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Albert withdrew his body from over Victoria's, an instant shield in the face of danger. He turned his head around and she peeped over his shoulder to see that the would-be assassin was quickly surrounded and seized.

Albert's hand sought his Queen's and gripped her fingertips with earnest concern. "My God! My dear, don't be alarmed."

Victoria's voice was steady as she squeezed his in return. "I assure you, I am not in the least frightened." The young queen quickly surveyed the scene. Several dozen people were milling around as the criminal was being led away and more were fast filling up the park beyond and the road ahead. The people shifted, gasped and clung to one another before their gazes turned to her. She could see their anger as they watched the assassin go, before their anxious eyes turned to her for guidance. She would not fail them, not now and not ever. If there was one thing that her Uncle had taught her, it was that a Queen was only as strong as her people.

"Albert, direct the Postillion to drive on," she instructed resolutely. "We are to act as if nothing has happened and continue our ride."

"Are you sure?" Albert queried concerned.

"We must show my public that we have not lost all confidence in them." Victoria raised herself once more to her seat and dusted the lint from her gown with lily white gloves.

Albert gave the orders and they were immediately surrounded by an escort of equerries and members of the Metropolitan Police. However, as they reached Green Park Arch, Albert felt the hesitation in his wife's demeanour.

"Are you quite well, my dear?"

"Yes," Victoria smiled knowingly to a Spanish soldier as they passed by. "Except, I am just considering how fast news of this incident will travel and I do not wish to alarm the Duchess of Kent. I feel it is only right that we tell Mama in person before we complete our ride."

Albert nodded and swiftly directed the carriage to veer south down Grosvenor Place to the Duchesses residence at Ingestre House. They rolled into the immense square, passing the private central gardens filled with chestnut and lime trees, whose soothing shade was forbidden to overhang onto the streets. The droshky stopped at number thirty-six, a corner grand white stuccoed house on the south-east terrace and Victoria was admitted with haste.

The Duchess of Kent immediately appeared in the foyer wearing a plush afternoon gown of magnolia pink and a stricken expression. "Alexandrina? Whatever is the matter?"

"I am perfectly well, Mama," Victoria soothed. She despised when her mother addressed her by her childhood name, but it was not the time to object. "Shall we adjourn to the sitting room? You may ring for some tea, for this afternoon's sun has made me quite parched."

The Duchess of Kent nodded distractedly and followed her daughter into her own parlour, as several servants flew into action. Albert excused himself to arrange for their departure later and the door was shut on the two women. Victoria seated herself in a stream of fading light and watched the beginning of dusk filter through the large bay windows. It wasn't every day that one had a brush with death, but she seemed doomed to her father's curse. The Duchess of Bexley had been correct, as usual. The attempts on the throne would not stop with her succession. Her posture wilted for a moment and she let a soft sigh slip through her small lips.

"Are you well, my darling child?" The Duchess of Kent inquired tentatively.

"Yes, Mama." Victoria nodded, and then quickly apprised her mother of the recent situation with as much care as possible to avoid startling her nerves. But despite the gentle inflection of her voice, Victoria noted the tremors in the older woman's hands as they lay curled in her lap. The two had had their differences over the years but the eyes that met hers now were swimming with tears and Victoria realised that in the end, a mother's love was... a mother's love.

As she leaned forward to clasp her hands, there was a brief, perfunctory knock on the door and the Duchess's comptroller entered. "I came as soon as I heard, Your Grace."

The Duchess of Kent's eyes lifted with renewed light. "Sir John! Thank God you are here. Now we will know what to do."

He immediately went to the woman's side and laid a hand upon her shoulder in support. "I am sorry to hear of the events of this afternoon Your Majesty. What is being done to catch this criminal?"

A tiny frown puckered between Victoria's brows. It was no small slight to enter a room unannounced that held the Queen, and then to ignore her. But, as her mother quietly lifted her hand to lay it over the one on her shoulder, Victoria determined that perhaps in this instance he could be forgiven.

