скачать книгу бесплатно
It took two more days for Alex to be dispatched. She knew the King had visited him, a chessboard under his arm, and once he even took Princess Ariadne, who came back bouncing with delight at how funny Apollo was.
Though she held firm in her resolve not to see him again, she couldn’t prevent her disappointment that he never sent for her. His offer, offhand though it had been, burned like a lanced boil on her soul, but whether she hoped for it to be repeated or not, there was nothing but silence. Clearly he had had his fun, but now that he was to be on his way she was no longer instrumental. It was all for the better, she told herself, but it took every ounce of her resolve not to go and tell him precisely what she thought of his ingratitude and his stupidity and his insensitivity, just so she could see him one last time.
The day he was escorted down to the King’s own frigate to be transported to Venice, she and Ariadne watched the procession from the Princess’s rooms. The dismal winter weather had burst into a benediction of sunshine in a transition typical of the Mediterranean, transforming the bay into a crystalline sparkle of sapphires and emeralds. Even leaning on a cane he stood almost a head taller than the men around him, the sun striking his hair with silver and gold as he boarded the white-sailed vessel.
‘Apollo is taking the sun with him.’ Ariadne sighed, her chin propped on her arms.
Christina’s heart squeezed and shrivelled. Ariadne’s words were soppily sentimental, but that was precisely what it felt like. Ridiculous, she told herself. Just like the agony columns—absurd, mawkish, silly, stupid. Pathetic. Perhaps if she threw enough insults at this pain it would shrivel as well.
The next day the rainclouds returned and life went on.
Chapter One (#u27a96bdb-6347-5195-9026-b229e81fbf41)
London—1822
‘You cannot be serious!’ Alex, Lord Stanton, paused with his glass halfway to his lips.
‘I am always serious,’ Sir Oswald Sinclair replied.
‘That is the gospel truth.’ Lord Hunter raised his own glass with a complicit grin at Alex and Lord Ravenscar, but Alex was in no mood to appreciate his friend’s sense of humour.
‘Hell, Uncle. The man had me shot and imprisoned. I still have a nasty scar to show for it. I have no intention whatsoever of inviting them to Stanton Hall, negotiations or no negotiations.’
Sir Oswald’s expression rarely changed. Rather he used his quizzing glass as a way to communicate human emotion. It went up now, a faint but definite rebuke.
‘While you are indeed heir to the Marquessate and the Stanton estate, your father is still Marquess of Wentworth and as such he decides who is welcome at Stanton Hall and he and your delightful stepmother have expressed their willingness to allow me to bring guests to the hall for a few weeks while they are away.’
‘Don’t split hairs with me, Uncle. Why the devil can’t the discussions be held in London? And if not in London, why at Stanton?’
‘Because he asked. You might have put aside your past as agent for the War Office these five years for a more respectable post in the Foreign Office, but surely you are still aware how important it is that we secure Illiakos as a naval base in the Mediterranean.’
‘I am fully aware of its importance. The last thing we need is another bone of contention between the Turks and Greeks setting off the squabbling between Russia and Austria. I just spent a week with Razumov and Von Haas convincing them it is in everyone’s best interests to allow the English to take this particular piece off the board—for a price, of course. Just because I no longer run dubious errands for you around the world doesn’t mean I have become witless, Uncle.’
‘I am well aware of that, Alexander. But it might interest you to hear that Lucas sent word from Russia that though Count Nesselrode is on board and has convinced the Tsar of its wisdom, not all the powers in Russia are happy with this move since it might weaken the Greek position should they proceed with their resistance to Turkish rule. I prefer to have the King and his daughter where I...where we can control their surroundings and ensure they remain focused on the prize. We all want the same thing in the end.’
‘Not quite in the same way. So, my delightful Sinclair cousins still work for you?’
Oswald’s mouth almost bowed into a smile.
‘They haven’t yet wearied of me as you did.’
‘I don’t think “wearied” is the right choice of word. Grew up might be closer to the mark.’
‘Ah, but that had nothing to do with me,’ Oswald replied and Alex’s lungs constricted with remembered shame and self-contempt. Trust his uncle to go for the jugular without the slightest effort.
‘No. That had nothing to do with you,’ he admitted and his uncle had the grace to show a glimmer of remorse, but before he could speak, Lord Ravenscar intervened.
‘His daughter? There’s a princess in there, too?’
Hunter’s brow rose. ‘Shall I tell Lily you were asking?’
Ravenscar grinned and raised his glass. ‘I’d back Lily against any princess, or a queen for that matter. I was thinking of our stubbornly unwed friend here and his annoying tendency to look down upon us married mortals. It’s about time he fell off his high horse. Maybe a princess will do it. Have you met her, Sir Oswald? Is she pretty?’
‘I met her yesterday at their hotel. She is very pretty.’
