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duchess’s household prior to the queen’s moving into the palace and had never actually been given a position. Lady Sarah was merely in the duchess’s employ. Then she and Nigel became rivals of a sort. Yes, rivals was a good name for the competition that had somehow developed between them earlier this year.
    Sarah Wheeler also liked to gather information about people at court. But Nigel had never been able to ascertain what she was doing with it. He was sure she wasn’t using it to gain favor with the queen because he’d set several traps for her, and never once had he caught her.
    He’d even enlisted Rupert’s assistance in determining the woman’s motives. Nigel’s suggestion had, of course, been for Rupert to become her lover. But Rupert rarely followed Nigel’s suggestions. Besides, he’d developed a quick dislike for the lady that had nothing to do with Nigel or his request. She was too impudent, even imperious, for her lowly position. And she called him beautiful….
    But all Rupert had been able to surmise at that time was that she posed no immediate threat to the monarchy. Was the woman intent on blackmail? That remained to be seen.
    To the matter at hand, Rupert said, “A good half of the ladies who have arrived so far I already know socially. Nothing untoward there. Good families with no radicals hiding in the closets. Most are simply delighted by the appointments. A few are wary because they know that the queen favors the Whigs.”
    Nigel sighed. “I really wish that wasn’t public knowledge. She’s been warned to stop corresponding with Lord Melbourne, yet she persists.”
    Rupert sympathized with the queen. “I’d be bloody well annoyed if I was told I can’t communicate with my friends anymore, too. Melbourne wasn’t just one of her closest advisers while he was in office, he taught her what she knows about politics, and they’ve been friends since she assumed the throne. To just cut that off simply because the current prime minister is a Tory—”
    “You know very well the monarchy must abide by a different set of rules than you and I. She depended on Melbourne, but she has Prince Albert to rely on now as well as her own good political instincts—she’s learned a lot these last four years. And as monarch, she knows very well she can’t display favoritism to the party out of power.”
    Rupert grinned. “Let’s not forget you’ve had me deliver a few of Her Majesty’s secret letters.”
    “I don’t presume to advise the queen. If she asks something of me, I do it without question. As least, she does it in secret now. She understands she can’t publicly undermine Peel a second time.”
    Rupert almost laughed. The first time had occurred four years ago, and the incident had become known as the Bedchamber Crisis. Melbourne had resigned and Peel had taken his place, yet when Peel had tried to appoint Tory wives to thequeen’s household, Victoria hadn’t just balked, she’d flatly refused. She wasn’t giving up her Whig ladies of the bedchamber; they were her close friends, not merely ceremonial puppets. This led to Peel’s resigning and Melbourne’s returning to office.
    But four years later, Melbourne had finally resigned for good, Peel had won the election again, and Victoria didn’t make the same mistake twice. Besides, after Victoria married Albert, whom she dearly loved, she no longer relied on her ladies for companionship. So Peel’s appointees had begun to arrive at the palace, and Rupert had been brought in to make sure none of them were inappropriate for the job, a task Rupert didn’t mind at all. He just didn’t think he needed to live in the palace to accomplish it.
    Of course he knew exactly why Nigel had insisted. If Rupert had to resort to seducing any of the ladies to find out what he needed to know, Nigel wanted to make sure he had a convenient room nearby to do so.

Chapter Six
    T HE ENTERTAINMENT WAS TAKING place in the Yellow Drawing room, on the opposite