Her Highness and the Highlander: A Princess Brides Romance (34 page)

He quirked a brow. “Offer
you
their hospitality, of that I’ve no doubt. As for me, well, I’ll reserve judgment
for the time being.”

She was about to answer when the coach rolled to a stop and pushed the comment from
her mind. The front door of the town house opened moments later and a pair of liveried
footmen moved down the steps toward them, the butler close behind.

Daniel regarded the entire procedure in silence. Rather than let the footman open
the coach door, he thrust it wide himself and stepped down.

He reached back a hand to help her to the ground.

The butler was waiting on the pavement below, his expression polite. “Good afternoon.
How may I be of service?”

She stared, torn between dismay and amusement when she realized that he did not recognize
her. Did she really look so very different? Given her plain cotton dress and the ordinary
post chaise in which she and Daniel had arrived, she supposed she must.

“Hello, Symms,” she said in a pleasant tone. “Pray be so good as to inform Their Highnesses
that I have arrived.”

It was the butler’s turn to stare, his eyes narrowing fractionally as he gave her
a closer look. Abruptly his eyebrows shot high and he straightened his back and shoulders
as if coming to attention. “Your Highness, forgive me for not knowing you immediately.
My sincerest apologies. We had no word…that is to say…you were expected a few days
ago but failed to arrive.”

Mercedes frowned. “Yes, I was quite unavoidably delayed.” She cast a glance up at
the town house. “They are at home, I trust?”

“Indeed. And may I say that Their Highnesses will be most pleased and relieved to
learn of your arrival?”

Symms gave Daniel a polite nod, then stepped back to allow them to precede him into
the house. The butler had just led them into the drawing room where they could wait
while he advised the archduke and archduchess of their arrival when a young, blond
woman rushed through the doors.

“Mercedes!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms wide, her elegant peach silk gown
flowing around her slim frame as she continued forward.

Mercedes turned. “Emma!”

Hurrying forward, she went into her friend’s gentle embrace, returning her fierce
hug with a gladness more intense than she had expected to feel. Suddenly the events
of the past couple of weeks welled up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her. She
trembled and fought to regain her composure; there would be time to fall apart later
when they had a few minutes to talk alone.

She had only just stepped away when another young woman came running through the door,
her lovely face alight with happiness.

Mercedes let out a little laugh. “Ariadne.”

Then she and her other friend were hugging as they shared an equally long, heartfelt
embrace. Only when Ariadne was satisfied did they break apart.

“Where on earth have you been?” Ariadne demanded, her green eyes flashing beneath
her delicate strawberry blond eyelashes. “We have all been beside ourselves with worry,
thinking the worst when your coach did not arrive as scheduled. Where have you been
all this time? What has happened and why did you not send word?”

“Goodness,” Mercedes said, “I am not sure which question to answer first. But I am
sorry to have worried you both. Believe me, it could not be helped.”

“Then please be so good as to explain.” Just then, Ariadne’s gaze moved deeper into
the room and settled on Daniel, where he stood some distance apart from the three
of them. “Heavens, who is that? Never say you’ve brought us a Scotsman? Although looking
at him, I can see why you decided to invite him along.”

Mercedes turned and met Daniel’s sardonic gaze, his expression unexpectedly reserved.
But why? Was he upset at being left on the periphery while she was reunited with her
friends? Or did he just dislike being discussed in the abstract? Ariadne really should
learn to keep her outrageous remarks to herself—at least when the object of her comments
was within hearing range.

Mercedes began to reach out a hand to him, intending to draw him forward so she could
make introductions, when more footfalls came at the doorway.

The first person to walk into the room was Emma’s husband, Nick Gregory, whom she
had gotten to know a few months earlier just before and after his and Emma’s engagement
and wedding. She still didn’t know him as well as she might like and looked forward
to renewing their acquaintance.

She had opened her mouth to greet him when she caught sight of someone behind him
whom she most definitely had not been expecting to see. Breath rushed out of her lungs.
“Papa.”

Daniel saw Mercedes’s hand fall to her side, her attention riveted on the man she
had clearly not been expecting to see.

So this was her father, Crown Prince Frederick of Alden, if he remembered his title
correctly.

The man certainly looked the part, tall and thickset through the shoulders and waist,
yet powerful nonetheless. On his features rode the easy confidence and natural arrogance
of someone born to great wealth and the certainty of rule. Physically he and Mercedes
were not much alike, although they shared the same thick sable hair, his now silver
at the forehead and temples. She must take after her mother, Daniel concluded. Except
for her eyes—she had her father’s eyes, deep-set, almond shaped, and luminously brown.
He decided he liked the way they looked on Mercedes far more than on her father.

He kept his place rather than moving to her side, grateful for his years of military
discipline. Otherwise he wasn’t certain he could have managed to remain still or silent.

As he watched she sank into a deep, elegant curtsey, her movements as graceful and
refined as if she were clothed in the finest silk court dress, white feathers in her
hair and jewels around her neck. Nothing she had said or done before had so impressed
him with the reality of her birth. Even dressed in ordinary cotton twill, she was
majestic.

A princess.

Then she straightened again.

The prince broke into a smile. “My child, it is so good to see you. I am so relieved
to find you well and safe. After the reports we had, we were worried, all of us deeply
concerned.” Striding forward, he took her into his arms and gave her a long, fatherly
embrace, which she returned with obvious affection. Still smiling, her father kissed
each of her cheeks, then released her again.

“It is good to be with you too, Papa,” she said. “I have so much to tell you. But
first, how is it that you are here? Did Mama travel with you as well?”

