To Charm a Prince (23 page)

Duke Magnus sat at the head of the table. On his left were Aunt Roxie, Grant, and Victoria. Samantha, Drake, and Rudolf sat on the opposite side.

“Angelica sent Mrs. Sweeting to help with the children,” Aunt Roxie told her. “She’s unpacking her bags now.”

“Have you met Mrs. Sweeting?” Samantha asked the boys. When they nodded, she told them, “Sweeting was my nanny when I was a very little girl.”

“Well, that explains why she’s so old,” Grant said, making everyone smile. He glanced at the duchess and added, “You won’t believe this, but we didn’t have table manners before.”

“Is that so?” her aunt remarked.

“Lady Samantha gave them to us,” Drake announced, “She taught us reading, too.”

“His Highness taught us numbers,” Grant told them.

“How did you meet the prince and my niece?” Aunt Roxie asked the ten-year-old.

“The boys were bent on highway robbery,” Rudolf answered, laughter lurking in his voice. “Thinking we had struck the dog, we stopped the coach. The next thing we knew, the boys had materialized from nowhere and pointed pistols at us.”

Samantha watched the prince as he spoke. He was so heartbreakingly handsome. She yearned for his love, and then she dropped her gaze to his hand on the stem of the goblet. Remembering his hands touching her body, she yearned for something else.

“Isn’t that right, Princess?” Rudolf was saying.

Samantha snapped her gaze to his face. She felt the heated blush staining her cheeks and wondered if his smile meant he knew her thoughts. “I beg your pardon?”

“Giles pretended to be injured.”

Samantha dropped her gaze to his mouth as he spoke. She recalled where his lips had touched, and her breath came in shallow gasps.

“Darling, are you ill?” her aunt asked.

Samantha shifted her gaze from the prince to her aunt. “I beg your pardon?”

“You are behaving strangely tonight,” Aunt Roxie remarked. “Are you ill?”

“People in love always act like that,” Grant told the duchess.

“Lady Samantha loves His Highness,” Drake added. “That’s why she stares at him.”

Samantha suffered the almost overpowering urge to crawl beneath the table. She heard her sister giggling, the duke coughing, and her aunt’s murmured, “Is that so?” The prince’s reaction escaped her. She absolutely refused to look at him.

What could she do but sit there and blush in silence? She couldn’t protest and announce that she didn’t love her betrothed, the father of her unborn child. That would be too insulting to him. On the other hand, Rudolf didn’t love her and hadn’t wanted to marry. Her pregnancy had trapped them into a union.

Samantha did the only thing she could do. She changed the topic of conversation. “Prince Rudolf’s daughter will be arriving in a few days,” she told the boys. “I do hope you will be kind to Princess Zara and include her in your games.”

“I’ll play with her,” Drake said. “I like girls.”

“I like them, too,” Grant added, “but they’re stupid.”

“Why do you believe girls are stupid?” Aunt Roxie asked.

“Girls weep all the time,” Grant answered. “Lady Samantha weeps whether she’s happy or sad.”

Again, Samantha felt a blush rising on her cheeks. She peeked at the prince. He was smiling at her.

“Do you mean that Lady Samantha is stupid?” the duchess asked.

Grant nodded. “Yes.”

“We love her anyway,” Drake said.

“I’m glad I’m not His Highness,” Grant said in a loud whisper, leaning close to the duchess. “It’s his job to make her smile whenever she weeps.”

“How does he do that?” Aunt Roxie asked.

“We don’t know,” Drake told her. “He takes her into the bedroom.”

Everyone, including Prince Rudolf, laughed at that. Only Samantha remained silent. The joke was on her. She was about to become betrothed to a man who didn’t love or want to marry her.

When dinner ended, they walked upstairs to the duke’s office. On her way down, Mrs. Sweeting met them in the corridor and took the boys to their chamber. Intending to get her cloak, Victoria went with the boys.

Inside the duke’s study, Samantha sat down in the chair in front of the desk. Her aunt sat down beside her.

“Your Highness, would you like to read this first?” Duke Magnus asked, handing him the contract.

Samantha watched the prince give the document a quick perusal and then sign. As her guardian, the duke signed and then handed her the document.

