He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it's because I wanted the fairy tale. Maybe it's because I wanted to be the prince who saves the beautiful princess. Or maybe it's because for a while there, I truly believed in happy-ever-afters."
A stream of silvery wet tears glided silently down George's face. "You cannot save me from my duty, Adam. Or protect me from my fate." She tried to smile at him and failed miserably. "But you have given me a wonderful gift. A gift I can carry with me for the rest of my life."
"I may have given you more than a gift, Princess," he said bluntly. "It's possible that I gave you a child."
Giana blanched.
"An obviously unwanted child," he remarked cruelly.
Adam wanted to kick himself as soon as the words came out of his mouth. It wasn't her fault. She'd been a virgin. He was the one who should have been prepared. No, he was the one who should have had better sense than to make love to a princess in the first place!
George had enough to worry about without worrying about having a baby. And he could have prevented it, Adam reminded himself, if he'd been thinking with his head instead of that other part of his anatomy. But that was no excuse, and if George were to find herself with child, he'd have to find some way to take responsibility.
"How dare you think that I would not want our child?" Giana threw the pillow at him. It landed squarely, hitting him in the face before bouncing onto the floor.
"You turned as white as the sheet you're wearing," Adam told her.
“Perhaps that is because I forgot such a thing is possible. In my country, children are seldom born beyond the bonds of marriage," she informed him.
“Children are born beyond the bonds of marriage in every country." Adam said. "And royalty is no exception." He carried his clothes back to the bed. "And you're right. I was being unnessarily cruel, because I was angry, not at you, but at myself" He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Forgive me.”
She nodded. "You are not angry at me?"
“Not for not realizing our lovemaking could have unexpected results," he answered honestly. "That was my fault."
"Bui you are angry at me for the other things." She looked Up at him. "Yet you want to kiss me."
"I'd want to kiss you even if I hated you," he said wryly. Kissing you doesn't mean I'm not angry, it just means that I crave the pleasure you give me."
"Arc you still angry about Wagner and the china?"
Adam shook his head. "I believe you paid for Wagner and the china." He reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out the pearl ring. "With this." He tried to give it to her, but Giana refused to accept it.
"It's yours," she said.
"No," he corrected. "It's yours or else it belongs to the people of Karolya, in which case, you've no right to give it away." He pressed the ring in her palm and closed her fingers around it.
Giana held it to her heart. "I do not have enough coin to pay for the damages."
"lt doesn't matter. I don't want your coin." Adam covered In r hand with his. "And I certainly don't require any of the Karolyan Crown Jewels as payment."
Giana looked up at him, and this time he saw that her eyes were full of love and gratitude. "This ring was not part of the Crown Jewels," she told him. "It was part of Princess Rosamond's personal collection, but it has always been one of my favorite pieces." She smiled. "I practiced my counting by counting the diamonds." She proved it by counting to sixteen in half a dozen different languages. "There are . . ."
"Sixteen of them." He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. "I speak French," he reminded her. "And enough Spanish, German, Swedish, and Mandarin to get by."
Giana kissed him back, holding on for dear life. "Mandarin?"
He nodded. "Chinese. I made my fortune building railroads and mining silver. Over half the workers were Chinese, and the other half were Irish." He made a face at her. "Tell me, Princess, how did you come by your fortune?" He pointed toward her corset and corset cover.
"I inherited part of it upon my birth, and I inherited the rest the night my parents were murdered."
"I'm sorry," he murmured sincerely.
"So am I," she said. "They were murdered together in their bedchamber at Christianberg Palace in the capital city of Karolya after retiring from the state dinner celebrating the opening of Parliament." She recited the facts in a calm, unemotional tone of voice. "The palace was overrun and servants loyal to my father were slaughtered."
"By anarchists?" Adam repeated what he'd read in the paper.
But George shook her head. "No, by my cousin, His Highness, Prince Victor of Saxe-Wallerstein-Karolya."
"Your cousin?" Adam struggled to breathe as surprise pushed the air from his lungs. "The man searching for your kidnappers? The man who has been running the country in your absence?"
