Vincent took a step back, and Jane had a moment to wonder what colour her face had turned. ‘Jane, I am sorry. I promised you a honeymoon and—’

‘Do you think me so feebleminded that I am worried about a honeymoon? I am angry because you do not trust me. Do I not love King and country as much as you?’

‘Yes, but—’

‘What is more, you have lied to me. Methodically, since the day this charge was first laid upon you.’

He shook his head. ‘I never spoke a word of falsehood to you.’

‘Lies of ambiguity and omission are every bit as great.’ Jane’s entire body shook with anger. ‘What am I to think? That you have no confidence in my discretion? That you see me as weak, without the fortitude to even grasp that secrecy might be necessary? Tell me true: if I were a man, would you have had these thoughts?’

‘No! It is not that at all. I was charged to tell no one.’

‘I am your wife!’ Jane found she could say no more.

She left him to go into their bedchamber. If he could not understand the very real breach of trust he had committed, then no words of hers, especially words spoken in anger and haste, would make him see it. Her hands shook so much that she had to cross her arms and clench her elbows to stop them from trembling. Jane paced back and forth in the room, trying to drive the fury from her body with activity.

On one of her returns, Vincent stood in the door. His broad shoulders drooped, and his hands twisted together in supplication. ‘Forgive me?’

‘Why.’ She stopped her pacing.

‘Because you are right. I should have either told you, or told the Prince that I could not accept the charge.’

Jane waited.

‘I thought only to protect you.’

‘By keeping me in the dark? How does that protect me? It is like not telling a child that a fire will burn, in order to protect him from the heat. What if I exposed you unknowingly?’

‘And what if you exposed us both by an alteration in your behaviour?’

‘Do you really think so little of me as that?’ Jane took two furious strides closer. ‘You might recall that we ladies are trained from girlhood to give no hint of our feelings, lest we stray into an impropriety. That I am so open with you is only because of how deeply I trust you.’

He had no response to that, and stood with his head bowed. When he spoke again, his voice was very low. ‘Is there no explanation I can offer to make it clear that I meant no harm?’