The Secret Prince (5 page)

“I'm not, Elly,” he whispered. “I'm just trying to state a medical reality. All sorts of advances have been made in the last ten or more years. Odds are that if you really want a baby, you could have one without complications.”

She glared at him. “Odds. Chances. Do you really believe that adding one more child to this earth is worth the risk to me or any other woman whose body isn't strong enough?”

He didn't answer.

She let out a long breath, feeling strangely better for the release of emotions. She thought more clearly now about her past choices.

Over the years, she'd had a few male friends—mostly kept at arm's length with no physical relationship involved. A few she'd slept with, but only after first being sure they lacked all desire to settle down and start a family, then guaranteeing she couldn't become pregnant with them. She had stayed on the Pill during those limited months in a relationship and, because she'd never given her heart, she hadn't regretted when they'd moved on to other women. The last breakup had been heart-wrenching, though. Sam had been a good person and she'd grown intensely fond of him. His only crime was that he'd changed his mind. He had decided he wanted to be a husband and father instead of a boyfriend.

In the year since then Elly had let no one into her life. But sitting beside her now was a man who was as much temptation as any woman could handle. More than
she
could, she feared. Instinctively, she gauged the level of her reaction to him, and knew that the passion centered in the core of her being was new and real and strong. He had touched something in her no
other man before him had been capable of, although they'd known each other only hours.

“What about you?” she asked quickly. “Why aren't you married?” A tiny part of her hoped that his answer would be an echo of her own.
I don't want kids.

“I suppose at first I was too involved with other facets of my life,” he admitted. “The marines—that didn't seem a time for settling down. I was stationed all over the place. Then I went to college on the GI Bill and earned my degree. After that I needed time to start my business. I've always wanted a family, but now that it seems the right time, the right woman doesn't seem to be around.”

She cringed inside. Well, there it was. He was looking for a life-mate, a mother for his unborn children.
And I am definitely not her,
she thought with an irrational twinge of sadness. Yet Elly was still profoundly attracted to him. He set off tickly sensations in parts of her body she had forgotten existed.

Dan squeezed her softly around the shoulders and she looked up into his concerned gaze. “Feeling better?”

“Yes,” she admitted half-heartedly. “I'll be fine. Thank you for lending your shoulder.” She patted the damp fabric of his blazer.

He glanced back at his own seat across the aisle. Madge had repositioned herself, lifting her legs to rest them across his cushion. Like many of the other passengers, she was asleep.

“Mind if I stay here for a while?”

Elly nodded. “No problem. She'll need her strength when we get to Elbia.”

They talked through most of the night, keeping the conversation light. It was as if they both understood
that much of what they'd already shared was too personal for people who had just met. But somehow, Elly thought, it had been the right time to speak of such things.

The jet landed at Orly, outside Paris, soon after dawn. The reporters who had tailed them to Dulles hadn't been able to keep up with them at the Concorde's pace, even if they had managed to find another flight on a traditional plane. But they must have alerted their cohorts, for the paparazzi jostled each other for position at the concourse entrance.

“Oh dear,” Madge whimpered, “how will we ever get past them?”

Elly pointed to a cluster of French gendarmes looking over the disembarking passengers. “Looks like the palace has been in touch with authorities here. Let's go.” She took Madge's arm and led her forward. Dan followed close behind.

The security team whisked them into a car that veered quickly away to a private runway. A high-speed helicopter marked with the von Austerand royal crest lifted them away and, just two hours later, Elly drew a sharp breath at the sight of the Crystal Palace as they flew over the mountains separating Austria from Elbia. Below, and surrounding the magnificent towers and crenellated parapets, was the storybook city of the same name whose history reached back into medieval times.

Madge uttered a cry of delight at the sight. “How beautiful.” Tears filled her eyes. She looked sadly at her son and shouted over the roar of the rotors above them. “Do you hate me, Danny, for keeping this from you all these years?”

He patted her arm and shook his head vehemently. “You gave me a warm, safe childhood,” he yelled
back, smiling. But as soon as his mother turned back to the view, his expression tightened.

Elly spoke directly into his ear. “What's wrong?”

“Later,” he mouthed.