"The same."
"Son of a bitch!"
"Indeed," Giana said.
"There were no anarchists? Or kidnappers?"
"There may well be anarchists in Karolya," she answered, "but they did not kill my mother and father. Victor was inciting the young men of the ruling class, encouraging them to denounce my father's support of a new constitution and a Declaration of Rights for the Masses. Victor promised estate grants, titles, and funds in order to gain the support of the younger sons of the aristocratic families. He convinced them in become traitors by telling them that my father intended to reward the bourgeois for their support by granting them landed estates of the rich. My father and mother were shot and stabbed several times, and Victor ordered it done."
“Why''
"Greed," she answered simply. "He wants control of Karolya rich iron ore deposits and its vast acreage of virgin timber.”
It took a moment for Adam to comprehend what she was saying. "Your cousin killed your parents to gain control of Iron ore and timber?"
“It is a great deal of iron ore and timber," she informed him "Papa explained the value of the iron ore and the timber to me when other governments began approaching him with offers to secure the rights to them, but I did not understand the role Victor played in the attempts to secure the rights until Max explained it to me after my parents' deaths. Papa refused to sell or lease the rights. Refused to even consider doing so. He believed that Karolya's natural resources belonged to the people. His role as prince of Karolya was to protect those resources for future generations of Karolyans. Karolya is a wealthy country. We do not need to rapevthe countryside to provide money or jobs for our people.”
“Does Victor need money?" Adam asked.
Giana shook her head. "No. Victor needs power. Max told me that Papa learned Victor had made agreements with men of other countries to supply them with Karolyan iron ore and the timber without Papa's consent."
“What did your father do to Victor?"
I do not know." Giana looked up at Adam. "But Victor asked for my hand in marriage and Papa refused." She dropped the black pearl ring on top of the sheet covering her lap, stared down .in her lap, and began twisting the cotton fabric in her hands. "Bui that will not matter now. Victor will not stop until he finds me."
“Here, let me take that." Adam retrieved the pearl ring and placed it on the nightstand to keep it from being lost among the bedclothes. George surrendered it without a second thought. Adam gave a half smile. He wouldn't have to worry about providing her with expensive jewelry for their anniversaries in the years to come, because George had more than she would ever need and she didn't seem to care. The only jewelry she wore, outside of the fortune sewn into her undergarments, was the locket around her neck, the bracelet around her waist, and a pair of tiny gold earrings. And there was a pin somewhere. He remembered seeing something silver pinned to her chemise. No, George wouldn't require jewelry. She would probably rather have puppies—or children. Lots of children and dogs.
He didn't know Prince Victor, but he had known men like him, and he could well imagine the man's fury when he was forced to give up the iron ore, the timber, and George. And now that he had had t
he privilege of sharing her bed, Adam knew without a doubt that, even without wealth and power, she was the greater loss. "How did you escape?"
"I was not home," she answered. "My father was afraid for me, so he sent me to our summer palace in Laken." Giana looked up at Adam and spoke in a tiny forlorn voice that first took him by surprise, then frightened him. "I should have been there. I should have been there when they died. I should have been there with my mother and father. I should have died with them, but he sent me away. My father sent me to safety while he and my mother faced their enemies alone...." She began to shake, then burst into tears.
Adam gathered her up in his arms and held her. "Oh, no, my sweet, you should not have died with them. Your father loved you, and because he loved you, he did exactly as he should have done. He sent you to safety, so you would live. So you would marry and have children and continue his line. I would have done the same."
"But they left me. They left me alone!" she cried.
Adam shook his head. "They didn't leave you of their own free will, sweetheart. They had no choice. You were their baby. Their precious daughter and the future of their country. They sent you away because they loved you, because they could not bear to watch you die. And you would have died, George. Make no mistake about it. If you had been home, you would have died and there would be no one to look out for the people of Karolya. You did exactly what your parents expected you to do," he told her, smoothing her hair away from her face, brushing his lips against her forehead. "You survived ."
