Page 27 of A Foreign Crown
“I am, with my father, yes.”
They walked through two more garden-like courtyards until the prince stopped at a bench. “Shall we sit?”
She joined him and was pleased that the air between them warmed. “Who are you most like? Your mother or father?”
He smiled. “I quite like your questions—your whole pleasing manner, actually.”
Her cheeks heated, and she knew they were as red as they ever had been.
Prince Layton continued. “I am unsure who I’m most like. I feel that for years I’ve longed to be more like Father, to gain his approval.” He frowned, then shrugged. “But alas, I feel we are vastly different. I do respect him greatly. And as for Mother...” His laugh sounded like music and carried out around their small garden. “I fear I’m not much like her either.”
“I strive to be like my mother. The Queen tells me I am. My mother was a remarkable woman.”
“And here I am, the renegade of the two of us, not like either parent and quite happy about my circumstances.” The tiniest hint of a dimple showed when he smiled.
She laughed. “We are who we are. No one is precisely like another.”
“True.” He tilted his head back, looking up into the sky. “I fear the hour is growing dreadfully late, and here we are, quite unchaperoned.”
She sighed softly, and he smiled.
“Perhaps it matters not at the English court,” he said.
“I’m quite certain it must matter, although I find the morals and manners deplorably lacking.” She rested a hand at her mouth. “I don’t mean to speak ill of anyone specifically.”
He lifted the fingers of her other hand and held them in his own. “We shall attempt to remain unscathed then, shall we?” He stood. “Most particularly by returning you to your place of residence.”
“I feel perhaps safer with you here than I have with any other.”
He stepped closer. “And I you.” His gaze searched hers. “Do you not feel safe in the palace?”
“What I feel mostly right now is uncertain of my place or my duties.” She was unsure what to confide. The Queen had warned her not to trust anyone, but surely Her Majesty had not been considering the foreign prince when she wrote her warning. And then, of course, there was the uncomfortable fact that the Queen hoped for a connection between one of her daughters and Prince Layton. “But I am sure those perplexities will become clearer with time.”
“Most certainly.” He led her back through the gardens. “And where am I taking you, my lady?”
She indicated the rear garden entrance of the Queen’s house, and they strolled toward it. She found it interesting that neither of them walked with any haste. “Tell me more of your home.”
“I was raised in my parents’ palace. We have a royal court and a staff; it is quite different from what you see in the English court, though just as busy and just as full. It will not be my home when I marry.” He chuckled to himself. “Nor is it my home very much now.”
“Oh? How so?”
“I have a ship, docked near the palace, and I prefer to sleep on board.”
“I should like to journey by ship, to sleep on a boat; even to walk upon one would be lovely.”
“Do you enjoy the water?”
“I do. I miss the sea by my home already, surrounded by all this land.”
“You will always find an understanding ear in that regard. I am accustomed to being surrounded by the sea on my ship, or at least on three sides in Brittiny Castle.”
“Brittiny Castle? Is that your home?”
“It will be. When I have someone to share it with.” He seemed to pay extra close attention to her. “It towers up into the sky, and when you are in a certain room, all you see is water.”
“That sounds enchanting and quite like my home. I am accustomed to looking out any window in our castle at the rolling waves as far as I can see. The feel of the breeze on my face, the smell off the water.” She closed her eyes. “I feel quite without my moorings.”
“Then, we shall muddle through together as we both attempt to find our way. How long will you be here?”
