Castles (18 page)

“Do you know what Sir Richards wants to talk to us about?” she asked.

“We aren't going to see him,” Colin explained.

“But you said . . .”

“I lied.”

Her gasp made him smile. “You lied to me?”

She looked incredulous. He slowly nodded. “Yes, I lied to you.”

“Why?”

Her outrage made him want to laugh. She was such a delight when she was riled. And, Lord, she was certainly riled now. Her cheeks were flushed with a blush, and if her shoulders got any straighter, he thought, her spine might snap.

“I'll explain later,” he told her. “Quit your frown, brat. It's too fine a day to get upset.”

She finally noticed how cheerful he was. “Why are you so happy?”

He shrugged his answer. She let out a sigh. The man was deliberately trying to confuse her, she decided. “Exactly where are we going, Colin?”

“To a meeting with the family to decide what to do . . .”

She finished his explanation for him. “With me?”

He nodded. Alesandra lowered her gaze to her lap, but not before Colin saw her expression. She looked crushed. Her feelings had been hurt, he knew, but he didn't know what he'd said to cause that reaction.

His voice was gruff when he said, “Now what's the matter with you?”

“Nothing's the matter.”

“Don't lie to me.”

“You lied to me.”

“I said I'd explain later,” he countered. He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice when he added, “Now explain why you're looking ready to weep.”

“I'll explain later.”

Colin leaned forward. He grabbed hold of her chin and forced her to look at him. “Don't turn my words back on me,” he ordered.

She pushed his hand away. “Very well,” she announced. “I was a little upset when I realized why you're so happy.”

“Make sense, damn it.”

The carriage came to a stop in front of the Duke of Williamshire's town house. Colin unlatched the door but kept his gaze on her. “Well?” he demanded.

She adjusted her cloak around her shoulders. “It makes perfect sense to me,” she told him with a nod.

Raymond opened the door and held his hand out to assist her. She immediately stepped outside, then turned to frown at Colin. “You're happy because you're finally getting rid of me.”

He opened his mouth to argue with her. She raised her hand in an unspoken command to keep silent. “You needn't worry, sir. I'm over my upset. Shall we go inside now?”

She was trying to be dignified. Colin wouldn't let her. He started laughing. She turned and hurried up the steps. Raymond and Stefan flanked her sides.

“You still look upset, brat.”

The door was opened by the butler just as she whirled around to tell Colin what she thought of that rude remark. “If you call me a brat again, I swear I'll do something most undignified. I am not upset,” she added in a voice that mocked that lie. “I just thought you and I had become friends. Yes, I did. You were becoming like a cousin to me and I . . .”

Colin leaned down until he was just an inch or so from her face. “I'm not your cousin,” he snapped.

Colin's brother, Caine, took over the butler's duty and stood in the doorway, waiting for someone to notice him. He could only see the back of Princess Alesandra. She was a little thing and, he judged, quite courageous. Colin was towering over her, giving her his best glare, but she wasn't cowering away. She didn't seem to be at all intimidated.

“Everyone believes we're cousins,” she snapped.

“I don't give a damn what everyone else thinks.”

She took a deep breath. “This conversation is ridiculous. If you don't wish to be related to me, that's just fine.”

“I'm not related to you.”

“You don't have to shout, Colin.”

“You're making me crazed, Alesandra.”

“Good afternoon.”

Caine fairly bellowed his greeting so he'd be heard. Alesandra was so startled by the interruption, she grabbed hold of Colin.

She was quick to recover. She pushed herself out of his arms and turned around. She tried to force a serene, dignified expression. The incredibly handsome man standing in the doorway had to be Colin's brother. Their smiles were almost identical. Caine's hair was a bit lighter in shade, however, and his eyes were an altogether different color. They were gray, and in her estimation not nearly as attractive as Colin's more-green-than-hazel color.

Alesandra tried to curtsy. Colin wouldn't let her. He grabbed hold of her arm and nudged her through the opening.

She pinched him to make him let go of her. A tug of war resulted when Colin tried to take her cloak. She kept slapping his hand away so she could retrieve her notecard from the pocket of the garment.

Caine stood behind his brother. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was desperately trying not to laugh. He hadn't seen his brother this rattled in a good long while.

Alesandra finally pulled the notecard free. “Now you may take my cloak, thank you.”

Colin rolled his eyes heavenward. He tossed her cloak in Caine's direction. His brother caught the garment in midair just as Colin spotted the notecard clutched in Alesandra's hand. “Why in God's name did you bring that thing along?”

“I'm going to need it,” she explained. “I simply don't understand your aversion to this list, Colin. Your hostility is most unreasonable.”

She turned her attention to his brother. “You'll have to excuse your brother's rudeness. He's been ill.”

Caine smiled. Colin shook his head. “You don't have to make excuses for me,” he stated. “Caine, this is the woman you've been referring to as The Plague. Alesandra, meet my brother.”

She again tried to curtsy and Colin again ruined it. She was just leaning forward to catch hold of her gown when Colin grabbed hold of her hand and started dragging her into the salon.

“Where's your wife, Caine?” Colin called over his shoulder.

“Upstairs with Mother,” he answered.

Alesandra was tugging on Colin's hand, trying to get loose. “Why don't you just toss me on a chair and leave. You're obviously in a hurry to get rid of me.”

“Which chair do you prefer?”

He finally let go of her. She took a step back and immediately bumped into Caine. She turned around, begged his forgiveness for her clumsiness, and then asked where his father was. She really wanted to speak to him as soon as possible, she explained.

Because she was looking so serious and worried, Caine didn't dare smile. Princess Alesandra was a pretty thing, he thought to himself. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue and the freckles on the bridge of her nose reminded him of his wife, Jade. She was actually very beautiful, he realized.

