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“That it would be better than this. Easier, maybe? At least diverting. But it’s not been easy or diverting. I’m a princess with passable looks, but it hasn’t been easy at all, and I don’t know why not.”
“Hasn’t it?” It seemed easy from where he was sitting. She came down the stairs in a beautiful gown, and men gathered around her.
“It has not,” she said breezily. “Surely you’ve noticed that I am not the sort to be easily matched.”
Joshua laughed with surprise. “I haven’t noticed any such thing. I’d wager you are an easy match—by your own admission you come with a title and are quite comely.”
She smiled with pleasure. “Thank you.Isaid I was passable.”
“You’requitecomely, and I think you know that you are. I’ll say it another way—you’re unique in every respect.”
“Je,because I am a princess!” She laughed. “Apparently, that is the only thing to recommend me, but there really is more to me lurking beneath the tiara. And by the by, please call me Amelia. The royal address sounds so stilted here and so...” She made a circular motion in the air with her hand. “Unnecessary.In fact, I insist. Amelia.”
“I suppose it does seem unnecessary when one is sitting on a rug with dogs and dressed in men’s clothing. But if you insist, then I must, too. I am Joshua.”
“Joshua,” she said softly. She smiled. “It suits you.”
What suited him was hearing her use his given name. “By the by, I didn’t say you were unique because you’re a princess. I said it because you simply are.”
“Do you really think so?”
“You’re a person who speaks her mind and, I think, appreciates the same frankness in return. Not many people can boast of either attribute. It also seems to me that you have a unique way of viewing the world.”
She smiled with gratitude. “You’re being kind. I don’t.”
“You do. Almost as if...you are the audience to a play we are all performing for your benefit.”
Her smile broadened. “I’m sure I ought to be offended by your description, but I’m flattered. And yet it astounds me that you’ve come to any conclusions about me, as you can hardly abide me.” She spoke gaily, as if that amused her.
“That’s not true.” What he couldn’t abide was himself. It was a pity that he couldn’t boast about speakinghismind. “I admire that you speak to what you observe and think. No one can say there is any varnish to your views.”
She laughed at that. “No one can. My poor, dear mother has tried her best. I can’t count the times in my life I’ve heard, ‘Don’t say that, don’t sit like that, fold your hands, lower your eyes, Amelia, and for God’s sake, be quiet.’” She sighed. “It’s exhausting to fight my true nature. I don’t understand why I must. I am not easily offended, and I don’t see why I must care what society wants from me. I will never be queen. I’m just someone living in a palace. Shouldn’t I be guided by my own conscience?” She popped the rest of the biscuit in her mouth and washed it down with the rest of her whisky, then turned her attention to stroking Bethan’s head while that dog gazed at her with slavish devotion.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
“I am, thank you.” She glanced up from the dog. “Look at you, Joshua. You’ve gone from nearly running me down like the Grim Reaper to rescuing me.”
He smiled a little. “Three times. Not that I’m keeping count.”
“Three! I will grant that today you were my savior. I can’t bear to think what might have happened had you not come along when you did.”
“You would have been washed away, or struck by lightning, or caught your death of cold. I also rescued you the day your horse went wild, lest you forget.”
“Ah,” she said, holding up a finger. “I will never forget it. And I will grant that you were indeed helpful, but you didn’trescueme. I had almost gained control.”
“That is what everyone will say who has ever suffered a broken limb after being thrown by a wild horse.”
She laughed. “True. And the third instance of rescue?”
There was a bit of a shine in her eyes—she was silently challenging him to say it. “The night on the balcony...or have you forgotten?” He had just chastised himself not to think about breasts, and here he was, resurrecting that kiss.
A smile turned up the corners of Amelia’s mouth. “I will never forget that, either.” Her eyes sparked gold with the firelight dancing in them, or, maybe, Joshua had developed a fever and was imagining things.
She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees, then rested her head on top of her knees, her gaze on him. “But I don’t believe you were rescuing me. And I don’t believe you do, either.”
He was suddenly filled with the uncomfortable but determined urge to touch her. To stroke her hair, or her back. He wanted to whisper in her ear that he’d rescued her from exposing herself and he wanted to rescue her from doing it again. “Perhaps not,” he admitted.
She didn’t look away. Neither did he. He couldn’t play these flirtatious games anymore. He was rusty. Stiff. And she knew it, judging by her soft smile.