She nodded, guessing his thoughts. Madge hadn't kept a royal upbringing and a title from her son. Tradition and politics had done that. She would never have been allowed to bring her child to this magnificent place. The appearance of Karl's mistress and illegitimate son would have been an insult to the queen. At most, Elly suspected, Karl might have offered to pay for the baby's care and for Madge's silence. Dan's mother must have understood this. She had chosen not to be found by him. She had turned her back on her lover's charity…or bribe, whichever it might be.

Elly grasped these truths with an intuitive sense shared by all females. When fate conspired against a woman, her pride was all that saved her, if she was to survive at all. And now Elly knew she must do whatever she could to protect both Madge and Dan, for, in a way, she was responsible for their troubles. If she and her father hadn't unwittingly revealed information to the wrong person, the press wouldn't even now be on their trail.

I
t was at dinner that night, in one of the castle's more intimate dining halls, that Elly finally met the royal family. She and her father had walked together from their rooms in a separate wing of the castle. They found Dan and Madge already there with a dozen other guests, standing with cocktails in hand. Elly accepted a glass of white wine from a steward, crossed the room to join them and introduced her father to mother and son.

“Who are all these other people?” Dan asked.

Frank looked around, then back to Dan. “Jacob's court, and his political, financial and cultural advisors. They're here to check you out and decide what to do about you.” He gave Dan a wry smile and lifted his glass in an ironic toast. “Not to put any pressure on you, my boy.”

Dan scanned the room warily. The muscles in his
neck stood out in taut relief above his shirt collar. “Why don't they come right out and say what they're thinking?”

“They don't know what to think yet,” Elly said softly. “You're a wild card. No one knows whether you'll threaten Jacob's rule, demand a fortune for yourself and your mother or just prove to be an embarrassment.”

“I already told you I don't want anything!” Dan snapped.

Elly wondered if he was really that irritated with the Elbians or just in a bad mood for any of a number of reasons—like being forced to fly halfway around the world at a few hours' notice. She turned to Madge, who was sipping delicately from a crystal stem. “What about you, Mrs. Eastwood? What do you want out of all this?”

“I want to go home,” she said solemnly, then closed her lips tightly and looked away.

Elly imagined the woman did miss the cozy safety of her little bungalow. The palace was intimidating with its hundreds of rooms full of priceless antique furnishings and exquisite art collections. It was like living in the Louvre. “Maybe you'll feel differently once you meet the king and queen,” she said encouragingly.

“They are gracious and fair people,” Frank put in.

Madge nodded her willingness to give them a chance, but she still looked uneasy.

Dan observed his mother with obvious concern. He looked no more convinced of the royal pair's good will than she did.

Elly wished she could think of a way to steer him toward a more receptive frame of mind for meeting his half brother. But before she could say anything else,
the immense gilded doors at the far end of the room swung wide. An attendant in full livery stepped through. He stood as straight and silent as one of the palace guards while conversation hushed and the roomful of guests turned to face him.

“Announcing Their Royal Highnesses, King Jacob von Austerand and Queen Allison…” There followed a long list of formal titles for the royal couple. Elly's heart beat in triple time, and a thrill rushed through her as Elbia's young rulers entered the room.

Jacob was strikingly handsome in a stoic way. He didn't appear to be the type of man to smile very often, but when he did, Elly imagined he'd light up any woman's heart. His hair was a glistening ebony, and his eyes flashed midnight blue.

As to his queen, Elly had never seen a more beautiful woman. The young American who had married Jacob wore her pale-blond hair coiled softly on top of her head, anchored with a crown that would never be mistaken for the rhinestone-studded ornaments worn by hometown beauty queens. White diamonds blazed upon gold in an intricate filigree pattern. Elly vaguely remembered TV news clips about the couple—how the young prince had caused constitutional upheaval in his little country when he had insisted on wedding a commoner, and an American on top of that. But somehow the two of them had weathered the political storm, and they seemed at peace in their marriage now.

Queen Allison smiled sweetly at her guests, lavishing attention on each person in the room as her fingertips rested lightly on the back of her husband's extended hand.

As Jacob and his queen crossed the room, the king's gaze swept impatiently across faces until they settled
on Dan's. A sharp questioning look blazed across his eyes but was quickly obscured by an official smile.

