AWAKENING THE SHY MISS

by Scott, Bronwyn

  What we’ve done? Dimitri wanted to correct him. Andrew hadn’t spent a single day on his knees in the dirt excavating anything. True, he’d been the one to bring him here and he’d been the one to see to the external arrangements like food and inviting the lords out, but he hadn’t done any actual work on the site. Andrew’s next words, though, were fighting words.

  ‘I think a few of them would be interested in purchasing some artefacts, especially that bowl you found the other day.’

  Dimitri shook his head. ‘We are not selling the artefacts. We’d agreed. Anything from this dig will be displayed in a museum here in Little Westbury.’ True, he didn’t have an actual museum yet, but he had his eye on an empty office space next to the bakery near the village green. It would be one of the last tasks he did before leaving, the final task that would launch Little Westbury into completely taking over the project.

  Andrew laughed. ‘It’s easy for you. You’re a prince, you don’t have to think about money. You can give it all away. I don’t know the rest of us can afford to think like that. The dig has to support itself. Surely it won’t hurt to sell some of the items. Don’t you agree, Sir Hollis?’ He flashed Evie’s father a smile, hoping to engage an ally. Dimitri sat back and waited. He already knew what Evie’s father would say.

  ‘Frankly, I agree with the Prince.’ Sir Hollis did not hesitate to take issue with Andrew. ‘It’s the principle of the matter. A heritage isn’t for sale. It’s one of the few things in this world that should not have a price put on it.’ He winked at his wife. ‘Love would be another.’ Isobel Milham blushed, looking much like her daughter, and Dimitri admired the way Sir Hollis had negotiated Andrew’s question with levity.

  Andrew threw up his hands with an easy laugh. ‘Save me from high-minded fools!’ But Dimitri didn’t think it truly was a joke to him. ‘Well, never mind,’ Andrew continued, leaning forward. ‘They might invest anyway. They have deep pockets and we’ll need them when you leave.’ Andrew was speaking directly to him although there were others present. He’d effectively blocked the Milhams out of the conversation. It was entirely disrespectful. ‘I had an idea. I stopped by your pavilion, but your assistant said you’d come here for dinner.’ There was a question of accusation in the statement. ‘I was thinking we might throw a party at the end of September, invite them out again, invite the locals, make it a celebration, a “passing the torch” ceremony, and a farewell party for you. You’re leaving the first of October. It will be perfect.’

  Dimitri felt his jaw tighten. He hazarded a glance at Evie to see how she’d taken the mention of a departure date. He’d said nothing concrete to her about exactly when he’d leave, only that he had to be home by February. But Evie had averted her eyes and was concentrating on her hands in her lap.

  ‘I was thinking Miss Northam could plan it,’ Andrew concluded the lay out of his plan. ‘If she’s invested time in the project, I’m sure her father would follow suit.’

  ‘No,’ Dimitri put in quickly. It might be sound logic, but he’d already foisted Miss Northam’s uncomfortable company on Evie once. He wasn’t going to do it again, especially after what Evie had shared with him this afternoon. No person like that was going to align herself with his projects if he could help it. What was the point, after all, of an apology, if he made the mistake again?

  ‘No?’ Andrew was taken aback. ‘Is that a royal edict, Your Highness?’ Dimitri didn’t care for the snide tone of Andrew’s voice, which went far beyond teasing.

  ‘It is simply, no,’ Dimitri repeated. ‘I think Evie and Lady Milham should plan it.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ It was Evie this time who broke in. ‘I sew gowns and draw patterns.’

  Dimitri argued with a smile, ‘I disagree with your assumption that all you’re good for is stitchery and drawing. I think you and your mother are perfectly placed to plan this party. You are a high-ranking local family. People look to you to set the tone.’ He hoped Evie’s level-headedness, though, would balance out her mother’s tendency to overthink things.

  ‘The Worths do that,’ Evie argued back.

  ‘They are not in residence currently.’ Dimitri didn’t hesitate and pressed on, laying out his case. ‘Your father is highly thought of when it comes to history and you’ve been helping me. You understand what this project is about. You’re the perfect bridge between Little Westbury and the excavation.’