Wetting her lips gone dry from nervousness, Samantha began reading the document in order to delay signing. Once she’d affixed her name to the contract, she doubted she would ever be able to break it.

“Sign it, Princess,” Rudolf said, standing beside her. “No matter what it says, you are pregnant and have no choice.”

Without acknowledging his words, Samantha lifted the quill from his hands and signed the contract. Now she was well and truly trapped. She watched the duke and the prince shake hands. No one bothered to shake her hand.

“Your Highness, would you care to say good night to Grant and Drake?” Samantha asked, rising from her chair.

Instead of answering, Rudolf reached into his pocket and produced a tiny, velvet-covered box. He opened it, removed a diamond ring, and placed it on the third finger of her left hand, saying, “Diamonds are priceless gems, and so are you.”

Samantha heard her aunt sighing. She looked up at the prince and said in a soft voice, “Thank you for the thought and the ring.”

In silence, Rudolf and Samantha climbed the stairs to the third floor. She was pregnant with the prince’s child but didn’t know how to make conversation with him. She hadn’t had this problem in Scotland. Perhaps, he had no wish to converse with her.

If only he loved me . . . If only he had wanted to marry me . . . If only I didn’t limp.

Why was her life filled with
if-onlys
? No contentment was possible with
if-only
.

“Thank God for a blessing,” Samantha said, entering the boys’ chamber. Grant spoke first. “Thank You for Lady Samantha and His Highness. Oh, and thank You for Mrs. Sweeting.” Then he elbowed his brother.

“Thank You, Lord, for not serving me oyster soup,” Drake said.

Samantha bit her lips to keep from laughing. She glanced at the prince, who was smiling. Both kissed the boys good night and left the chamber.

“Which chamber is yours?” Rudolf asked in the corridor.

Samantha pointed to the chamber at the end of the corridor. Surprising her, Rudolf reached for her hand and escorted her to her chamber.

“Which chamber is yours?” Samantha asked.

Rudolf grinned like a boy caught in a prank. “I have the next chamber,” he answered. “I insisted on it.”

As he started to turn away, Samantha said, “May I ask you a question?”

Rudolf inclined his head.

“Will you become angry?”

“That depends on the question.”

“Why have you changed?” Samantha asked, hating the pleading note she heard in her own voice. When the prince gave her a puzzled smile, she realized he had no idea what she meant.

“You are not the man I knew in Scotland,” Samantha told him, trying to explain without insulting him.

Rudolf cocked a dark brow at her. “Who am I?”

“I wouldn’t wish to say.”

Rudolf lifted her chin, and when she raised her gaze to his, he told her, “I am as I always was.”

“You are behaving differently,” Samantha said, shaking her head. “Your mood—”

“Any man forced by pregnancy into an unwanted marriage would suffer a passing mood,” Rudolf interrupted her.

His words broke her heart, but Samantha masked her pain with a placid expression. “Why are you trying to keep me a prisoner in this house?”

“I have learned to guard what is mine when Vladimir is close,” Rudolf said. “As my intended wife and the mother of my child, you belong to me.”

Samantha balked at his words. “I belong to myself. I am not property.”

“According to the law, a wife and children are the man’s property,” Rudolf informed her. “He can do whatever he wants with them. Within reason, of course.”

“Your Highness, we are not standing in Russia,” Samantha informed him in a lofty tone. “This is England—”

“The laws to which I refer are English.”

Samantha was startled. She’d had no idea that her homeland considered her some man’s prospective property. Of course, since her deceased father had lost the Douglas fortune, she had lived a life of unusual freedom. “The law is an arse.”

“The law is the law,” Rudolf said. “And violet is purple.” At that, the prince left her standing there and disappeared into his chamber.

Samantha walked into her bedchamber and closed the door. Tears sprang into her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Today had been the worst day of her life, excepting the day she’d been run over by the carriage, and the day her mother died, and the day her father died. Today wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but she hoped it wouldn’t get worse.

Her turbulent emotions and pregnancy had taken a toll. As soon as she climbed into bed, she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Awakening the following morning, Samantha felt better but a tad queasy. She yawned and stretched and rolled over. On the table lay a piece of bread on a plate. Sitting up, Samantha read the note beside the plate:
Eat this
. The note wasn’t signed.

