Page 103 of A Tenuous Betrothal
Karl’s snort surprised her. “If we’re all finished saying things we don’t mean, I should take Miss Davies back to the palace.” One corner of his mouth lifted. “I believe the ladies want to spend some time with her. But I look forward to my venture to the library tomorrow. I hear a beautiful woman might be there.”
Rhi put her hand on his arm. “I think you have chosen two of my favorite activities.”
“Do you hear that, Kristoff? I shall win this wooing competition.” Karl led her away to the sound of Kristoff’s laughs.
“Is he laughing because he thinks I’ll win or lose?” Karl glanced over his shoulder with a pretended look of anxiousness.
“I can’t be sure what he thinks. He thinks he’s open, but I suspect his motives are strong and well-hidden.”
“Oh yes, you’ve discovered his secrets already. Well done. But I cannot always read him.” He sighed. “Alas, we shall have to drown ourselves in the greats of times past.”
“I admit to being fascinated by what a royal book collection must hold.”
“It has been around for multiple generations already. Some books are written in languages none of us speak.” He stood taller. “Although, I have tried to remedy that.”
“You have?”
“Yes, of course. We have translators working on some of the obscure languages right now.”
She nodded. Karl was much deeper in personality than he allowed anyone to see. Each of the Wilhelm brothers was an impressive person. She would be grateful to call them family.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Marc sat crouched in thedarkness.
He could have been inside the palace in Vienna in his royal court attire, watching the proceedings from there, warm, with food in his belly, but he’d had a feeling. And the itch inside that told him his team might be expecting trouble was what kept him outside.
The others tasked with keeping the Prussian ambassador safe were only half paying attention. He knew they felt safe with the palace guards around them, but Marc couldn’t relax.
Still, hours had gone by with no trouble, not a hint of a disturbance. Anyone on his team could have held watch as he was doing. Perhaps he really could assign someone else these tasks. Perhaps he could move forward with a life of his own. Rhi’s face flooded his mind. He’d tried, to no avail, to close that chapter, to set her aside, to let her go. But she would not leave his thoughts, his heart. At times, the very air around him seemed infused with her essence.
For all his efforts not to fall in love, he’d done it anyway. He loved her more than almost anything.
Almost.He frowned. She’d not like to hear that.
He could not put his own happiness above the safety and security of Europe.
At least, he’d thought he couldn’t. Until these hours, cramped in the dark. Now he wondered. Surely, this evening, anyone could have waited outside the palace, though perhaps not everyone would have.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
His eyes darted everywhere, taking in his surroundings. He saw nothing, but the feeling of being watched would not leave.
He shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. Flexed his hands.
Still nothing happened.
Tense and on alert for another two hours, his whole body grew sore. His neck felt tight as he moved it around on his shoulders. And his legs cramped from constant readiness to spring.
He still felt uneasy, but he could see no reason to feel anything but secure.
The night grew long, and it would soon be time for Theodore to relieve him. And he knew his eyes would easily close when he fell onto a servant’s pallet in the barn. His sense of danger had never failed him, but he could not physically be on alert all night long, and danger had not presented itself. So when Theodore approached, ready to take his spot, Marc nodded. “Attentive watch, man. I’ve got a sense something is amiss. It has proved unfruitful to this point—we can thank the heavens—but something is brewing.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Theodore was a good man. He would do his best.
With that knowledge, Marc turned and made his way toward the stables and his horse.
Rhi had sought comfort in her own horse. Of course she’d gone directly to Firestorm instead of resting first when they’d arrived at the palace.