  Evie switched tactics. Good heavens, arguing with her was like arguing with a hydra. ‘That doesn’t mean I can organise a party. Under your criteria, Andrew would be the perfect party organiser. Isn’t Andrew the one who arranges for all the supplies that come out to the site? He already knows how to order for a large group.’

  Dimitri gave a loud laugh. ‘He can order potatoes and sausage for a hundred men. That is not the same at all as planning a party. There are decorations to consider, seating arrangements, music, atmosphere.’

  Evie opened her mouth for another protest, but it was too late. Dimitri had an ally. He’d thought he might.

  Isobel Milham came to life at the mention of music and decorations. ‘Evie, we could do it. We could host it at the villa itself, let people dine in the general’s dining room. We could call it “A Night in a Roman Villa”.’

  ‘Something Latin would sound better,’ Evie said without realising what she was walking into. ‘“La Nocturna, a Night at a Roman Villa.” We could hang fabrics, damasks and silks.’

  Dimitri exchanged a victorious look with Lady Milham. He framed the phrase with a gesture of his hand. ‘“La Nocturna, a Night at a Roman Villa.” I like it. It will be the party of the decade, Evie.’

  ‘Wait!’ Evie saw too late what had happened. Dimitri nearly laughed at the incredulous expression on her face. ‘I haven’t agreed to anything.’ But she was wavering. Her eyes were dancing, and Dimitri would bet his fortune her mind was starting to see the potential. He was too—the villa’s courtyard, the dining room, a space that must have functioned as a grand salon of sorts at one time. It would be unique and magnificent.

  Dimitri laughed. He hadn’t had this much fun talking someone into something in ages and Evie was more than capable. ‘Perhaps this will convince you. The four words every woman loves to hear: Money is no object. You won’t be alone. You’ll have your mother. Stefon will help you. You come up with the lists and Stefon will see it done. My crew will help you set up when the time comes and they’ll clean up afterwards.’

  He glanced at Andrew, who’d been minimised in the conversation. ‘I think it’s a fabulous idea, Andrew. A party will build commitment. People will support what they fund, what they feel part of. The project will become theirs. This could be the work of a lifetime for someone, someone like you, Sir Hollis.’ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Andrew blanch. Andrew had seen himself as the natural successor. But he didn’t want the project in Andrew’s hands alone. Andrew would sell it off piece by piece for personal gain. He saw that now. ‘You can establish a museum with the artefacts, attract other scholars, attract tourists.’ He could see the idea excited Sir Hollis and the man would be well placed to know who those scholars might be. They wouldn’t be men like Lord Belvoir. They would be true scholars like Sir Hollis’s son-in-law, the aspiring Oxford don.

  Sir Hollis Milham rose. ‘Why don’t you and Evie take a stroll and talk through some ideas while they’re fresh in your head and I’ll see Andrew out.’ It was all said congenially, but Dimitri understood the undertones. Andrew was being dismissed and he was being given a chance to be alone with Evie. He was starting to wonder who or what Sir Hollis Milham’s remark about love was aimed at. At the time, it had seemed benign. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

  ‘The observatory would be nice tonight,’ Sir Hollis suggested with a smile. ‘There’s still time to see the Perseids. There’s nothing quite like wishing on shooting stars.’ If only, Dimitri thought, one could take the risk. What
happened if his wish came true?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Fresh air was good. Her head was reeling. Somehow she’d been manoeuvred into planning an enormous party, something she felt ill equipped to do. ‘You tricked me, back there,’ she said as she and Dimitri set out for the observatory, the lights of the house fading behind them, darkness and privacy before them.

  ‘Oh, no, it was all fair and square.’ Dimitri laughed. ‘You walked right into it with your inspired idea. Besides, I couldn’t tolerate the idea of turning it over to Miss Northam.’

  That alone made her honour bound to accept. He’d stood up for her tonight. She hadn’t missed that, nor had she been able to overlook how it had made her feel—cherished, important enough to fight for. Andrew had either been obtuse when it came to the undercurrents of her relationship with Cecilia Northam, or he simply didn’t care enough to consider her feelings. But Dimitri, who had known her for a handful of weeks, had been her champion. Dimitri, who had been and would be her lover.