‘There. It’s as good as done. Damned if I start calling you your Majesty, though.’
‘To Prince Alexander.’ Hunter raised a toast. ‘You will make a fine despot.’
Alex shook his head at his friends’ nonsense, but their attempt to dispel the tension Oswald’s comment introduced was welcome. There was no point in arguing, after all.
‘Why don’t you just tell me what is expected of me since it is apparently already arranged?’
‘Good. I will travel down with them from London to Berkshire tomorrow and see them settled. We will expect you the next day.’
‘Will you?’
‘Don’t scowl, Alexander. I am impervious to shows of temper. I am well aware you are otherwise occupied with Canning on the business of the Congress over the next couple of days, so I offered to escort the King and Princess to Stanton myself until you can join us. It will be an opportunity to keep our Russian and Austrian friends under my eye.’
The same eye was currently grotesquely magnified by the quizzing glass and Alex knew he had lost. It was damnable, but his uncle could always get his way without the slightest show of effort or emotion.
‘Lucky them. Very well, I will come as soon as Canning is done with me. But I draw the line at courting princesses.’
‘A pity. The island is most strategically located for our navy and a marriage would be more effective than a treaty. Never mind. I will bid you gentlemen good evening.’
Alex cursed and sat down in his armchair as the door closed.
‘One day I will walk out of a battle of wills with him the victor.’
‘I doubt it,’ Hunter said. ‘He’s a true cold fish, that man. You just act like one. Or at least you have for the past five years.’
‘Better a cold fish than a landed one like you two old married men.’
Ravenscar propped his boots on the grate and sighed.
‘Here we go again. Another smug lecture from the bachelor. We had best see him hitched soon, Hunter. Either that or take him round back and show him a thing or two.’
‘You could probably use the exercise, Raven,’ Alex taunted. ‘When was the last time you went to Jackson’s?’
‘Oh, we get plenty of exercise, Alex.’ Hunter grinned. ‘And not merely at Jackson’s.’
Ravenscar laughed. ‘Careful, Hunter, you’re embarrassing him.’
‘It’s a pity neither Nell nor Lily have sisters.’
‘Damn it, Hunter. If you dare take up matchmaking...’
Hunter raised his hands in surrender.
‘I’m not such a fool. Besides, I would rather watch you fail on your own. Perhaps we should put a wager on it, Raven? Think the Princess will do the trick?’
‘Don’t waste your blunt, Raven. When I do marry it will be to a biddable female who understands the rules just so I can finally put a stop to your crowing and my father’s unveiled hints. Until then I intend to continue to enjoy being the only one in the Wild Hunt Club who hasn’t been leg shackled and domesticated.’
‘Just you wait. When you fall from those icy heights, you’ll fall hard, King Alexander.’
‘You forget, I met the Princess some six years ago and though she was just a child, I hardly think she has grown into anything that might tempt me to change my state of unwedded bliss.’
Raven frowned.
‘I remember now. When you came back to London with that hole in your side, you mentioned a veiled nurse who brought you back from the dead. I always liked that touch of mystery. What was her name? Athena, right? Very romantic.’
‘Hardly romantic,’ he answered Ravenscar’s comment as lightly as possible. ‘If wearing those curtains is part of the wedding ceremony on Illiakos that is another incentive to stay away from the Princess. That poor nurse was about as unsuited to be a biddable bride as any I’ve come across.’
‘You are hardly an authority on who is suited to be a wife, my friend. You probably think you should marry someone like your stepmother.’
‘And why not? Sylvia is sweet, practical and undemanding. What more could one want in a wife? After almost ten years with my mother my father deserved someone who didn’t push him to the edge of insanity. I know you two have become disgustingly smug since you wed, but not everyone wants to be dangled over a ravine on a daily basis.’
‘I rather like the sensation,’ Ravenscar mused. ‘Lily is magnificent at both dangling and catching me before I hit the ground. An excellent combination.’
‘For you. When I have to finally account for the title I think I will choose someone a little more docile than your Lily and someone rather less subversive than Nell.’
Hunter laughed. ‘That is assuming the choice is yours, Alex.’
‘One always has a choice. That is what distinguishes us from animals. We might have urges, sometimes even powerful ones, I grant you, but in the end we choose how to act upon them. It is as simple as that.’
Ravenscar considered him over the rim of his glass.
‘Simple is never that simple. You might have thoroughly reformed yourself these past five years since what happened with Countess Vidanich, Alex, but you might be surprised to find there are areas outside even your control. Life has a way of turning us down new roads and we only realise we are there when it is too late to turn back.’
‘You make it sound like something mystical, Raven.’
‘Sometimes if feels like that. For example, I remember thinking at the time that you were rather unusually taken with that little nurse when you described your forced stay on Illiakos. Perhaps that Athena was a priestess in disguise and she cast a spell on you.’
