As he walked towards her his shoes crunched on the crushed stone pathway. ‘Natalia!’ he called.
Startled, she turned to face him.
Her first expression on catching sight of him was, to his immense surprise, delight—quickly covered by a schooled indifference. She was aloof, but not in the manner of a princess—rather in the manner of a woman who had been told that the passion she’d shared was of no importance, easily forgotten.
Inwardly, Finn cursed himself for his thoughtlessness. And his dishonesty. He hadn’t meant a word of it. He’d used those words to hide his battered pride and hurt that she had walked out on him without notice.
‘You called me Natalia,’ she said, after he’d reached her and stood hand-shaking distance apart.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘There’s no point in arguing over semantics. Natalia is your given name. Natalie is the anglicised version of your name. I have a Chinese name—Ming-tun—which only my grandfather uses. What I’m trying to say is the name doesn’t matter. It’s the person.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I like Ming-tun. What does it mean?’
Her cheeks were flushed pink with the cold and her eyes shone blue. She was every bit as lovely as a brunette as she had been as a blonde.
‘It means intelligent. My grandfather had high hopes.’
‘Seems to me you’ve lived up to your name. He must be proud.’
‘I’ve done my best,’ he said.
But how intelligently had he dealt with the revelation of her real identity?
He had studied hard at school and at university because it had been expected of him. His immigrant grandparents and father set great store on a good education. But all he’d ever wanted to do was to dive head-first into the family business. Although without his degree perhaps he would not have been able to drive the business forward so successfully, so quickly.
She looked up at him, her head tilted to one side, blue eyes narrowed. ‘What made you change your mind?’
‘About your name? I decided it was pointless thinking of you as two different people when Natalia and Natalie are one and the same.’
‘I didn’t mean that. I meant you being here this morning. Last night, you seemed so sure you didn’t want me to show you around. You said that we would meet at the chocolate factory.’
It’s because your family are concerned you’re depressed and it shocked me.
Tristan hadn’t exactly said that, but his concerns about Natalia had immediately raised flags for Finn. One of his mates in high school had had an undiagnosed depression that had ended in a funeral after he had taken his own life. Finn had beaten himself up for not having been there for his friend.
His school had insisted that the boy’s classmates attend extensive counselling, and ever since he’d been alert for symptoms of depression in the people close to him. He’d been able to get help for them when he’d seen the signs. He’d recognised them in Tristan’s description of Natalia.
‘Why did I change my mind? Perhaps the fact I don’t speak a word of Montovian?’ It wasn’t the world’s best excuse but he decided to run with it. ‘Your cousin Marco warned me that many of the townsfolk don’t feel comfortable speaking English, even though they study it in school, and that Montovian is a language almost impossible for a foreigner to learn.’
‘It is a difficult language,’ she said. ‘However, Gemma is becoming fluent in it so it can be mastered. But that doesn’t really answer my question.’
He squirmed just a little under the gaze of those perceptive blue eyes. ‘I guess it doesn’t,’ he said. ‘Truth is, I realised I’d be crazy to knock back the services of a guide who’s a member of the royal family, who must know so much about Montovia.’
‘It’s true we’ve been around for centuries,’ she said drily.
‘That’s exactly my point,’ he said.
‘I appreciate your worthy explanation, Finn. But I suspect the real truth is that Tristan coerced you into it.’
‘Not true.’
She raised her dark eyebrows. ‘Really?’
‘Well, possibly true. Not coerced. He asked me to reconsider. He’s concerned about you. Thinks you’re unhappy. He thought I might be able to cheer you up. That I seemed to have the touch.’
She smiled—a slow, curving smile that was a ghost of her usual dazzling smile but still very appealing, with a hint of sensuality. He realised that she was remembering, as he was, just how he had kept her entertained back in Sydney.
‘Tristan has no idea about you and me at the wedding, does he?’ she said.
‘Not a clue,’ he said. ‘He and Gemma left before the end, I believe.’
‘So he didn’t see us kissing behind the orchids and no one reported it to him, either. Gemma has certainly never mentioned it.’
Memories of the incident flooded his mind. How wonderful she’d felt in his arms. Her scent. Her taste. How sensual and exciting her kisses had been.
How much he’d wanted her.
‘We were discreet,’ he said, his voice suddenly husky as he looked down into her face.
‘Fortunately for us they were very big planters of orchids.’
As they shared the moment of complicity her lips parted without her seeming to realise they were doing it, or that it looked like an invitation to kiss her again.
‘How could I forget?’ he said, wrenching his gaze away from her lips. He knew she knew he wasn’t talking about the orchids.
‘If Tristan knew—if my father knew—that you had come back to my hotel room, you would be languishing in the dungeons right now.’
He wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. Not in this movie set of a home of hers. ‘You have dungeons?’
‘They’re not part of my guided tour, but, yes. Genuine dungeons—damp, dreary and complete with medieval instruments of torture.’
‘Don’t tell me—some of them are specifically designed for men who compromise the virtue of Montovian princesses?’