  While they’d been arguing about parties, she had been making decisions. It had not escaped her that planning this party would also be a countdown to losing Dimitri—pain with the pleasure. August was nearly done. There wasn’t much time left. If she meant to act, it would have to be soon. And it would have to be her. She would have to let him know what the boundaries of their association would be.

  At the observatory, Evie cast her eyes skyward, scanning the night. ‘The Perseids will be visible tonight. It’s one of my favourite things about August—the meteor showers. This is the last week of truly prime viewing. I suppose we can say, we’ll catch the tail end of them.’

  ‘No pun intended, I suppose?’

  ‘Every pun intended. I’ve been waiting two weeks to use that.’ She laughed and Dimitri laughed beside her, a warm sound in the dark. When she allowed herself to think about it, she was still amazed at their relationship. It was more than simply her initial awe that this handsome man found her interesting. Any girl who limited her appreciation of Dimitri to such shallows would be missing the real attraction. She loved how natural it was to be with him, to laugh, to joke, to share. They’d given meaningful, difficult pieces of their past to one another. He’d told her about his sister, his reasons for returning to Kuban, and she knew how much that decision weighed on him, what it would cost him in personal freedom. In return, she’d shared her most humiliating experience with him.

  They climbed the tight spiral staircase to the top, where the large telescope stood ready. Dimitri blew out a whistle of appreciation. ‘My father built it from different parts. He modelled it after the one in Greenwich.’ She bent to the eyepiece to check the focus and stepped back. ‘Come, see, the view is remarkable. Look to your right.’

  Dimitri positioned himself at the eyepiece, his amazement instant. ‘I can see all the way to heaven. Oh, Evie, you have to see this.’ He backed away and moved her in front of him. ‘Look to the left.’ His hands were on her hips, directing her to catch the brilliant sight. ‘To the left, Evie, I think it’s the...’

  ‘Ring Nebula.’ They both murmured the answer in simultaneous awe.

  ‘The colours are striking up close,’ Dimitri whispered.

  But even with the vibrant colours of the Ring Nebula in her vision, she was acutely aware of the warm press of his hands at her hips.

  ‘The stars remind me how small I am, how finite my time on earth is,’ Dimitri said close to her ear. ‘It is perhaps a good lesson for a prince, to keep him humble.’

  ‘But a hard one too?’ Evie turned from the lens to face him. ‘For a man who wants to be in control? Who wants to protect?’ She was understanding him better each day. His sister, his family, herself. He was a born protector and protection required control. They were in close proximity now. She was within the circle of his arms and he made no move to take his hands from her waist. ‘The universe is a good lesson for all of us. A life is but a moment.’ Her voice was low and soft, her tongue ran across her lips as she gave words to the intoxicating thoughts in her head. ‘We put so much into those small moments—what to wear, what to eat, who to dance with—so much concern over what others think. Sometimes control is an elusive thing, an illusion of smoke and mirrors only, something we fool ourselves into believing. Wherever we go, whatever we do, life will happen anyway. Regardless.’ She’d never spoken such powerful words out loud before, afraid of being laughed at, and in truth, outside of Bea and May and Claire, who would she say such things to? But she wanted to say them to him, in the hope it would ease his sense of burden, perhaps bring him peace. He was trying to hide it, but he was troubled, it was there behind his dark eyes. He was wrestling with something.

  She held him with her eyes. ‘Did you know my mother has never left Little Westbury except to go to London? This is her universe, the entirety of her world.’

  ‘Is that a bad thing?’ Dimitri breathed.

  ‘I don’t know.’ They were whispering to one another now because the truth was sacred. ‘My father’s lived here too, but he went away for school and a Grand Tour. He saw something of the world before he came home and married.’

  ‘What of you, Evie? Are you comfortable with Little Westbury being your universe too?’

  ‘I think I could be happy anywhere as long as I was loved the way my father loves my mother.’ Two of her deepest, most hidden truths rolled out of her at once, without hesitation because he had to know. She needed him to know. Or perhaps because she needed herself to hear them in order to realise the other truth.

