To Charm a Prince (32 page)

“How can you see without daylight?”

“I don’t need to see what I’m doing.”

“What are you knitting?”

“A blanket for my baby.”

“Blue for a baby?” The hint of a smile touched his lips.

“You already have a daughter. I assumed you would want a boy. If you would prefer a pink blanket . . .”

“I have no preference.”

His wife seemed eager to please him. Too eager. She feared him. He thought he would feel better if she feared him, but he was wrong. He felt worse.

“Good night, Princess.”

“Good night, Your Highness.”

It was late when Rudolf climbed the stairs to the third floor again. He’d purposefully gone to several balls and danced every dance so that his wife would read about his social life in the
Times
.

Pausing at her bedchamber door, Rudolf reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. He let himself into her chamber and stood by the bed to stare down at her.

Samantha appeared angelic in her sleep. He was hard-pressed to believe she could be so treacherous.

Drawing the coverlet away from her body, Rudolf touched her belly where his child grew. He wished things could have been different. What was it about him that made women betray him?

Chapter 18

No bread.
Samantha had hoped the prince would leave her bread.

Samantha rose from the bed and dressed in an old gown, the one she would wear when she returned to the cottage. Wearing one of the gowns the duke or the prince had purchased was out of the question. She didn’t want to call attention to herself while staying at the cottage.

Opening the window, Samantha breathed deeply. Spring was in the air. Down below in the garden a forsythia bush bloomed with yellow flowers.

Samantha heard the door being unlocked but remained at the window. She couldn’t wait to feel the sun on her face. This afternoon, she thought, at the old cottage.

“Breakfast, Princess.”

Samantha turned away from the window. “Are you actually going to keep me prisoner?”

Rudolf ignored the question. “Eat your breakfast.”

Samantha sat down and looked at the tray. The prince had filled the plate with a mountain of scrambled eggs, several slices of ham, and two rolls with butter. Beside the plate lay a copy of the
Times.

“Were you feeling generous this morning?” Samantha asked, looking at the heap of food. “Or did you think my appetite had increased overnight?”

Rudolf said nothing. Samantha broke off a piece of roll and ate it. The prince seemed reluctant to leave. With his arms folded across his chest, he stood near the window and watched her.

“Have you given up reading the morning paper?”

Samantha glanced at him and then down at the
Times
. Apparently, he wanted her to read the paper, which meant there was something in it about him. “I am no longer interested in your social life.”

“This is a complete reversal.” Rudolf cocked a dark brow at her. He was taunting her.

“I am no longer interested in your social life because I am no longer interested in you.”

“I am so disappointed,” he drawled.

Samantha couldn’t find a crack in his armor. Frustration stole her appetite, and she tossed the roll onto the breakfast tray.

“I prefer the maid deliver my meals,” Samantha said, “Your presence gives me indigestion.”

Samantha resisted the urge to read the
Times’
society gossip. Instead, she tore the paper and threw the pieces out the window.

Later, Samantha heard a light tapping on her door. “Who is it?”

“I have the gig in the alley,” her sister whispered.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Toss your satchel out the window,” Victoria instructed her. “I’ll come around and help you down.”

“I don’t want to be caught,” Samantha said. “Do you know where my husband is?”

“He’s downstairs with Zara,” Victoria answered. “Princess Olga is expected to visit her daughter. I’m leaving now.”

Samantha grabbed her satchel and tossed it out the window. Next went her cloak.

Victoria appeared a few minutes later. Samantha watched as her sister climbed the oak tree.

“Good morning, sister,” Victoria said, sitting on a branch outside her window.

Samantha looked down. “Tory, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Do you want to be banished to Sark Island while Rudolf remains in London?” her sister asked.

“lf I fall, my baby will be hurt.”

“You won’t fall as long as you don’t look down,” Victoria told her. “We’re going to take this tree one branch at a time.”

Samantha nodded. “I understand.”

“Climb arse-first out the window,” Victoria instructed her. “Only one leg first, though. Then sit on the branch like you would sit astride a horse. Hold on with both hands.”

