Or had his inherent distrust of strangers, augmented by both his weary return and his discovery of Felicia wandering in the hedge, led him to judge her unfairly?
“Look here.” She distracted Fee. “See those little flowers stitched into the bodice? They are called edelweiss. They grow high up in the mountains.”
Hurtheven frowned. Was that common knowledge?
He’d no idea.
“Uncle Hevenownsa mountain,” Fee replied. “Delmare went there without Mama and Papa last year, but I have to wait until I am older.”
“I’m sorry, Fee. You must have been very sad.”
“Not sad—fur-i-ous,” Fee corrected. “Maybe this year he’ll take me, too.”
An odd tingle spidered across Hurtheven’s skin. Delmare, Fee, and Mrs. Montrose...What an interesting idea.
“But we’ve planned so many fun things here!”
Fee hummed. “I’d rather go and find these flowers.”
“Oh, I’m afraid you won’t find any edelweiss on your uncle’s mountain.”
“Why?”
“I-I believe they only grow in big mountains on the continent.”
“Where she’s from...Aus-tree-a?”
“Yes. What a good memory you have!”
“Doallladies dress like this there?”
“No,” she said. “But the dress—a dirndl—is frequently worn?—”
Hurtheven cocked his head.
“—And not just in Austria, but in other parts of the Alps. Bavaria, too.” Mrs. Montrose fingered the skirt. “In fact, I think I once saw a similar doll from—” She abruptly ended her sentence. “Fee, may I see your present for a moment?”
Fee nodded, and then Mrs. Montrose examined the doll more closely. She inhaled sharply and stopped rocking.
Hurtheven’s focus narrowed. Where would she have seen a doll made in the likeness of an exiled princess of Heinenberg, a small electorate that, between Napoleon’s conquest and the negotiations in Vienna, no longer existed on a map?
For that matter, why did she know so much about the region’s clothes and flora? Even if she had come across the place in merely a book or conversation, why would her hand be shaking as she placed the doll back into Fee’s arms?
“Where is she from?” Fee asked again.
The nursemaid blinked. “Austria, I believe.”
Fee settled back against her chest with a huff. “You already said that.”
“Did I?” She hugged Fee close and rested her lips against the child’s head, eyes squeezed tightly closed. “Just a coincidence.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh!” She took a deep breath. “Nothing important, darling.”
There.Right there.
Any number of explanations could account for her knowledge, but only one justified the involuntary spasm in her features. She’d recognized that, specific doll.