  ‘I know now that Andrew would never give me that. I don’t know why it took me this long to see it. Andrew is a universe unto himself and there is no room in it for two.’ She paused, letting them both take in her declaration. Her mind had let Andrew go before this, her subconscious had let him go long before tonight, but saying the words out loud was important. Sealing them with a kiss was even more important. Life could be built one kiss at a time.

  She’d given up Andrew. She’d said it before but hearing it tonight carried a stronger sense of finality to it. It was a victory to know she’d freed herself from the rather limiting adulation of Andrew Adair. Not because he wanted to ‘win’. It had never been a competition, he couldn’t compete for Evie, for anyone. This victory meant Evie had found her personal value. He envied her the victory. She’d found a way to free herself while he was still chained by his duty, by his love, to Kuban.

  What would he do if it was just him? If there was only himself to consider? Here in the observatory, with the stars above him, the heavens and Evie within his reach, the decision was clear. He would walk away from all of it for her, for this. This could be the sum of his world. His heart pounded with a clarity he’d never experienced as Evie pressed her lips to his and he gave himself a moment to be swept away by the kiss, by its promise.

  Evie smoothed his hair and held his face in her hands, a soft smile on her face. ‘Don’t worry, Dimitri,’ she said simply. ‘Tell me what’s on your mind.’

  ‘I am glad you’ve given up Andrew. But I hope you haven’t merely replaced him with me. I can give you nothing and...’ He nearly choked over the last. ‘And I wish I could.’ His hands tightened at her waist. ‘I am a prince with worldly wealth and I can give you nothing. It is starting to kill me.’ He shook his head. ‘I was not prepared for this.’ But that wasn’t quite true. He had prepared for this moment all his life—the moment when love might find him and he would fight it. Only he wasn’t prepared enough because he knew he was failing. He didn’t want to resist. He wanted to give in to Evie Milham and all she offered even at an extraordinary price, a price that would not be paid by him alone, but by Evie, by his sister, by his family. ‘I’d not thought of myself as a selfish man until now, Evie.’ He felt rocked with emotions, but Evie was calm in the wake of his storm.

  ‘The book my father finished is for her, you know. It’s his v
ersion of a love song.’ Her words were in earnest and their solemnity touched him, helped him. A love song. What a perfectly poignant way to think of the sacrifice he would make for Anna-Maria. It would be his love song to her. Just like that, Evie had restored his resolve. He was not sacrificing for Anna-Maria, he was performing an act of love. In letting him go, Evie was performing an act of love too. He would think of that in the years to come. He would think of this moment too. He would remember how Evie looked, how her voice had been sincere. How she’d felt in his arms, a warm autumn flame offering comfort without realising it. Perhaps that was the best kind of comfort—unsolicited, unedited, entirely honest.

  In one accord, they moved down the stairs, silently into the night. They didn’t dare stay too long without her parents worrying. But it had been enough to be alone with her, to hold her, to clarify his thoughts. In the dark, he reached for her hand, wanting to touch her as long as he could.

  ‘Tell me about your sister.’ Her voice was soft in response as if she’d known the direction of his thoughts and what he needed to say out loud. ‘You love her very much.’ Dimitri felt himself smile. ‘She must be a wonderful person if her name makes you smile.’

  ‘She is wonderful. She’s been my life since I was twelve. My mother should never have tried to have another child. The doctors had warned her against a pregnancy at her age, especially since my older brother and I hadn’t been easy. But in Kuban, it is an honour to give the country noble, handsome sons and she wanted to do her duty. My father loved her, he could deny her nothing. I was there when Anna-Maria was born. The birth had gone poorly from the start and everyone knew she wouldn’t last. A nurse shoved the baby into my arms and I just stood there, staring at my poor mother fading away.’ His throat tightened. He did not like this memory, but it was the last one he had and he would not give it up for the world. Evie’s thumb moved in soothing circles around his hand. ‘My mother looked at me one last time. There were no words but I knew what she wanted. I looked down into the face of my new little sister and I knew that it wasn’t just what my mother wanted, but what Anna-Maria needed. A protector.’