The Peculiar Princess

by Christina Graham Parker

  Neither Ebbe nor Margaret argued with her, but their burning eyes and frowns spoke of their displeasure. Lexy decided to change the subject. “It’s nice to have you join us at the table, Margaret.”

  Margaret blushed, and Ebbe jumped to her rescue. “I thought it fitting she join us given what transpired in the last twenty-four hours. What affects me affects her.”

  “I’m not criticizing the choice, simply commenting on how pleasant it is to be dining with Margaret once again.” Lexy gave the lady in question a smile. “I’ve missed it.”

  “Thank you, my lady.” Margaret looked down at her plate.

  Lunch progressed with scattered small talk on inconsequential matters. At one point, Ebbe turned to Lukas. “You’ve been more quiet than normal, Reynard.”

  Her husband tensed, his spoon clattered against his plate. “What words have I been remiss in saying?”

  “Something. Anything.” Ebbe placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “What you plan on doing now. Or, I don’t know, an apology.”

  Lexy’s gaze bounced from man to man. She couldn’t help Lukas. He’d have to take that one by himself.

  “There is nothing I can say to defend myself or to excuse my behavior. Only by my actions will you be able to tell I have changed. I will prove myself, to all of you, but I am not ignorant or naïve enough to think I can change your minds overnight.”

  Ebbe gave a grunt in response, averting his eyes from her. She blushed, thinking on what had changed overnight. “I think we should all meet in Culberton’s drawing room to discuss our next steps,” she said. “How does an hour sound?”

  No one disagreed; silence was the only approval she’d get. She knew Ebbe and Margaret would be difficult to convince. After all, she felt the same way less than twenty-four hours ago. Had she done the right thing? Lukas nudged her foot with his under the table. The look in his eyes testified that the man before her was changed from the one she’d first met. She’d have to get to know him all over again. A task she looked forward to.

  After lunch she walked outside with Lukas before meeting with Ebbe and Margaret. By unspoken consent, they went toward the garden. Their arms brushed on occasion, each small touch a reminder of how things had changed.

  “I am at a loss of words,” he finally said. “To have you stand beside me, knowing what I have done. What I was going to do.”

  She stopped, waited for him to do the same, and then captured his gaze. “Let’s not look back anymore. Only forward from now on.”

  His smile came easy and lit his entire face. “Agreed,” he said. “With you by my side, I think I can try.” He leaned over and for a moment she thought he’d kiss her, but at the last minute, he pulled away. “We should head back.”

  It came as no surprise to either of them that Ebbe and Margaret were already waiting in the drawing room. Margaret sat in the chair by the fireplace while Ebbe paced nearby. At their entrance, he sat down. Lexy and Lukas took chairs across from each other.

  Lexy broke the silence. “With all that’s come out over the last day, I thought we should come up with a plan.” She turned to her husband. He sat like a solider, his back not touching the chair. “Lukas, is there any way Severon could know what’s happened?”

  “I think not. If he had spies out yesterday, there might be speculation as to your leaving. Since you returned, he will have no reason to ponder it.”

  Bile rose to her throat and she swallowed, not allowing herself to dwell on the thought of vicious men watching her. “For the time being, you think it best to allow him to think you’re still working for him?”

  “I do,” he answered as soon as she asked the question. “I shall be in a position to give him erroneous information. By the time he realizes what I have done, it will be too late.”

  “If all goes to plan.” Ebbe wrinkled his brow. “How conceivable is it someone will know what you’re doing?”

  “There are only four who know what I am about. If we keep this to ourselves, we should be safe. The information I give will be close enough to the truth to throw off suspicion, but wrong enough to keep him out of our way.” He sounded certain, but Lexy knew he’d be walking a dangerous line.

  “You ask us to place an inordinate amount of trust in you,” Ebbe reminded everyone.

  “And I realize it is a trust I have yet to earn.”

  Ebbe sighed. “I pray you know what you are doing, my lady. There is a part of me that finds this transformation unbelievable.”

  “Give it time, Ebbe,” she said. “The Lord can and will do things beyond any of your expectations.”

  They talked a bit more of the current situation and possible solutions, everyone aware of how much they were relying on Lukas. Lexy knew he was anxious for the opportunity to prove himself and that he viewed his new role as a challenge. When the conversation shifted to more detailed matters, she excused herself.

  ****

  That night she stood in her room, ready for bed, wondering if she should go to Lukas’s room or if he’d come to hers. Margaret had left half an hour earlier. Before then, she thought she’d heard Lukas bumping around his room. Crazy man was always trying her patience.

  She waited five more minutes before pulling her dressing gown on and barging through the connecting door. Peterson, who had been setting out clothes, looked up at her and blinked.

  “Peterson,” her husband said from a chair beside the bed, voice dull and lacking emotion. “Your services are no longer required this evening.”

  Peterson nodded and shuffled out the door, moving faster than she thought possible.

  Lukas watched his valet leave, set aside the papers he’d been reading, and turned to her. “I would have found you in less than five minutes, love.”