“Jenkins went upstairs to tell my father you're here, Princess Alesandra. Why don't you make yourself comfortable while you wait?”

She thought that was a splendid idea. Caine had obviously been given all the manners in the family. He was very solicitous and polite. It was a nice change from his brother.

Colin stood near the fireplace watching her. She ignored him. She hadn't paid any attention to the exterior of her guardian's town house, but she imagined it was just as grand as the interior. The salon was at least four times the size of Colin's. There were three settees placed in a half circle around the ivory-colored marble hearth. It was a lovely room filled with treasures the Duke of Williamshire had collected from around the world. Her gaze scanned the room, then came to rest on the gleaming object in the center of the mantel. She let out a gasp of pleasure. The replica in gold of her father's castle hadn't been misplaced after all. The reproduction of her childhood home was the size of a small brandy decanter and was exact in every detail to the real castle.

The look of joy on Alesandra's face took Colin's breath away. “Alesandra?” he asked, wondering what had caused that reaction.

She turned to smile at him. Then she hurried over to the mantel. Her hand trembled when she reached up and gently touched the side of one golden turret. “This is a replica of my home, Colin. It's called Stone Haven. I lived there with my mother and father.”

“I thought your father gave up his kingdom when he married your mother,” Colin remarked.

She nodded. “Yes, he did. He purchased Stone Haven before he married her. The general can't touch it, either. It's located in Austria and he won't have any jurisdiction there, even if he is able to take over the throne. The castle will continue to be safe.”

“Who owns it now?” Caine asked.

She didn't answer him. He assumed she hadn't heard his question. He was as intrigued by the castle as Colin appeared to be. The two brothers flanked Alesandra's sides as they stared at the reproduction. “The detail is quite impressive,” Caine remarked.

“My father gave it as a gift to your father,” she explained. “He was playing a bit of trickery—good-hearted, of course —and I looked for the castle when I was staying at his country home, but I couldn't find it. I thought it had been lost. It pleases me to see it has a place of honor.”

Colin was about to ask her what she'd meant by her remark that trickery had been involved when they were interrupted.

“Of course it has a place of honor,” the Duke of Williamshire called out from the entrance. “Your father was my friend, Alesandra.”

She turned at the sound of her guardian's voice and smiled in greeting. The Duke of Williamshire was a distinguished-looking man with silver-tipped hair and dark gray eyes. The sons had gotten their good looks from him, of course, and their height as well.

“Good afternoon, Father,” Colin called out.

His father returned the greeting, then walked into the salon. He stopped in the center and opened his arms to Alesandra.

She didn't hesitate. She ran to him and threw herself into his arms. He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head.

Colin and Caine shared a look of disbelief. They were astonished by their father's show of affection to his ward. The elderly man was usually very reserved, but he was treating Alesandra as though she were his long-lost daughter.

“Has Colin been treating you well?”

“Yes, Uncle Henry.”

“Uncle Henry?” Caine and Colin repeated the name at the same time.

Alesandra pulled away from her guardian and turned to glare at Colin. “Uncle Henry doesn't mind being related to me.”

“But he isn't related to you,” Colin stubbornly reminded her.

His father smiled. “I've asked her to call me Uncle,” he explained. “Alesandra's part of our family now, son.”

He turned to his ward then. “Sit down and we'll talk about this marriage business.”

She hurried to do as he requested. She spotted her notecard on the floor and immediately went to fetch it. Colin waited until she was settled in the center of the brocaded settee and then went over and sat down next to her.

His bulk crowded her into the corner. Alesandra nudged his hard thigh away so she could collect her skirts from underneath him. “There are plenty of other seats available,” she whispered so her Uncle Henry wouldn't hear her criticizing his son. “Do sit somewhere else, Cousin.”

“If you call me cousin one more time I swear I'm going to throttle you,” Colin threatened in a low growl. “And quit squirming.”

“You're crowding her, son. Move over.”

Colin didn't budge. His father frowned, then took his seat next to Caine on the larger settee facing Alesandra.

“How have you two been getting along?” his father asked.

“Colin was sick all week,” Alesandra announced. “Am I moving in with you today, Uncle?”

“No.” Colin's denial was abrupt—harsh, too.

His father frowned at his son before turning his gaze back to Alesandra. “Would you like to move in here?” he asked.

“I thought Colin wanted me to,” she answered. Her confusion was apparent in her expression. “It seemed an imposition, having to look out for me. He's been acting very irritable today. I believe the cause is anxiety.”

Colin rolled his eyes heavenward. “Let's get back to the main topic,” he muttered.

His father ignored that command. “Colin's anxious?” he asked Alesandra.

“Yes, Uncle,” she answered. She folded her hands together in her lap while she added, “He's anxious to get rid of me. So you can understand my confusion, can't you? A few minutes ago he was ready to toss me on the settee and leave, and now he's telling you I should stay with him.”

“That is a contradiction,” Caine interjected.

Colin leaned forward. He braced his elbows on his knees and stared at his father. “I don't believe it's a good idea to have her move anywhere just now. There was an incident outside the Opera House,” he added with a nod.

Alesandra interrupted him by nudging him in his side. He turned back to look at her.

“You don't need to go into that,” she whispered. “You'll only worry him.”

“He needs to be worried,” Colin told her. “If he's going to take over the responsibility of looking out for you, he'll have to understand what he's up against.”

Colin didn't give her time to argue with him, but turned back to his father. He quickly explained what had happened, added a few pertinent details he'd gathered from his talk with Sir Richards, and ended with his opinion that the threats weren't going to stop until Alesandra was married.