"Your concern is duly noted, Sir John Conroy. However, the man responsible has already been caught."

"He must be interrogated thoroughly. It was good of you to come to tell your mother this terrible news, but now we must see you back to Buckingham Palace safely. I shall call for more police and we shall leave at once." Conroy launched determinedly into action.

"I once again thank you for your concern, but I will not be cowed into submission by a single man with a weapon. I am resolved to complete my turn about Hyde Park," Victoria affirmed.

Conroy opened his mouth to object but a knock sounded on the door. A butler entered with two footman, a maid and a server of tea with a plethora of cakes and sandwiches.

"There will be no more discussion on this point, Sir Conroy," Victoria announced to which her mother began to weep. She took a calming breath and turned instead to the steaming pot of tea placed before her and caught a pair of startling grey eyes with her own. Victoria paused momentarily before glancing around to the superfluous staff. "Surely there is no need to stand on such ceremony in these circumstances." She indicated to excessive servantry gathered in the small space. "I am quite well and you have my permission to withdraw. Mama, perhaps you also wish to compose yourself."

The Duchess of Kent sniffled and looked to her comptroller who nodded. Taking his hand she stood up to join him and several servants making their way to the door. "I shall only be gone a moment, Alexandrina. Are you sure you will be well?"

"Certainly, Mama. Only leave me a maid perhaps." Victoria paused as if the latter was an afterthought.

With little else to do except naysay the Queen of England, the room trickled to an eventual close. When the last occupant left and the door firmly shut Victoria turned to the maid arranging sandwiches in the corner. "Well, Verushka? Would you like to tell me why you are here?"

Verushka's eyes became as wide as the saucers she was carrying. "I'm sorry m'lady, I mean Your Royal Highness, I mean Your Majesty." She dropped everything and curtseyed to the floor. Jam slopped over the table and several cucumber sandwiches slid off a plate and onto the floor bouncing as if they reverberated from the hammering of her heart.

"You, your... Your Highness knows who I am?" Verushka stammered.

A glimmer of a smile touched the corner of the Queen's small lips. "You would be surprised at the many things to which I am privy. Now tell me, why are you here?"

"I... I was supposed to slip you this note." She hesitated as she procured the letter now covered in berry compote.

Victoria eyed the stained paper with disdain. "You may rise and tell me what it says."

Verushka rose unsteadily before responding. "The Duke of Wyvernstone is waiting downstairs. He would like an audience with you in private."

"Well, well." Victoria tapped her fan against her open palm. "Isn't that intriguing."

There was a swift knock at the door and Victoria arched a brow. "Perhaps, he could not wait a moment longer?" She eyed Verushka who remained immobile between the jam on the table and its remains on the floor.

"Enter." Victoria turned her attention back to her waiting audience.

"Your Majesty, I am here to escort you back to Buckingh-," Cain choked on his last syllable as he noticed Verushka hovering next to the Queen of England. She lingered in an awkward half curtsey wearing a combination of the Kent and Bexley servant's apparel and a splattering of jam. It was almost exactly how she had appeared the first morning that they had met. The sight of her made his heart leap despite the gravity of the situation. What was her magnetism to jam? He thought before his green eyes narrowed suddenly. He could almost imagine that some of that jam looked suspiciously like flecks of blood.

"Ah, the Duke of Bexley. How fortuitous." Victoria smiled. "But, as I was just explaining to Sir John Conroy, I will not be going back home just yet."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but with your permission, may we speak in private." Cain frowned deeply with consternation while Verushka's mouth hung open wide enough to catch flies, presuming flies were allowed within Belgrave Square.

"I assume that you are referring to this maid." Queen Victoria indicated Verushka with an elegant wave of her fan.

Cain jerked his head in a non-committal gesture.

"Verushka may remain and you may proceed," the Queen directed.

