Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 43: Part 2 - An Audience with the Queen

Verushka dropped into a low curtsy and risked a furtive glance backwards. The door she had come from was firmly closed leaving no trace of the Duchess who had stood on the other side.

"There seems little point standing on ceremony now, Verushka." Victoria's voice boomed from her seat on the gilded throne. "Arise and approach. We have precious few minutes to waste."

Verushka's heart leapt into her throat. Two men stood before the Queen, the first her brother and right next to him her lover. The latter looked over his shoulder at her and winked as if she had done no more than enter the kitchens at Bexley House.

Verushka turned her attention back to the Queen but the view of the powerful yet petite woman looking expectantly in her direction did little to ease her discontent. It was one thing to inadvertently meet Victoria in her mother's sitting room, but it was quite another to see the Queen of England in all her ceremony within the walls of a palace. Strangely, the space surrounding them appeared less like a palace and more akin to a haphazard arrangement of half-finished rooms and broken walls. Faded paint had carelessly been splashed on splintered panelling and broken remnant of stone lay in crumbling heaps. Odd octagonal angles jutted out to her right and Verushka almost thought she could spy a kitchen sink in the upper west corner as she tripped over several rusty nails on the fractured wooden floorboards beneath her.

Verushka was unable to keep the confusion from her eyes as she approached her monarch on the small dais. Queen Victoria rose with practiced languor and flicked her gaze around the razed room, before resting on the maid before her. "I woke up this morning and simply hated everything."

A mischievous grin curled upon Cain's lips at the facetiousness of his Queen. It should have diffused the moment but as she stood next to him Verushka couldn't help but feel her stomach twist in response. The memory of the moments they shared were too fresh to hide from her face as Cain's emerald gaze heated her skin, misting her complexion with the passion of all they had done together. She quickly averted her gaze lest her brother notice but he continued to face the dais with a solemn brow and no discernible good humour.

Verushka immediately tensed and her attention darted back to the Queen.

"Never fear, Verushka." Victoria smirked a little. "My dear Albert has been making this palace a touch more habitable as we are likely to find it more confining as the years pass," she noted quietly with a light palm resting against the barest swell of her abdomen. "This space affords us a holding cell while adjustments are made to the current throne room. Perhaps we may turn this into a ballroom but for now you are in the remnants of the servants' quarters."

Verushka gulped at the idea of the Queen of England standing in an area once designated to the servant class.

"It is perhaps interesting that like this room, you have come from the lowest echelons of society only to be transformed into one of the newest darlings of the ton." Victoria pierced Verushka with a knowing gaze.

"Now, as we were saying Lord Wyvernstone... I spoke with Lord Melbourne directly after the attack, and despite Lord Bexley's concern to the contrary, the Prime Minister agreed that it was best that we drove on as we did. It was not long after my return yesterday that I also met with Sir Robert Peel, Sir John Russell and several other members of my Cabinet. They were all very eager to bring wishes for my health, however they could hardly profess instead a dire curiosity as to the cause of the commotion. Suffice to say that I was also keen for news from Whitehall."

"As I was detained with overseeing the proceedings, I dispatched my man, Sir Henry Wheatley to report the state of the prisoner yesterday," Cain informed the Queen.

"Yes, Albert only left my side to speak with him. I understand that my attacker shows minimal remorse."

"That is correct, Your Majesty." Jay nodded with grave concern. "In fact, he alludes to being part of a much larger organisation and while he finds your demise regrettable he believes it is necessary to achieve some grander scheme."