Her Highness, My Wife (9 page)

“Five,” he said absently. “It would be five days and sixteen months, if you count from when we first met.”

“I believe you are wrong, Matthew,” she said softly.

“I’m not. It would be five—”

“No, wrong about Dimitri. I have never seen a look in his eye like the one in yours… now.” Her own eyes sparkled in the morning light. Green and sensual and beckoning.

“Perhaps you’ve simply never noticed.”

“Oh, I am most certain I would have noticed.” She bit her bottom lip in that way she had, endearing and entirely too provocative.

“Would you?” Bloody hell, he wanted her. Again. Here. Now. In the road, on the grass, in the cottage. And why not? It was part of their agreement, one of his conditions. And if he knew nothing else, he knew she certainly wanted him.

Still, it would have to wait. Besides, if he could not get a grip on his unbridled lust, he would never find out what she was really up to. The only way to solve the puzzle of the Princess Tatiana Marguerite Nadia Pruzinsky of the Kingdom of Greater Avalonia was to play along with her so-called adventure.

“The question is, my lord, what do you intend to do about it?” Her voice was challenging and… inviting.

“The answer, Princess,” he said slowly, “is nothing.”

Surprise flashed in her eyes, and possibly disappointment. “Nothing at all?”

“Not a thing.” He grinned wickedly. “For the moment.”

It was exceedingly good to realize how easy it was to keep the upper hand with her. As long as he kept his wits about him, and his desire in check, he could maintain control of the situation. It was satisfying as well to note he could no doubt have her whenever he wanted her. And this choice, along with every other choice, this time, would be his.

Matt stepped away—regardless of his resolve, distance between them was an excellent idea—and nodded at the curricle. “Your captain seems to have forgotten his carriage.”

“Not at all,” she said quickly. “Before you say anything, I think I should point out that, even as I have agreed to your conditions, regardless of your financial state, Lord and Lady Matthew would never travel in a wagon. It would be most unusual and attract any number of unwanted questions as to our validity.”

“Do you think so?” he said mildly.

“I do.” She nodded. “I firmly feel our ruse can only benefit if we travel in a suitable fashion and are properly attired. To that end, I have brought along appropriate clothing and various personal items for you as well as for myself. You may not have noticed, but your appearance is, well, somewhat—”

“Disreputable?”

“I was going to say threadbare. I do not wish to offend you—”

“I am not offended.”

“No?”

“Well?” Caution sounded in her voice.

The pair of horses hitched to the carriage were well matched but not impressive. Simply good, decent beasts and precisely what a gentleman of his position might well own.

“My lord, I really feel, under the circumstances—”

“I see no need for debate.”

“Really?” She studied him cautiously. “Why not?”

“Because, Your Highness, for one thing, you’re right.”

“I am?”

“Indeed you are.” He folded his arms over his chest and leaned idly against the carriage. “Insofar as you agree with my earlier position that if we are to be convincing, we must look the part we wish to play.”

She stared at him in obvious annoyance. “Do I understand you to say that I am only right when I agree with you?”

“That’s it exactly.”

“I see,” she said carefully. “Then I think we should be off. Do you think we should be off?”

“I do indeed.” He strolled to the cottage door, took the journal Ephraim had given him and a small writing case from his bag—a bag he no longer had need of, thanks to Tatiana, and tucked them both in an inside pocket of his coat. He shoved the bag deeper into the house, closed and locked the door, then returned to the carriage.

“You have no bag of your own?” she asked.

“As you have seen fit to provide all I should need, I see no need for extra baggage.” He helped her into the carriage, then rounded the vehicle, climbed in and picked up the reins.

“And what of your horse and… cart?” She glanced around. “Where are they?”

“Actually, I never intended for us to travel in a cart.”

Her eyes widened in indignation. “But you said—”

“My dear princess, I never really trusted your complete agreement to my conditions. Due, no doubt, to that tendency of yours to li—”

“Misstate,” she said firmly.

“Regardless, I fully expected you to arrive in a suitable vehicle.” He chuckled. “One far grander than this. I also expected you to be accompanied by at least a driver and a maid.”

“I would have been if I had had the least suspicion you would accept them,” she snapped. “And did you also expect that I would bring you an acceptable wardrobe as well?”

