The Secret Prince (9 page)

“Probably. I can manage a decent doggie paddle,” she admitted, “and a slow crawl. I took summer swimming classes at the Y when I was a teenager.”

“Let's go then.” He started out slowly, giving her time to get used to the feel of the water around her body, then he let her set the pace. She had a nice, compact stroke, although he suspected she'd tire quickly, not being used to swimming any distance or often. He liked the way she seemed to feel comfortable in the water, turning her face into it for two good strokes before swiveling her head to the right for a breath.

They reversed direction and came back to where they had started. When she stood up, Elly looked toward the woods.

“Still worried about Peeping Toms?” he teased.

“I thought I saw something move near those trees.”

Dan looked but could see nothing. He came behind her, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick, reassuring hug. When she lifted her head he gave her a light kiss on the lips over her shoulder, then quickly backed off. “More likely a deer or a fox than a person,” he said, “this time of year.”

She nodded and blew out a soft breath. “It's amazing. I'm not the least bit cold, even though it's winter. But I am starving.”

“Let's eat then.”

Out of the water they pulled on their coats then sat on the mossy bank. The sun was warm and Elly felt
strangely at ease, sitting with Dan wearing only underclothes beneath their jackets, eating thick country sandwiches of Emmentaler cheese, spicy bratwurst sausage and mustard, nibbling on pickles and washing it all down with white wine Dan had uncorked for them. It seemed Cook had thought of everything.

As she finished her sandwich and brushed the crumbs from her fingers and lap she couldn't help laughing softly to herself. Dan turned to look at her. “What?”

“I feel like a high-school kid, sneaking out for a secret date with a boy.”

“Skinny dipped at the beach with the boys, did you?” He was grinning and she accommodated him by blushing.

“No. I was boringly shy, I'm afraid. It's taken me this long to pull a stunt like this.”

“But you still drew the line,” he said, tipping his head in the direction of her modest beige bra and panties, peeking out from beneath her coat.

“The remainders of my conservative youth.” She shook her head and smiled but couldn't help letting her eyes shift to the opening of his jacket and the well-defined shape within Dan's briefs.

His body in the water that day had been just as breathtaking as on that first day she'd seen him. Above the low line of his navy-blue briefs his stomach was hard and flat. A reddish brown smattering of hair rose across it and patterned out wider and darker to almost black across his muscled chest. His shoulders were beautifully formed—sleek, muscled, shaped by hundreds of strokes along the Haven's beach.

She suddenly wanted him to lie down over her, to press his muscled torso over her breasts and hips and
let her feel all of him. She wanted this desperately, and with an urgency that felt overpowering. And she wondered where this passion had sprung from when she'd already decided they would never make love.

Yes, she'd been attracted to him from the start, but it had been the kind of attraction she had been able to control. Or maybe it was only that Dan
allowed
her that sense of control. Perhaps the feelings she felt now were a result of sharing their daring escape plan and successfully pulling it off. They were conspirators! Stripping down to swim together and dining on the pebbly beach, laughing at the foolish press they'd so easily tricked…it was all part of a game they'd created. Like naughty children. It was innocent fun.

Or was it? she wondered. Despite their intent to remain just friends, a fragile intimacy had intruded. She was increasingly aware of their provocative state of undress, and of the tempting impulses passing between them.

“I wonder how often we could do it?” Dan mused aloud.

Elly's eyes flew wide open and she stared at him. “Do
what?
” He couldn't be saying what she was thinking.

“Perform our vanishing act.”

“Oh, I don't know.” She laughed nervously and started to pack sandwich wrappers and leftover pickles back into the string bag. “I suppose they'd catch on after a while.”

“We could do this again tomorrow,” he suggested. “It's a whole lot better than being cooped up inside the palace, waiting for Jacob and his advisors to come up with their next strategy for dealing with me.” He hesitated, then scowled into the distance. “You don't
think they'd do anything as drastic as they did in the old days?”

“The old days?”

“Well, in medieval times if you had a rival for the throne, you got rid of him. Classic solution—lock him away. Or poison the poor guy, or just order him killed in his sleep.”

Elly laughed, throwing back her head. “You do have a wild imagination. Jacob may come off pretty strong sometimes, but I don't think he'd stoop to murdering his own brother, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Hold it right there,” Dan said, staring intently at her exposed throat.

She froze, thinking he meant to brush a wandering bug from her skin. Instead he leaned across and touched his lips to the sensitive sweep of flesh beneath her chin.

