Tasha Alexander - A Fatal Waltz

“Poor Friedrich. There must be something that we can do.”

“Leave our young lovers to me. I will see them engaged before we leave Vienna.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” I said.

My fiancé was waiting for me when I arrived at the Griensteidl. Jeremy had come with me, but did not go inside, only checked to make sure Colin was there. I nodded to Viktor to indicate that I wanted my usual and dropped into a chair, beginning to feel my nerves calm the moment I breathed in the rich smell of coffee. I might not like to drink it, but its scent provided instant comfort, undoubtedly because the Griensteidl had started to feel like home.

“This paper,” he said, waving a copy of the Neue Freie Presse in front of me. “It’s outrageous the way they report on every detail of suicides in the city, almost as if they’re sport. One more spectacular than the next.”

“I wonder if it encourages people?” I asked, pulling off my gloves and removing my hat, glad to be discussing something other than Mr. Harrison and Herr Schröder, even if only for a moment.

“There’s a strange culture of death in Vienna. You should see the parades of people leaving flowers in the cemeteries on All Saints’ Day. The Neue Freie Presse runs lengthy critiques of what’s left at famous graves. Did Beethoven get better flowers than Schubert?”

“Friedrich told me about that,” I said, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. “Morbid.”

“Of course many of the suicides end up in the Friedhof der Namenlosen, the Cemetery of the Nameless. A bleak, unhappy place.”

“But full of flowers and devout prayer on All Souls’ Day,” I said. “Lady Paget says that even the children here throw themselves in the Danube if they can’t do their schoolwork. She’s exaggerating, I’m sure, but it’s all so very different from England.”

“Where none of it would ever be spoken of.”

“Precisely,” I said. “Though I’m not sure if that’s entirely a bad thing.”

“How was your meeting with Schröder?”

“I’m afraid I got a bit carried away.”

“How so?” Colin asked, and I described for him exactly what had happened. “You have quite a flair for this, my dear. You’ve no fear at all, do you?” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

“It was rather thrilling,” I said, feeling a creeping flush of excitement along with a sigh of relief. I’d been afraid that he’d be angry at being put in what could be considered an awkward situation. “I hope you don’t object to my giving your mistress back to you.”

“I couldn’t care less what Schröder thinks of me so long as it does not trouble you.”

“I’ll tolerate you living a debauched double life so long as it’s fictional. But I’m afraid I may have overstepped my bounds, offering to give him information.” The curl had fallen back in my face. Again I pushed it behind my ear, but it would not stay.

“No doubt you have, but I admire your boldness.” He stared at me with an inspiring intensity.

“I’m glad to hear it.” I opened my reticule to pull out a hairpin, refusing to admit defeat to a defiant curl. Instead of finding the pin, however, my hands rested on the cool surface of another of Mr. Harrison’s bullets. I placed it on the table in front of Colin. “Mr. Harrison’s been leaving these for me to remind me that he can reach me anywhere.”

Colin grabbed both of my hands and squeezed them hard, his eyes full of concern. “How many times has this happened?”

“I don’t even know. I seem to find them everywhere I go, including my hotel room,” I said. His face was calm. “I admit it scares me.”

“It should. I’m not suggesting it should dissuade you from continuing your work, but you must proceed with extreme caution.”

“I’m being careful. We’ve already spoken to the hotel manager about further increasing security, and Cécile’s going to have Sissi send a guard from the palace.”

“An excellent idea. But…” He stopped and met my eyes. “It is so very tempting to order you to stop. To send you back to London. To—”

“To behave like the typical overprotective English husband.”

“The role does have some merits.” He squeezed my hand.

“Not for us,” I said.

“No, though it would make this much easier.”

“Easy does not equal worthwhile.”

“So what are you going to do about Mr. Harrison and his bullets?” he asked.

“Be more vigilant,” I said. “I will take every reasonable precaution.”

“Don’t limit yourself to reasonable ones.”

I smiled. “Jeremy will keep me safe.”

“I’m inclined to believe that Harrison won’t harm you. It wouldn’t forward his plans. But I can’t be certain. Are you sure you want to continue?”

“There can be no answer to that question but yes,” I said. “You must trust me to be careful.”

“I will, Emily. But be forewarned. If the situation deteriorates, I will put a stop to this.”

“You can’t,” I said.

“I can.” He folded his arms over his chest.

“Well, I’d lose all respect for you if you did, so I suppose I’ll have to make sure it never happens.” My flip tone did nothing to lighten the mood. “Will you help me with Herr Schröder? Can you give me something for him?”

“I can draw up some correct, official, and utterly useless documents. That should secure his trust. The key is to produce something that he can verify with just the right amount of difficulty. How did you manage to take over my work for me? At this point I think you’ve a better chance of uncovering his plans than I do.”

“Perhaps, but you may be better able to stop them than I.”

“Why does this make you more irresistible than ever to me?” he asked.

“More irresistible than ever, am I? Have I mentioned that my mother’s hoping to have half the royal families of Europe at our wedding? Wouldn’t you prefer to elope?”

“Can you convince the queen?” He smiled.

“I’d rather work on you,” I said. “I know I’ve no chance with her.”

“I’m known for my strength of will.”

“Only because I’ve never really tried to tempt you.”

“How is it that you’ve managed to construct a game in which my default position requires denying everything that I want?”

“You’re too loyal to your queen, my dear,” I said.

“It’s not that. I’ve already tried her patience once, when I refused the O.B.E. She handled it well enough, blaming my eccentricity on my family. She knows I come from a long line of gentlemen who turned their backs on royal attention. But I would hate to test her again.”

“You turned down being made a knight?”

“I’ve no desire to be ranked above anyone else. We have not earned our positions, Emily. We hold them because of luck.”

“I do, certainly, but not you. The queen wanted to knight you because of the work you do for the Crown.”

“Work I would never have been able to undertake had I not been born to a privileged life. It’s my duty to serve my country, but the manner in which I fulfill that obligation makes me no better than the lowest sailor in the Royal Navy. We are both doing what we can for Britain.”

There is something about watching a gentleman who is not only passionate about what he does, but very good at it, too. Every nerve in my body was tingling as I listened to Colin speak.

“You’re flushed,” he said. “Are you unwell?”

“Quite the contrary,” I said. “You’re lucky we’re in a public place.”

“Or unlucky.” He traced the rim of his coffee cup with a finger. “Though I don’t believe you’d speak with such restraint were we alone.”

“You underestimate me.”