It was Cain's turn to hang his mouth open in disbelief. It was scandalous enough for a maid to transform into a ward, but then for her to turn back into a maid was unthinkable. Let alone a maid who was in the confidence of the Queen. His gaze darted to Verushka who had managed to gain control over her jaw and attempted to hover inconspicuously at the edge of the room. There was nothing inconspicuous about her! Everywhere he turned she was there, in his pantry, in his father's study, in the Queen's mother's parlour... and in his heart.

Cain regained his composure and drank in her features. Her golden hair had escaped a hastily pinned cap and wayward curls brushed at the curve of her neck, resistant to any attempt at restriction. She lowered demure lashes but Cain knew now that those lids merely veiled eyes that saw every nuance of the people around her, and concealed a mind that out thought scholars. It was those grey eyes that he had gazed into and confessed his love mere days ago with a heart so full of passion laced with pain. How deceptive was the brush of time? One moment she lay in his arms, supple and supine, and now she held herself as still as if she stood on glass an arms-length away. Perhaps she was far stronger than he ever knew. Yet, he wanted her away from this world, he wanted her safe and secure, he wanted her in his home and in his bed... he wanted her. However, laying Verushka down on the berry soiled rug seemed an improper thing to do in the presence of the Queen.

Cain snapped from his reverie, and his Monarch looked upon him with enough officiousness to prompt Cain to resume the purpose for which he arrived.

"I... I, well to be perfectly frank, Your Majesty I strongly advise against you riding out today and doubly so now that this has happened." Cain clenched his fists and paced the room.

"And what would you have me do? Sit in my mother's house as if it were a nursery? Those days are over, Lord Bexley."

"I would like to protect you, Your Majesty. How am I to do so if you will not consider my advice?" Cain ran a frustrated hand through his hair, dishevelling the perfectly brushed locks.

"Yes," Victoria mused. "My Director made a similar point earlier today."

"And you did not deign to listen to him either." Cain gripped the arched back of a chair and Verushka almost thought that she heard the wood creak.

"No. However, I do consider all the factors and in this instance perhaps I weighed the odds incorrectly," Victoria acknowledged. "Regardless, I believe the assassin was still apprehended so there are certain benefits to be had."

The Duke of Bexley cleared his throat abruptly. "With your permission, Your Majesty, can we not discuss this later? Please let me escort you home." Cain's eyes flitted back and forth between the Queen and his maid, noticeably uncomfortable with the notion of her presence.

"Do you know, Lord Bexley, that you are the only man who is able to make 'with your permission' sound like both a question and a command." There was a touch of steel in the Queen's voice. "Nevertheless," she relaxed her tone. "You may escort Albert and myself, the rest of the way around Hyde Park and see us home safely."

Cain nodded silently.

"And, as for you." Victoria turned to Verushka. "You may go and fetch your... cousin."

Verushka willed her limbs out of inertia. What was Cain doing offering to protect the Queen? He had blazed in with so much measured purpose, as if his presence would have been expected by the Monarch, even welcomed. But Cain could not be an Agent. Surely, the Duchess would have said. Surely his father had said he had tried to keep him from being Director. Surely, London's most notorious dandy was not anything more than the debonair duke he seemed to be. Verushka shook the thought from her head like gnats on a summer's night. No, he was a close friend of the Queen, she asserted. He had come to offer his aid. Nothing more, nothing more, nothing more. Verushka chanted the words like wishes.

Even with all that had passed, Bianca's death, the assassination attempt and the Queen of England seated to her left, she still yearned for the Duke of Bexley. If a Duke such as Cain was also a spy then his marriage would truly be dictated by the Queen, even more so than just a simple duke. A betrothal would not be an idle request of no consequence, it would align countries and kingdoms and possibly even place a spy in the home of an enemy. Everything had consequences when one lived in service of the Queen, and the last flickering hope Verushka had for love would fade out.

