England, 1836

Emilia was at Prince George's funeral, crouched on the dusty floor of a church. Her ears were ringing. Her head was spinning.

It had been spinning for the last several days. Or months, rather.

She wasn't quite certain how it happened, but Emilia went from a quiet life in the countryside to one where she was embroiled in a plot to save England from a treacherous monarchy. And, of course, all tangled in that plot was none other than Will Graham.

For the two years after he'd ruined her, Lord Trotten ignored Emilia. He avoided her at all costs, as if she'd been the one to humiliate him. And Emilia hated it. For two years, Emilia hated Will with a fierceness that she admittedly knew only meant one thing.

But now they'd been thrown together to help Princess Adelaide take back the throne, and Will was doing things like passionately kissing her in parlors. It was all rather confusing. It made her head spin, her ears ring.

However, presently the haziness in her brain was attributed to how Emilia just kicked the traitorous arse of a man whose gun was pointed at Adelaide. And then that gun had gone off. Loudly.

There was a blur of movement, guards pouncing on the sprawled body of the assassin. Will, who had been sitting across the aisle by the King of England, rushed over to Emilia. She released an unrestrained sigh of relief at seeing he was alright.

She could not help that. She could never help her feelings when Will was involved.

"You need to get out of here," he breathed urgently.

Emilia shook. The noise around her was muted, a contrast to the ringing in her ear, painfully loud and constant. She gripped Will but looked past him, straining her neck to see what had occurred at the front of the abbey. There were too many people in her way, too much commotion to be able to see.

"Emilia, let us go!" Will repeated, grabbing her by the elbow to pull her out through the throngs of people. They emerged onto the street, and he pushed Emilia against the abbey's outside wall, sequestering them behind a jut in the weathered stone.

"Stay here," he demanded, giving her a meaningful look. "I mean it, Emilia. For once in your life, do as I say."

"But Adelaide—"

"Do as I say, Emilia!"

Emilia opened her mouth to argue once more, but then Will was gone, disappearing amongst the somber-colored pelisses and dress coats. He liked to do that—act as if she were the most important thing in the world and then promptly abandon her. He had done it two years ago. And then again just the other day, after kissing her in the parlor of Rosecrest Manor.

He'd pull her in and then push her away, and it drove Emilia mad.

People were screaming, drawing her attention to the chaotic present. The words were disjointed in her brain, nonsensical noises ricocheting about. Emilia began pacing along the wall.

She hoped to God that Adelaide had not been hurt, and that Theo was alright as well.

Emilia's head whirled. She recognized the gunman as one of the footmen who used to work at Kingfield House. Adam? But she did not understand how that was possible. Well, she supposed it was possible, but definitely not probable. What in heaven's name did he have against Adelaide enough to shoot her?

"Lady Emilia, are you quite alright?"

A man approached her, shouting through the throngs of people as he did. Lord Travis? Or was it Lord Trevor?

She recognized him from the Baxley ball; they had danced. And then, of course, Will had been upset by it, which was the turning point for her to return to Kingfield House after residing with him in the days surrounding Addie's wedding to the prince.

It was so typical; just when she'd begun to warm to him again, he did something to drive her away.

Emilia had refused to sit there on the receiving end of Will's anger. He'd had his chance to dance, to keep her to himself, and he ultimately turned it away.

Push, pull, push, pull.

"My lady, are you quite alright?" Lord Travis repeated, an anxious look etched into his features. Due to the crush of people, the gentleman now stood over her, making it difficult to breathe. But he smelled nice—like pine and whiskey. It was a welcome change to the overpowering fumes of gunpowder.

"Yes," she said shakily. "Yes, I am fine."

"I saw what happened," he said. "I daresay, I am impressed by you, Lady Emilia."

Emilia nodded, not sure what to say. She did not have the words for this type of situation.

"Are you waiting for someone?" the gentleman asked.

Emilia paused, uncertain if she should reveal who she was waiting for. Her relationship with Will—that is, she corrected herself, her rekindled forced companionship with Will—had gone relatively unnoticed in the ton. She shouldn't wish to ruin that.

"My brother is here, but I do believe he is assisting Her Highness."

It was not a lie.

"May I escort you home, then? This is no place for a lady at present."

There was genuine kindness in his eyes. Emilia opened her mouth to reply but did not get the chance.

"She already has an escort," Will's voice cut in coldly. He had approached the other lord from behind and was already pushing past him to reach for her. "Let us go, Lady Emilia."

Lord Trevor—Travis?—seemed alarmed at Will's sudden intrusion and darted a look at Emilia. "Do you wish to ride with Lord Trotten, my lady?"

"I—" she paused for only a moment but saw the way Will's eyes darkened at the stutter. "I shall be fine with Lord Trotten, yes. But thank you for the offer, my lord."

The gentleman conceded with grace, nodding his head at her in response.

"As you wish, Lady Emilia. I hope to see you again under better circumstances."

When the other lord had made his exit, Will jerked his head in the direction of his carriage and growled, "Were you about to agree to leave with him?"

"No," Emilia said defensively. "I merely was unsure of what to say in reply."

Will made a noncommittal grunt from behind her as they entered the vehicle. Once they had been seated and the door was closed, Emilia asked, "Is everyone alright?"

Will blew out a deep breath. "I believe so. Though I saw Adelaide walking out with Theo, and she looked a little unsteady on her feet. Theo gave me a nod, so I take that to mean it isn't anything serious."

Emilia let out a deep sigh of relief.

