How to Propose to a Prince Read Online Free Page A

doubt that in truth he was Prince Leopold. He showed us the royal seal, and the prince’s signature was clearly visible through the vellum…” She dropped her voice to a murmur. “…when the shopkeeper held a lamp to it.” Elizabeth chucked her chin. “I tell you, the gentleman I met in the shop is the man I will marry.”
    “Oh, Elizabeth.” Lady Upperton sighed, momentarily resting her face in her tiny hands. When she looked up again, her exasperation was clear. “Put your fanciful hopes out of your mind, gel. If Prinny accepts Prince Leopold, a union between the two families is a surety.” She leaned forward and placed her hand atop Elizabeth’s. “You must accept this, my dear.”
    There was a shrill scraping sound yanking their attention to the cold hearth. There, a bookcase opened like a door and a dark secret passage became visible. The air suddenly was sucked from the room and into the mouth ofthe secret doorway, as surely as if the library itself had inhaled.
    Lady Upperton’s fluffy white eyebrows lifted again and a smile elevated the corners of her painted lips. “Ah, he’s here at last.”
    From the darkness of the secret passage, Lord Gallantine’s lean, aged form stepped through the door and into the candlelit library. He adjusted his auburn wig and then gave a firm tug to each bottle-green sleeve of his once fashionable coat.
    He looked up at the two women and then fixed his gaze upon Elizabeth, and there it remained pinned as he approached.
    His tone was not jovial at all. In fact, he seemed oddly aggravated with her. “What is this twaddle I am hearing, gel?” he asked, sounding more than a little annoyed. “A prince? A bloody prince?”
    Elizabeth rose and dropped the elderly gentleman a curtsy. She grimaced. “No twaddle at all, my lord.”
    Gallantine shifted his attention to Lady Upperton so quickly that the older woman startled. “Have you been able to talk any sense into her?”
    Lady Upperton shook her head. She tossed her hands in the air defeatedly. “She has convinced herself, and will not hear any argument as to the complete impossibility of the notion of a royal marriage.”
    A small squeal of frustration slipped out between Elizabeth’s teeth. “That is because I have yet to hear an argument that proves me wrong.”
    “Really?” This comment seemed to intrigue Lady Upperton. “Then do allow me to oblige you by providing one.”
    Elizabeth nodded hesitantly. She always had to watch herself around Lady Upperton and the Old Rakes. She had been warned about them by her sister Mary shortly after their first meeting with the elderly quartet. They were all so kind, charming, and good-natured, that it was only natural that others would drop their guard when they should be on their highest alert—for there was no more cunning group in all of London than Lady Upperton and the Old Rakes of Marylebone.
    “For the sake of argument, let us say that the gentleman you met was, in fact, Prince Leopold,” Lady Upperton began.
    “He was !” Elizabeth blurted.
    “Now, now, do let me finish.” Her sponsor raised a hand, prompting Elizabeth to close her mouth. “So we will assume that the man wasLeopold. Were you aware that the Prince Regent has ensconced his daughter in Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor…which is not so distant from London, as you well know.” Lady Upperton crossed her arms and waited for Elizabeth’s reaction.
    “C-Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor?” She swallowed the lump that had risen into her throat.
    “If I am not mistaken—but then, I am old and my memory sometimes fails me…” Lady Upperton straightened her back and her gaze became as keen as a razor fresh from the sharpening leather. “…that the tiara, the very one the man set upon your head, was to be delivered to Cranbourne Lodge?”
    “Y-Yes, it was,” Elizabeth stammered as she nervously scratched the side of her neck. This bit of news did complicate matters.
    Just a little.
    Gallantine, who had