“I've been wanting to do that all day,” he said in a low voice that sent ripples of heat through her. Then he pulled back and sat tensely, looking away.

She was trembling. She was adrift. Why, she asked herself, was she denying herself this wonderful man's companionship? Because of an irrational fear or a real danger to her life? She wished there was someone…anyone she could talk to who would understand and help her sort out her life.

A mother,
she thought sadly. That was who she needed so very badly right now. Her own mother. She would have had the answers. She would have explained why a woman puts her life in a man's hands whenever she enters into intimacy with him. Trust between two people, it was such a fragile thing.

In the distance, an almost indistinguishable sound
shattered her thoughts. She looked up and around. “What was that?”

“I didn't hear anything.” Dan leaned toward her as if he was going to kiss her again.

She braced an outstretched palm between them, holding him away so that she could listen. There it was again—a soft growl, as if from a small irritated terrier. She narrowed her eyes and studied the nearby woods, but could see nothing. When the sound came again, it seemed to be coming from the other side of the lake.

“I heard it that time,” Dan said. “Could be an animal upset that we've intruded on its home.”

Elly nodded. Perhaps. “We should leave,” she said. Something told her that whatever had made the strange sound wasn't as harmless as your garden-variety squirrel or groundhog. Anything larger, and she didn't want to meet it.

 

The next morning Dan awoke to an angry pounding on his door. He squinted at the travel alarm beside his bed and groaned when he saw that it wasn't yet 8:00 a.m. Since there had been no urgency in rising while staying at the castle, he'd grown accustomed to sleeping in. Later that day, with or without Elly, he'd promised himself another excursion to the lake. His mood felt so much improved over the days before.

“Come in,” he growled, tugging on the bedclothes to cover his naked hips.

“Get up and get dressed!” a voice ordered smartly.

He scowled as Elly bounded across the chamber, tossing a newspaper onto a chair. She flung open the doors to the armoire on the far side of the room. “And put something decent on. Jacob's in a snit and we're in deep trouble.”

“He is? We are?” He sat up in bed trying to make sense of her words. “What's happened now?”

“I found out what that growling noise at the lake was yesterday.”

Now he was intrigued. “Yes?”

“You know the sound a thirty-five-millimeter camera makes when it auto-winds?”

The flesh at the back of his neck prickled. “Someone was taking pictures of us at the lake.”

“Right.” She tossed a pair of khaki pants and a blue oxford shirt onto the bed. “Where is your underwear?”

“I'll take care of my own underwear, thank you.” He flung off the covers and she hastily averted her eyes. He would have found the gesture amusing if he wasn't so damn furious. Grabbing the sheet off the bed, he wrapped it around his waist. “How do you know that's what it was?”

“Because of this.” She picked up the newspaper she'd brought into the room and pitched it at him. It was a British tabloid. He unfolded it. A full third of the front page displayed a grainy photo of Elly and himself standing in the water. It had been taken at the exact moment he'd given her that companionable peck on the lips. The caption read: The Prince and his Playmate (details, page 3).

“Good grief, how did a photographer get close enough to—”

“Telephoto lens, no doubt,” Elly muttered. “He must have either followed us from the castle without our seeing him or he just happened on us then took up a position on the far shore of the lake. You can tell by the angle.”

“I see.” He handed her the paper with a sinking feeling in his gut. From a drawer he pulled out a clean
T-shirt and briefs, then took his clothes into the bathroom. “So I take it His Highness has seen that paper.”

“Yup, and he's furious.”

Dan finished buttoning his shirt, tucked in the tails and ran his belt through the loops as he strode back into the bedchamber. “What are we supposed to do about it?”

“I'm not sure, but I expect the first move in such situations is called Facing the Music.”

 

Elly held herself rigidly and let Jacob's outraged words sweep over her. Then she repeated what she'd already told him once before that morning. “No matter how it looks, nothing happened. Besides, it wasn't our fault. We were careful. We just didn't know anyone was there.”

But one fact remained, and Elly knew it. By deliberately disobeying Jacob's orders that they remain on the grounds, they had given the press a fresh supply of gossip to weave into all sorts of shocking stories.

“Careful?” Jacob fumed. He thrust two more newspapers across the table at them.

