Page 78 of A Tenuous Betrothal
She laughed again. “We shall see.” And then she took his hand in hers.
He turned from her. “Oh, here it is. Look.” Kristoff pointed.
The bay at last came into view, and Rhi sucked in a breath, placing a hand on her heart. Never had she seen anything so lovely. Rocky shores on two sides welcomed their ship. Green coastline and glorious rocky hills rolled out behind the green. The water took on a new aqua hue inside the bay, and brilliant, sparkling sandy beaches were tucked away in a corner.
She hardly dared take her eyes off it for fear she’d miss its splendor, but she felt someone’s gaze on her. As she glanced over her shoulder, no one was visible, but the feeling stayed. And somehow, she knew it was Marc. She quickly returned her attention to the beautiful view.
The bay was lined with mountains and rocky crags, interspersed with lovely rolling green hills. At the top, a castle towered up to the sky with narrow turrets and towers, looking almost as if it were made to sit among the rocks.
“That’s Layton’s home,” Kristoff said.
“Do you each have your own castles?”
“We do, though they are not all as striking as Layton’s. Who is the favorite child, you might ask?” Kristoff indicated his castle.
Rhi grinned. “But we aren’t bitter.”
“Not at all.” As they grew closer, a huge palace came into view at the rear of the bay. “And that is the family palace,” Kristoff said.
It, too, was grand—strikingly beautiful. It seemed to continue forever in all directions and fit perfectly with the hills that surrounded it.
On the opposite edge of the bay, only visible as they approached the more protected waters, was another castle, which rested on the edge of the water. It didn’t tower. It blended. It used every available space among the rocks to exist in such a lovely splendor that Rhi could hardly breathe. “I love that one.” She felt as if she belonged there.
“That is Marc’s home.” Kristoff’s voice was quiet, but it thundered through her.
Of course it was.
She swallowed twice to attempt to recover and then choked her way through her next question. “And where is yours?”
“Oh, mine.” He waved his hand. “Mine is just right over there.” He pointed to a castle set off away from the palace, not on the shoreline but surrounded by the green of the rolling hills and by low-lying walls of stone. It looked so much like her dear Wales that she almost choked up again at the new sharpness in her throat. “That is yours?” She wiped her eyes. “This is all too glorious to take in. I’m happier now than I have been in a long time.”
“Excellent.” Marc’s voice was suddenly at her ear, making her jump. “Do you like it, then?”
“I do, very much.” Their eyes met for as long as she dared stare into his, and then she looked away. “Kristoff’s home looks like Wales to me. I’m so pleased there are places like it here.” She wiped at her eyes again. “But I do believe Layton is the favorite and most-loved child.” She indicated his castle again. Now that they were closer, she was awed by how tall it was.
“And mine?” Marc’s question tugged her back to him. How unfair of him to be here, to ask, when he must know already. He must realize that she would love it best. But she couldn’t resist the moment, couldn’t stop herself from saying, “It’s perfect.”
He nodded. A look of pain flashed in his eyes, and he turned from them.
“I’ve never seen Marc quite this broody. Is that what women like? A tall, dark, broody man?” Kristoff wiggled his eyebrows. “If so, I’m afraid I shall never find a woman.”
“No, women wish for a man to make them laugh.” She rested a hand on his arm. “Who can brood with views such as these?” As she looked out over the Oldenburg lands that stretched as far as she could see, she hoped that living in such a place, surrounded by such people, would take away the sting of not being loved by the man who mattered most to her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Marc was supremely gratified bythe look on Rhi’s face when she’d seen his home.
And torn in two.
He’d known it would be torture of the worst kind, but he’d approached to hear her words, even still.
What he needed now was to get off this blasted ship, set his two feet on land, mount a horse, and then tear off to Prussia. It was time to go out on a mission, a dangerous one, and to forget all about the woman who was stepping into his homeland.
The hour that remained before they disembarked from the ship was the longest of his life. But, at last, they stood on Oldenburg shores. Rhi had exited on Kristoff’s arm ahead of Marc, and he watched her. Just as he wondered if she noticed the huge carving of the horizon and the rising sun across the top of the double-door entrance, she pulled her ribbon with the ring out from under her dress and fingered it, her gaze directed above the entrance.
The doors to the palace flung open, then, and his mother and father hurried in the most stately manner possible to greet them.
“Oh, my dear sons! And how much joy I have in welcoming a new daughter to our family.” His mother held out her hands, pulling Rhi into her arms first. “Not everyone can manage our Marc, but you and I shall have a chat.” She patted Rhi’s cheek. “And you, Kristoff, Henri.” She hugged them next, and then Marc approached.