Samantha watched Victoria descend to a lower branch. Then she climbed out the window as instructed.

“I think I may be stuck here,” Samantha said. “You’ll need to fetch my husband to get me down.”

“You are doing fine,” Victoria said. “Move your arse back toward the tree trunk when I drop to a lower branch. Then lean to the left and lower your left leg to the branch I’m standing on now. You will dismount the branch as if you were dismounting a horse.”

“I understand.” Samantha watched her sister descend to a lower branch, and then she moved.

By slow degrees, Victoria guided Samantha down to the last branch. “Drop to the ground,” she said. “I’ll break your fall.”

Samantha let go and dropped into her sister’s arms. They looked at each other and smiled.

Victoria grabbed the satchel and took Samantha by the hand. Hugging the house with their backs lest they be seen from a window, the sisters moved around the house. They cut through the garden to the alley where the gig was parked.

Victoria climbed into the driver’s seat, and Samantha climbed up beside her. Samantha took a deep breath. She was finally free.

Her heart ached for her husband, but leaving him was best for both of them. He needed time to realize that he should have listened to her explanation before judging her guilty of betraying him.

When they reached Park Lane, Victoria steered the gig west in the direction of Primrose Hill. Neither noticed the strikingly beautiful blonde in the coach that had just pulled to a halt in front of Campbell Mansion. Nor did they see the woman’s coach move to follow them at a discreet distance.

*    *    *

Twenty minutes later, Victoria halted the gig in front of the old cottage. Samantha looked at the cottage and saw Rudolf as he’d been on New Year’s Eve when they’d passed the night before traveling to Scotland.

“Are you coming?” Victoria asked, drawing her attention.

Samantha climbed down from the gig. She missed him already.

“I brought food here yesterday,” Victoria told her, handing her the satchel. “I’ll bring more in a week or so. Do you want me to stay with you?”

Samantha shook her head. “I need to be alone.”

“How long will you stay?”

“I need some peace of mind,” Samantha said with a shrug. “Will you do me another favor?”

“Anything.”

“I need you to reassure Grant and Drake that I haven’t abandoned them,” Samantha said. “Tell them I’ll be home in a few days. Don’t let the prince know where I’ve gone.”

“I will die before I breathe a word of your whereabouts,” Victoria promised.

“Keeping silent won’t be easy,” Samantha warned. “Rudolf will know that you know where I am.”

“Torture won’t make me tell,” Victoria said.

Samantha hugged her. “Thank you, sister.”

Victoria climbed into the gig, waved good-bye, and turned the horse in the direction of London. Samantha watched her sister drive away. Then she lifted her satchel off the ground and walked into the cottage. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

*    *    *

At Campbell Mansion, Rudolf paced back and forth in front of the hearth in the small drawing room. He halted and checked the time on his pocket watch.

Damn Olga to hell, Rudolf thought, resuming his pacing. She was forty-five minutes late. Now he would have to speak with Samantha after his scheduled meeting with the duke and the marquess. He couldn’t live like this for the rest of his life, and he was tired of going to all those balls and society functions. If another simpering blonde clung to his arm, he might do her bodily harm.

Rudolf recalled the way Samantha had asked him to listen to her. She had refused to hurt him with the word he despised most, bastard.

There was no doubt his wife loved him. He owed her the respect of listening to her explanation of why she’d given the Venus to Vladimir. Perhaps she hadn’t truly understood the significance of her actions.

“Your Highness, Princess Olga has arrived,” Tinker announced.

“Bring her here, and then fetch Zara and Sweeting.”

A few minutes later, Olga strolled into the drawing room. Rudolf couldn’t understand how he could ever have loved her. Yes, Olga was strikingly beautiful but so, too, were poisonous snakes. Only this one walked on two legs instead of crawling on her belly.

“Good to see you again,” Olga greeted him, offering her hand.

Rudolf ignored the hand and the greeting. “Zara is on her way down.”

“Have you married the little cripple yet?”

Rudolf felt his muscles tense at the word
cripple
. His former wife was looking for an argument. He decided to disappoint her and inclined his head in the affirmative.

