Seized by Love (19 page)

"When I return this
afternoon, we must keep your appointment at Madame Vevay's," Nikki
casually said, picking up his gloves. "She sent me a note yesterday,
informing me that several more of your dresses are ready for the final
fitting." Walking over, he clasped Alisa gently in his arms and kissed her
a tender au revoir. "Until this afternoon," he murmured.

He blew her another kiss as
he stood in the doorway. "Oh, one request, my sweet." Apprehension
gripped her. Vulnerable in her current position, she waited for that first move
of detachment. "Please, for the sake of the child," Nikki said,
"would you mind not smoking cigarettes? I know it's terribly fashionable,
but 1 have vague apprehensions of our child being born with soot on his face.
Do you mind?"

"That's all?"
Artless, her astonishment showed.

A brief puzzlement passed
over his face. "That's all I can think of," he replied. "Would
you, then?"

"Of course," she
murmured, still slightly stunned by his unruffled response to her disclosure.

"Thank you, my dear. I
stand relieved. Why don't you go back to bed and rest until I return. Aren't
enceinte
women supposed to be constantly fatigued?" He grinned.

And that was the end of
that.

Fortunately the
sight-seeing trips had been curtailed, since Aleksei's presence was now also
required at his regiment, for of late, Alisa's mornings were punctuated with
spells of nausea. Perhaps she
would
climb back into bed; Katelina
could have her lessons in the bedroom this morning.

After a light luncheon,
Nikki and Alisa arrived at Madame Vevay's. Nikki seated himself in his usual
comfortable sprawl, blue frock coat open, hands clasped across the middle of
his embroidered linen waistcoat, legs clad in light gray trousers outstretched
before him. He watched Madame Vevay slip dress after dress over Alisa's head,
make a variety of adjustments with pins and basting, clucking and chattering
all the while.

"Madame Forseus!"
she wailed after ripping out the bastings on the sixth dress in a row. "I
will never be able to finish these gowns. Every fitting requires further
adjustments. Madame is putting on weight!" she chided.

"Perhaps it's my
chef's incomparable menus, Madame

Vevay," Nikki softly
said. "I fear he's been outdoing himself since my cousin has been in
residence."

Madame Vevay stood back,
arms akimbo, and closely surveyed the blushing Alisa. With eyes narrowed, she
replied coyly, "Monsieur and Madame, if the chef
continues
to
outdo himself, perhaps I should put additional darts in the waistline which
could be taken out as needed."

"Excellent idea,
Madame Vevay," Nikki heartily responded. "Please do that on all the
remaining gowns and we'll cause no further delay in their construction. Is that
all right with you, my dear?" he asked Alisa politely.

"Yes, that will be
fine," Alisa answered faintly, wishing she could disappear into the floor
rather than continue being the object of Madame Vevay's comprehending
speculative gaze.

As they were driving back
home in the carriage, Alisa fretted over the humiliation of Madame Vevay's
shrewd scrutiny. "She knows. Did you see how she looked at me?"

Nikki took her hand in his.
"How can it matter if she knows or not?" he said with a negligent
shrug, squeezing her fingers lightly, soothing her dismay. "Don't give her
a second thought, love. I'll protect you from any more knowing looks if they bother
you. Motherhood is eminently natural, and one should never be ashamed of such a
state. However, if you're disturbed, I shall determinedly stare down or set to
anyone in the future who attempts to disconcert you. I confess"—his eyes
gleamed wickedly—"I've quite a notorious reputation in that regard. Should
we advance dinner by two hours today and allow Katelina to join us? Would you
like that?" he asked with unwonted cajolery, hoping to distract Alisa from
her wounded pride and rueful musings.

"Am I being
foolish?" she said with a small sigh.

He exhaled a sigh too,
wondering how much or how little to say. "Honestly?" he inquired.

"Of course,
honestly," she replied.

He was struck afresh by her
naivete
¹
; the world he knew was so different.

"Well, honestly, then,
darling, you can't give a damn what people say."