The German journalists were even more inventive than the English. And the French press was having a field day with what they had billed as
le scandale royal.
A photo showed Dan and Elly sitting on the beach, eating their lunch. Beneath the photo, which had obviously been altered, was an easily translatable French subtitle: Unidentified Lover of the New Prince Bares It All. The photo had been touched up, removing the bra Elly had never taken off and supplying her with another woman's breasts.

Dan watched Elly go stone-white as she stared in horror at the photo. Tears trembled at the corners of
her eyes. He felt awful for her. This was so much worse for her than for him. “This is a blatant invasion of privacy!” he growled. “Can't anything be done?”

“You took it upon yourselves to disrobe in a public place.” Jacob glared at him accusingly. “If the photographer had broken into the castle that would be another thing.”

“But I told you, we weren't
doing
anything,” Elly said weakly, looking at Allison who had just entered the room. “We just went for a swim, decently covered, then ate lunch on the beach.”

Allison shook her head in sympathy. But before she could speak her husband jumped in. “The point is, it doesn't appear to the observer that all was innocent. Even if the photographer altered the print, the fact remains…the two of your were frolicking in a secluded lake with next to nothing on!”

“Oh, don't be a prude, dear,” Allison said with a sigh, shocking Elly with her casual tone. “You remember what being in love was like.” She gave her husband a secretive look. Elly suspected the royal couple was still very much in love from the responding glimmer of a smile from Jacob. “Besides, you can't honestly expect everyone to remain shut up in the palace indefinitely. That's no solution.”

“With a little more time, everything would have settled down,” Jacob grumbled.

“With a little more time, the paparazzi would have dug up more stories about your father's playboy years,” Dan snapped. “I don't see what good is being done by our being here at all.”

The two men glared at each other.

The gulf between the two brothers was clearly widening. Elly wished there was something she could do to help them work together, but she feared it was already too late for that.

E
lly hid her deepest and most personal rage and humiliation from Dan. She had decided before she told him about the newspaper photos that her reaction was crucial to his. If she let him know how hurt she'd been, that would only make him all the angrier. And right now the only thing that would save them all was clear thinking.

But she couldn't totally ignore her own fears: her fear that her father's business, and therefore he himself, would be irreparably damaged by the new scandal she and Dan had unwittingly instigated, and then there was her fear for her own future. She no longer believed she could remain alone all of her life. Yet the thought of being with other men, men who didn't want a family, felt far less appealing than spending long, loving days with Dan, whose warmth, generosity and passion came so naturally to him. She longed to play a role in his
life, but couldn't begin to figure out how. Then there was the worry, eating away at her, that by bringing Dan to Elbia she hadn't brought two brothers together, she had started a war. And she now had escalated that war by sneaking off with Dan against his brother's orders.

The day after word of their woodland tryst broke, the royal press secretary delivered copies of newspapers from a dozen countries, including the U.S., to the dining room. Although most were the sleazy, gossip rags that harassed movie stars and politicians, a few respected publications showed the same embarrassing photographs on inside pages. The articles were short, sketchy and less accusatory. Still, she felt nauseated seeing herself and Dan in such intimate poses, for all the world to view. And it wasn't as if they'd done anything wrong! she kept reminding herself. She'd been discreet, revealing no more than a modest bathing suit would, and they'd shared no more than a kiss.

Elly sighed and stopped walking on her way back from the empty dining room where she'd had just juice and a bagel for a late breakfast. She looked out a window into the garden. Madge and Frank were sitting on a stone bench in a sunny spot, looking cozy in their warm jackets. Madge took a photograph from her coat pocket and showed it to him. He smiled and nodded, and seemed to be commenting on it. She assumed it was a picture of Dan as a child. One proud parent sharing memories with another. That was nice. At least two people in this castle were getting along, she thought ruefully.

The sound of voices came to Elly from the end of the long hallway hung with rich tapestries. Elly looked up to see Allison heading her way, little Prince Cray holding her hand, a nurse carrying baby Kristina. Elly
smiled at the little group. What a joy to have two little ones as beautiful and cheerful as these two. What she wouldn't give to be brave enough to…

She cut off the thought…the wish…the dream that could never be.

Elly put on a smile for the children. “Well, hello! How are you two doing today?”

“Great!” Cray chirped. “I talked on the terrorphone.”

Elly laughed. “You mean, the
telephone.
”

“Actually, he can be a bit of a terror on the phone,” Allison said with a sigh. “When it rings in the nursery, he races us for it and wants to do all the talking himself.” She patted her son affectionately on the head. “We're heading back to the nursery. Would you like to come along?”