"I survived because no one knew where I was except the staff at Laken."
“Let me guess—Max, Isobel, Albert, Brenna, and Josef."
"No, Max was at the palace in Christianberg with my parents.”
Adam took a deep breath. "The article I read in the Timesof London hinted that Lord Maximillian Gudrun, your father's private secretary, masterminded the plot to overthrow Prince Christian and engineered your kidnapping."
"Lord Maximillian Gudrun saved my life," she announced, her voice ringing with pride. "He was wounded in an attempt in save my parents. My father gave Max his Seal of State and charged him to bring it to me and to get me out of Karolya to a place of safety." Giana glanced down at her waist.
Adam reached over and traced the outline of the gold chain at her waist through the sheet. "I take it that this is the Seal of State of Saxe-Wallerstein-Karolya."
"Yes."
"When you said your father gave it to you, I thought it might be some kind of chastity belt," he teased, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth.
“Until I am crowned ruler of Karolya, the Seal of State cannot leave my person. That is why we placed it on a chain and why I locked it around my waist."
"Where's the key?"
I threw it in the ocean," she said. "We could not risk having the seal lost or stolen, nor could we risk having it recognized. This was the safest place to keep it," she said. "Because no one but Max and Brenna knew of its whereabouts."
"Until today." Adam reached across the bed and retrieved her chemise and handed it to her.
She smiled at him, then let go of the sheet and pulled her chemise over her head. "Until today."
"And now that I know," Adam teased, "I suppose my life is forfeit?"
Giana shook her head. "Not yours. Mine."
Chapter 27
The Bountiful Baron values truth foremost. He does not take well to surprises.
—The First Installment of the True Adventures of the Bountiful Baron: Western Benefactor to Blond, Beautiful, and Betrayed Women written by John J. Bookman, 1874.
“What?” Adam was paralysed with terror at her calm pronouncement.
"In order to succeed the throne of Karolya, Victor must produce the Seal of State and my body or marry me within one year of my father's death." She reached over and caressed Adam's cheek. "Even if I would accept my father's murderer, Victor will never marry me now that I am no longer a virgin."
Her words, spoken in that calm, matter-of-fact way, sent Adam spiraling into anger. "He'll kill you." Adam got up from the bed and began pulling on his clothes. "Jesus Christ! George! This place could be crawling with Victor's spies. If he finds out we made love..." He let his words trail off as he stepped into his trousers and shrugged on his shirt. "And it's not as if we have tried to be discreet. We've been missing all morning and anyone who cares to investigate could find us." Adam began buttoning his shirt. "Wagner is posted outside the door. What the devil was I thinking?" He shot her a frustrated look as he tossed her chemise on the bed. "What were you thinking?"
Giana pulled her undergarment over her head. "I was thinking that I did not want to die or to go into another man's bed without knowing what it was like to be in yours," she told him.
His knees gave way and he sat down, abruptly on the edge of the bed. "You knew? You knew and you were willing to forfeit your life to share my bed?"
"I am a princess, Adam. I do not know if there is such a thing as a happily-ever-after for people in my position. My parents were the only royal couple in Karolya's recent history to marry for reasons of love, instead of reasons of state and a member of their family murdered them. I do not know if I will be able to marry for reasons other than for reasons of state. I only know that if I could choose, I would choose you to be my Prince Consort." She looked at him. "Whatever should happen, please know that for the rest of my life, I choose you."
I choose you. Adam's heart began a rapid tattoo, his breath caught in his throat and the sudden rush of tenderness he felt for her made his legs go weak in the knees. He loved her. The unexpected realization struck him like a bolt of lightning from the blue sky. He loved the way she made him feel. The way she touched him. And for now, his love would have to be enough. "Choosing me could cost you your life."
"It will have been worth it."
"Giana, I—"
Giana reached out and placed two fingers against his lips to stop the words she did not want to hear. "George," she corrected. "From you, I prefer George."
Adam gave her a sheepish look. "It doesn't sound very regal."
