“Haven’t I?” He huffed a short breath. “I’ll have Petr make a note in my calendar for a regular delivery schedule to be established.”
“Yes, that is the definition of romance, thank you.”
He smirked. “They are going to adore you.”
She hoped so. The success of this political marriage depended on Tatyana’s ability to publicly be cool with Oleg while still engendering the love of people who obviously adored him.
Maybe that’s what the reserved voice was for. Was he practicing?
“What are your plans?” She scooted away from his embrace, but Oleg grabbed her hand and took off her glove to maintain skin contact. “For tonight, I mean.”
“A tour of course.” He lifted one eyebrow. “My queen must see her castle.”
“And this is the dinnerware collection,”he said. “There are various patterns of china and crystal available for formal dinners.” He strolled through a room that looked like a porcelain gallery. “You can make use of whichever you like, though if you want direction on protocol or history, Marina would be the person to ask.”
“Hmm.” Her fingers trailed along the edge of one case. “It’s like living in a museum.”
“Which is why I don’t spend much time here.”
“How long has Marina been with you?”
“Working? Maybe forty years.” He frowned. “I don’t exactly know. Marina was brought up in the palace. Her mother was inthe position before her, and we were…” He shrugged. “Well, she was a beautiful woman and Luana had left me.”
Tatyana leaned against a decorative wooden pillar. “Are you expecting me to be shocked that you’ve had many lovers?”
He leaned on the pillar opposite her, a glass case of silver flatware between them. “Shocked? No. Jealous? Yes. I want you to be horribly jealous.”
“I assume no ownership of your past, Lord Oleg, but if I hear that you have taken another lover when we are mated, I will recruit Ludmila to put a bullet through your eye.”
“Which she would probably do. She likes you.”
“It won’t kill you. But it will hurt, and according to Kezia, you’d basically be a vegetable for a century.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “So you’ve spoken to your sister about this. Interesting.”
“Is that jealous enough for you?” she whispered.
“No. You should have Ludmila aim for my balls.”
“That can be arranged.” She strolled through the lavish glass and wooden cases filled with cut crystal and painted plates. Silver European-style tea services and gold-trimmed Russian samovars. “What’s next?”
He was still keeping his distance, treating her more like a guest than a wife. After their ride in the car, he hadn’t touched her again, not even when the many servants had disappeared and left them alone.
“If you walk through that door” —he pointed at a set of gold-trimmed oak doors— “there is another library.”
“Another one?”
“The first was not truly the library. More of an office for guests.”
“My god, the money you have.” She shook her head but froze as she pushed open the double doors and stared at the ballroom-sized room in front of her.
Tatyana let out an audible gasp.
Bookcases lined the walls, stacked double with a walkway along the top row. The cases and cabinets stretched the length of the massive room, and there were large tables in the center of the room, circular wooden contraptions that looked like book Ferris wheels, and various globes dotted along one wall. The library was lit by golden glass lamps that let out a soft, warm light, and the air smelled of vanilla, wood oil, and lemon.
The entire room looked like a palace for books and…
Yes. There was a ladder.