"I must learn that,
then."

"If you live with
me," he said with a grin, "it would be wise."

She took a moment to
consider, and then her smile appeared. "You must remind me at times."

"Good. Now, do we eat
early or not?" Uncomfortable with emotional issues, he preferred activity.
"And can we bring Katelina down from the nursery?"

"Oh, Nikki, that would
be lovely!" Alisa beamed.

"Let's talk to Pierre
when we return. He could concoct some suitable dish with which to surprise
Katelina."

"That's a marvelous
idea. She is inordinately fond of rice pudding and—"

"Strawberries and
cake," Nikki interposed obligingly.

"And also petits
fours…"

The rest of the journey
passed with the lovers holding hands and comparing notes on the dishes most
enjoyed by themselves as children.

It pleased him to please
her.

The following morning Alisa
and Katelina were in the study, working on Katelina's lessons, which had been
neglected during their round of sight-seeing, when a tall, erect, gray-haired
man abruptly walked into the sunlit room and treated them to a lowering scowl.

His glance altered
approvingly upon noting the fashionable elegance of Alisa's jonquil-yellow
morning dress which set off her trim form and red coiffure to perfection, and
determined with a practiced eye that it was not surprising that Nikki was
behaving so uncharacteristically. After seeing the dazzlingly lovely, well-bred
young woman, Prince Mikhail understood why Nikki had committed the indiscretion
of ensconcing his mistress in his own palace. Thank God she's a lady, he
observed, and quickly took in the young child at the woman's side.

"You must be
Alisa," the old Prince said bluntly.

Alisa rose in confusion,
immediately recognizing the unmistakable resemblance to Nikki, the same
imperious air of one born to command. She colored becomingly and bowed deeply,
her eyes demurely downcast. Katelina, with a glance from her mother, quickly
rose and bobbed a curtsey.

"Yes, Monsieur, I am,
and this is my daughter, Katelina."

"Nikki's newest
paramour, eh? Quite unlike him, you know, to settle for one woman. Had to come
myself and see what she was like," Nikki's father uttered with perfect
equanimity.

Alisa's emotions were
thrown into complete confusion, tumultuously rushing and tumbling one over the
other. Her first panic-stricken thought was to send Katelina from the room.

In great agitation she
whispered to her daughter, "Run along, dear, and find Rakeli. She'll take
you out in the garden."

As Katelina skipped out of
the room after a curious look at the formidable old man, Alisa drew herself as
erect as her slight frame would allow and, looking the old Prince directly in
the eye, said with asperity, "Have you had an edifying look, sir, for if
you have, perhaps you'll excuse me."

"Now, now, my child,
don't take issue at my bluntness. I'm just not one to stand on ceremony,"
Prince Mikhail said kindly, the heavy brows relaxing somewhat from their normal
severe expression. "Undeniably exquisite, Nikki's choice, if I do say so
myself," he continued with a faint smile. "Come now, I shan't eat
you. Do sit down. I'll ring for tea and sherry and we can become
acquainted."

Within minutes a flustered
servant brought in tea and sherry and set them on a low malachite table between
the two settees where Alisa and Prince Mikhail faced each other. The Prince
chatted with Alisa in his wonderfully open, relaxed way and entranced her quite
as easily as his son had. Nikki's unfailing charm was most decidedly inherited,
Alisa observed.

The prince, in turn,
studied Alisa, which was his reason for visiting the palace. After hearing the
first smatterings of rumor concerning Nikki's newest paramour, the old Prince
had immediately sent his barristers a message requesting a thorough
investigation of this new "cousin."

The malicious letter sent
by Countess Amalienborg had been unnecessary, as Prince Mikhail was never far
removed from the pulse of gossip, but appreciated by its recipient for reasons
not intended by its sender. Nikki had obviously renounced that slut after all
these years. This fact was a great relief to Mikhail Kuzan, who had been
fearful that perhaps in a rash moment some drunken night, Nikki might offer her
more than an affair, and while the old Prince would indulgently allow his only
child to commit almost every indiscretion, that one he would not have allowed.
Prince Mikhail had never intended to have Sophie Amalienborg for a
daughter-in-law.