"I have many regal titles, but you are the only person besides my parents who has ever called me by a pet name."
"Really?" He was surprised and genuinely pleased.
"Yes."
"What did they call you?"
"My mother called me Fleur, but my father called something far more endearing, but not nearly as flattering."
"What did your father call you?" he asked.
"Her Royal Highness, Princess Monkey."
"Princess Monkey?" Adam was intrigued in spite of himself.
"Because I was all arms and legs."
"I think I would have liked your father," Adam told her.
"I think so, too," Giana said. She reached up and fingered the locket on the thin, gold chain around her neck. "Would you like to see them?"
Adam nodded.
Giana unhooked her gold-and-diamond locket from around her neck, then opened it and held it up for Adam to see.
He stared at the portraits inside the locket.
"This one is my mother's father and mother, the marquess and marchioness of Barracksford." She pointed to the portrait on the left side of the locket. "It was copied from their official wedding portrait. And this one is"—she pointed to the other portrait—"my father and mother and me on my christening day."
"His Serene Highness Prince Christian, Her Serene Highness Princess May and Her Royal Highness Princess Monkey." Adam made a face at her.
Giana giggled.
"Nice portrait," Adam said. "Nice family."
"Yes, we were," she agreed. "I have always loved the expressions on their faces as they looked down on me." Giana's lower lip trembled. She swiped at a tear with the back of her hand and managed a wistful smile.
"You were greatly loved," he said, studying the portraits again. "And who is this?" He touched a tiny clasp at the bottom of the locket and the portrait of her grandparents slipped out to reveal another port
rait—one of a handsome gentleman dressed, like her grandparents, in the style of the Regency.
"You have discovered my family's skeleton in the armoire," she told him. "George Ramsey, the fifteenth marquess of Templeston."
"Who was?" Adam remained unenlightened.
"The man who gave my mother life."
Adam raised an eyebrow at that.
"My grandmother was French. A Parisian actress and a coommoner. She married very young, to her childhood sweetheart. When she was twenty and he was twenty-two. Grand-mama's husband went off to war. He died in Russia fighting for Napoleon and my grandmother found work as an actress on the stage in Paris. She met George Ramsey when he went backstage to present her with a bouquet of flowers and to ask her if she would join him for dinner. Grandmama always said it was love at first sight. Grandmama fell deeply in love with Templeston and he with her. He set her up in a house in Paris and she prayed every day that he would marry her, but Templeston had promised his late wife he would never remarry. And he kept his word. My grandmother ended their affair when she realized that no matter how much George Ramsey loved her, he loved the memory of his late wife more. The marquess of Templeston returned to London and Grandmama returned to the theatre.
"Soon afterward, Grandmama was introduced to another titled Englishman by one of the ladies in the chorus. The marquess of Barracksford was much older than Grandmama. He had never married, but was considered quite a catch and quite a ladies' man. He frequently traveled to Paris on business and for pleasure and was welcomed at all the fashionable Parisian salons. Lord Barracksford fell in love with Grandmama and pursued her. Grandmama tried to discourage him by telling him that she was still in love with George Ramsey, but Lord Barracksford did not care. He continued to court her until my grandmother agreed to marry him." Giana paused, trying to gauge Adam's reaction.
"What happened to Lord Templeston?" he asked.
"He died in a boating accident off the coast of Ireland before my mother was born. He never knew my grandmother was carrying his child."
"Did Barracksford know?"
Giana nodded. "Grandmama told him as soon as she discovered it. She thought Lord Barracksford would change his mind about wanting to marry her, but he did not. Barracksford was in love. He willingly accepted my grandmother and her unborn child as his own. He and Grandmama married and settled in Paris. After my mother was born, Lord Barracksford moved the family to London. George Ramsey had died and his oldest son and heir had become the new marquess of Templeston. My mother was a girl so there was no need for anyone to know the truth of her paternity. Lord Barracksford brought my mother up as a daughter of the house and loved her as dearly as his own, but he was not her father. Lord Templeston was."
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