She smiled sadly. “Yes, he was, wasn’t he? And I was alone in Paris and ripe for romance, and he appeared, my childhood playmate now turned into a gorgeous man. And what’s more he was no longer a servant’s son but a confident man-about-town. I was innocent and self-conscious and no man had ever looked at me that way before. It’s no wonder I fell madly in love.” She looked at me, pleading for understanding. I nodded. “But I should have seen,” she said. “He took too many risks. He courted danger. He has the heritage of his terrible ancestor, after all.”

“I think you’ll find happiness with Nicholas,” I said.

“He has been very understanding and kind,” she said. “It could have been far worse. Speaking of which, I’m sorry that you are not going to be my sister-in-law.”

I haven’t yet mentioned that Siegfried and I had a little talk. He told me that after he heard about my wanton behavior with Darcy there was no way he could consider marrying me. I tried to keep a straight face when I said I quite understood and wished him well.

“You realize you have ruined my reputation forever, don’t you?” I said to Darcy afterward.

Darcy grinned. “Which would you rather have—a sullied reputation or a lifetime of marriage to Siegfried?”

“So that’s why you said it, wasn’t it? You didn’t really think either of us would be considered suspects in the murder of Miss Deer-Harte. You thought Siegfried would never marry me if he knew I’d spent the night with another man.”

“Something like that,” Darcy agreed. “My only regret is that we spent that night sleeping.”

“I liked it,” I said. “It felt so comforting having you beside me.”

He slipped an arm around my waist. “I liked it too,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not open to other nocturnal pursuits with you, at a more suitable time and place.”

“There will be other opportunities,” I said.

And so the wedding took place with all the pomp and ceremony one expects at royal weddings. I wore my tiara and the smashing fur-lined cloak over my Parisian dress. I looked so good that even Mummy was impressed.

“If you weren’t so tall you could go to Hollywood and try a career in films, darling,” she said. “You have inherited my bone structure. The camera loves us.”