  “What can I say?” She put her hands on her hips. “Patience never was one of my redeeming qualities.”

  “Indeed?” His eyes glowed with the amusement he only showed to her. “That had escaped my attention.”

  She dismissed his concealed barb. “I don’t get the whole separate bedrooms thing anyway. Who thought that was a good idea?” It seemed a bit extreme, all the back and forth. Would they use one room one night and the other the next? Maybe it would be better to switch every week instead. “In the future, married couples have one bedroom.”

  “Now that is a redeeming quality.” He stood with a rakish grin, his shirt open and untucked. “Shall we decide on a room then?”

  Her mouth went dry at the sight of him strolling toward her. “I say mine. It’s too easy to picture your father in this one.”

  “And fortunately,” he said. “I have no remembrance of my mother in yours.”

  His mother. She hadn’t thought about the fact that his mother would have used the room she now occupied. “Are you sure?” she asked. “We could use my old room. Or your old one.”

  He came closer. “Yours.” Two large hands encircled her waist and pulled her to the door. “Now.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You want to do what?” Lexy asked Lukas the next morning, dropping the pastry she’d been eating.

  He brushed a crumb from the corner of her mouth. “I wish to make amends with my father.”

  She wiped her hands on the napkin in her lap, thankful he’d suggested a private breakfast in their sitting room. “I heard that part, it was the rest I found confusing.”

  “The Duke of Oldenbourg is in London. Father will be staying there for some time before returning to Hereford. London is but a day’s ride from here.”

  She frowned at her discarded pastry. When the Duke of Culberton left Hullington, she’d been overjoyed knowing it would be a long time before she would see him again. Now she was faced with the possibility of that meeting occurring less than a week after bidding him goodbye.

  Lukas picked at his pastry, too lost in his own thoughts to notice her discomfort. “It could, mayhap, be the last opportunity I have to see him. I cannot leave things as they were.”

  “What did he
say when he left? I saw how it affected you.”

  His face reddened. “Nothing of consequence.”

  She decided not to push it. If and when he felt like sharing, he would. “So you still think we’re doomed if we go up against Severon?”

  “I try to be realistic in my plans. In this instance, my mind tells me it would be for the best to set things right with my father. I know nothing is impossible with God, Alexia. I need only look across the table or reach out in the dark to find you beside me to see what God has already done. But surely He does not expect us to live as though nothing bad will happen?”

  “No, He doesn’t. I’m sorry. It’s just I’m not overjoyed at the prospect of seeing your father again.”

  He reached over and put his hand on top of hers, its warmth heating her body. “I know how my father is and that it is not easy for you to be around him. I did think briefly of going by myself, but…” He started caressing her hand with his thumb.

  Had she been a cat, she’d have purred. “But?”

  He leaned over the table, his breath warm against her cheek. “It did not escape my attention that if you went with me, we would have some time alone. It would almost be like the cottage, but without Gwyneth.”

  “Keep talking.” She moved closer.

  He gave her a soft kiss. “And it would give Bixby some time to himself.”

  “Mustn’t forget Ebbe.”

  “No we mustn’t.” Another kiss. She felt the smile on his lips. “Would you be able to travel without Margaret as your lady’s maid?”

  “I’ve done it for the last twenty-five years.” She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him back. “I should be able to handle a quick trip to London. As long as you agree to help with my laces.”

  “Agreed. Peterson will remain here as well, then.” He pulled back. “Are you certain you find it acceptable to be completely in my company for a few days?”

  “It’ll almost make up for having to put up with your father.”

  “You are easily persuaded, my love.”

  She captured his gaze and tried to keep a straight face. “Well, I have been told it’s quite hard to resist the charms of a Reynard man.”

  They both laughed.

  “In that case, I have another proposition for you.” He leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

  “Absolutely not.” She pushed his chest. “We have too much packing to do if we’re to leave soon.”

  He sighed and returned to his chair. “Too persuasive for my own good.”

  She shook a mocking finger at him. “That’ll teach you.”

  ****

  The proposed journey to London met Ebbe’s approval. Lexy took it as a move in the right direction that he would accept a trip putting her alone with Lukas for several days. Surely he could hold no further ideas Lukas was still plotting against them if he felt it safe for her to travel with him.

  Margaret packed them so well that by the time they left, another horse was needed just to carry the extra saddlebags.

  “Just as well, I suppose,” Lukas commented as they rode off the next day. “We should be able to buy dress material for you.”

  “Dress material? Whatever for?” She glanced down at the riding habit she had on. Lady Anne had given her several outfits, all new.

  He glanced at her sideways. “Because you refuse to wear the entire outfit. With material, new dresses can be made with a higher collar so you don’t look half dressed.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I speak the truth. If you expect people to accept you as the heir of Dresdonia, you must look the part.”

  “I hate those ruffs, they look like dog collars.”

  “Which is why I suggested new dresses as opposed to requiring you wear the ones Lady Anne gave you.”

  “Requiring?”

