The chairwoman sipped her champagne. “I suspect that his political career will end before it ever truly began, and he’ll be forced to teach philosophy at Bullstow. This year, next year, it makes no difference. He’ll lose again when he was so close, just as he always does. That’s what coming in second all the time does to you. He’s hungry, Lila.”
“What of his politics?”
“Favorable enough.” Her mother sat up, taking a closer look at Senator La Roux now that her daughter had shown an interest. “Not so disparate that we could not bend him more favorably to suit us. Senator Dubois has spoken well of him, has called him a potential ally on more than one occasion, has worked with him on our behalf a few times. A season with you would secure him a seat in New Bristol. Proof of an heir might catapult him to Saxony the year after. He’d be an attentive suitor, that’s for sure.”
Had circumstances been different, Lila might have taken the senator more seriously as a possible match for the season. He was certainly beautiful enough. There was even a mischievous twinkle in his eye that called to her. But in truth, she merely needed someone to stir up desperation in her target.
La Roux would serve as pretty bait.
In exchange, her fleeting attention would help the senator find his match for the season. He’d surely go home with an heir. It just wouldn’t be her.
The chairwoman beckoned for fresh
drinks, a desire that was promptly attended to by the servants milling along the edges of the ballroom. “A man like that is ripe. A man who always finishes second has a hunger to prove himself, to finish first for once. It makes him more willing to compromise.”
“Or it makes him angry, bitter, and confusing,” Lila said lazily, thinking what else the man might have in common with Tristan.
“He’s a senator, Lila, not a workborn. He has better manners than that. If anything, he has always been described as exceedingly fair and affable.”
“Well then, here’s to ambition,” Lila said, clinking her flute with her mother’s before the chairwoman could respond. “Call Senator Dubois over to make the introduction. I’m tired of waiting for Senator Serrano to pull his head from his ass.”
“Language, child.” Her mother frowned, gesturing for Senator Dubois. He and Jewel had been twirling through the ballroom, but he halted mid-dance, eager to attend to the chairwoman’s wishes.
Her mother chuckled suddenly as Dubois padded toward them. “I forgot. Senator La Roux has a nickname, some silly childhood lark among his cousins at Bullstow. Senator Dubois called him by it once. It was…” The chairwoman thought for a moment, her eyes glassy and unfocused while she thought. “Ah, I remember. The Red Baron. What a silly nickname for a child.”
Lila fingered the stem of her flute and tried not to break it.
Chapter 19
Chairwoman Randolph insisted that Senator Dubois take her seat as soon as he made his way through the crowded ballroom. Then she gathered up Jewel and vanished into the throng. Lila understood the message. Her mother considered her work on the matter finished. The heads of the most powerful families in Saxony lined the ballroom, and she would use the time for the betterment of Wolf Industries. It would not be the first time the chairwoman sought out new business during the Closing Ball, smoothed over a dispute, concluded a multimillion-credit contract, or stroked the ego or temper of a rival. She often said that a chairwoman who came to a ball to dance wasn’t doing her job right.
Her mother rarely danced at balls. She would do that at the great house later, either with the prime minister or an eligible senator she picked up on her way out the door.
She had done it with only with a twitch of a finger once.
Senator Dubois plopped himself down in the chair beside Lila, a grin overwhelming his flushed face. Usually Dubois took every opportunity to dance with Jewel during balls, leaving his beloved too exhausted for an encore after they returned to the great house, but he seemed happy to sit next to Lila and preside over her match. Though he did seem surprised by Lila’s scrutiny of her cousin, he did not mention La Roux’s tandem interest.
He mentioned everything else about his cousin, though. According to Dubois, Senator La Roux was a proud man who had been backed into a corner this legislative session. Her mother had been correct. La Roux had fumbled his place in the senate. He’d mentioned to Dubois weeks ago that he would not neglect either of the two paths to security this season.
“Either by deed or by seed,” Dubois explained. “It’s a saying at Bullstow. It means that you can declare yourself worthy as a senator by tackling some tricky piece of legislation that will endear you to Bullstow, or you can—”
“I understand its meaning, Senator Dubois. It is as subtle as the Saxon winter is cold.”
“Of course.” He blushed.
“Do you have any idea what deed the senator has chosen?”
“I don’t know exactly. I don’t think he’s told anyone because we’re all asking ourselves the same question. I’d wager he’s holding some secret. Dorian has many hobbies, chief among them gathering information.” Dubois smiled, and his dimples made their first appearance for the evening. “It’s no wonder he’s piqued your interest. You have found a kindred soul, madam.”
Lila hid her thoughts with an indulgent smile. It appeared that La Roux was much more slippery than anyone gave him credit for. Not only had he pilfered secrets and placed traps in BullNet, but he’d actively sought out gossip among the highborn crowd.
La Roux might hold more secrets than anyone in Saxony.
Lila was one of those secrets.
She wondered again what Dubois really knew about his cousin.
Perhaps La Roux was not the Baron after all. The nickname could have been a coincidence. The senator might have pressed his cousin only because he wanted to spend the season with her in the hopes of seeding an heir. If La Roux truly was the Baron, then he’d be feeling her out and working the angles, but an ambitious senator would do the same. Lila wished that she had a night or two to dig up more information on him before making first contact, for she didn’t like going into an investigation or an interrogation blind. But out of all the boring, lacking men in the room, La Roux had just become the most complicated and intriguing choice.