Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 47: Death is only the beginning- Part 1

Cain and his mother snapped abruptly.

"You no longer want to marry?" Cain queried concerned.

"No, well yes. Of course I do. But should we not wait?" Verushka hastened to ease his worries.

"My dear," the Dowager duchess began. "To all the world William has long been buried. Let us keep it that way. The Queen would not wish us to drag her mother's name through the mud. It would be nothing short of scandalous. Not to mention that it would involve revealing William as the Director of Her Majesty's Secret Service in his time." She sighed. "Somethings are better left unearthed."

"Yes." Cain nodded. "At least that is a small mercy. I have suspected for some time that you knew he made me the Governor for the Home Office. A desk job really and you know Mother, I was furious at the time that father selected some unknown other to lead instead of me, but I can understand now why he did. The trauma that has befallen our family from holding that royal obligation is over. The new director can have the responsibility and burden of that unfortunate office."

Verushka stared at the floor of the carriage, inspecting every dust mote to avoid meeting Cain's eyes. She almost dared a glance at the Dowager Duchess but thought better of it. Now was not the time for them to reveal the truth, not when he was mourning a father who died at the hands of a job his bride was soon to take up.

"Say something, Mother."

The Dowager Duchess cleared her throat carefully. "Your father did confide in me."

Verushka flicked a furtive look up as Catherine swallowed a noticeable lump in her throat. It was the closest she had ever seen the woman come to dissembling.

"He never wanted to bury a son."

"Burying a father is not any easier." Grief leaked through the cracks in Cain's voice.

"It is most assuredly not the day for a wedding." Verushka stated crestfallen.

"On the contrary." Catherine countered with a fresh start. "It is the best time. Or else the sacrifice William made will be for naught. He travelled to London for a wedding this morning and a wedding we shall have."

"But his funeral-," Verushka argued.

"We will travel to perform his final rites in a few days. Meanwhile, the guests have been kept waiting long enough and so has your destiny. It is high time you were a Duchess."

As if on cue the carriage jerked to a stop.

"You may exit here, Verushka." Catherine gestured. "Enter via that back door to the private chapel and someone will attend you."

Verushka looked back at her betrothed. She could read the firm line of his mouth and despair in his emerald eyes. Emotions that he wished he could scream. She knew him now as well as any book, read cover to cover and back again and oh, how his heart ached in that moment.

She had gained the door handle but she withdrew from its polished brass surface and the bright light waiting beyond its door. Instead, she placed a palm on either side of Cain's face to lay her forehead against his.

She echoed his promise when he led her into their first waltz many months before. "Forget about the anticipation of the next step. Follow me, I will not lead you astray."

A faint smile flickered across the Duke's face and he nodded.

"I'll see you soon, Your Grace." His words were a whisper upon her parted lips. Then he let her slip unseen from the carriage.

Verushka alighted at the Old Palace Yard using the immense shadows of Westminster Abbey to her left to hide her scurrying form. The church lay between the prominent royal house of prayer and the Palace of Westminster Parliament. It's location in London assured it as the most fashionable church for only the upper echelons of the ton to be married in. But to Verushka it symbolised the life she was embarking on in the service of the Queen. Part spy, part nobility, not fully either but something that lingered in between.