He stopped in front of the four of them—Elly, Frank, Dan and Madge. They performed the traditional bows and curtseys as they'd been instructed to do by the palace's protocol officer. Dan's bow, Elly noticed, was no more than a slight forward tilt of his body, and he wasn't smiling. The distrust between the two men was uncomfortably evident.

Elly's heart raced with apprehension as her father made the introductions.

“You had a pleasant journey?” Jacob asked politely.

Dan gave a stiff nod. “Uneventful.”

“I've been told you had company on your way to the airport,” Allison commented, her voice softly soothing. “I hope the reporters didn't frighten you, Mrs. Eastwood.” She looked with compassion toward Madge.

Dan spoke before his mother could answer. “A lot of commotion over nothing, if you ask me.”

“Really?” Jacob's perfect English was accented with harsh Germanic tones and clipped consonants. “You think that claiming a monarch as your father is a small thing then?”

Dan shifted his shoulders and met Jacob's hostile stare with equal intensity. “Look, Your Highness, less than forty-eight hours ago, I was taking my morning swim and planning my work day, oblivious to the existence of this postage stamp of a country. I didn't ask for this, and I'm not
claiming
anything. It's other people who are all in a lather about this situation, not me.”

Elly held her breath as Jacob studied his half brother through blue-black eyes that sparked with displeasure. All conversation in the room had ceased. She suspected
Jacob had the authority to do whatever he pleased within the confines of his little kingdom, and perhaps beyond it. A man with that much power could be dangerous.

The young king turned abruptly to Madge. “Is it true that you were my father's mistress?” Tact, apparently, was not one of Jacob's strong points.

Madge blushed, and her hand shook, spilling a little of her wine.

“Now hold on!” Dan barked, his face flaring red with anger.

The queen's hand moved almost imperceptibly up her husband's arm in a cautionary gesture. Jacob shot a quick look out of the corner of his eyes at her, and she lifted a brow.

“I'm sorry,” Jacob said awkwardly. “I'm being far too direct. It's just that we've all been turned on end by this discovery. My subjects worry about their ‘postage stamp of a country,' as you put it.” He shot Dan a cold look. “They need to be reassured that their government isn't in danger of—”

Dan laughed out loud. “What the hell do they think I'm going to do? Storm the castle?”

Jacob did not smile. “You can't possibly comprehend the seriousness of this situation.”

Dan bristled. “And I don't think you understand what your interference might do to
my
business! Not to mention to my mother's privacy.”

Elly shot a quick look at Madge, whose lips were compressed in a pale line. Allison's hand moved away from her husband's arm and she looked apologetically into Elly's eyes, as if to say,
I'm sorry. This is something I cannot interfere with.
Even Elly's father seemed
unwilling to risk intruding on the brothers' heated debate.

Sucking in a quick breath, Elly stepped between the two men. “Arguing isn't going to do any good,” she stated firmly.

They glowered over her head at each other, and she was struck again by the remarkable resemblance between the two men. Couldn't they see it for themselves? They shared a father's blood! Didn't that count for anything?

“Listen,” she tried again, “maybe a formal dinner isn't the place for this discussion. It seems to me that you're both saying the same thing—neither of you likes the situation. Your Highness,” she said turning to Jacob, “I don't know Daniel Eastwood that well. But it appears to me that he only wants to be left alone. He isn't looking for profit from these unexpected circumstances.”

Elly's gaze shifted to Dan. “Put yourself in Jacob's shoes. It's natural for this to be a difficult time for any family. But the von Austerands have a lot to lose if things aren't handled the right way.”

“What you mean by
the right way
is that you think the past should be hushed up. I'm not sure that's fair to everyone involved.” Dan glanced meaningfully toward his mother.

Madge shook her head nervously. “Please. I don't want a lot of fuss on my account.”

“Giving you the credit you're due for having raised a son on your own isn't making a fuss,” Frank said in a gentler version of his customary raspy voice.

“You act as if this is my or my mother's fault,” Dan growled, his face glowing with fury. He lunged forward, pushing Elly aside to get closer to Jacob.

Immediately, two burly bodyguards moved in from shadowy corners of the room. Jacob waved them off with a look of annoyance.

