“It would explain her education and lack of social position.”
“Very well, but so what?” Anastasia came to the defense of her friend as well as of her half-brothers. “In Russia, bastards are accepted—”
“Only if they are acknowledged. You know as well as I that for every noble bastard raised a prince, there are a dozen raised as serfs. And in England it is much worse. There they always carry the taint of their birth and are scorned by the nobility, no matter who claims them.”
“But she spoke of family, Mitya, of living with this Earl of Strafford.”
“Perhaps only wishful thinking on her part.”
Anastasia frowned. “Why don’t you like her?”
“Have I said I don’t?”
“But you don’t believe her.”
“No. But she intrigues me. She is consistent in her lies, if nothing else. Now will you do as I ask?”
Anastasia continued to frown, but she nodded.
Chapter Twenty
The ship was silent again. Katherine refused to take the credit this time, no matter how often she was looked at beseechingly by Dimitri’s servants, as if she could do something about his most recent foul mood. All she had done was refuse to have dinner with him. That couldn’t possibly account for such surliness on his part. He hadn’t even appeared interested when he invited her and seemed totally unmoved when she declined. No, they weren’t going to place the blame on her shoulders this time.
But what if you’re wrong, Katherine? What if a simple little overture could make a difference and relieve some of the tension? Even Anastasia has been quiet and subdued. And you have been meaning to speak to him about his library.
She made up her mind that morning, and an hour later knocked on Dimitri’s door. Maksim opened it and quickly exited as soon as she entered the room. He was surprised to see her, but no more than Dimitri. The Prince immediately straightened his posture and smoothed back his hair, then caught himself doing it and slumped back in the chair behind his desk. Katherine didn’t notice. She was staring at the papers strewn across the desk and wondering what could keep Dimitri occupied on such a long voyage. She would have been intrigued to know he was presently reviewing proposals from numerous factories and mills in the Rhineland that he was considering buying. Analyzing tedious reports was just what Katherine excelled at.
She finally glanced up at him and was disappointed to see such an inscrutable look returned, beautiful, but utterly devoid of emotion. She became nervous, wishing she had never come up with the idea of imposing on him, even if it was for something so minor.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” She looked quickly away from him toward the wall of books. “I couldn’t help noticing…before… I mean when I was here before, your extensive collection—”For God’s sake, Katherine, why are you stammering like a ninny?“Would you mind if I borrowed a book or two?”
“Borrow? No. The insulation in here keeps them from being ruined by the sea air. But you are welcome to read anything you like in here.”
She swung around too quickly, revealing her surprise and unease. “In here?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t mind the company, even silent company—unless you’re afraid to be in the same room with me.”
She stiffened. “No, but—”
“I won’t touch you, Katya, if that is what worries you.”
He spoke sincerely, his expression blasé. He didn’t care, she realized. He had made just a simple offer and a reasonable one. She hadn’t even thought of the sea air which could indeed ruin an expensive book.
Katherine nodded and approached the bookshelves, trying vainly to pretend she was alone in the room. After several moments she made her selection and moved to the white satin sofa to make herself comfortable. The book was a short commentary on Russia by a French count who had spent five years there. Katherine would have loved reading it, to give her more insight into these people, and she could read French as easily as English. But today she might as well have been blind.
More than an hour passed, and Katherine still wasn’t able to digest even a single word. It was impossible to concentrate in the same room with Dimitri, wondering if he was watching her, too nervous to look up and find out. Even without looking at him, she could feel his presence dominating her, working strangely on her senses. She felt warm and hot by degrees, while the room was actually pleasantly cool. And her nerves were definitely frazzled. The slightest noise made her start and her heart pick up its beat.
“This isn’t working, is it, Katya?”
God, what a relief to have him put an end to this torture. And she didn’t need to ask him to explain his statement. Had it been just as difficult for him to concentrate with her there? No, that was silly. He had probably just sensed her discomfort.
“No, it isn’t,” she answered with some embarrassment.
She closed the book in her lap before she looked up at him. It was a mistake. What his voice hadn’t revealed his eyes did. They were that certain shade of velvety brown she had come to associate with his passion, lustrous, almost black, and so intense. They seemed to strip her naked, to probe into her soul for an answering chord of feeling she didn’t dare give into.
“Your options are limited at the moment,” he said quietly, his voice so contrary to the emotion in his eyes. “Either get into my bed or take the book and leave. But do one or the other—now.”
She was unable to resist a glance toward his bed. God, the temptations this man threw at her one after another. She had thought there would be no more.Wrong again, Katherine.