The last time they had spoken there had been so much pain that it coated the tactile memory of his touch. Soap scum on water, tainting whispered words of love. Cain stood a few feet away from her and he looked like someone else in the suit of a man she adored. He wore the same garish colours of a fop with styled waves of hair and shoes that shone, but everything else was gone. He looked darker, more confident and controlled, and even his posture aligned to something other than decadence. She tried to tell herself it was a lie, that one version was false and one was real, but there was no denying the heat between them still hovered in the air. It was as if they had brought the pantry to the sitting room and it burned like a well stoked fire. For all his declarations that they could not be together, his eyes struck hers like lightening before thunder and she wanted to run towards the storm.

The Queen cleared her throat and Verushka startled. She bobbed a quick curtsey and for some unfathomable reason collected the plates with clumps of berry sliding off as she hastened towards the door. For someone who was never particularly dedicated to her job, servitude had still ingrained a need to clear away dirty dishes. She had almost made it safely through the threshold when Queen Victoria commented almost absent-mindedly.

"You could have left the plates. You are not actually required to clean Miss Wyvernstone. Be swift, I imagine Jacob will be wanting a word with the Governor for my Home Office."

Porcelain plates went crashing to the floor and splintered fragments scattered over the thick Aubusson carpet. Verushka's heart seized, and time stalled as everything she had ever heard or seen fell into place. Of course he was an Agent. Cain was born from the union of two Directors of the Secret Service. Cain who wore the mask of a dandy in public to conceal the power of his mind in private. Cain who could certainly not marry without the Queen's consent. Cain, who was not just an Agent but the Governor for one arm of an Agency that she was being groomed to run.

The grains in the hourglass resumed their fall and Verushka stared down at the floor littered with broken crockery. She was afraid to move. She was afraid to stand still. But most of all, she was afraid to turn around and meet the emerald eyes of the one man to whom she had most given and concealed.

Queen Victoria sighed. It was a short, frustrated emission of air, and it jerked Verushka into motion. She, bent down, and the shards bit into her knees as she hastily gathered the fractured items into her arms.

"I know I said to leave the plates, but perhaps the doorway was not the ideal spot." Victoria quipped with mild exasperation. "Abandon it Verushka and bring Jacob to me."

Verushka launched into the air and flew out, into the hallway and beyond. She could almost imagine that she heard the young Queen laugh as she left but it was difficult to say for sure when so much blood was rushing in her ears. Verushka ran the length of the house as she traversed the chaotic debris of her mind journeying from overthinking to blind repetition of one word.

Cain. Cain. Cain.

How could he? How could she? What if they?

Unfinished questions hurtled beneath a steady incantation of the duke's name as if mere chanting would conjure up the simple, kind, uncomplicated rake she knew. However, it did nothing to aid her confusion. Who was the man who kissed her beneath the rain or read to her in the warmth of the pantry? Was he the same man who was so obviously a master of espionage or was that too a lie? Maybe it was all a test to see if she was a worthwhile investment as an Agent, but if so, why would the Duchess of Bexley not tell her? Although there was no getting around the fact that she clearly had not even deigned to tell her son about her own occupation as Director. By the time Verushka reached her brother she was certain that a headache was developing between her temples.

"Jay!" Verushka gasped as she skidded to a stop in the Duchess of Kent's pantry.

Jacob swiftly emerged from within the alcove. "Did you see Her Majesty? Will she see me? I heard she sent everyone away and I was concerned."

"Yes, I saw her. Yes, she will see you now. But-," Verushka choked on a breath of scented steam as it puffed from an open oven.

"Excellent," Jay exclaimed and dodged past her incapacitated form to race up the servant's stairs to the Queen.

"Wait, wait!" Verushka hacked as she tried to clear her lungs and gave chase to her brother in mad frustration. "Stop!" She hissed as they halted just outside the sitting room.

"What is it?" Jay appeared unfazed by their dash to the upper quarters.

"Cain... Cain," Verushka panted.

"What about Cain?" Jay's brows furrowed.