“Go on,” he said. “You might as well get if off your chest.”

Elly found herself holding her breath. She forced down a gulp of air and prayed the two of them wouldn't kill each other before the night was through.

Dan faced his brother, matching his aggressive hands-on-hips, chin-shot-up stance. “My mother didn't ask to be burdened with a baby. If there is blame, it should go to your father for deceiving a young girl and leaving her pregnant!”

“I'll thank you not to speak of my father with disrespect when he cannot be here to defend himself!” Jacob snapped.

“The fact that he's
dead
doesn't change what he did!” Dan insisted. “He took advantage of a young woman's innocence. No woman should feel compelled to bear a child she doesn't want.”

Elly's heart caught in her throat. Could he possibly realize how closely his statement echoed her own feelings?

Jacob's cold glare shifted subtly to a thin smile. “Interesting,” he murmured. “You are arguing against your own existence. But you
do
exist, Mr. Eastwood, and I venture to say that a man in your position, who feels as strongly as you do about a wrong done to someone he loves, will exact a punishment. I know I would.” The harsh gleam in Jacob's dark eyes left no doubt about that. “I would want retribution for my mother.
Tell me, sir, that you do not!
”

The tension in the room was as thick as a New England coastal fog. Elly reached out to touch Dan's arm
at the same moment Allison rested her fingertips on the king's clenched hand, raised threateningly before him.

“Please,” Elly said softly, “let's eat. We're all tired and hungry, and that can't improve our tempers. Later, you two can agree on a more private setting to discuss this.”

Allison gave her an appreciative blink of her blue eyes then stated with regal firmness, “I agree. We will have our dinner now, Jacob. Let's give reason a chance to prevail.”

 

Elly waited on pins and needles all the next morning, fearful that one of the brothers had surely murdered the other by then. Except there were those bodyguards, who likely wouldn't stand by while Dan decked Jacob. So she revised her imagination's view of events. Dan was either nursing serious wounds or was chained in the tower. Or both.

Despite its emotional beginning, the meal the previous night had been magnificent—seven courses of heaven. But Elly would have enjoyed it far more without the suffocating tension in the hall. Conversation was kept intentionally light. Nothing more important than plans for cross-country skiing or shopping trips were discussed. The evening ended with an invitation for Dan to meet with Jacob in his private office the following morning. No one else was asked to be present.

At a little after noon, a knock sounded on Elly's door. She dove for it and opened it to find Dan in an agitated state. “He wants me to sign
documents!
” he growled, rushing past her and into the bedchamber.

Elly scowled at him. “Documents? What kind?”

“Legal statements drawn up by his royal lawyers,
saying that I'm not related to him or his family in any way.”

She gasped. “But that's a lie!”

“Exactly. I told him I wouldn't do it.” Dan paced the room like a caged beast.

Elly thought for a moment. “I'm sure Jacob is just trying to find a way to outwit the press. That would be to both your advantages.”

“I know, but I can't do what my mother has done all of these years—deny the past.” He let out a long groan of exasperation. “Besides, the woman deserves something for all she went through because of that man.”

“You mean Karl, your father,” Elly said softly.

“My father!” He laughed wildly, shaking his head. “A pompous, spoiled aristocratic teenager, no doubt. Probably spawned dozens of little Karls all over Europe.”

“I don't believe so,” Elly said, coming to his side. She could feel his hurt, his anger, as if his emotion seeped into her pores from the air between them. But she sensed his turbulent state wasn't all on behalf of Madge. He himself must have felt betrayed. “I expect your father wanted very much to find you and your mother.”

He rounded on her, eyes ablaze. “Why? To bribe her to silence?”

“I don't think so,” Elly said slowly. “I've read the letters he wrote to her during the years after she left Paris, when he was trying to contact her. They are beautiful, tender love letters, begging her forgiveness, asking her to reveal to him where she had gone so that he could help her.”

“Then he knew of my existence?”

Elly hesitated. “We're not sure. He might have guessed. Madge didn't tell him why she was leaving him, other than to say that she'd discovered his true identity and knew they couldn't remain together.”

“The bastard broke her heart!” Dan snapped. As she looked up at him, a blue vein throbbed at his temple. His eyes were hot and glistening with tears he was too proud to shed.