It is a great honor. Don’t abuse it.” They stood before the king’s private secretary, Sir Benjamin Bloomfield. He was clad in a major general’s full-dress uniform, whose luxurious gold embroidery was outshone only by the many medals on his chest. Trev had never seen the like on any officer in the field. But despite his foppish display, the man radiated authority. No military man could doubt his power—or how slim the chances were that Trev and his beloved would be able to bend him and his master to their will. “Who is this person?” Sir Benjamin demanded, fixing Temperance with a disapproving stare. “She is someone materially involved in the matter that brings me here,” Trev explained. “It’s essential she accompany me when I meet with our sovereign.” “Essential? One wonders. But it is certainly irregular. Highly irregular.” Sir Benjamin sniffed. “Though she is beautiful, I’ll grant you that, and the king has always been a connoisseur of female beauty. But even so, who is she?”