Verushka composed herself and steadied her breath to deliver the news. "Cain is in there."

"Oh, excellent." Jay remarked casually. "I've been needing to discuss this with the Governor." He twisted the gold handle and Verushka was once again left agape in the presence of the Queen.

"My dear," Victoria addressed her as the door swung open. "May I suggest that you close your mouth once in a while, if only to give your jaw a rest from the effort?"

Verushka clamped her lips shut and crossed the littered debris, hearing it crunch against her boots as she passed.

"Lord Wyvernstone, it is so nice to see you again this afternoon. I was just informing the Duke of Bexley of the invaluable service that you performed for me earlier." Victoria inclined her head in thanks.

Jay bowed low to his monarch. "It is my honour to serve, Your Majesty. But if I may, I must acknowledge that little would have been accomplished without your newest Agent, here."

Glass shattered between Cain's tense fingertips and fell to the floor. His face however remained serene. In the time that Verushka had gone, the duke had once again found and donned the mask that he so often wore. Verushka did not know whether to be happy or dismayed.

"Are we having a competition to see who can destroy my mother's dining ware the quickest?" Victoria smirked. "For God's sake, just pour yourself another whiskey, Lord Bexley and compose yourself."

Cain strolled to the decanter but did not touch the crystal goblets. He knew the direction the conversation was heading and it would not do to vandalise Ingestre House any more than they already had done.

"You were saying, Lord Wyvernstone?" Victoria prompted.

Jacob quickly but thoroughly outlined the events of the afternoon as he had encountered them, including Verushka's role in sending the letter and subsequently facing the assassin. He produced the correspondence that his new ward had sent to him and the Queen scrutinised it with care before pocketing the item in her reticule.

"Interesting," Victoria mused. "But tell me Verushka, how did you know to seek out James Hadfield?"

All eyes in the small room turned to the young maid, who suddenly realised that she was roughly the same age as the Queen. There was immense power in those tiny blue eyes and Verushka felt the intensity of it keenly. She wanted to stand in her own power, to make herself and the Duchess of Bexley proud, and it seemed that her moment had arrived as the second rule of Sun Tzu flashed in her mind.

2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

She was standing before two men. One who technically now owned her as his ward, and the other who wished to own her as his mistress. But the Queen of England was a woman who was governed by no man. Verushka would no longer bend to agendas that were inferior to her own. It was time to stand up and take control of her own life. So, when she opened her mouth it wasn't to hang agape or stammer from fear.

"I was instructed, and dedicated my efforts to ingratiating myself with the ton during the Wyvernstone country party. During this time I was able to procure the truth regarding James Hadfield's heritage from the Marchioness of Derby. I ascertained his location and gained admittance to Bethlehem Hospital first under the guise of a touring onlooker and second as a maid. It was then that I saw Edward Oxford in his dealings with Hadfield. I subsequently procured Hadfield's diary and several items of correspondence from his room which I believe may assist in understanding his motives and alliances."

"You have achieved quite a lot in a short space of time," the Queen noted, her chin tilting upwards in commendation. "You must have quite a talent for befriending people."

Verushka knew that the correct response would have been to curtsey and murmur a polite 'thank you,' however she still had much to say. Unfortunately, another knock sounded against the door and Verushka began to wonder if someone out there wasn't simply testing the strength of the wood.

"Has it escaped my notice, or have I established a central railway station in my mother's sitting room?" Victoria observed with exasperation. "Enter."

The Duchess of Kent's butler swung open the door with aplomb. "The Dowager Duchess of Bexley."

Catherine stepped precariously over the broken dishes and curtseyed low to the Queen with eyes maintained downcast in perfect propriety.

"Ah, welcome, Lady Catherine. Your timing is impeccable."

The Duchess of Bexley rose and her gaze swept the room once before returning to the Queen. "So, it would seem. I was on my way to meet the Duchess of Kent for tea in her parlour but Carson told me that you were also visiting. Naturally, I did not wish to intrude but I thought it impolite to leave without paying my respects, Your Majesty."

