Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom(146)

“Can we please get to the point of this sad tale, Count Marzano?” Griffin asked. “As you can see, this is distressing for my wife.”

“I will attempt to be brief,” the count replied. “The duke was greatly saddened by the young woman’s death, despite the fact that he had come to regret the unfortunate affair. But at no time did he intend to relinquish his responsibility for Stefano. He wished to avoid the scandal, especially for his mother’s sake—the duchess is a devout Catholic, naturally, as are the citizens of San Agosto—but the duke had every intention of providing for the infant’s future. To that end, he procured the services of a respectable woman and a nurse to care for the child, and he was in the process of finding an appropriate family willing to take the child in, with compensation, of course.”

“Of course,” Griffin replied, unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice. Still, the duke didn’t sound like a complete bounder. Unlike Griffin’s father, he at least seemed willing to provide for the child. He supposed that counted for something.

“Then how did Stephen end up here?” Justine pressed again.

For the first time, the count’s easy assurance seemed to leave him. “The woman His Highness hired to supervise the baby’s care was not what she initially appeared to be. She disappeared with the child some weeks ago, and we have been searching for him ever since.”

Griffin felt Justine stiffen against him. He couldn’t blame her. It was a damned suspicious explanation if he’d ever heard one.

“Why the hell would she do that? It makes no bloody sense at all,” he said.

The count looked offended, but Griffin had the distinct sense his behavior was a front.

“As to that,” the Italian said, “I cannot say, since the woman has yet to be found. What is clear is that she was not in her right mind. Or perhaps she intended to blackmail the duke at some point, and was biding her time for when it best suited her. But, as you can imagine, the duke was greatly disturbed by the abduction. He wrote to me most urgently in Vienna and asked me to lead the search.” He made another self-deprecating gesture. “Very discreetly, of course, so as not to upset his mother or the members of the court.”

Dominic finally stirred. “Although your desire for discretion is understandable, I regret you did not approach me or some member of the government earlier. This situation could have been cleared up with much less inconvenience to all parties if you had.”

Justine made a choked little noise. Frowning, Griffin glanced at her. She looked up at him, white-faced, and then her gaze slid away. He went still and cold inside as he realized what she was thinking—what Dominic called inconvenience included their forced marriage, something that had changed her life forever.

“It is to my everlasting regret,” the count said in a mournful voice.

Carefully, Griffin removed his arm from Justine’s shoulders. She cast him a startled glance, then her gaze slid away again. Griffin clenched his fist, trying to ignore how that felt too much like a rejection.

“Speaking of convenient, how did you find each other?” he asked Dominic with pointed emphasis. “Surely you didn’t stumble into each other by chance.”

“Hardly,” Dominic said. “My research on the signet ring led me to believe that the family in question was the royal family of San Agosto. Once I made that discovery, it didn’t take long to determine that the man you saw at The Golden Tie was not, in fact, a representative of the Papal Nuncio, but a member of the Court of San Agosto, although not here in England in an official capacity. I then took the liberty of calling on Count Marzano. After some initial hesitation, he eventually explained the mystery regarding Stephen’s parentage.”