Elly involuntarily tightened inside. But she couldn't resist. “I'd like that. May I?” she asked, offering to take the baby.

Kristina held out her pudgy little arms and gurgled at her. The nurse handed her over.

“She's so beautiful.” Elly stroked the tiny, soft head and its blond curls.

“We think so,” Allison murmured, love shining in her eyes. She tousled her son's hair, so as not to leave him out, and he grinned mischievously up at her. Then Allison turned to Elly with a different expression entirely. “I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time with the press. It isn't fair that your privacy should be invaded this way. Dan seems like a nice man too. It can't be easy for him.”

“It's not,” Elly said solemnly. “He must feel so very helpless, and he's a man used to action. You
know, seeing a problem then doing something to resolve it. This time his hands are tied.”

“Dealing with the public through a voracious press has been the hardest thing for me to adjust to,” Allison admitted. “I've only been in Elbia and married to Jacob for less than two years, you see. Before then, the only contact I had with a newspaper was writing announcements for children's story hours at the library in the community events column.”

Elly didn't want to say that she was aware the birth of their son had preceded the couple's marriage, but the lovely American's marriage to the bachelor prince of Elbia had been a lead story in newspapers and magazines everywhere. Their wedding had been the focus of TV and radio talk shows, and the ceremony itself had been telecast by satellite all over the world. Now that she had met Allison in person, she wondered how this woman, no older than herself, had survived those unbelievably stressful days.

But now Allison seemed both content with her surroundings and comfortable with her role as Jacob's queen. Elly noticed that the staff, though respectful of her, never seemed nervous around or fearful of their mistress. Allison never ordered them about but quietly asked for their help when she needed it and always thanked them afterwards. There was no question that their queen was beloved by her subjects.

“How do you live with the prying and lack of privacy, day in and day out?” Elly asked. “I think I'd go mad.”

“It's not often this bad,” Allison admitted as they continued walking. “Usually, we're very open with the journalists, and they respect the times we ask to be left alone. It's only when we travel that things sometimes
get a little rough.” She reached out to touch her daughter's cheek in a protective gesture.

“How much longer will my swimming escapade prolong their interest?”

Allison smiled at her. “Good grief, it's not as if you were totally nude, skinny dipping with the entire football squad!” She laughed merrily, making light of the situation, and Elly instantly felt better. “Oh, who can say. A couple of weeks? Maybe longer, it depends. Sad to say, if there were a terrible disaster somewhere in the world or a popular celebrity died, most of them would rush off to cover the new story and forget all about you.”

“I don't know if anyone can stand another two weeks shut up here. It's so unfair to the rest of you, suffering for my mistake.”

Allison shrugged. “We'll make do. Have you seen Dan today? How is he taking things now? Any calmer?”

“I haven't dared search him out.” Elly shook her head. “Last I saw him, he was brooding and looking unapproachable.”

“Typical male.”

Elly grinned. “A lot like his brother, is he?”

“Mirror image. It's spooky when I watch them together. If they could only accept each other and work together.”

“That's just what I've been thinking,” Elly admitted. “But it may be hopeless.”

“Give them time,” Allison advised. “They have a lot to work out.”

Elly knew that was true. Just as she and Dan had a lot to resolve, which was something she'd been trying desperately to ignore. Emotions left unspoken, feelings
too fragile to put into words, hopes that might come crashing down and shatter at the mere whisper of the truth.

She tucked her thoughts away within her heart, not yet ready to admit to them. After all, there was a good chance Dan would never speak to her again after this latest incident.

 

Two days earlier, Dan had been so angry he didn't dare stay in the same room with anyone. He checked on Madge in her room and apologized for embarrassing her.

She had seemed more amused than upset by the photos, as if relieved that the spotlight had shifted away from her indiscretions and had now turned to the younger generation's.

“It won't happen again,” he assured her.

She didn't comment on that. “Elizabeth seems a very nice girl,” she said. “I didn't like her very much at first, but I suppose she was just doing her job.”

He blinked at his mother. Was this her way of saying she
approved
of Elly? He left without asking for clarification. Too much was already on his mind. Too many decisions had to be made, and quickly.

