Page 7 of A Touch of Charm
“In French?” Thea wondered why the muscular doctor was handsome and spoke FrenchandGerman since he studied in Vienna. Most doctors didn’t have such a broad education.
“Both. There’s a slight inconsistency in the translation from French but the German edition had invaluable citations.”
Thea quirked a brow.
As if he’d guessed her skepticism, he explained. “I’m not of noble blood, but I assure you, Your Royal Highness, I’m all but common.” Andre arched a brow, and Thea’s heart leaped.
He was far too handsome and witty for her to be comfortable near him. As a princess, she’d been taught to keep her distance from rakes—especially the charming ones. He was charming, and this new curiosity about his persona unsettled her.
“All right, let me clear the air here.” Stan leaned forward. “Princess Josephine Theodora Andrea von Hohenzollen-Sigmaringen, I’m pleased to present my dear friend, Dr. Andre Fernando, to you.” Stan gestured grandly—as if they were not in a tight cabin of a landau in the middle of the night on a dirt path but in the throne room back at Bran Castle. “He knows about the gold mines at home and Baron von List.”
Thea dropped her head back against the cabin side. Somehow the Prussian baron had managed to use the political instability in Transylvania to cover up his exploitation of the gold mines.
“Have you been able to intercept any gold yet? Any evidence?” Thea asked but Stan merely shook his head in resignation. So List was still plundering the country’s resources and had so far gotten away unscathed.
“So, why did you run away?” Stan asked.
“I drafted a charter,” she mumbled.
“What kind of charter?”
“Charta ad opes extrahendas, per licentias a regia monarchia concessas moderata.” Thea reluctantly named the title of her charter draft.
“What?” His eyebrows shot up, carving deep lines across his forehead, while his mouth parted slightly, as if words had been snatched away before they could form. Suddenly, he winced and rubbed his shoulder.
“She drafted a charter for extracting resources, regulated through licenses granted by the royal monarchy?” Andre asked Stan.
“Why ask him?Idrafted it.” Thea pointed at herself.
Andre paused momentarily, and she wished it weren’t so dark that she could better make out his expression. Could it be that he was angry because she, just a woman, dared to draft a charter aimed at correcting the political imbalance that drove her father to marry her off for alliances?
“You drafted a whole set of laws in Latin?” Andre asked.
“Yes,” Thea said, holding her breath, waiting for his reaction.
“What does it say?”
Oh! He was the first to ask about the content of her charter.
How flattering!
Heat rose to her cheeks, and she was glad the darkness hid her reaction.
“It sets up a licensing system so that the local resources cannot be exploited without reimbursing the local government for the extracted ore by weight.” She paused when he leaned forward, and the moonlight shining through the carriage window illuminated his face for just long enough so she could choke on her words. He was handsome.
And she had his attention.
Why was it so hot in the cabin all of a sudden?
“I set up three levels of controls so that nothing can be removed without a signature and ultimately a royal stamp before export papers are granted.”
“So that List’s smugglers can be caught before they bring him the gold?” Andre said and then turned to Stan. “That’s brilliant!”
Thea’s breath hitched.
Brilliant. He’d said she was—no, her charter was—brilliant. And he was the first man to give her ideas credit.
Her lungs filled with renewed hope and a sense of pride she thought she’d lost when she ran away from her life at Bran Castle.