Prince Frederick gave a small chuckle. “Lord no, you know how your mother hates to
travel, especially by water. Just the mention of a sea crossing is enough to give
her palpitations.”

Mercedes nodded. “Well, she does get so dreadfully ill in ships.”

“A bathtub full of choppy water could send your mother running for the nearest basin.
But I should not tease since she cannot help her affliction. So no, to answer your
question, she remained behind in Alden. As for my presence, I had some business to
conduct here in England, so I thought what better way to fit in a bit of pleasure
than to escort my daughter home from school? Only I arrived here at the archduke and
archduchess’s home to discover that you had not. Where have you been? We had letters
from not one but two of the peers with whom it was planned you would stay on your
journey south, explaining that your party never arrived. It was as if you, your cousin,
and your attendants simply vanished. Where is Hesse, by the way? Has he been further
delayed?”

“No, he…You see, the coaches, they were—” Suddenly she broke off, shuddering visibly.

Daniel took a step forward, intending to comfort her, since he knew what she must
have been about to say. But her father put an arm around her instead and drew her
toward a nearby sofa.

Halting abruptly, Daniel stood with his fists clenched at his sides. As he did, he
noticed the strawberry blond young woman, whom he thought was called Ariadne, give
him a curious glance.

He ignored her and sought out Mercedes, who was sitting next to her father, her head
bent. They all listened as she began to tell her story—or at least the details she
could bring herself to repeat. Even now she clearly found it traumatic to relive the
events.

“So you hid from them and ran?” said her other friend, Emma. “Oh, you poor dear! However
did you manage?”

“I wouldn’t have if it had not been for Daniel,” Mercedes said, her gaze finally lifting
to meet his. “He is the one who saved me.”

All eyes suddenly fixed on him.

“And you, my good man, who are you?” the prince demanded from his place beside his
daughter.

Your son-in-law,
Daniel thought of replying, but decided that moment was not the time.

“Major Daniel James MacKinnon, Your Highness.”

“
Royal Highness,
” Mercedes corrected on a low murmur.

He shot her a hard look, then turned back to her father. “Your
Royal
Highness,” he repeated.

Her father said nothing for a long moment. “Have I to presume, Major, that you are
the one who escorted my daughter through Scotland all the way here to London?”

“Aye, sir, that is right. She was alone and in danger, so I offered to protect her.
In fact, during our journey south, we were set upon again by three men who tried to
kidnap your daughter. They did no’ succeed.”

“Well done, Major,” said the archduke, who sounded extremely British. “Highland Guard?
I recognize the uniform. Did you fight at Waterloo, by chance?”

“Aye. And yourself?” As Daniel well knew, there had been Prussian troops there for
the last battle, though this man hardly looked Prussian. He didn’t know about any
Rosewaldian officers.

“I captained a ship for His Majesty’s Royal Navy, so my fighting was done at sea.
I’m Lyndhurst, by the way. All this archduke business grows rather tedious at times.”

Was he English, then? Curious. He would have to find out more later. But Mercedes
was his priority at present.

He turned his gaze back to the crown prince. “I am not convinced that Mercedes is
out of danger even now. The brigands seemed most determined to acquire her, and despite
the one I killed and the two who were captured, there may be others at large.”

“Well,
Princess
Mercedes shall be well looked after now
that she is here with me. I have impeccable security, as does the archduke. These
others criminals will be found and dealt with. After all, they did slaughter my cousin,
along with the princess’s retinue. I will see them brought to justice.”

Executed, he meant. Under the circumstances, Daniel could not argue the point. They
were murderers and deserved to be put to death.

“I shall dispatch guards north to search for the remains of all these brave men who
came to my daughter’s aid,” the prince continued. “Their families deserve the chance
to give them a proper burial. Arrangements will be made for my cousin as well, who
will, of course, wish to find his last rest in his home country. He shall be afforded
every possible honor.”

The prince stood. “But enough of such sad talk, especially among the ladies. It would
seem, Major, that I am greatly in your debt for saving my daughter’s life. We shall
discuss a suitable reward at a later time.”

“There is no need, sir.”

But Mercedes’s father had dismissed him already.

“Come, my dear, you must be exhausted after your ordeal,” the prince said, reaching
down a hand to help Mercedes to her feet. “Let your friends take you upstairs so you
may rest and have a meal and begin to recover. We shall talk more on the morrow.”

Daniel waited, expecting her to refuse, assuming she would explain now about their
marriage and the fact that if she went upstairs with anyone, it would be with him,
her husband.

She cast a glance at him over her shoulder, a frown knitted between her dark brows,
but she did not speak.

“Yes, Mercedes,” Emma urged. “Come with Arie and me. I am sure you must long for a
bath and a fresh change of clothes. I’m having the yellow room prepared for you now.”

Again, Mercedes looked at him, her expression torn. But what was there to be torn
about? This was the time to speak.

And that’s when he realized she was not going to say a word.

The knowledge hit him like a fist, betrayal rolling through
him with a hurt he could not describe. It was everything he had feared and more.

He looked down at the fine Aubusson carpet beneath his booted feet, fighting the raw
emotions coursing through his veins. Was she regretting their union already? Was she
wondering even now why she had married a man who so clearly did not fit into her highborn
world? Worse, was she ashamed, so much so that she could not bring herself to admit
their union to the others?

He stood unmoving, his muscles rigid, his temper only barely in check. He wanted to
wrest her from her friends’ grasp and force her to admit the truth, make her confess
to her father and the rest of them that he was far more to her than a hired bodyguard,
but rather her husband and lover.