Chapter 1

Katherine had been brushing her hair when she heard the Queen pass by her chamber. Victoria was muttering something incomprehensible, but the air of frustration was evident. When the footfalls faded, Katherine opened her door a crack to peer out. After a split second's deliberation, she abandoned her hairbrush, and her chamber, to sate her curiosity and find out what was happening.

Her path lead her to the Queen's Study, where she could hear now two voices, one of which was male. Keeping clear of the door and hidden away, she pressed her ear against the wall and strained to hear the conversation within.

"Tell me the truth! All of it!" Victoria demanded, a little too loudly.

"It's Albert, Your Majesty. You know the trouble he has a fondness for," there was a slight pause before the male voice continued. "Doctor Gull informs me that the prince has contracted ... syphilis. But Your Majesty, that isn't where it ends."

There was a silence that followed that made Katherine's skin crawl. She pictured the Queen speaking in a low voice, suspecting Katherine's eavesdropping. She closed her eyes and willed herself to hear anything else that was being said.

"I've sent men out to fetch the prince, Your Majesty, and to take care of the woman and child."

A gasp escaped Katherine before she could stop it. It was no secret in the palace that Prince Albert was fond of his sinful indulgences. His debauchery was becoming legend. Few really blamed him, either. The prince was a grandson of the Queen. He was partially deaf. With his distance from the throne, and impairment, many of the royals had no time for him. But what trouble had he gotten into this time, Katherine wondered. A woman and child involved. She knew that the male voice saying they'd be 'taken care of' really meant 'put out of the way'.

The door opened. One set of footfalls, heavy and deliberate, neared Katherine's hiding place. She held her breath while the man loomed nearby, threatening to discover her. Tension hung in the air for an unbearably long moment before the man huffed and walked away.

A much lighter set followed, closing the door to the Queen's study delicately. The woman's hand lingered on the handle. She felt eyes on her. "Katherine," it was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Katherine whispered as she deserted her hiding place and moved to stand before the woman, who was a servant. "Eleanor, come to my chamber with me, please."

Katherine led the way, Eleanor following close behind. Once both were in the privacy of the chamber, Katherine closed the door and locked it. "What on Earth is going on?"

Eleanor pursed her lips. "May I sit?"

Katherine nodded, to which Eleanor drew the chair from Katherine's desk and sat in it with very little grace. Katherine drifted over to the opposite side of her room, peeking through the velvet drapes before sitting on the window seat. Getting comfortable, she waited for Eleanor to bless her with the dirty details she'd overheard whilst tending to the Queen.

"Well, that was Ben Kidney," Eleanor started. "He's the head of the Metropolitan Police - Special Branch. He came to report to Her Majesty on the details of Prince Albert. She knew he'd been up to real trouble, since he's been ill lately. She sent Doctor Gull to examine him. Turns out its syphilis. Got it from those trollops in Whitechapel I'll wager."

Katherine began to bite the nail of her left thumb, one eyebrow rising at these words. "Continue."

"Mister Kidney was sent out to find out what Prince Albert's been up to. He's spent more and more time away from the family, you know that. Now I don't blame him, but I think he could've gone to better places. Well, Kidney said Albert had gotten fond of one of the women he met. What was her name ... Annie something. He married her in a Catholic church, according to Kidney, and they had a child."

Katherine's throat went dry. "How long ago was this?"

"Oh around a year, My Lady." Eleanor said breathlessly. "Imagine that? He's legally wed with a legitimate child, and didn't tell a soul! Not that I suppose he could ... since the woman is Catholic and all. Her Majesty wouldn't tolerate it."

"What'll become of poor Albert?" Katherine murmured.

"As far as I know, they're planning to round him up and make him live out his days somewhere away from London. Away from trouble. As for his wife and child, I don't know that much."

A nod came from Katherine. "I should like to see Albert again. They will bring him here before sending him away, I know that much."

After dusk had fallen, Katherine decided it was time to see if she could extract any further information from another source. Carefully dressed in a silken gown of pale blue, she checked her hair in her mirror before making her way to the office of Doctor William Gull, physician in ordinary to the Queen.

When she arrived, the door was closed, but not locked. She snuck inside, and shut the door behind her. She'd give the good doctor a surprise when he came to review his papers tonight. Sitting in the winged chair in front of the doctor's antique desk, she waited, and contemplated.

Doctor Gull was someone she'd only seen in passing before. The man made her uneasy; there was something about him that seemed threatening. Katherine wondered to herself if the doctor would even humor her, as she was only in Buckingham Palace at all thanks to the Queen, as a favor to her mother. Katherine hadn't yet married, and at the rate things were going, it was beginning to appear she never would. This suited Katherine just fine. She was content not having to dote over, or comply to the will of a husband.

Katherine took time to properly study her surroundings, trying to glean any information she could about the doctor from them. He kept many books, medical volumes, judging by the titles. His tastes were for dark wood and deep red walls. Strange paintings adorned the walls, portraits, but not formal ones. The only light here now came from a kerosene lamp left on the desk, hinting that it wasn't so long ago that someone had been in here, most likely the doctor himself.