“Admittedly, that was a surprise. Frankly, I did not realize I had become quite so—”

“Plebeian?” she said in an overly sweet manner. “Common? Ordinary? Your appearance little better than that of a peasant?”

“A peasant.” He laughed and clucked to the horses. The carriage started down the road. “I rather like that. Lord and Lady Matthew, the peasant and the princess. Ephraim would love it.”

She muttered something he didn’t quite catch.

He slanted her an amused glance. For once, she didn’t look completely confident. “I do have to admit, however, the clothing was no more unexpected than your acquiescing to my demands to the extent that you have.”

“You gave me no choice.” Her brows drew together in irritation. “I needed your help and you refused to assist me without your childish conditions designed to do nothing more than put me in my place.”

“Perhaps they were a bit childish. But fun nonetheless.”

“Fun?”

“Great fun.” He chuckled. “The most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“I would scarcely call it fun.”

“You would if you could have seen the look on your face when I talked about my shack.”

“The look on my face?” The corners of her lips quivered as if she were struggling not to smile. “Why, my lord, it could not have compared to the look on your face when I wept at having to be your wife in the fullest sense of the word.” She grinned. “Surpassed only your shocked expression when I agreed. Perhaps
fun
is the correct word after all.”

He laughed. “It seems we are well matched. At least in a battle of wits.”

“In other ways, too.”

“Oh, that you remember?” he teased. “When you forget how charming I can be.”

“I remember very well.” Her voice was soft, and for a moment he thought she was going to say more. After a long silence, she sighed. “Where are we going, then?”

“I had the opportunity yesterday to make a few inquiries about the names you gave me.
The first—”

“Lady Hutchins?”

He nodded. Matthew already knew, of course, where to find his grandmother, last on the list. The second lady was familiar to him as well, although he had never actually made her acquaintance. And Ephraim had managed to provide information as to where the remaining woman—Lady Hutchins—might be found. “It’s believed she lives near Canterbury, or did live there. She would be rather old, and her memory will probably be questionable, but we shall see.”

“Why did you decide to start with her?” Tatiana said in a decidedly offhand manner. Was she as unconcerned as she seemed? “Is she the closest, or simply first on the list?”

“Both.” His tone was as deceptively casual as hers. “From what I have been able to ascertain, the other two ladies in question live in the opposite direction from Lady Hutchins. It only makes sense to seek her out first.”

“That does make sense.” She fell silent for a moment. “Is it a far distance?”

“I expect it will take us most of the day.”

“I see. Well, then, it is a good thing I thought to bring along provisions.” She reached beneath the seat and slid out a large cloth-covered basket. “I think we should begin our trip with a toast to our success.”

She rummaged in the basket and pulled out a silver flask and two matching cups. “Will you join me in a brandy, my lord?”

“Brandy?” He frowned. “Isn’t it a bit early in the day to be drinking brandy?”

“Not at all,” she said blithely, carefully filling her cup. “It is an Avalonian tradition therefore the major obstacle to overcome, inherent in…”

He rambled on, warming to his subject, pausing only for an occasional murmur of acknowledgment. At last it dawned on him that she had said nothing for quite some time. He leaned over to peer beneath the shadows cast by her hat and grinned.

The blasted women wasn’t awed to silence by his astounding grasp of the subject nearest to his heart. She was asleep.

Chapter 6

Tatiana shaded her eyes against the sharp slant of the setting sun and watched Matthew stride toward the doorway of the inn.

Watching him move, taut with energy and confidence, listening to him talk, losing herself in the sea blue of his eyes were the best parts of this endless day. Indeed they were the only pleasures to be found thus far. The rest of their so-called adventure had been long and hot and exhausting. Even if she had spent most of the day either dozing or sound asleep.

He stepped into the building and she stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. Tatiana quite loved traveling, or rather she loved visiting new and exciting places. Once freed from the restrictions of mourning after Phillipe’s death, she had spent much of the following year wandering through the capitals of Europe until she had discovered Paris. And a taste of blissful freedom. And Matthew. But, while

seeing sights she had only read about was the height of adventure, she was not at all fond of the process of travel itself.