‘Indeed,’ she said, with a hint of that mischief he’d liked so much. ‘Custom-made to fit the crime.’
‘Ouch. Dancing with a princess in those days really meant living dangerously.’
He grimaced and she laughed.
He’d made her laugh.
It made him feel good to see her laugh.
‘Don’t worry too much,’ she said. ‘The torture chambers are intact but they haven’t been used for a long, long time.’
‘Still, it might be wise to keep Tristan in ignorance about the extent of our time together in Sydney,’ he said.
‘Yes. He obviously likes you and trusts you. I don’t believe he’d want to torture you just to defend the honour of his sister.’
‘I sincerely hope not, if we’re to do business together. He saw that you enjoyed dancing with me—that’s all he needs to know.’ He paused, not sure how far he should go in case she clammed up. ‘He tells me he hasn’t noticed you enjoying yourself much since.’
All traces of laughter vanished. Her mouth set in a tight, unapproachable, distinctly unkissable line. ‘That’s probably true.’
She went to turn away, and he sensed her closing up on him. ‘Natalia...’ He put a hand on her shoulder to turn her back to face him, then dropped it immediately when she complied.
There could be no more touching—even through the thickness of a coat. Not now he truly understood the situation. He was careful. They were not completely alone on these battlements. There was a party of gardeners in sight, and no doubt they’d encounter other people.
‘Is Tristan right? Are you unhappy? I’ve noticed how different you are from your time in Sydney. It’s not just the hair colour—which I like, by the way. But it’s as if...as if your light has dimmed.’
‘That could be because it’s winter.’ She didn’t quite carry off the light-hearted retort.
&
nbsp; ‘Perhaps...’ he said. ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight, too.’
‘Isn’t there an old saying that you can never be too rich or too thin?’
‘If you want to be thin, that’s okay. But you do seem different. Not as vivacious.’
She closed her eyes tight for a moment, as if to give herself time to think. Or to look back into her past.
‘I wasn’t happy before I went to Australia. My personal life didn’t seem to be my own any more. Not since Carl died and everything changed. That’s why I wanted so desperately to go there. To be anonymous. To maybe find what was missing.’
She sighed—a sad sound that struck at Finn’s heart. He wanted to take her in his arms to comfort her, but thought better of it.
‘You saw me at my best. I was riding a high. I loved the independence and the freedom to be myself. Of course it all came crashing down around me when I got back home.’
‘Did you seek any help to deal with that crash? Because—’
She put up her hand in an imperious gesture to stop him from going any further. ‘I don’t want you feeling sorry for me, Finn. Because there’s nothing to be sorry about. And I don’t need help.’
‘I don’t feel sorry for you at all. I’m just concerned.’
She took a deep breath. ‘That’s very sweet of you. But I can deal with my...my unhappiness.’
‘In other words—“butt out, Finn”?’
‘Exactly.’
Finn detected the wobble of her lower lip and realised she might not be as composed as she wanted him to believe.
‘I know I’m the girl who has everything. And I’m not ungrateful. But I’m nearly twenty-eight and I don’t have my own life. No career—though the auctions have become a real interest. No husband. No children. Everything is about duty and doing the right thing by others. Marrying for the sake of the succession—not for my own happiness.’
‘Would your family honestly force you into marrying someone you didn’t like?’
He’d been presented to her parents the night before—King Gerard and Queen Truda. They’d seemed more modern and approachable than he’d imagined.
‘Like being the operative word. Love doesn’t come into it—and I won’t settle for less than love. Tristan and Gemma have set the standard. My own parents have a miserable marriage. My father wasn’t allowed to marry his girlfriend—a girl from a good Montovian family but not good enough for a future king. He put off marriage for as long as he could so he could be with her. Then he had to marry my much younger mother. She thought she was marrying for love—until she was sadly disillusioned by finding out that my father had kept his real love as his mistress and still does to this day. After my mother bore my father a male “heir and a spare”, and then me, she was free to do what she wanted so long as she fulfilled her ceremonial duties as Queen when required. She was discreet about the lovers she took. And I think my grandmother actually hated my grandfather. Theirs was another marriage of convenience. She subjugated her misery into worthy causes.’
‘And you were expected to do the same?’
‘Until Tristan had the law changed. Before that I just kept saying no.’
‘That was brave of you.’
‘It wasn’t difficult as none of the men appealed in the slightest. I wouldn’t even have answered their posts on a dating site, we had so little in common—not to mention a total lack of chemistry. There was only one man who tempted me. He was good-looking, fun, my own age... I thought we might be able to make a go of an arranged marriage. Until I realised the love of his life was his very handsome private secretary—a charming guy.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, not sure what else to say.
‘I needed an escape. Australia seemed to offer it. The whole Natalie thing was an adventure and the freedom was exhilarating.’ She dropped both her gaze and her voice, scuffed the pathway with the toe of her boot. ‘And then there was you. I... I wasn’t expecting you.’
