“You have been given your options, Katherine. Choose one, I don’t care which.” And he didn’t at the moment. If he never laid eyes on her again, it would be too soon. “Well?”
Katherine straightened to her full height, her fingers gripping the edge of the table. She was calm again, but the calm was deceptive. Her eyes gave the lie to it.
“You are detestable, Alexandrov. Be your sister’s maid, when I run not one household but two; when for the past several years I have been my father’s estate manager as well as his business advisor? I help to write his speeches, entertain his political cronies, monitor his investments. I am well versed in philosophy, politics, mathematics, animal husbandry, and I’m proficient in five languages.” She paused, deciding to gamble. “But if your sister is even half as well educated, I will agree to your absurd proposal.”
“Russia doesn’t believe in turning its women into bluestockings, as the English apparently do,” he sneered. “But then very little of what you claim can be proved, can it?”
“I don’t have to prove anything. I know who I am. Consider well what you’re putting me through, Alexandrov. The day is going to come when you’ll find I’m telling the truth. You ignore the consequences now, but you won’t be able to then. You have my word on it.”
His fist slammed down on the table, making her jump back from it. Candlelight flickered. His empty glass fell over. Hers, still full, sloshed champagne onto the lovely tablecloth, staining it.
“That for your truth, your consequences, and your word! It is here and now that you had best be concerned with. Make your choice, or I will make it for you.”
“You would force me to your bed?”
“No, but I will not see a waste of your talents when you can be useful. My sister needs you. You will serve her.”
“And if I don’t, do you have me flogged?”
“There is no need for such dramatic measures. A few days’ confinement, and you will be happy to serve.”
“Don’t count on it, Alexandrov. I was prepared for that.”
“On bread and water?” he tested her.
She stiffened, but her answer was automatic and a measure of her contempt. “If it pleases you.”
Sweet Christ, she had an answer for everything. But stubbornness and bravado would go only so far. His patience was gone, his plans come to naught. Anger decided him.
“So be it. Vladimir!” The door opened almost instantly. “Take her away.”
Chapter Fourteen
Her cabin had been rearranged while she spent the evening with Dimitri. The many trunks were still there, but they had been moved back against the walls out of the way. A washstand had been brought in, a rug found, and a hammock strung up between two beams. Her wardrobe was a trunk, her chair was a trunk, her table was a trunk. A very uncomfortable cell indeed.
If Katherine didn’t yet despise her prison, she did come to hate that hammock in the following days. Her first encounter with it had been a disaster. Four times she had landed on the floor before she gave up and slept where she had been dumped. But aching muscles made her tackle the monster again the second night. She conquered it after only two spills this time and was able to relax enough to fall asleep to the gentle swaying, only to fall out in the middle of the night while sound asleep. Black and blue with bruises, she was angry enough to keep trying, and by the fourth night she had succeeded in staying in the damn thing until morning.
Those were the frustrations of her nights. Her days were another matter.
Katherine had always dreamed of traveling, ever since she was ten years old and had sailed with her family to Scotland for the wedding of some distant cousin. She had discovered then that sailing agreed with her. Unlike her sister and mother, she had thrived aboard ship, feeling healthier than ever before. By ten she was already well immersed in the wide range of studies her father allowed her to undertake. She had wanted to visit the countries she was learning about. It was a dream she never outgrew.
She had even seriously considered the marriage proposals of several foreign dignitaries she had met at the palace, just because of her desire to travel. But an acceptance would have meant leaving England for good, and she wasn’t quite daring enough to do that.
Those were her only offers of marriage. There could have been others, but she didn’t encourage any courtship. And without any encouragement, Englishmen found her too formidable, too competent—perhaps they were afraid to compete. It wasn’t that she didn’t see herself married eventually. The time had simply not been right for it. She had had her one frivolous season, then served the Queen for a year. She might have continued to enjoy court life if her mother hadn’t died. But she had, and Katherine took her place as the one person in the family that everyone brought their problems to, including her father. But even though the household would have fallen into chaos without her, she had intended to marry. She had only wanted to get Beth properly wed first and Warren reined in enough to carry some of the load. Then she would have made an effort to find a husband.
Now she would probably have to settle for a fortune hunter for a husband, thanks to her loss of virginity. That was all right though. Buying a husband was commonplace. If she had been hoping for a love match, she would probably be devastated. It was fortunate that she was too practical for such silly dreams.
But her one dream had come true. What she had never had time for was now being forced on her. She was traveling. She was on a ship sailing for a foreign land. And she wouldn’t have been normal if she hadn’t felt some degree of excitement mixed in with all her other emotions. Russia might not have appeared on her imaginary itinerary, but then she wouldn’t have chosen to travel virtually as a prisoner either.
If she viewed her situation with an open mind, putting emotions aside, she knew there was room for improvement. She accepted that she was going to Russia—nothing was going to change that. The practical thing to do would be to make the best of it. It was in her nature to do just that. And she could, if it hadn’t been for these foolish emotions that were fighting her natural inclinations.
Pride had become her worst enemy. A close second was this unreasonable stubbornness that even she hadn’t realized she was capable of. Injustice made her inflexible. Anger served only to spite herself. After all, it would cost only a little pride to give in. She needn’t even do so gracefully. Surrendering under duress, it was called. People did it all the time, in all walks of life.
If she had to be forced to do something, good Lord, why not something she could have found immense pleasure in? Why did the Prince have to choose for her, taking away the one option she would have gladly given in to in the end? Why did she deny him in the first place? Other women took lovers. A love affair, they called it. It should rightly be termed an affair of the flesh. Lust, wrapped in a pretty package. But whatever it was, she had all the symptoms. She was so attracted to the man that she couldn’t even think straight in his presence.
And he wanted her. Incredible fantasy. This fairy-tale prince, this golden god wanted her.Her. It boggled the mind. It defied reason. And she said no. Stupid ninny!
But you know why you had to refuse, Katherine. It’s morally wrong, sinful, and besides, you’re just not mistress material. You were raised to respect the sanctity of the home, and he did not, repeat,did notoffer a respectable proposal.