  He gave a half smile. “Mayhap ‘requiring’ was the wrong word.”

  “It was if you don’t want to find yourself on the floor again.”

  “Alexia, be sensible.”

  “I am.”

  “You are not.” He gave her a grin. “You would not last two nights with me on the floor.”

  She opened her mouth to object, but he was right and he knew it. Her face heated and instead, she concentrated on the road. “Lady Rosemund didn’t say anything about my dresses.”

  He spurred his horse forward to catch up with her. “You were thought dead for five-and-twenty years. You could have shown up wearing sackcloth and ashes and no one would have said anything.”

  “If I remember, you had plenty to say about what I showed up wearing.”

  “I said sackcloth and ashes. If you wore what passes for acceptable clothing in the future, you would have been unwelcome. Stop frowning and trust me. If you want to have any chance at holding on to the support we have gathered, you must look the part.”

  She fingered her neckline. It was lower than what she’d seen other women wear. “I know. Let’s go to France. We could zip on over to Paris while we’re out.” Surely the French were forward enough in their fashions to have something that could appeal to her and satisfy the standards of the Dresdonian supporters.

  “Travel to France?” he asked, as if she’d suggested they fly to the moon. “No.”

  “Why?”

  He gritted his teeth. She knew he wasn’t used to having someone question his decisions. “Because for one they are in the middle of a bloody war. Secondly, they would love nothing more than to burn us as martyrs. Thirdly,” he paused, “I care not for France.”

  Maybe he has another ex-girlfriend in France. But she’d already tried his patience enough, and the stubborn set of his jaw offered little hope for further discussion.

  She focused her attention on the passing countryside instead, noting the change. Lifting her head to inhale deeply, she could almost smell the sea air. “Are we near the coast?”

  Her question drew him back from whatever troubles he’d left in France. “Yes. We are.”

  “It’s beautiful,” she said as a dove flew overhead. “I wonder what it will look like in the future?”

  “Would it not look the same?” he asked.

  She gazed across the expansive setting before her. The trees reached upward toward the heavens, while more doves landed in the branches, their calls adding to the general serenity of the scene. Beautiful indeed, but not likely to remain untouched during the coming four to five hundred years. She tried not to imagine the seaside resorts, power lines, or highways that were certain to mar the tranquility.

  “No, it won’t,” she admitted, not feeling like explaining, wanting just to enjoy the peace she found herself in.

  He respected her silence, watching her close as if to discern her thoughts. Eventually, his gaze moved to the passing landscape.

  ****

  “What happened in France?” she asked a few hours later as they enjoyed a light meal of bread and nuts. She studied the spot they’d stopped at, a beautiful bluff overlooking the sea. Below them, the ocean crashed on the rocks, the roaring sound filling the silence as she waited for Lukas’s response.

  It was so long in coming, she thought he would ignore the question. “France,” he answered slowly, “was where I first killed a man.”

  She almost choked on her bite of bread and wished she’d left well enough alone. Or that France had just held memories of a long-lost love.

  “I was sixteen,” he continued, “and the country was in an uproar over the religious differences still causing conflict today. It was my first fight. I, a young man anxious to prove myself and scared unto death at the same time.”

  “It’s okay,” she said softly when he stopped. “You don’t have to tell me. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “You should know the type of man to whom you have pledged yourself.” He didn’t allow her to respond, but continued on. “I was in France as a mercenary, bored of my studies, yearning for more than what the life of a second son offered. I thought I could find adventure in war, so I set out to
prove myself.”

  He put his bread down and stared over the ocean. “We came upon a group of Catholic peasants. One boy, sixteen or seventeen, put up a brave fight while diverting attention from his mother and sisters. He prayed as I ran him through, and I watched as his life blood left him, unable to tear myself from the look in his eyes.” He closed his eyes as if trying to escape the thoughts troubling him. Or was it the young boy he saw behind his eyelids?

  Pain and regret flickered in his eyes. “The nightmares came for over nine months. Even now, sometimes, I see him in my sleep.” He walked to the edge of the bluff. “But I continued killing. It became commonplace to me.” He turned to look at her. “I was good at it. Very good. You deserve so much more than me.”

  She walked to him and took his hands. “I know Whose you are, Lukas. I don’t need to know what you’ve done. Besides,” she said with a tentative smile. “God will take your past and use it for good.”

  He squeezed her hands, a silent thanks for her acceptance. “How did you become so wise?”

  “I had good teachers. Cara for one.”

  “You miss her greatly, do you not?”

  “Every day.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dallas, Texas

  Present Day

  “Don’t you dare tell me you’re giving up,” Cara said to the police investigator, Lieutenant McCabe.

  He had asked her to come to his office. Until five minutes earlier, she had held out hope that something had turned up. Surely, she’d told herself before walking into the police station, they’d found a clue by now. After all, how could someone disappear without a trace?

  McCabe set his papers on the desk. “We have nothing, Miss North. No leads, no witnesses, no ransom. Nothing.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not looking hard enough.”