Samantha ate the bread and leaned back against the headboard. Who had sneaked into her chamber while she slept and left her the bread? Probably her aunt. A short time later, the queasiness passed without the usual dry heaving.
Eating bread must be beneficial.

Samantha rose from the bed, finished her morning ablutions, and dressed in her white muslin gown. Then she left the chamber and walked down the corridor to the stairs. She hadn’t felt this good in the morning for several weeks. She was even hungry.

Entering into the dining room, Samantha stopped short. Except for the majordomo, the chamber was empty. Her relations were probably sleeping in because of their late night, but she had expected to see the boys and the prince.

“Where is everyone?” Samantha asked, reaching the sideboard.

“The boys have already eaten,” Tinker answered. “His Highness hasn’t come down yet.”

Samantha helped herself to a scoop of scrambled eggs with mushrooms, one slice of ham, and a roll. Then she spied the fried kippers and potatoes and reached for the serving spoon.

“I’m sorry, my lady,” the majordomo said, “but you are not allowed to eat the kippers and potatoes.”

Samantha laughed, unable to credit what he’d said. “Why?”

“His Highness gave me specific instructions about which foods are forbidden to you.”

Stunned speechless, Samantha could only stare at Tinker. The prince was now dictating her menus? Not wishing to cause trouble for the majordomo, she inclined her head and sat down at the table.

Reaching for the
Times
, Samantha read while she ate. The gossip column on page three mentioned Lady Mayhew’s ball and caught her attention. The more she read, the darker her morning grew.

Recently returned from the continent, Prince Rudolf Kazanov appeared more handsome than ever to England’s acclaimed beauties. Both matron and debutante simply swarmed around the prince all evening. But where is the prince’s ebony-haired betrothed? Could the prince be reconsidering his offer? This reporter has it on good authority that Prince Rudolf has always favored blondes.

Son of a bitch
. The prince had escorted her to her room, changed into evening attire, and attended Lady Mayhew’s ball. Pushing her plate away, Samantha covered her face with her hands. She fought the tears that threatened.

“Lady Samantha, are you ill?” Tinker asked, materializing beside her.

Unable to speak, Samantha pointed at the newspaper. The majordomo leaned over the table and read the article.

“I would not believe this,” Tinker told her. “If the reporter didn’t write scintillating gossip, he would lose his job.”

Samantha looked at the majordomo. She knew he was lying but loved him for it.

Breaking every rule of etiquette, Tinker sat down at the table. “I meant to tell you an interesting story that happened while you were away,” he said. “On their way to the opening of Parliament, the Regent and the prime minister rode together in the state coach drawn by eight white horses. Unfortunately, one of the horses closest to the coach was having a problem with digestive flatulence.

“At one point, the whole coach shook with the force of the flatulence. Both men were forced to cover their noses with their handkerchiefs.

“The Regent leaned close to the prime minister and said, ‘You see, even a monarch cannot control some things’.

“‘Quite so,’ replied the prime minister. “If you hadn’t said anything, I would have assumed it was one of the horses.’”

Samantha burst out laughing. Using her napkin, she wiped the tears off her face.

“I’ll bring you a cup of tea.”

“I prefer coffee.”

“You aren’t allowed coffee,” Tinker said. “Your condition, you know.”

“Does the whole household know about my condition?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Tinker said, delivering the tea. “Please, my lady, eat a little bit more.” Then he returned to stand near the sideboard.

Drawing her plate close, Samantha picked at the eggs and ate the roll without butter. A sound near the doorway drew her attention.

Prince Rudolf walked into the dining room. “Good morning, Princess,” he said, passing her on the way to the highboard.

Samantha remained silent. She watched him scooping food onto a plate and pouring coffee into a cup. When he turned to face her, she dropped her gaze to the
Times.

Rudolf sat down beside her. “I wished you a good morning.”

Samantha looked at him. “Your good wishes come too late.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simply this.” Samantha set the newspaper between them and pointed at the article.

Rudolf read the article and then raised his black gaze to hers. His face was an expressionless mask. “This article ruined your morning?”