“I did not agree, Princess. You assumed.”
“Please.”
The word surprised them both. Anastasia looked away to hide a telltale blush, amazed not so much that she had pleaded with the woman but that the portrait had become suddenly so important to her. It would be the most challenging thing she had ever done, not like bowls of fruit or meadows strewn with wild flowers, where one scene was so much like another, nor the few portraits she had done of her friends, where the blondness and prettiness was a sameness too. No, here was an original for a subject. She just had to paint her.
Katherine, seeing the blush, felt like a petty bitch. She was refusing to do the one thing she actually wouldn’t mind doing. What spite. And why? Because the Princess was spoiled and said things she probably didn’t mean? Or because she was Dimitri’s sister, and saying no to her was like saying no to him, a pleasure?
“Very well, Princess, I will sit for you a few hours each day,” Katherine consented. “But I must insist on a like time to myself.”
The other duties she would deal with as they arose. There was no point in getting into an argument now (she wouldnotbe scrubbing any backs), when she had this opportunity to get to know Anastasia while her claws were sheathed.
Chapter Seventeen
The first of several storms that the ship would encounter in the weeks ahead arrived that afternoon. It wasn’t a violent storm, just a nuisance to most of those on board, Anastasia in particular. She took well to sea travel, except under these circumstances, as she readily admitted. The increased motion of the ship sent her straight to bed.
Katherine left the Princess’s cabin, determined to see what she could do about laundering several gowns, including the golden one they had decided would do nicely for the portrait, and then she would have the rest of the afternoon to herself. The trouble was that she didn’t know the first thing about laundering clothes. But Anastasia had insisted that Dimitri’s servants, accustomed only to attending a man, knew nothing about women’s apparel and they would ruin anything they put their hands to.
“As I will.”
“My lady?”
Katherine stopped short, amazed to hear herself addressed so. And by Marusia? The older woman was waiting for her in the doorway of her own cabin. She was grinning from ear to ear and beckoning Katherine to come ahead. She did, quickly, when she realized the corridor was no place to linger, not with Dimitri’s cabin just a few doors away. She didn’t intend to encounter him there again.
“What did you call me?” Katherine asked before stepping into her room.
Marusia ignored the sharpness of her tone. “We know who you are, my lady. It is only the Prince and my husband who doubt you.”
It was such a relief to have someone believe her, anyone, and yet nothing was changed as long as Dimitri was still doubtful. “Why doesn’thebelieve me, Marusia? Clothes and circumstances don’t change who a person is.”
“Russians can be intractable. They stubbornly adhere to first impressions. For Vladimir, there is even more reason, because in Russia, death would be his reward for abducting anaristo. So you see why he does not dare admit you are more than he first supposed.”
“We are not in Russia, and I am an Englishwoman,” Katherine reminded her.
“But the ways of Russia are not ignored simply because we are out of the country for a time. The Prince, now”—Marusia shrugged—“who can say why he does not accept what is obvious? Possibly he chooses not to consider it because he doesn’t want it to be true. It is also possible that the temptation you represent to him clouds his judgment.”
“In other words, he’s so busy figuring out ways to seduce me that he has no time to think of anything else?”
The resentful tone surprised Marusia, but after a moment she couldn’t help laughing. She knew by now not to think of Little English in terms of other women, yet she still found it incredible that Dimitri had finally met a woman who wasn’t instantly enamored of him. Even the Princess Tatiana was madly in love with him, as everyone knew except Dimitri. According to Tatiana Ivanova’s servants, she had decided to pretend indifference to him so that he would better appreciate her once he had won her.
Marusia sobered, seeing that Katherine didn’t appreciate her humor. “I’m sorry, my lady. It is just that…do you truly feel nothing for the Prince?”
“On the contrary,” Katherine replied without hesitation. “I loathe him.”
“But do you mean that,angliiskii, or is it only your anger that prompts you—”
“Again my integrity is questioned?”
“No, no, I only thought…never mind. But it is too bad that you feel this way, because he is much taken with you. But of course you already know this.”
“If you are referring to his effort to entice me into his bed, I assure you, Marusia, I’m not stupid. A man can desire a woman he doesn’t respect, doesn’t know, and doesn’t even like. If that were not so, the wordwhorewould never have come into being. And don’t you dare pretend to be shocked at my bluntness, because I won’t believe it!”
“It’s not that, my lady,” Marusia hastened to assure her. “It’s this conclusion you have mistakenly come to. Certainly the Prince is as lusty as any young man his age, and most often his liaisons do mean little or nothing to him. With you it has been different since he first saw you. Do you think it usual for him to pick a stranger from the street to share his bed? He has never done this before. He likes you, my lady. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t still want you. If he didn’t, his emotions would not be so close to the surface where you are concerned. Have you not noticed the difference since you agreed to his demands? It is why I am here, to thank you on behalf of all of us for whatever sacrifice you had to make.”
Katherine could hear the difference—voices no longer whispering, shouts and laughter coming from above, even in the midst of a storm—and she couldn’t deny it felt good to think she was responsible for this return to normalcy. Nor could she deny the little thrill that had gone through her on hearing Marusia’s claim that Dimitri liked her. But that was neither here nor there, nor to be admitted to anyone but herself. As for her sacrifice, Anastasia wasn’t so difficult to get along with—as long as her brother wasn’t around. The other hints, well, these people needed to understand that her position hadn’t changed simply because she was no longer a virgin. She would not tolerate a campaign of matchmaking, as she had their efforts to get her out of her cabin.
“I don’t know how things go in Russia,” Katherine said, “but in England, a lady does not expect to be propositioned for anything except marriage. Your prince insults me each time he…when he—”
Marusia was amused. “Has no man ever asked to be your lover before, my lady?”