‘Very creative, Ravenscar,’ Hunter approved. ‘I’m beginning to hope your veiled temptress will be accompanying the little Princess so you can thank her yourself. In person. That might be even more enjoyable than losing you to a kingdom. You could finally put that little mystery to bed. Literally.’
Alex shrugged. ‘It is hardly likely the nurse will accompany the King and Princess on a state visit. She is probably married now and with a full brood of children so I will have to remain with my fantasy of what lay beneath those voluminous veils. Now are we going to Cribb’s or are you two under curfew?’
Ravenscar stood and stretched.
‘Careful, Alex, your romantic petticoats are showing. Next you’ll be saying you don’t want to marry because you left your heart under some faceless chit’s veils.’
‘My what?’ Alex enquired politely and Hunter laughed.
‘You do have one, you know. One day you’ll stumble over it and fall flat on your face.’
Chapter Two (#u27a96bdb-6347-5195-9026-b229e81fbf41)
Berkshire
Christina leaned her forehead on the window and watched as the sun speared itself on the trees at the edge of the lawn. Like Ari, she was a little disappointed to leave London for Stanton Hall so soon after their arrival in England, but with each mile into the rolling green hills of Berkshire she had felt the rise of an unfamiliar mix of peace and homesickness. She had never expected to discover she actually missed the green and grey of England. No doubt after a couple of weeks of English autumn she would be pining for the sun, but for now she and Ari could enjoy the quiet of the countryside while the King was engaged in his negotiations.
She looked around their shared parlour. It was both large and cosy, a difficult combination but one a clever hand had succeeded in throughout Stanton Hall. Perhaps it was the choice of colours: deep-forest and light-grass greens with muted gold and a great deal of wood. It was like being in an ancient, dignified forest, dappled in sunlight. Most peculiarly it was a forest populated by a series of exquisite wooden figurines, mostly of people and animals. Ari had exclaimed over them with delight when they had arrived and, though Christina hadn’t been quite so vocal, she felt her eyes drawn to them again and again, almost expecting them to begin moving about the room or join the conversation.
‘What shall I wear for our dinner with the political emissaries?’ Ariadne looked up from inspecting the fashion plates in a copy of La Belle Assemblée. ‘I think the white-and-silver gauze Papa brought from Athens and the white peacock feathers with the gold clasp? What will you wear, Tina?’
Christina picked up the figurine on the windowsill, her favourite thus far. It was of a kneeling girl staring into the distance and though it did not show the exquisite skill of the others it continued to draw her, like a child begging to be picked up.
‘I shall wear my nightdress and be tucked into bed with a book and very thankful for it. I doubt I shall be invited to any of the formal dinners, Ari. We are no longer in Illiakos. Here in England companions aren’t treated as guests.’
Ariadne sighed.
‘England is much less enjoyable than I thought. First we leave London after only a few days and Lord Stanton and Papa will likely be all about politics and war and now you say they won’t even let me be with you which means I shall have to sit with Lady Albinia, who is interested in nothing but gardens. Well, if you remain in your room then I shall, too, and so I shall tell Papa!’
As if conjured by his daughter the King walked into the parlour.
‘Ready to come and see the gardens, little star?’
‘Papa! Tina said she will not be invited to dine with us, is this true?’
The King turned to Christina.
‘What nonsense is this, Athena? I have more important matters to see to here than your English pride. You might not be family by birth or law, but in all other respects that is precisely what you are and you will attend all events Ari does. There are bonds that transcend the accidents of nature. On Illiakos we understand this even if you English are slow to recognise what truly matters. Is Ari not dear as a sister to you?’
‘Papa,’ Ari protested, but Christina met his gaze and replied more fiercely than usual.
‘You know she is. You know I would do anything for her.’
‘Except come to dinner, apparently.’
She couldn’t help laughing.
‘If I must, I shall even do that.’
‘Good. Now, what is this, Ari? Hurry and change your dress. But not the blue dress I brought you from Athens, I want you to wear it when Lord Stanton arrives tomorrow.’
‘Oh, must I waste that lovely dress on a stuffy politician, Papa?’
‘You didn’t think him stuffy six years ago, little star. I seem to remember you called him Apollo at the time.’
The figurine fumbled from Christina’s hands, but she grabbed it before it bounced to the floor, her shocked gasp overshadowed by Ari’s squeal.
‘No! Apollo is our host? Why didn’t you tell me, Papa! How exciting. I wonder if he remembers me.’
‘I am certain he does, though at the time you were hardly the lovely young woman you are today. Now go and change, Sir Oswald and Lady Albinia are waiting.’
Ari rushed to her room and Christina sank into a chair. Alex. This made no sense.
‘But...that is the man your guards almost killed!’
