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‘Forgive me for interrupting you but the Crown council meeting is about to begin downstairs, sir,’ she announced. ‘I can show your fiancée to her room.’
‘If you will excuse me,’ Angel murmured, stepping away from Gaby.
‘Come this way, Miss Knox,’ Cassia directed with confidence.
Gaby compressed her lips because she had wanted to tackle Angel about the nursery being a ten-minute hike from her room and Cassia’s company was unlikely to ever be welcome. On the other hand, had she stayed with Angel in the mood she was in, they would probably have had another argument, she acknowledged ruefully. Perhaps she should be grateful for a breathing space.
‘These are your rooms,’ Cassia announced, throwing wide the door of a large sitting room and standing back for Gaby to precede her over the threshold. ‘Last occupied by the Prince’s mother and freshly decorated for you.’
The décor was very grand in airy shades of white, pale blue and green. Delicate panels painted with classic flowers ornamented the walls, providing the perfect backdrop for the beautifully crafted modern furniture. A huge bunch of artistically arranged flowers in a crystal vase scented the air. Cassia opened doors to show her the bedroom, the adjoining bathroom and the dressing room, saying, ‘I hope you like the clothes...’
‘Clothes?’ Gaby queried with a frown.
Cassia slid back some doors to display a multitude of garments hung in zipped bags and entire shelves of folded clothing. ‘The Prince ordered a new wardrobe for you.’
‘That was very generous of him but I shan’tneedall this,’ Gaby said.
‘Living on Themos, you will need all of it. Wearing designer apparel is part of your public image as the ruler’s wife,’ Cassia informed her. ‘I would suggest you choose a cocktail dress for dining out tonight. I hired a maid with the experience to do your hair and advise you on outfits.’
Gaby pushed a polite smile onto her lips. ‘How thoughtful of you,’ she said quietly.
‘In the circumstances, I’m being very generous,’ the blonde told her disquietingly.
‘Which circumstances would those be?’ Gaby asked.
Cassia folded her rather thin lips. ‘Your bridegroom was originally planning to marry me... Oh, the Prince never said so, but Iknewthat he saw me as an ideal match.’
‘Good heavens...’ Gaby muttered in a shaken undertone. ‘I had no idea.’
‘Why should you have?’ Cassia responded dismissively. ‘That’s water under the bridge now...forget I mentioned it.’
‘Yes,’ Gaby agreed, grateful to move on from an awkward subject but thoroughly needled by the blonde’s coy little announcement. It stung, made her feel like a usurper in the position that Angel had given her. Cassia just oozed smugness and conceit. But was her contention true? How could the blonde beauty make such a claim when even she admitted that Angel had never discussed the subject with her? Of course, Cassia enjoyed unlimited confidence.
And Gaby could quite see that, as a local, accustomed to the royal lifestyle by her father’s standing, Cassia Romano, with her icy aristocratic elegance and perfect diction, would have been an excellent choice of bride for Angel. Only the fact that Angel had never actually got around to mentioning marriage to Cassia or even reviewing the idea with her struck Gaby as revealing, much more revealing than Cassia was willing to accept. In reality, Angel had been in no hurry to marry anyone and only their son’s accidental arrival had changed that.
‘Your friends are in the suite opposite,’ Cassia told her as she departed. ‘We’ll be leaving for dinner at seven.’
Liz, who was a real fashion buff, had a ball trawling through Gaby’s new collection of clothing. Both women were shell-shocked when she shared Cassia’s announcement.
‘I know,’ Gaby groaned. ‘I didn’t know how to feel about her saying that either.’
‘Perhaps she’s simply a very honest person and preferred to put the fact out there,’ Liz opined with a wince.
‘Maybe it was all in her head, this idea that Angel was planning to marry her, and she just likes to play the victim.’ Laurie was less charitable. ‘I can see no good reason for her to share her personal belief that she was to be his wife with anyone...particularly with the woman he’s about to marry.’
‘I think possibly Cassia may just be a little strange.’ Gaby sighed, fingering a silky blue dress that appealed to her and tugging out a strappy pair of blue pearlised sandals that she couldn’t wait to try on. She would not complain to Angel about the new clothes he had provided because her own wardrobe contained very few fancy outfits and none at all that could have qualified as designer. ‘I think I’ll wear this...it’s smart without being over the top.’
‘Do you think we’ll be heading to a nightclub after the meal?’ Laurie asked wistfully.
Gaby grimaced. ‘I doubt it. Cassia doesn’t strike me as the type, but look on the bright side...eating out is infinitely preferable to a formal reception staged simply for people to meet the bride.’
An hour later, fully dressed and ready to join her friends, Gaby emerged from her bedroom and came to a halt when she found Angel awaiting her in the sitting room. He was poised by the window, sunshine gleaming over his black hair, accentuating his hard, bronzed features and the sharp edges and hollows that made him so strikingly handsome.
‘I forgot to give you this,’ he murmured, stalking forward and reaching for her hand. Without hesitation he threaded a giant square-cut sapphire and diamond ring on her wedding finger. ‘Everyone will be expecting to see a ring...why disappoint them?’
Gabriella looked fabulous in an understated dress that made the most of her feminine curves and slender shapely legs. The colour brought out the blueness of her eyes, the porcelain fairness of her skin and intensified the copper vibrance of her tumbling hair.
‘Oh, I don’t know...’ Gaby stretched out a hand to watch the gorgeous jewels glitter in the sunlight. The sapphire was a deep velvety blue, surrounded by tapered baguette diamonds in a ballerina setting. She was shaken by its sheerpresenceon her finger. It was the sort of a ring that would stop traffic in the street, and she struggled to act as though she were accustomed to such magnificence. ‘Is it really necessary to fake an engagement?’