“Where is the new princess?” Olga asked. “I assumed she would be here, too.”

“Samantha has other duties and would never intrude on your visit with Zara,” Rudolf said.

“I do hope you manage not to lose this wife through inattention.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve been keeping up with your busy social schedule by reading the
Times
,” she answered.

Rudolf said nothing.

“The red-haired sister should be spanked for her insolence,” Olga told him.

Rudolf raised his brows. “You mean, Lady Victoria?”

“Victoria is no lady,” Olga said. “She threatened me with a dagger.”

Rudolf smiled at that. He must remember to thank his young sister-in-law for her loyalty to his wife.

“Did you beat your wife for her betrayal?”

“Have you come here to badger me about Samantha?” Rudolf asked. “Or did you want to visit Zara?”

Princess Olga smiled. “Dearest Rudolf, I came here to do both.”

“Why do you want to visit Zara?” he asked. “She barely knows you. After all, you wanted nothing to do with her after you learned that I was—”

“A bastard,” she finished for him.

Rudolf looked past her. “Here they are now. Sweeting, come in and close the door behind you.”

“Zara, my sweet, come and give your mother a hug,” Olga said.

Frightened, the little girl clung to her father’s hand. “Where is the other mother?” she asked him.

“I am your mother,” Olga told her.

Zara shook her head. “The other mother plays with me. We watch cloud pictures together.”

“Zara is referring to Samantha,” Rudolf said.

“She plays with children?” Olga said. “How bourgeois.” She looked at the little girl, saying, “Lady Samantha is not your mother. I am your mother.”

Zara shrank back from her. “Is Samantha my mother?” she asked, looking up at her father.

“Yes, sweetheart, Samantha is a real mother who takes delight in her children.”

“You have been too indulgent with her,” Olga said, clearly irritated. “She needs to learn proper manners.”

“Sweeting, do not let Zara out of your sight for any reason,” Rudolf ordered, turning to the nanny. He grabbed his former wife’s arm. “Your time is up, Olga. Zara wants nothing to do with you. Go home to Vladimir.”

At that, Rudolf forcibly escorted his former wife down the stairs to the foyer. Instead of waiting for the majordomo, he opened the front door himself and shoved his former wife outside.

“Good to see you again, Olga,” Rudolf said, echoing her own words.

Closing the door, Rudolf turned to Tinker. “If that woman ever shows her face here again, do not allow her entrance to this house.”

“I understand, Your Highness.”

Rudolf took the stairs two at a time. The sooner he met with the duke, the sooner he could speak with his wife.

Knocking on the study door, Rudolf entered when he heard the duke call out to him. The marquess was already there.

“Would you like a shot of whiskey?” Robert asked.

Rudolf nodded. “I have just endured an interview with my former wife.” He reached for the glass of whiskey and gulped it down. “I gave Tinker instructions not to allow her entrance again.”

“Your Highness, are you and my niece still not in accord,” Duke Magnus asked.

“I see you have a copy of the
Times
there,” Rudolf hedged.

“I am beginning to doubt the wisdom of giving her to you in marriage, pregnancy or not.”

“I am on my way to have a long talk with her,” Rudolf told him. “I think Samantha did not understand the implications of her actions.”

“I am glad to hear that,” Duke Magnus said, smiling with relief. “The birth of your baby will settle any lingering differences you have.”

“There is nothing like motherhood to calm a woman down,” Robert agreed.

Rudolf smirked. “Oh, really?”

“The extra energy a spirited female has to argue with her husband is spent on nurturing the babe,” Robert told him.

“I never found that to be true,” Rudolf said, the hint of a smile touching his lips. “As I recall, after she recovered from the birth of Zara, Olga began an affair with my brother.

Robert flushed. “Oh, perhaps some women are different.”

“Do not concern yourself with Olga,” Rudolf said. “If she hadn’t fallen into Vladimir’s bed, I would never have met and married Samantha.”

“Before we turn to business,” Duke Magnus said. “I have another matter to discuss.”

Rudolf raised his dark brows at the duke. “Speak freely, Your Grace.”