On the third day, he woke up with a clear head and a few ideas. He dressed and, before he'd had breakfast, found his way to the press secretary's office and asked for the morning's newspapers. They were just as he suspected they'd be. Each still carried a risqué photo of him and Elly, some from slightly different angles, as if the photographer had moved along the bank of the lake, snapping away. The captions were more outrageous than ever and featured stories to match. He
asked to borrow the papers for a short while and marched off with them wedged under one arm.

It was only eight o'clock, but he knocked firmly on Elly's door and when he heard a sleepy, “Come in,” he let himself in.

“Oh,” she said, “I was hoping it was one of Allison's marvelous clairvoyant servants with coffee.”

“Coffee can wait,” he said briskly and tossed the stack of papers down on her bed.

She gazed at them dejectedly, turning a shade paler. “I don't think I can stomach any more of this.”

“Look at them,” he ordered.

She scowled. “This is cruel and unusual punishment, particularly this early in the morning. Besides, you're the one who suggested we go for a swim. In fact, if it wasn't for me, we'd have both been caught on film for posterity with—”

“With our posteriors showing, I know. But look at the damn papers.”

She groaned. “You are an impossible man.”

“I know.” He grinned at her. “Now pay attention, I'm going to quiz you in a minute.”

Elly sat up in bed and pulled the stack of newsprint into her lap. Today the photos seemed a little smaller, taking up space on inside rather than front pages. Apparently, shots of less clarity had been saved to be run later. Anyone looking at the pictures would assume from the attitudes and nearness of the man and woman in the photo that they were lovers. Even at a distance, the way she and Dan were looking at each other revealed an intimate connection and a longing that, for all the viewer knew, might have been satisfied moments after the picture had been shot.

“What do you see?” Dan asked her.

“Good grief, need you ask?”

“What do you see?” he repeated.

“Two lovers,” she groaned.

“Maybe, but look at the caption.”

She grimaced but read it aloud. “The Secret Prince and His Mysterious Lover.”

“And the story?”

“Do I have to?” Elly wailed.

“Read the first three paragraphs of this one.” He pushed a New York daily at her.

She read to herself then looked up at him. “It's total fantasy. Ludicrous. They have no idea what they're talking about. This part about your challenging Jacob for the throne is complete—”

“Rubbish, I know.” He sat on the bed beside her. “And so are the stories in the Chicago
Journal
and the LA
News
and the London
Express.
In every single paper, reporters are trying to weave stories from rumors. They have no facts upon which to base their speculations.”

“Good!” She shoved the noxious tabloids off her lap.

“No,” he said slowly, “not good. Not yet.” He gave her a devilish grin.

She frowned at him. “You're scaring me. The last scheme that warped mind of yours cooked up got us into worse trouble!”

He ignored her concern. “I was awake most of the night thinking about this mess. And it occurred to me that we're tackling the problem all wrong. Hiding out only makes my presence more intriguing. And covering up the facts of my mother's liaison with Karl only makes the story seem more lurid and mysterious than it really is. And people love mysteries.”

“Almost as much as they love gossip about the rich,” Elly said.

“Right. So it's my theory that Jacob should hold a press conference. Go public with everything we know, as soon as possible. Let them take pictures of all of us and ask whatever questions they feel like asking. Get it all out into the air.”

“And what about us? What about those pictures of you and me in compromising non-attire?”

“The truth, again.”

Elly looked doubtful. And in a way he was lying to her on this one count, because he wasn't going to tell the world that what they saw in those photos was exactly what he had been feeling. He had wanted to make passionate love to Elly. He had wanted to strip off that dripping bra and tear away her nearly useless panties and see all of her and have all of her. The pictures hadn't lied about what was in his heart, although they had misrepresented what they'd eventually not done.

“The truth is,” he continued, “we were feeling stir crazy after being trapped inside the castle for days and decided to break out and go for a walk. The swimming was on a whim, and the kiss was between friends and never went any further than that. They can believe it or not. The key is, after things ease up and Jacob and I work out our relationship, which could be just a matter of a few days, I'll be returning to Maryland and you'll be going your own way. Then no one will have anything to whisper about.”

Elly looked at him, wide-eyed, as if turning his words over in her mind. “That's true,” she murmured, tossing back the bedclothes and standing up beside the bed. “It will be over.” She sounded more than a little
sad at the thought, but he couldn't be sure that he wasn't reading his own feelings into her words.

“So what do you say we take my plan to Jacob?” he asked.

She shook her head and paced away from him. “He flew to Vienna yesterday…some sort of economic meeting with heads of state from a handful of other European countries. But I think he's supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon.”