Page 78 of A Foreign Crown
Marc picked it up. “Which one’s supposed to be me?” He held it closer, squinting.
“I don’t know. I think he did his best guess.” Layton grinned. “I don’t know if he knows you’re the handsomest.”
“The handsomest? Have you looked at him lately?” Hayes snorted and eyed the drawing. “That’s quite clever though.” He turned to Layton, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair. “You did well, Brother. We’re well-known, apparently.”
Layton grinned and felt his chest puff a little under the praise. “Thank you. In most regards, I am happy to be home.”
“Most regards?” Karl wiggled his eyebrows. “Are you missing your princess?”
“I should say all regards.” Layton returned his attention to his food. “I wouldn’t care to return.” Only one person could get him to go back, he realized.
After the meal, his mother lingered close to him. She linked her arm in his. “Shall we go for a walk?”
“Of course, Mother.”
“The conservatory sounds nice. Perhaps we shall find an orange or two.”
They walked slowly. Layton enjoyed his childhood home. “I’m going to open up Brittiny Castle and begin living there.”
She nodded. “I’m happy to hear it, and I am not surprised. It is the next step. Of all my sons, I’m pleased you will be there.”
“So you can see me across the water?”
“Well, though I do love that you are close enough to see your home, it is more that I know you will love the castle as it deserves. You will look out on the water each day and feel its power as our ancestors did.”
“I believe I will, Mother.”
“The lady of that house will need to be special indeed. She’ll inherit the royal jewels from my grandmother and manage her own royal estate.”
Layton felt her eyes on him. He knew where the conversation would inevitably go, but he thought to derail her for a moment. “Did you and Father have a love match?”
The music of her laughter carried out into the conservatory as they entered. A tropical bird flew up into the top of a tree, and the warm thickness of the air encircled them. “You are the first of my children to ask me such a question.” She eyed him. “And I suspect you have good reasons for asking, but we will get to that. Come. Let’s sit.” She led him to her favorite bench under the two orange trees their conservatory boasted. She patted his hand and then turned to him as they sat together. “I have loved your father for many years now.”
“But?”
“But I didn’t when I first married him.”
Disappointed, he nodded. “So he sought your hand out of duty?”
“Oh no. I didn’t say anything about your father. He declared his love for me almost at our first meeting.”
Layton laughed. “I’m—”
“Shocked? Amazed? Yes, I was as well. I thought well of him. He was respected in all the world at the time. Great things were coming from the heir to the Oldenburg throne. Everyone was talking about him. But...” She shrugged. “I needed to grow into the idea.”
“But you married him anyway?”
“Of course. Duty is a strong motivator.”
He pressed his lips together.
“But it doesn’t have to be the same for you.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Is Princess Mary not your first choice?” The knowing glint in her eyes told him she knew as much already.
“No. She’s not really my choice at all.”