"And of Adam? The king?" she asked.

"Adam?" Will questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Yes, the man with the gun. I believe his name is Adam. He was a footman at Kingfield House."

Will sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. His black dress coat was rumpled, likely from being pressed against one too many crazed aristocrats. It was also covered in dust-like specks that must have been kicked up from the commotion. Emilia glanced down at her own gauzy black gown to find that she did not appear much better.

"Oh," Will said with an enlightened look. "He must be the one who Weston had sent to America."

"He was sent to America?" she asked, and it was her turn to look confused. "I know he left Kingfield House some months back, but I had no idea of that."

"When Addie was still concealed as a maid, the man had noticed how Theo was giving her extra attention." 

"Yes, well, it really wasn't all that subtle," Emilia muttered.

"I believe it. But he grew jealous or angry. Or some other unbecoming emotion." Will waved his hand around as he attempted to find the correct word. "Then he tried to attack Adelaide one night. So Weston sent him away."

"He did what?" Emilia cried unbelievingly. She had never heard of this. Why hadn't Adelaide told her? "My God. Poor Adelaide. First the prince and now this?"

Will shook his head. "It is unbelievable. Jealousy is a potent emotion."

"It had nothing to do with jealousy, Will. Did you hear that man raving in the church? He was crazed. But what he was saying makes sense now; he was mad because Adelaide, who he perceived as lower than him, had surpassed him in every way. And the prince—he was crazed, too. Two men from completely different social standings, and yet, all that mattered was power. And when their power was threatened..."

"Bam," Will said dazedly, throwing his fingers up in the motion of a shooting gun. He nodded slowly before directing his attention to the passing London streets.

"Where are we going?" Emilia asked, suddenly aware that they were not going in the direction of her home.

"My townhouse," Will replied succinctly.

"But...why?"

Emilia had spent months at his townhouse, hiding with Adelaide from the King of England prior to her royal marriage. And those months had been ones of misery and delight. Misery, because Will downright refused to tell her the truth of why he'd left her two years ago. Misery, because he would act like a pompous, entitled jerk most of the time.

But also delight. Because on occasion, Emilia would see a glimpse of how he used to be with her. And it was those days that Emilia would cherish. It was those days that toyed with her heart.

But at present, Emilia did not wish to go to Will's townhouse.

"It is still the safest place," he said, the words flying out of his mouth with an impatient snap. "That hasn't changed, Emilia."

"But I want to see my brother, Will. I want to see Adelaide!"

He started to massage his left temple with his fingers. "I promise you, Emilia. As soon as I can assure that Kingfield House is safe, I will return to bring you home. I simply wish to make certain that there are no more repercussions from this. And first, I need to see to the king. I need to learn what I can about where Addie will stand with him now that this has happened."

"You cannot always keep me safe from everything," she ground out. The damn man had been doing everything he could to shut her out of the treasonous mess they'd been in since the moment she announced her desire to help Adelaide. And all Will had ever muttered regarding his motives for breaking their betrothal was that it had been done to protect her. Because his lifestyle would not suit her.

Well, Emilia was rather over all of that. "You cannot shelter me, Will."

"You should not have even been there today, Emilia!" Will cried out, unsurprisingly. His voice was sharp now, cutting through her. "I told you not to come. There was no reason for you to attend. I do not understand why your brother allowed it."

Emilia leaned forward in her seat. "Theo has realized that he's been a controlling arse most of my life, and he's trying to let me decide what I wish to do for once. Why should you or Theo forbade me to do what I wish?"

"Because when you make decisions," Will growled, "you end up having a man with a pistol standing directly next to you!"

"And if I hadn't been there, that man with the pistol would have killed Adelaide, Will."

The words came out in a harsh whisper. She was done trying to yell at him. She was done trying to make him understand how it felt to always have her life decided by other people. She refused to be goaded into regret.

Will sucked in a breath and held it. He clenched his fists and did a sort of punch in the air. Frustration rolled off of him, and Emilia hoped it was because he knew she was right.

Upon arriving at his townhouse, Will practically ran her inside, attempting to go unnoticed.

In reality, it was likely very conspicuous.

Very few words were exchanged between them before Will ran off to Kingfield House, leaving Emilia to sulk in his sitting room. She continued to sulk for at least the next hour, fiddling with an unfinished piece of knitting that she had apparently forgotten here before moving back home. Emilia remembered that she hadn't wanted to start it, but Will insisted on providing her with every lady-like leisure activity, even if she said she wasn't interested.

The more Emilia sulked, the angrier she became. How dare Will treat her as a child? He claimed his actions were done in the name of her protection, but she didn't need to be shielded from the world. She knew it was a wicked one, but it was the one she lived in nonetheless.

Lloyd appeared in front of her at random, and Emilia started. At times, she admittedly had the tendency to forget that servants lurked just around the corner.

"There is someone here to call on you, Lady Emilia," he said. She could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Call on me?" she repeated.

Who could possibly be calling on her at Will's townhouse?

But then the man came to the doorway, and nerves snaked their way around her belly.

"I hope you can forgive the intrusion, my lady."

Lloyd appeared disgruntled and perhaps a pinch distraught that the gentleman took it upon himself to enter the room unannounced, so he quickly stated, "Lord Trevor is here to see you, Lady Emilia."

Emilia was grateful for that, however, as she had still been uncertain of his name. Though that was indeed her last concern at present.

Lord Trevor must have followed them.

And Emilia could not imagine that would result in anything remotely good.