Page 17 of A Royal Kiss & Tell
“Forgotten!” A burst of laughter escaped her. “I don’t know how I could—you wear it like a shield.”
His astonishment kept ratcheting. And he might faint dead away if it continued. “Have you considered that is perhaps because I am, indeed, aprince?”
“Oh, I am well aware!” she said grandly. “You told me. In Chichester. Although it was hardly necessary there, either. But in the course of our conversation, you were very sure to mention it.”
Chichester again! “For the love of...” Leo glanced back at Lady Eulalie, who was craning her neck to hear every word. He abruptly took Lady Caroline by the elbow and moved her away a few steps so that he could speak privately. With a quick look around them, he said quietly, “Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did mention it, for there are times it seems necessary, and I’ve no doubt that was one of those times. But please understand me, Lady Caroline—I do not recallanyconversation with you, and I certainly do not recall meeting you in Chichester, or any conversation there. Frankly, I was far too in my cups to remember anything about that particular weekend at all. You must consider how many soirees and fetes and weekend house parties I attend. You must consider that I frequently meet women and often in groups, and I can’t be expected to remember themall.”
She gasped softly, her plush lips forming a near perfect O. Her eyes filled with shock or fury—he wasn’t entirely sure which. “I’m terribly sorry if the truth offends you.”
“The truth of what? That you were as tight as a boiled owl?”
He had heard that rather English expression for being pissed. “I wouldn’t put it precisely that way, but yes.”
“Thatdoesn’t offend me,” she said. “I know a drunk gentleman when I see one. What offends me is that you would lump me in with the all the women you meetfrequentlyandin groups, like a flock of chickens! I’mnota chicken, Your Highness. I am unique.”
“Chickens! You miss my point entirely,” he said, exasperated.
Her eyes widened to such a degree he thought she might keel over with some sort of apoplexy. But she didn’t keel—she rebounded and looked as if she might launch herself at his throat at any moment. He prepared himself for the possibility.
“Youhave missed the point. You may have noticed that I tend to stand out in a crowd.”
Leo didn’t know what to say. She certainly did stand out in a crowd. She was standing out in all her blazing glory at this very moment. “Are you praising your virtues?” he asked with disbelief.
“I didn’t praise them! I merely pointed out what is obvious to everyone but you, apparently.”
“What the devil is happening here?”
At last, thank the saints, Lord Hawke had arrived to take her away.
“I believe His Royal Highness and the lady are having a row,” Lady Eulalie said excitedly.
Lady Caroline whipped around, nearly colliding with her brother. Hawke bowed his head to Leo. “Your Highness, my sister and I offer our deepest felicitations on the marriage of your brother and our most sincere apologies for anything that might have been said to displease you.” He put his hand on his sister’s elbow, his fingers curling into her flesh as he drew her back with determination.
Leo inclined his head to acknowledge the apology. His heart was still beating rapidly with his indignation, and that little devil’s eyes were shining with her vexation.
Hawke smiled thinly at Leo. “If you will excuse us?” He pulled his sister into his side and forced her to walk away with him.
Leo silently but smugly cheered his friend on as he watched Hawke march away with his sister. But stubborn Lady Caroline tossed Leo a dark look over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.
Leo stared after her a long moment, still trying to understand what had just happened, then remembered Lady Eulalie. He turned to her.
She looked delighted. “Who, pray tell, wasthat?”
“Just an Englishwoman,” Leo muttered. The most exasperating, infuriating, ridiculous andattractiveEnglishwoman he’d ever met. Oh, but she was right about that—she did stand out in a crowd, and in more ways than one.
“Ah, the English. They are too isolated on that little island of theirs, I think. They don’t know how the world moves around them,” Lady Eulalie said.
Leo said nothing. All he could think was what a burden Lady Caroline was to her brother, whom he considered to be a fine man and good friend. She might be beautiful, but unfortunately, that beauty was accompanied by outrageous behavior.
Lady Eulalie was smiling, clearly having enjoyed the show. Many people around them were watching as well, and Leo realized it was time to start the charade of a courtship. “Now that we’ve dispatched with that, may I have the pleasure of this dance?”
“I’d be honored, Your Highness,” Lady Eulalie said gracefully and in a manner that a womanoughtto address a prince.
Bloody Englishwoman.
As it happened, that was not the last Leo saw of Lady Caroline that evening. He spotted her dancing with Lord Sonderstein. The old man was practically drooling into her very enticing bodice. She was looking off to the side and appeared almost bored, as if she’d danced with a leering gentleman a thousand times before.
He saw her twice more after that, once laughing with a captain of the Alucian navy as they moved through an Alucian dance, and then with an Englishman Leo recognized from a hunting party he’d joined last autumn.