"I am glad you did so." Victoria nodded graciously as if it was the most natural conversation in the world. "I had a little mishap, which you may not have heard about yet, but Lords Bexley and Wyvernstone were luckily riding in the vicinity and aided me here. I came to apprise my mother of it before gossip found its way to her ears. In the same spirit, perhaps you and I should talk over tea."

Verushka could not help but frown. She was aware of only one person in the room who did not know the identity of the Director of Her Majesty's Secret Service, and she doubted that another was Her Majesty. It seemed silly to perpetuate the ruse for Cain's benefit but perhaps, she mused, it was a decision based on familial reasons rather than facts.

"Thank you, Gentlemen." Victoria nodded to both dukes. "I am sorry to have kept you from your appointment at Whitehall, Lord Wyvernstone, but I will be eager to finish our discussion tomorrow at Buckingham Palace at ten o'clock. Lord Bexley, I trust you are still joining us for our ride, but there is also a particular matter that we still need to address and I hope to also see you on the morrow."

Jacob and Cain bowed in unison to the Queen then the Duchess, knowing that they had been dismissed and exited the room.

"What about Verushka?" Cain grabbed his friend's arm as they stepped into the corridor.

"If you have not already learnt, that one can fend for herself. Anyway, did you not hear? The Queen wants me at Division A headquarters in Whitehall and you are scouting ahead for her ride."

Cain recognised the truth of Jay's words. Verushka was even more remarkable than he had realised. To have found evidence of the assassin, tracked and then apprehended him took great courage and conviction. Even more than before, it pained Cain to remember his earlier indecent proposal, and his current inability to make her a better offer. He did not deserve Verushka before, nor the woman she had become now. He took one last look at the sealed sitting room and nodded. "Let's go."

All three women waited for the door to click shut and when it did the Duchess of Bexley was first to let out a long awaited sigh. "Well, this is a bit of a bind isn't it? Did I not tell you to abstain from going out today?"

"Don't start, Catherine. I pretended I had been afflicted with morning sickness as you suggested and missed Albert's address at Woolwich Dockyards on a very important matter of industry." Victoria snapped open her fan and fluttered it before her face.

"More important than your life?" The Duchess of Bexley questioned agitated. "I can protect the Crown only if you allow me to do so. Goodness, but your Uncle was far easier to manage."

"I do not like being managed. And anyway, Uncle George is still dead," Victoria bit back angrily.

"Which is more from his doing than mine. I can't control his indulgence in excess nor would I try. I was his Director, not his mother. And nor am I yours," she countered poignantly. Unlike countless others, the Duchess didn't seem to think that she should let her Queen win an argument. "Verushka, be a dear and pour us some of that tea."

Verushka had once again taken to blending into the wallpaper when the two woman had begun to raise their voices above a lady's expected hum. At the Duchess's summons she shuffled forward and tentatively poured tea for three. There was no way that she would survive the coming discussion without tea leaf fortitude.

Her employer and her Queen accepted their cups and a moment of silence reigned as they lifted the rim to their lips. Verushka attempted to slink backwards and do the same.

"If you are going to drink it, you may as well join us," the Duchess commented blithely.

"How did you-?" Verushka asked flabbergasted. "Urgh, never mind," she muttered and quietly descended into a small silk upholstered seat that was located closer to the door than the Queen.

The Queen gingerly sipped her steaming tea. "Now tell me everything that I don't already know."

The Duchess took a small bite of her biscuit and began. In the short space of time between the assassination attempt and their impromptu afternoon tea she had compiled a myriad of information. She had secured a record of Verushka's visit to the Vauxhall safe house, produced a copy of the letter Jacob had sent her and conducting a quick debriefing with the Division A police that she had dispatched to the Queen's aid.

"And the soldier I saw shooting on the hill? One of yours I presume?"