‘I wasn’t expecting you either,’ he said. ‘But there you were.’
He remembered standing respectfully, watching the wedding ceremony, and then feeling compelled to turn towards the beautiful woman on the other side of the aisle. After that he’d been unable to think of anything but her.
‘I... I’d never been so attracted to someone. I didn’t know how to handle it,’ she said.
‘It was powerful. The attraction came from out of the blue for me too. And then we hit it off. You were such fun. It wasn’t just about how beautiful you were—are—it was the way we seemed to click.’
She looked up at him again. ‘It was a first for me.’ Her eyes were clouded with bewilderment and loss. ‘I’m truly sorry for the way it ended. No wonder you’re angry with me.’
He hated to see her hurting. ‘Natalia, please... You don’t need to say sorry again. Last night I should have made it clear that I accepted your apology for the way you left. Now, even in the short time I’ve been here in your country, I’ve got a grasp on the restrictions of your royal life.’
‘Thank you. It’s difficult to understand if you don’t see all this.’ She waved her hand to encompass the palace, the castle, the lake and the town below.
‘I can also see you were telling the truth when you said you had little control over the situation in Sydney—why you acted the way you did.’
‘I had to do the right thing. It was agony, watching you walk away, knowing I would never see you again. I can’t imagine you believed that at the time, but it’s true. I pretended I was ill all the way home on the plane so I didn’t have to talk to Gemma and Tristan.’
‘I searched for you. But I—’
Just then a buzzer went off on her watch. Startled, Natalia looked down at it. ‘Where did the time go? Our window of opportunity for sightseeing is rapidly shrinking. Soon we need to head out to the chocolate factory.’
He wanted to say that the only sight he wanted to see was her, but knew that would be both cheesy and inappropriate—although true. Despite all his resolve, he found himself falling under her spell again. Only this time he knew who she really was—and that the impediments to any kind of relationship between them were insurmountable.
The girl he’d known as Natalie had said she’d lived in England, and his first thought had been that long-distance couldn’t work. But distance seemed nothing compared to the chains of obligation tying Natalia to her life as a royal. At least this time around he knew what he was dealing with.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘Lead on.’
‘We won’t get much more done this morning than an introduction to the castle. Considering our limited time, I’ll take you straight to the walkway on the battlement walls. It has an interesting history and an amazing view.’
‘I like the sound of that,’ he said.
She paused and eyeballed him. ‘It can be cold up there on the battlements. I hope you’re dressed warmly enough?’
‘These are my northern hemisphere winter clothes,’ he said.
He was dressed in the warm cashmere coat, hat and gloves that he only ever wore on his frequent trips to Europe. It never got cold enough in Sydney for them to be taken out of his wardrobe. He didn’t think he could bear to live in a cold climate such as this.
The large wrought-iron bolt on the gate slid open easily. Finn could only imagine the army of staff it took to keep an ancient monument like this in such good order.
As if reading his mind, Natalia paused as she pushed open the gate. ‘There’s a full-time architect, an engineer, and an army of stonemasons and tradespeople responsible for keeping the castle standing and in such good order. Fact number one—some of these walls that seem so solid are actually stone shells on both sides, filled with rubble. They were designed to withstand contraction and expansion in extreme weather. Imagine—they knew to do that all those years ago.’
‘Clever,’ he said. ‘And gett
ing the stone up the sides of the mountain must have been quite a feat.’
‘A system of levers and pulleys, we believe,’ she said.
He followed her up several sets of steep, narrow steps, cut into the side of the mountain, until they emerged onto an external corridor that hugged the solid walls of the castle on one side and a high wall on the other.
‘Fact number two—’
‘You’re a really experienced tour guide.’
She laughed. Laugh number two.
‘Let’s just say it’s not the first time I’ve given a visitor a private tour. But this part of the castle is actually open to the public at certain times in the summer.’
‘Okay, so hit me with the next fact.’
‘The castle was built as a fortress in the eleventh century.’
He whistled. ‘That old?’
‘Even older. Fact number three—it was built on the ruins of a Roman castellum, which was like a watchtower. This was a strategic place for a fortress. The mountains behind form a formidable natural barrier. They were virtually unscalable—especially in winter. Standing on the battlements above us on the lake side they had a clear view of any approaching enemies.’
‘You know a lot about it.’ He was surprised by her passion for her subject.
‘Is it surprising that growing up here I’ve developed an interest in architecture and a passion for history? Over the centuries the original fortress building was extended to give us the castle we see now.’
‘You sound like you’ve memorised the guidebook,’ he said.
‘I actually wrote the guidebook,’ she said. ‘In four different languages.’
‘I’m seriously impressed,’ he said. ‘So tell me more.’
‘You’re not bored?’
‘I’m fascinated.’ As if he could be bored by anything she said.
‘If you’re sure?’
He looked down into her face. ‘I’m sure,’ he said. He didn’t intend to say anything further but could not resist adding, ‘Sure I’ve never met a more fascinating woman.’
Falling for the Secret Princess Page 9