It took everything in Rosalie not to pace. She was back in the sanctuary with Burke and Tom and all the rest of the anxiously waiting guests. Practically no one had left, even when it became clear the wedding would not be continuing. Rosalie knew why they all stayed. They were hungry for gossip. They were hoping to see or hear something juicy—a dramatic reveal, a tearful admission, a happy renewal of sentiments that might lead George and Piety back down the aisle.
Vultures, the lot of them.
“It’s been a while,” Burke muttered, eyes narrowed on the side door. He didn’t seem able to look away from it, still waiting for James to reappear.
“James is not verbose, but George certainly is,” Tom replied, trying to keep calm for their sakes. “And so is the Queen. We must wait.”
“What does this mean?” she whispered for the third time.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. This was politics played at a level so far above her station. George wanted to willingly pass his title to James. It was unheard of. Titles were passed at the moment of death, and not before…unless the bearer of the title was somehow incapacitated…or they so greatly offended the Crown as to have the honor stripped away. But in those cases, the entire family was typically dishonored. Might the Queen, in her annoyance, remove all titles from the Corbin family? Where would that leave James? Where would that leave the four of them?
“I doubt she’ll touch his titles,” Tom muttered. “James should still be a viscount, even if she takes the dukedom away.”
“This changes nothing between us,” Burke added firmly, sensing her unease.
But he knew that to be a lie as well as she. This would change everything. If James was now the duke, it placed him on a pedestal even higher than his previous post. His power would increase exponentially, yes…but so would the attention placed on him, and by extension all of them. Their risk of exposure would become that much greater.
If the Queen stripped the Corbins of all titles, would she leave their family estates intact? The land and the wealth was still theirs…right? Without his wealth, James would have nothing. Rosalie couldn’t bear the thought of watching him lose everything. And she was to blame. She told George to be bold. She told him to live his life on his own terms. But she never expected him to interpret her words in such a way.
This was her fault. Either way, James would blame her for this. His rise or his fall would be due to her unintentional meddling. She sniffed back tears, refusing to feel sorry for herself. She didn’t deserve tears.
“Oh, here we go.” Burke stepped forward as the side door opened. He immediately fell back, hands out to his sides to drag Rosalie and Tom back with him as the Queen swept into the room, a flurry of ladies-in-waiting fluttering behind her.
Rosalie gasped, feeling Burke’s arm band around her middle. She held to him with both of her own, eyes wide as the Queen walked past close enough for Rosalie to smell the cloud of her heavy floral perfume.
The tail of the Queen’s handsome teal and cream gown whispered across the stone floor as she walked. She stopped before the altar and turned to face the assemblage. “There will be no wedding here today,” she announced to the room.
In the hush that followed, you could have heard a pin drop. Rosalie’s heart was in her throat. She couldn’t help herself when she slipped her hands in with Burke’s and Tom’s, giving them each a desperate squeeze.
“But just because there is no wedding,” the Queen called, “does not mean we have nothing to celebrate this day. For there is nothing more worthy of celebration than a life of loyalty, duty, and sacrifice…to one’s family, one’s people, and one’s Crown. These are gifts that must be cherished above all else. Let it be known that your Queen always rewards loyalty. Thus, it is my privilege to present to you all the Seventh Duke of Norland…His Grace, James Corbin.”
Rosalie watched, hands clutched tight by Burke and Tom, as James stepped through the open doorway. He walked right past them, offering the smallest of reassuring nods, before he came to stand before the Queen. A rush of excited whispers waved over the assembly.
The Queen raised an imperious brow. “Well, Duke? Make your oath before all those assembled.”
James dropped to one knee and spoke in a loud and clear voice. “I, James Richard Eustace Corbin, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Third, and all his heirs and successors, upholding my role as Duke of Norland. So help me God.”
The Queen nodded. “Then rise, Duke, and do your duty to the Crown.”
James got to his feet.
Rosalie squeezed tighter to Burke and Tom’s hands as he faced the crowd. Squaring his shoulders, he called out in a deep voice, “Long Live the King!”
“Long Live the King!”
“Long Live the King!”
“Long Live the King!”
“And Long Live the Duke of Norland,” called a deep voice from the back.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