"Marco de la Noche. Captain of the Spanish Guard and yes, one of our allies."

"The one who rode his horse into your dining room?" Victoria's eyebrows darted up.

Catherine paused in surprise.

"Even a Queen hears the gossip," Victoria smiled.

"I know what they say about him." Verushka piped up, unwilling to stay silent. "But I suspect, it is just smoke and mirrors like with the Duke of Bexley. If the Spanish Captain hadn't have been there Oxford's first shot would not have been deflected."

"And if you had not been there, then the second would not have missed its target either," the Dowager Duchess noted sagely.

"It may not have found its desired target, but it certainly found one." Verushka stood and removed the large kitchen apron that she had pilfered. She had managed to scrub the blood from her hands but the front of her maid's uniform was still stained a deep red.

Victoria stifled a gasp with her palm, but Catherine saw the trauma of first death in Verushka's eyes and reached for her arm. "The police informed me of who died. Lady Bianca was a traitor. We know she was in league with the French assassin."

"Yes," Verushka nodded sadly. "She also admitted to soliciting the help of Oxford to kill the Queen."

"Is that so?" Victoria's jaw tightened.

"Yes, but it wasn't just her. With her final breaths I think she tried to make amends. She tried to tell me that she was not alone. I believe that just as she used Oxford and Hadfield's agenda to mask her own, someone else used hers." Verushka tied the apron once more and walked over to stand at the elbow of the Duchess of Bexley.

"And what was her agenda?" Victoria sneered. "To kill me and take Albert?"

Verushka did not know where she drew her courage from but she suspected that seeing the Duchess's frank relationship with the Queen gave her guidance. "Your Majesty, you told me that I befriend people, and that is true. But the reason is that I read people like I do books and see where they all sit on the shelf. Bianca loved His Royal Highness in her own way and it is a fact that we can not discount. It is also a fact that at one time, that love was returned."

Catherine placed a cautionary hand firmly over Verushka's, but the maid shook it off.

"It is not useful to ignore the facts. Someone must have known the truth of her love for him. They must have known that it was reciprocated and Bianca could be led to believe that she stood a chance of reuniting with him. They needed a woman who would act beyond mere infatuation. They needed her desperation." Verushka felt her heart ache a little as she uttered the words. Desperation in love was not a sentiment that she was unfamiliar with.

"And how do you propose to find this person?" Queen Victoria stood up to her full five feet, quivering with subdued vexation.

Verushka dipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved a pair of keys coated in dried blood. "With these."

The Queen's eyes narrowed and regained her seat. The three women leaned forward to examine and speculate on who they could access with the keys Verushka held. Fate allowed them precious few minutes to formulate a plan to unearth Bianca's accomplice. The Queen was a young woman very much in love with her husband, but she was also wise. She saw reason and resolved to give adequate thought to the identity of such an individual who was in the confidence of Bianca, Albert or herself. The Duchess outlined the planned interrogation of Oxford that night and Verushka added her advice about Hadfield who also required questioning.

At seven, Prince Albert promptly returned to complete the Royal couple's turn around the park. Within the fleeting space of time prior to his arrival, Verushka had begun to see a fragile bond form between herself and Victoria. It was a fine silken thread in comparison to the strong cord betwixt the Duchess and the Queen, but every tether began with a single fibre. Somehow, a maid and a monarch had taken tea in a sitting room in Belgrave Square and the significance of it was not lost on her.

As Victoria stood to exit the room over shards of shattered plates and preconceived notions, she turned her neck ever so slightly towards Verushka. "Tomorrow you will come to Buckingham Palace. You will gain admittance through the servant's quarters at eleven in the morning. Tell no one that I have summoned you."

Verushka nodded solemnly. "I would like to ask one thing, if you please, Your Majesty."

Queen Victoria quirked a brow and waited. "Proceed."

