to him.

Antoinette, her arm about Lady Appleby’s slight form, sent him a look of disgust. “He’ll come after us. He’ll catch us.”

“He’ll try. And then he’ll rally his cronies around him and try and hide behind their might and power. That’s why we have to act now. At once.”

“Gabriel, why can’t you answer me without making a riddle of it?”

“I think, Antoinette, we should go straight to the very top.”

“Gabriel, please—”

He grinned at her. “The palace, darling. We’re going to Buckingham Palace.”

Chapter 32

It took them time to gain access to Prince Albert, the royal consort. Gabriel explained once and then again, and still they were refused. Prince Albert was in bed, they were told, and besides, he did not see anyone without an appointment, especially at this time of night. But gradually, as Gabriel explained the situation over and over, emphasizing that this was going to cause an enormous scandal—and did the palace really want them to take Lady Appleby to the offices of one of the more rabid newspapers?—he wore them down.

“You really should have let me dress for the occasion,” Lady Appleby said, as they made their way into an anteroom, surrounded by disapproving servants.

“You are perfect, my lady.”

She chuckled. “I imagine I am, if you want a fright.”

Gabriel pulled forward a chair and made her comfortable. She was remarkably composed, considering what she had been through. He didn’t know what he’d expected when he entered the asylum, but Lady Appleby was a revelation, a remarkable woman whose strength of character had brought her through ten years of shocking deprivation.

She reminded him of Antoinette. She, too, had fought for her independence and freedom, despite Appleby’s threats and cruelty. She was a wonderful woman, brave and beautiful, generous and kind, and with a budding sensuality he wanted to make it his lifelong mission to expand and explore.

Life with Antoinette would never be dull. They were very different as people, but he liked that. She could pull him into line when he needed it, and he could give her a taste of that wild edge she had been missing. It was as if they’d been fashioned exclusively for each other.

He watched her as she stood in the middle of the room, a pocket Venus with tendrils of her hair coming out of its pins and her spectacles slipping down her nose. There were shadows under her eyes and her skin was pale with weariness, but she was still…perfect.

As if suddenly aware of his eyes, she turned her head and found him. He wondered what she saw in his face to make her look so long and so hard. She trusted him, he knew that much, but enough to stay with him when this was over? Or would her comfortable, predictable life in Surrey draw her back?

Gabriel smiled, and immediately her mouth curled in response, as if they were the only people in the room. He didn’t even notice that the prince had arrived.

“Mr. Langley?” Albert spoke in his usual brisk manner.

“Your Majesty.” He bowed, while Antoinette curtsied.

“You have frightened my staff into letting you inside my home at a most inconvenient hour. I do hope you are not wasting my time.”