Silence Is Golden (Storm and Silence 3)

‘I won’t shut up! I want to know what - Hey!’

Ignoring her protest, I manoeuvred her into a corner and only stopped when we were firmly situated at the left end of the front row of guests, well out of hearing distance of the prince.

‘What is the matter with you?’ she demanded. ‘Three thousand pounds sterling? You gave three thousand pounds sterling to an orphanage? Did someone knock you over the head with an iron bar?’

For a moment, I considered knocking her over the head an iron bar. But then, knowing her head, that wo

uld probably only destroy an expensive piece of ironwork. So instead, I did something far more dangerous. I smiled at her.

Was that…?

Was she blushing?

It was just a hint under her sunny tan, but yes. It was definitely there. A slight, almost imperceptible blush. I felt a tug in my chest.

Heartburn. Ignore.

‘Is it so unbelievable that I would do a generous deed out of the goodness of my heart?’

‘Frankly - yes!’

‘I see you’ve come to know me well, Mr Linton.’

‘I have, unfortunately. And that’s Miss Linton to you, Mr Ambrose, Sir.’

Don’t remind me. I was already having a hard enough time concentrating. The way she looked in that dress… Ignore, dammit! Ignore! ‘Miss. As you wish.’

‘Why did you give away three thousand pounds?’

‘You cannot catch fish without bait on the hook, Miss Linton.’

She gave me a sceptical look. ‘Three thousand pounds is a pretty big bait.’

I flashed her another smile, this one as hard and dangerous as a shark’s.

‘Oh, the three thousand pounds aren’t the bait, Miss Linton.’ Half-turning, I nodded towards Prince Albert. ‘He is.’

Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Then you have to be catching a fish with pretty strange tastes!’

‘Indeed. There she is.’

I pointed discreetly to the door, just as a figure in white appeared in the archway. Miss Linton’s eyes went to the figure - then shot to mine, incredulous.

I nodded.

Her eyes flicked back to the door, just as the herald pounded his staff onto the floor. ‘Her Majesty Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland!’

The Queen gave a supercilious smile and honoured her subjects with a royal nod, in answer to which the crowd bowed deeply. Hm. She didn’t really look worth three thousand pounds. Hopefully, I hadn’t paid too much. Maybe I should demand a refund.

‘Tell me why you think of the Queen of England as a fish?’ a persistent voice beside me enquired.

‘Later, Miss Linton.’

‘But-’

‘Later!’

Finally, she was silent. Like the loyal subject I was, I fixed my eyes on the centre of the chapel, where the Queen was slowly advancing towards the altar. Still…out of the corner of my eye, I could still see Miss Linton. The silence around us began to expand, and as it did, for the first time in my life, it wasn’t my refuge. It wasn’t the place I could flee to. The longer she was silent, the more I wished she would speak.