"I would ask that you conceal Bianca's involvement from Prince Albert. I understand the gravity of what she did but she did repent at the end and provided us the means by which to seek out the true mastermind. I don't wish for you to excuse her behaviour but she is dead and perhaps you can see fit to offer her memory this small mercy?" Verushka kept her eyes downcast as she curtseyed. She felt the weight of her monarchs stare on the back of her neck and the strain building in her limbs but she did not relent.

Victoria spoke after a long and protracted silence. "Very well. But this is not my gift to Lady Rinehart. It is a kindness to my dear Albert, but such a truth would surely sadden him and that, I could not bear."

Verushka remained hovering inches above the floor as the Queens full skirts swished by and travelled down the corridor. She stood, stretching her muscles and watched Victoria at a distance as she bid her mother farewell, leaving her in the hands of Sir John Conroy. When they disappeared through the main door Verushka discreetly ducked out of Ingestre House and spotted Cain at the corner of the Square as he circled the royal carriage on his mount. With a merry laugh he joined several other Members of Parliament who had gathered in support, but Verushka was no longer deceived by the flash of pearly teeth on a handsome vacant veneer. Who was the book beneath the cover? And why did it still feel like he was written just for her?

She shook the thoughts from her head and pushed on, veering past the slow rolling carriage back to Bexley House. She needed time to mull over the events of the day, consider her avenues to find out who lay behind the locked doors of the keys that jangled in her pocket, and most importantly, to reach the pantry with its tea, biscuits and butter and tell her friends that tomorrow she was invited to Buckingham Palace.

Queen Victoria glimpsed Verushka dashing off in the direction of Grosvenor Square and wondered if she had begun down the correct path with the Wyvernstone ward. She was surely a gamble but the dice had already been thrown and she would have to see the game to its end. Victoria patted Albert's hand and smiled into his perfect blue eyes. Reformed rakes were always more loyal, and perhaps the same could be said of made-over maids? The latter was certainly true if Catherine was anyone to judge by.

The Queen turned her attention back to the park now filled with Londoners from all walks of life. Commoners congregated en masse while the elite gathered on horseback hoping to get a glimpse of her and reassure themselves that she was alive. She felt their yearning to demonstrate loyalty and sympathy during such a time, especially when she was particularly fragile from pregnancy. So she smiled, and waved, and nodded to the crowds. Not once did she let them believe that she, nor her country was weakened by the attempt on her life. However, when she was well within the palace again and the final doors shut on her private chambers she fell into her husband's arms and gave way to her feelings. As the evening air had begun to chill, fear crept over her skin and settled into her bones. Was someone to end her life almost as it had begun? Was she the next in a long line of royals waiting to meet the inevitable blow of Death? Her breath came in heaving gasps and she collapsed to the floor stricken and distraught. But then Albert was there, and he enfolded her to the warmth of his body, whispering words of praise for her courage and self-possession. Their lips met once, twice, a dozen times over the salt laced tang of her tears until her terror ebbed like the tidal sea and she collected herself once more.

Today she was a survivor, tomorrow she would emerge a victor and in the short interim in between, there was much to be done. The arrival of Prime Minister Melbourne and Sirs Peel and Russell's were announced, and Victoria readied herself for the onslaught of visitors knowing that amongst them was likely one who had just attempted to orchestrate her demise.

~

I see you there reading in the shadows.

Did you like it?................................................ then VOOOOOOOTTTTTTEEEEE!

A/N:

Dear Agents!

You are indeed powerful when you come together! Congratulations and I hope this installment has been a great reward.

Meanwhile, did you enjoy the reveal between Cain and Verushka?

xx Inara

Working on the next chapter. Instagram @inararoseauthor

Glossary:

Belgrave Square is one of the grandest and largest 19th-century squares in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. The square takes its name from one of the Duke of Westminster's subsidiary titles, Viscount Belgrave. Today, many embassies are based in the square.

Ingestre House is at 36 Belgrave Square and was leased by Queen Victoria as a home for her mother, the widowed Duchess of Kent.