A bit of a mouthful, but why not?
At one o’clock on the dot, Charlotte and the prince shook out a blanket onto the clover and settled themselves under the sheltering arms of a chestnut tree.
“Thank you for carrying the basket, Your Highness,” said Charlotte. “I asked Cook for a splendid lunch and it looks as if she packed the whole pantry.”
“Is it not time for you to call me Misha? I called you Charlotte in my heart from the moment I first saw you.”
“Really?” She opened the hamper. “In the garden at the Russian ambassador’s ball, when you had two ballerinas in your arms?”
“They were in my arms, but you were in my heart.”
Charlotte laughed and began to unpack, uncovering a loaf of crusty bread, a bottle of wine and two crystal glasses, three cheeses, and oranges from the dowager’s glass house. There were sausages, a whole roast chicken carefully wrapped in wax cloth, thick wedges of lemon cake, four types of biscuits, a stack of cucumber sandwiches big enough to feed a garden party, and a little pot containing what Charlotte suspected had been salmon mousse before it melted into pinkish sludge.
Valentina, the borzoi, found a post by the edge of the blanket, whimpering and looking pathetic in an attempt to convince Charlotte she was underfed.
“Goodness!” Charlotte tossed Valentina a bit of cheese and peered into the depths of the basket. “Can you believe that’s only half of it? Oh! And someone packed a chessboard.”
The prince found a spot beside her and stretched out, crossing his boots and leaning back on an elbow. He reached for an orange and began to peel it. “I requested it. Shall we start our picnic with a fight to the death?”
“Gladly, but I warn you that my game is whist. I’m afraid you’ll beat me rather badly.”
The prince shrugged, his immense shoulders rising and falling like the tides. “I am Russian, it is chess—it is natural that I shall win.” He unfolded the set and began to place the pieces. “What stakes do we play for?”
“Since you’re Russian and I’m but a beginner, I’m not sure what to wager. What do you suggest?”
“I play usually for money, but with you…” The prince leaned in, his face filling her view. “Shall we play for a kiss?”
Blue eyes were common enough in England. She’d seen dark blue, sky blue, the rheumy blue of eyes that struggled to see. The prince’s eyes were a startling new Siberian shade, bright as ice. Charlotte tried to fall into them, and yet she couldn’t dislodge a pair of storm blue eyes with fox-tipped lashes from her mind.
Her lips firmed. “I agree. We play for a kiss.”
A breeze feathered through the prince’s close-cropped hair and he gave her a lazy smile. “Good. Then we begin.”
The first few moves were easy. They opened with queens’ pawns, followed up with knights, and then the real game started. The prince handed Charlotte a segment of orange and she nibbled it absently. She could develop a bishop, or work toward castling, or…
Or they could chat, which seemed more interesting. Chess should be just her thing—she adored strategy, plotting against royals, and checkerboard floors. But the pace was so hideously slow that she was always tempted to attack, if only to make something happen.
Valentina whimpered again, and Charlotte tried not to take it as a comment on her move.
“Your Highness, will you return—”
“Misha,” he corrected.
“Misha.” Charlotte tested out the name on her tongue. “Misha, do you plan to return to Russia one day?”
He might play chess slowly, but he was quick in other ways. “If we marry, do I plan to take you away from your family and friends? No. The French destroyed everything—my lands, my home. I will live here and devote myself to English things.” He matched her pawn. “Like you.”
Oh dear. To take or not to take?
She contemplated her next move. “But you love Russia. I hear the longing in your voice.”
The prince shrugged again. “Of course I love my homeland. But our main estate was near Smolensk, and the battle—” He shook his head. “Some places you cannot return. Now, do you take my pawn?”
“I do, on principle.”
She swooped in with her knight.
The prince peered down at the board and raised an eyebrow. “What is this principle, if you please?”
