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Ewan was just outside, and tried to hand him a muddied, crumpled hat. William batted it aside. “Leave it as a souvenir forHer Royal Highness,” he said crossly, and walked down to the drive to await his horse. He was already composing his telegraph to Mr. Robuchard in his head.I’ve been received by Her Royal Highness and find her as willful and prideful as ever.He would leave out any mention of finding her far more attractive than he’d anticipated. That was just a bothersome bit of business he’d tamp down.
He was fully confident of it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Truelson Stot, Elsinor, Denmark
THEMORNINGSUNdappled the path before Lila Aleksander. She loved summer mornings and long walks alike, and would rise early, dressing in a plain skirt and her husband’s heavy coat. Her hair was braided and she’d stuffed a hat on her head in the event a stray cloud rained on her. She used a walking stick, marking the time with a steady jab to the earth.
Her mind wandered to all the little, mundane things that married life brought to one’s mind. The supper party in a few days. What they needed from the market. Her husband’s birthday soon, his fiftieth, and what she might do to mark it.
She reached the small woodland lake nestled in the middle of the park that surrounded her home. She went around, and started up the expansive park lawn to the house ahead of her. It was white and long, its many windows like a pattern of dark squares.Truelson Stot,her home these past fifteen years.
And they said she’d be forever ruined.
As she approached the house, she could see her beloved Valentin seated at a table on the terrace. He was still in his dressing gown and nightshirt. He was reading a letter, his legs stretched out long before him. Lila walked to his chair, leaned over and kissed the top of his head.“God Morgen.”
He caught her hand and pulled her onto his lap. “Where have you been? I missed you when I woke.”
“Walking.”
“You walk so much you’ll need new leather boots before long.”
Lila stretched out her leg and pulled up her skirt and they both had a look at the fine leather boots he’d brought her from Rome. “They’ve many miles left in them.”
She looked at the plate on the table before them. It was heaped with eggs and cheese, and on another plate,aebleskiver,a pastry Lila had come to love. She picked one off his plate and popped it into her mouth. Karla, the kitchen maid, appeared to pour coffee.
Valentin’s attention had returned to the letter. “Ah, look, will you? Herre Johansson has agreed to the terms for the sale of our little ship.” He beamed up at her, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. He’d endeavored to sell that ship for more than a year now, as he preferred his two bigger, faster ships, built by the best Danish shipbuilders.
“A letter has come for you as well, darling.”
“For me? My mother?”
He shook his head. “It appears to be official.”
Lila spotted it and leaned forward to pick it up.
“Och,you’re hurting my knee,” Valentin said, and gave her a gentle push off his lap.
Lila placed the letter on the table and settled into a chair. She helped herself to another pastry and turned her face up to the sun, feeling the warmth of it seep into her skin this beautiful morning. So still, she could hear the sea in the distance.
“Who so desperately needs you now, my love?” Valentin put aside his letter. He picked up his fork and began eating his eggs.
Lila lifted the letter and broke the seal. She scanned to the signature on the bottom of the page. “Ah, of course. It’s my old friend Dante Robuchard.”
Valentin paused. “Robuchard. The prime minister of Wesloria?”
“The very one.”
He sipped his coffee. “I’ve met him, have I? At the...” He paused, squinting skyward.
“Prince Heinrich’s wedding.”
“Ah, yes, yes, of course.” He nodded. Then looked at her again. “Small man?”
“Average.”
“Middle-aged,” he said.