To her dismay, she had discovered her stomach did not appreciate travel by sea—disappointing, as there were so many places in the world one could not reach by land. Even large, steady coaches provided a measure of discomfort. It was exceedingly odd that she did not suffer similarly on horseback, although she had long thought it might be because she could control the gait of the animal. She had had no difficulties when she had ridden in Matthew’s balloon either. Of course, the sensation in a balloon, as far as her experience went—which admittedly was limited to ascending and descending while being tethered to the ground by a stout rope—was far less dramatic than the rocking of a ship or rhythmic lurching of a horse-drawn vehicle.

She could not abide a carriage ride of more than an hour without her stomach rebelling in a most unpleasant way. The only manner in which she could tolerate a lengthy journey was to avoid food and to court sleep. And nothing put her to sleep faster than a substantial helping of brandy. She did not even particularly like the drink and much preferred wine or, better yet, champagne. Still, brandy provided the needed effect.

Matthew disappeared into the inn. She regretted not being able to spend these hours with him more productively, but as much as she had wanted to reacquaint herself with him and begin to work her way back into his good graces and, hopefully his heart, she knew better than to run the risk of losing whatever food she had in her Not that they would be staying here, of course. Once they had located Lady Hutchins, she, or her family, would surely insist on extending the hospitality of their home to Lord and Lady Matthew. Such an offer was, as Tatiana understood it, to be expected among the English aristocracy.

Matthew appeared at the door of the inn and started toward her. His expression was at once thoughtful and indecipherable. She did wish she could read the blasted man’s mind. He drew closer and she recognized the gleam in his eye. She sighed to herself. Perhaps she could read his mind after all.

“Is something amiss, my lord?”

“We have a slight problem.” He stopped beside the carriage. “The inn is fully occupied, but the innkeeper, a Mr. Wicklund, was willing to take a moment to answer my questions. He seems to be a fairly knowledgeable fellow, and his wife, the very vocal Mrs. Wicklund, apparently knows everything her husband does not and furthermore has an opinion on those matters and more. According to them, your Lady Hutchins is, well, dead.”

“Oh, dear, that is a problem.” Tatiana thought for a moment. “Is it possible that her family remembers the princess? It was not all that long ago.”

“It was fifty years ago,” he said pointedly. “A great deal can change in half a century.”

“Even so, relations do tend to remember things like visiting royalty. It is what family legends are made of.”

“Perhaps, but even if anyone in this particular family can recall those events”—he shrugged—“it scarcely matters now.”

“Of course it matters,” she said firmly. “Goodness, my lord, I do not think you are in the spirit of this adventure at all. Lady Hutchins’s demise simply adds another element of difficulty but is by no means

insurmountable.”

“Your confidence is really rather charming.” He leaned against the carriage in an altogether insolent manner, a slight smile lifting the corners of his lips.

“I do not know why you find this so amusing. Indeed, you should share my confidence. We have scarcely begun and nothing cannot be overcome at this point. We shall simply go to the lady’s offspring and see what can be learned. Surely they have an estate in the vicinity?”

“They may well have an estate, but it is not in the area.”

“No?” She narrowed her eyes and studied him. Matthew knew something he had not yet told her and was obviously holding his revelation for the right time. Fortunately for him, his annoying nature was part of his charm. She heaved a frustrated sigh. “Very well, then. Where is Lady Hutchins’s family to be found?”

“It’s a tragic story.” He shook his head in a mournful manner. “According to the innkeeper, Lady Hutchins died more than forty years ago.”

“That long,” Tatiana murmured.

“After her death, her family did not fare well. It seems her husband, distraught by the loss of his wife—”

“To be expected when one loses a wife.” She shook her head. “I imagine he missed her terribly. As the night misses the warmth of the sun.”

“She
died
, Princess, she did not leave of her own accord. In that respect, I am certain he did miss her, although in this case it was perhaps more akin to my analogies.”

“The horse and the flies?”

“Exactly. You see”—he leaned closer—“after Lady Hutchins’s death, her husband turned to drinking and gaming and took up with all manner of disreputable women. This according to the innkeeper’s wife, who, in spite of the passage of time, recalls Lord Hutchins wasted little time in mourning before wallowing in his bad habits.” Matthew straightened and smirked. “Perhaps was not at all unhappy to bid his wife farewell.”

“The beast.” Indignation flowed through her. “How could he?”

“Perhaps the blame should not be laid with the husband but with the wife.”

“I daresay, whatever her faults, she may well have had good reasons and the very best of intentions,”

she said stoutly.

