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“You do like it,” he said.
“That isn’t fair,” she said. “How could you possibly know I would like a sports car?”
“Because beneath all of your reserve, Livia, I do believe the heart of an adventuress exists.”
“I’ve experienced a real fight for survival. I’m unmoved by these games played to feel like it.”
“You are not, though. You are not unmoved by luxury, nor are you unmoved by a thrill, much as you would like to pretend you are.”
“I don’t see...”
“You are not the only one of us who knows the other. And I suspect you find that quite bothersome.”
“Well.”
“Well indeed.”
Matteo felt thrilled that he had finally managed to silence the creature. Because of course he knew what Livia secretly wanted, down in her soul. She might pretend to be practical, but he knew otherwise.
He had seen her yearn for better things. For bigger things. He had watched her grow in confidence over the years. He knew her. Better than he knew anyone else. No point pretending otherwise.
Too soon they arrived at the château that would serve as a private dining area for them tonight. There were a limited amount of guests allowed in the château at any given time and, of course, heaven and earth had been moved to make way for him when he had indicated that he wanted to eat there. They served some of the finest food in France here, and given the culinary delights available in the country, that was saying quite a lot.
They pulled up to the front, and there was already a man waiting to handle the practicalities of parking the vehicle. Matteo himself went around to Livia’s side of the car and opened the door for her, for he would not allow another man to attend to her in any way. Then he took her arm, and led her up the grand, cobbled walk into the ancient, stucco château. It was dimly lit inside, rustic wooden tables set about in the front of the building as they went through darkened halls, to a room that afforded maximum privacy. In there was an intimate wooden table, laid out for two. The chairs were clustered together, but there was ample space on the tabletop, for they would be served a grand feast, and he knew that the waiters made a habit of not interrupting, to the best of their ability.
“This is beautiful,” she said softly.
She could not be cynical with him, which made him all the more pleased, because when Livia could not affect disinterest, he knew he had won. At least one small victory. She had liked the car, too, and she could not pretend with that either.
“Have a seat,” he said, pulling the chair out for her. She complied, and he sat across from her.
There was something about the moment that brought him to another time, and as the food began to come out on ample trays—beautiful fruits and cheeses, homemade baguettes, local honeycomb and house-made pickled vegetables—it all faded away.
“The biggest issue that you have,” Livia said, looking at him earnestly through her round, gold spectacles, “is that you come across as a bit of the beast. And if not a beast, then disinterested.”
“That’s because I find most people uninteresting,” he said, leaning back in his chair at his desk.
Livia paced the length of the floor in front of him.
“But you want to begin to truly open up the country. To change things from the way that your father ran them, and that’s going to require that you become a different sort of diplomat. And that is going to require that you become diplomatic.”
“I suppose. But I am royal, is not my presence enough to sufficiently engage those around me?”
Livia rolled her eyes. She rolled her eyes at him. As if he was not her boss and her king.
“You will have to attempt to be a human being, Matteo.”
“I must be human enough, for you have just called me by my first name.”
Her cheeks colored. “Forgive me. I forgot myself.”
“You forget yourself quite often, I find. Constant demands from someone in my employ, when it should work the other way around.”
“Trust me on this, if you can trust nothing else. Trust that my perspective is from one who is not Royal. People need to see some humanity. When you go out and meet them, you need to be engaged. You need to... Smile. You need to at least pretend to listen to what they’re saying.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t listening.”
“You are maddening,” she said. “Absolutely maddening.”
