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afternoon from the palace police, and Emma was off somewhere in the direction of the servant
quarters. Her purpose was to warn Konstantin Antonovich of their plan so that he would not appear
at that night’s dress rehearsal and thus shatter the illusion they were straining to create. Davy had
been dispatched to the theater to procure information on all of the entrances and exits, especially
those most likely to be used by the tsar and his family.
And Trevor was on his way to see Ella. For while it would be nice to solve a Russian crime,
he had not been distracted from his main function, which was to protect Victoria and her
granddaughters. The Queen, when informed of the situation, had readily agreed to stay in her suite
along with Alex and Prakov had sent an entire contingent of the palace police to stand guard in the
halls beyond. But Ella was temperamental and determined to prove to her grandmother that the
palace was safe. Persuading her to abandon the rehearsal would likely prove to be more of a
challenge.
Trevor rapped gently on the door leading to Ella’s parlor and waited. In their past visits to the
royals, the group had always been ushered in by Ella’s private maid, a dour looking creature named
Alina, so Trevor was shocked momentarily speechless when the door opened to reveal none other
than Ella’s husband, the Grand Duke Serge. He regarded Trevor with an expression that managed to
be simultaneously bored and suspicious.
Trevor stammered out his rank and the reason for his visit while the Grand Duke surveyed him
coolly.
“I do not report to my own bodyguards,” he said. “And most certainly not to those of my wife’s
grandmama.”
Irritation stirred in Trevor, but he suppressed it. “I only wished, Your Excellency, to suggest
that your wife might avoid the rehearsal theater this evening. We have reason to suspect there may be
some sort of trouble.”
“Some sort of trouble…” the Duke said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. “Could you
possibly be more specific?”
But Trevor had scarcely begun when the Duke waved off the very explanation he had requested
and said, “It doesn’t matter. My wife has left today for our villa by the sea. I bade her goodbye just
minutes ago.” And with that he would have shut the door if Trevor had not managed to slip in the toe
of his shoe at his last minute.
“She traveled alone, Your Excellency?”