“The best of intentions?” He snorted with disdain. “Scarcely an acceptable excuse. What if she did not confide in him? Or even lied to him?”

“She might have thought he would never understand the reasons for her deception and therefore would never believe how she truly felt about him. She might have realized she could never be what he wanted, what he deserved, until she had resolved her own responsibilities.”

“That’s absurd. If indeed she cared for him, she would have trusted him.” His voice hardened. “Would have trusted that together they could resolve any problem. Together, nothing could have defeated them.”

“Unless, of course, she did not know him well enough to accept that on little more than blind faith,” she snapped. “She could well have been scared to put her trust in him when another man before him had so cruelly failed her.”

“But he was not another man, he was her husband. And he was her husband not because of her position or title or wealth but because he loved her. And she discarded him without a second thought!”

“And because she loved him as well, it broke her heart to do so, and more, when he never took so much as a single step to find her. He can place the blame on her if that is his wish, but he let her go!”

Their words hung in the air, a palpable cloud of anger and resentment. Tatiana’s gaze locked with Matt’s and she stared in horror. She had not meant to say any of that. If there was any hope at all of finding what they had once shared, such outbursts were not the way to smooth the path. He was not ready for such confrontations. And neither was she.

Matthew looked as shocked as she felt. For an endless moment they could do nothing but stare.

“Yes, well, Lady Hutchins died, didn’t she? And there was nothing her husband could do on that score.”

He cleared his throat and was once again cool and collected, his voice steady and composed. “To continue, Lord Hutchins’s wicked ways proved to be his undoing. He lost his fortune, quite substantial at one time, according to the innkeeper’s wife—”

“Who should know,” Tatiana said, forcing a bright note to her voice. If Matthew could pretend nothing had passed between them, so could she.

“He was forced to sell his property and all his remaining assets in order to buy passage to America. He left the country with his children, two boys and a girl, I believe, just a year or so after his wife’s death.”

He shook his head. “Neither he nor any of his family has been heard from since.”

“I see.” The significance of Matthew’s story wiped all else from Tatiana’s mind. If indeed Lord Hutchins had been forced to sell his estate, his birthright, it would have been a last resort. In her experience, noblemen were never willing to give up their heritage unless they had no other choice. If Hutchins knew of the jewels, surely he would have sold them and saved his home. Of course, he could indeed have disposed of them and squandered the profits on wild living. But aside from the symbolic value of the Heavens, they would provide a fortune far too substantial to be lost quite as quickly as Lord Hutchins appeared to have lost his.

It was therefore logical to assume that neither Lord nor Lady Hutchins had knowledge of the jewels. Which further meant Tatiana would not have to follow this family to America. By ship. Buffeted by rolling swells and wave after wave. Across a long, heaving ocean.

“Your Highness?” Matthew’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Are you all right? You look a bit green.”

“A trick of the light, no doubt. I am fine.” She favored him with her brightest smile. “It cannot be helped, I suppose. We shall simply have to move on to the next name.”

“I’m grateful you’re not too disappointed.” He studied her thoughtfully.

“One has to expect a few impediments. It is simply the nature of life. You of all people should understand that. Why, your work with your balloons has not always progressed smoothly, yet you have not abandoned it. Nothing worthwhile is ever especially easy.”

“A pity, that,” he said wryly. “It would be delightful if it were, at least on occasion.”

“Come, now, my lord, on occasion, it is.” She smiled and patted the seat beside her. “Now, then, we should probably be on our way.”

“On our way where, exactly?” His brows drew together.

“Well, you said the two other ladies I wish to meet live in a direction opposite from London. Therefore, I suggest we return the way we came.” She patted the seat again. “My lord?”

“Are you aware that it will be dark soon?”

“I can scarcely miss the setting of the sun.”

“Traveling on these roads after nightfall is ill-advised. We shall not travel tonight.”

“Do we have a choice?” She stared at him. “I had planned to stay with Lady Hutchins’s family, but obviously that is not to be. Therefore, we have no option but to—”

“We shall stay here.”

“Here?” She glanced around. “I thought you said the inn was full.”

“It is. Now. We have obtained the last available room. One of the reasons the innkeeper was willing to so freely answer all my questions was because I paid him substantially more than his usual rate. Of course, he assures me he has given us his finest room.” He held out his hand. She placed her hand in his and stepped down from the carriage.