Page 112 of A Tenuous Betrothal
“You belong here more than we knew.” Marc held her gaze. “But no matter where your parents are from, you belong.”
She did not look away. “I hope so. I’d like to belong here.”
Marc had not been this happy in a long time. They finished their breakfast, talking about the living relatives in her mother’s family line. It was an easy conversation, comfortable and full of promise.
At length he stood to leave. “Thank you for letting me join you. I realize you didn’t have a choice.” He laughed to himself. “But I hope it was a fun surprise.”
“I loved it.”
He pulled her near again, her eyes wide and inviting, her mouth close to his. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, now and always. He held her, looking into her face, his lips close, his hands tingling with expectation.
She closed her eyes, and her mouth parted.
But he hesitated and then pressed his lips to her cheek. “Save the first dance for me tonight?”
Her eyes fluttered open with a tiny flash of irritation. “It’s taken. But I have the second.” The wicked grin that followed was almost funny enough to take away the sting.
“By whom?”
“Karl, I think. Or was it Frederick?” She laughed. “Karl. He was very persuasive.”
“The second, then.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “And every one after.”
She laughed. “Oh, that’s right. You Oldenburgians don’t hold to the two-set-only rule.”
“No, we do not.” The intensity of the moment shimmered in the air around him. Then he bowed and slipped back out onto the balcony.
Once he was up the rope and back in his own study, he growled to himself. “Karl.” And then he made his way out to find his father.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rhi had only a coupleof hours before she would need to start getting ready for the ball. It would be an all-afternoon process, but she was looking forward to it. The other sisters from England were to have a luncheon with her in her rooms while the maids began on their hair.
But now, before all of that began, she needed some quiet, so she made her way to the stables.
Though distracted by all manner of thoughts, some movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention. Something felt off. She stood still and then moved slowly behind a set of flowering trees to watch.
A man stepped out from behind the corner of the stables, looked in all directions, and made his way around toward the stable entrance. He carried a bucket and was dressed as a servant but was not behaving as though he belonged at the palace.
As soon as his back was to her, she followed him.
Instead of entering the stables, he left a bucket just inside the entrance and kept walking, a whistle from his lips and a spring in his step. He turned the corner on the other side as Rhi peered into a seemingly harmless bucket of hay. She ran by and hurried to the same corner he’d just turned around.
He had moved quickly and was now attaching a set of ponies to a cart full of hay. He seemed older than a typical servant, and now that Rhi had a closer view of him, he was different in other ways as well. His light hair, sharp features, and taller stature spoke of Slavic origins. The citizens of Oldenburg favored the taller, broader Slavic stance, but he also had a sharp nose, beady eyes, and long hands. Something about him seemed French as well.
Her mouth went totally dry. Something was not as it should be.
He hopped into the front of his cart and urged the ponies forward to the next building, another barn. Kristoff had told her it stored some of the gardener’s tools and other items.
The man stopped in front of the smaller structure, turned to reach behind him in the cart, and grabbed a bucket just like the one he’d left in the stables.
She squinted. Nothing about the actions seemed to be overly interesting, but they did raise questions. Why did the gardening buildings need a bucket of hay? Odd.
He left it just inside the doorway like he had the last and then hopped back into his cart and moved on.
It was not too difficult to track where he headed because he stopped at every major edifice between Rhi and the palace. Every time, it looked as though he grabbed something from the cart and placed it inside the doorway.
She rubbed her forehead. What was she supposed to do with this?