Then the startling news
that Alisa was Valdemar For-seus's wife had required further inquiries in the
Vüpuri area. After three weeks the old Prince was fully informed and in control
of an entire dossier on Alisa, her parents, the marriage to Forseus (which in
itself raised a few questions), and her new "friendship" with his
son, Nikki. He kept this information to himself as he drew the young lady
gently into conversation, wanting to discover for himself just what sort of
woman his son was enamored of. And enamored Nikki certainly was, to have her
openly living in his palace, plus, the old Prince understood with astonishment,
deserting the gaming tables and keeping himself home every night.

"Tell me about your
daughter," he said pleasantly when they'd explored the subject of
Petersburg's museums and architecture. And Alisa went on in the doting way of
mothers, describing her precocious daughter with obvious pleasure.

After beholding this
striking beauty before him, in the course of their conversation, Nikki's
extremely curious behavior was no longer baffling, Mikhail Kuzan reflected
wryly. You had to give the boy credit for good sense. If Nikki was becoming
serious about a woman after all these years of casual
amours,
he
couldn't have selected a more delightful creature. Alisa's marital state was of
little importance to Mikhail Kuzan. His thorough investigation had revealed the
magnitude and frequency of Forseus's debauchery and his abuse of his young
wife. Although Prince Mikhail was not unfamiliar with brutality in human
behavior, Forseus had turned out to be a master of the craft and he felt no compunction
to restore this young girl to that beast. A discreet word from the Emperor and
the problem of divorce would be resolved.

The Prince sipped steadily
on the sherry, emptying half the bottle in the course of their conversation.
Soon they were getting along famously and Alisa had lost some of her awe and
shyness. Alisa drank her sherry slowly, and after having her glass filled the
second time began feeling nauseated. Her color waned and a thin film of
perspiration broke out on her forehead and upper lip. After gallantly
attempting to control the waves of sickness for several minutes, Alisa,
desperate that she would embarrass herself in front of

Nikki's father, asked in a
faint voice if she could be excused and rose carefully from her seat opposite
the Prince.

After observing his wife
through five pregnancies, the prince was well aware of the obvious symptoms of
an unsettled stomach in the morning.

"Of course, my dear,
you're excused. By the bye, when are you in the way of making my son a
father?" he calmly inquired.

The shock of his knowledge
eclipsed the nausea by sheer horror, and Alisa sat down heavily.

"How did you know,
sir?" she whispered, fearful Madame Vevay's tongue had run wild so
rapidly.

"I've held my wife's
hand through five pregnancies, my dear, so I am well acquainted with that
greenish look around the gills. The marked pallor of your complexion so early
in the morning, coupled with your proximity to my son these few weeks past,
prompted me to make a calculated guess as to the inevitable consequences,"
he said dryly. "Prince Nikolai's amatory exploits are rarely attended by
any prudence. It was to be expected," he said gently.

"Now, my dear, do you
want him?" the old Prince asked flatly in his oddly abrupt conversational
manner.

She seemed to ponder her
reply. "It's very complicated, sir. There are several reasons—"

"You want him,"
he broke in quietly.

"You are very astute,
Monsieur."

"I have that
reputation," he concurred.

"Yes, I'm afraid I
do," Alisa sighed softly, then quickly rushing on in explanation.
"But never, sir, if he does not want me." She continued in a subdued
voice. "Having lived through one disastrous marriage, I would never wish
that on anyone. It's much too terrible."

"Spoken very
forthrightly. I like that. Very well, my young lady, you shall have him,"
Mikhail Kuzan declared with decisive, unruffled composure, with the usual Kuzan
insensitivity to the delicate shades of human relationships. If Nikki couldn't
find this charming, delightful, unutterably beautiful young woman compatible,
he obviously had no sense, and it was up to his father to mend his stupidity.
The old gentleman surveyed her with distinct admiration.