Princess in Love (10 page)

Leopold was one of the few people who knew about that incident. She had confessed
it to him when she sneaked through the secret passages at his father’s country house
and stayed up all night with him …
talking
.

“I apologize,” Leopold said. “You are indeed unlike other women. I’ve never thought
otherwise.”

She steered Zeus around a large exposed root on the path and felt very daring all
of a sudden. “Do you remember when we spent that night together?”

“Of course,” Leopold replied.

“We promised each other we would never hide anything, that we would always be completely
open.”

“I remember.”

She turned to him. “Then tell me about the war.”

He paused and gave her a look of warning. “As I already said, Rose, it’s not something
a man talks about.”

“But surely you can talk about it with
me
.”

Her emphasis on the last word did not go unnoticed, and his eyes warmed to the acknowledgment
of the bond that existed between them. “You may ask one question,” he said. “What
would you like to know?”

She did not hesitate. “Were you ever wounded?”

A shadow fell over his eyes. “There were scratches and bruises almost every day.”

“That is not what I mean, Leopold. Were you ever seriously hurt?”

There was no change in his expression as he leaned forward and patted his horse. “Twice.
I took a musket ball in the arm during a skirmish in Spain and required some time
to recover. Another time, my horse was shot out from under me during a full charge,
and I went flying forward out of the saddle. Before I could get my bearings, I was
slashed by a rather murderous steel bayonet. It was lucky I was fast on my feet, for
it was just a surface wound. That foot soldier could have cut me in half, the way
he was swinging his weapon.”

“What happened to him?” she asked.

Leopold did not respond to the question, but she saw the answer in his eyes.

“I see,” she replied. “That was going to be my next question … if you ever killed
anyone.”

“We agreed there would be just one.”

She nodded and retreated into silence, but found it impossible to suppress her curiosity
about so many things.

“They wrote in the paper that you were fearless.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe there is such a thing as a fearless soldier.”

“But some are braver than others, surely.”

“I suppose. Somehow I always managed to keep my head when all hell was breaking loose
around me. When I was shot in Spain, I felt no pain in my arm until the skirmish was
over. Afterward they delivered me unconscious back to the hospital tent. Evidently
I collapsed on top of a dead British artillery officer after taking charge of his
regiment and firing enough cannons to take out half of the French cavalry.”

He spoke of it as if it were nothing at all to take a bullet in the arm and continue
fighting for his life.

“How long did it take you to recover?” she asked.

“A few weeks. Luckily the musket ball went straight through and completely missed
the bone.”

He stopped talking suddenly and shook his head. “I do beg your pardon, Rose. Surely
you did not wish to hear such gruesome details.”

“To the contrary,” she replied. “I wish to hear anything you are willing to share.
I do not need to be protected from the truth, no matter how grisly or unsettling.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes up the gradual incline that would take them
to the top of the ridge. A gentle breeze blew through the treetops and Rose looked
up. “I am glad Napoleon is captured and that King Louis is back on the throne. I hope
we never go to war again.”

He closed his eyes. “It’s strange.… There were times I thought I might go deaf or
mad from all the cannons exploding around me, and the chaos of a thousand men riding
hell-for-leather straight into enemy lines. At the time, I didn’t think I would survive
long enough to experience a peace like this ever again, and believe me, I dreamed
of it. But since I have come home, I’ve felt restless. It’s almost too quiet.” He
gazed at her in the hazy morning sunshine. “Except when I am with you. Then everything
comes alive again.”

She should have taken exception to such a comment, or perhaps brushed it off as a
shameless flirtation meant only to flatter her, but instead she steered Zeus closer
to the center of the path and reached out a gloved hand to him. He took hold and squeezed
it.

They regarded each other intimately in the cool shade of the wood, then let go and
moved apart.

“Now I must change the subject and ask
you
a question,” he said.

“Fire when ready.”

“Does your brother know you agreed to meet me this morning?”

Rose chuckled. “First of all, my lord, I did not ‘agree’ to meet you. This is pure
coincidence, and I will not have you suggest otherwise.”

His eyes glimmered with amusement. “As you wish.”

“And yes, both my brothers are well aware that I am out riding. It is my usual routine
to ride before breakfast.”

“Ah, but would they be displeased if they knew you sent your groom back to the stables
on his own?”

She considered it. “Randolph would be, for he was instrumental in the arrangement
of my betrothal to the archduke. I don’t doubt he would be displeased if any untoward
gossip found its way to Austria before the wedding day. Nicholas, on the other hand,
has always been a rule breaker. He’s very protective, but understands my heart. He
lets me be adventurous when I wish to be.”

“Is that what this is?” Leo asked. “An adventure?”

His eyes touched her like a caress, and she wondered again about his intentions. Was
this a well-planned seduction, simply because he enjoyed a challenge? He had already
confessed that this peaceful existence seemed somewhat dull to him, for he was a man
who thrived on dangerous battles and lived for the breathtaking quest for victory.

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” she replied. “I knew it was wrong to send
my groom away, but I couldn’t help myself, and I am not sure why.”

“I can think of a few reasons.”

“Is that a fact?” Her tone was intentionally haughty, while deep down, despite all
her doubts, she relished the possibility that he desired her and wanted her for himself
and would say what he must to bring their attraction out into the light.

To force her to admit to it.

For a long moment he watched her thoughtfully, then took a deep breath and let it
out on a sigh. “Shall we race to the top?”

“Better that than continue
this
conversation,” she replied.

With a quiet laugh, he gestured with a gloved hand. “After you, Your Royal Highness.”

She took full advantage of his chivalrous offer and shouted
“Yah!”
as she tapped Zeus’s rear flank with her riding crop. He was a masterful runner,
and she thrust forward up the hill like a shot. It wasn’t long, however, before she
heard the thunder of hooves closing in on her from behind.

“Faster, Zeus! Faster!”

Her impressive steed pushed forward with renewed vigor, and she flew up the hill to
the clearing at the top, where the grass was tall and a warm wind was blowing mightily.

Leo emerged from the wooded path a few seconds later. “I am no match for that incredible
beast of yours. What did you feed him for breakfast? Gunpowder?”

Rose laughed. “You let me win, and do not try to deny it. Next time, give it your
best and we shall see what we are truly made of.”

Feeling decidedly out of breath, she said, “Help me down, if you please. I am overwhelmed
and the horses need to rest.”

Leopold dismounted at once, reached up to her and lifted her to the ground. She ran
a gloved hand over the skirt of her habit and loosened her cravat, for she was exceedingly
warm after the exertion of the race. “Upon my word, that was thrilling.”

Leo patted his horse and tethered both of them to a tree.

Seduced by the spectacular view of the palace and cityscape below, Rose wandered to
the edge of the clearing and sat down on the grass.

Leo joined her there a moment later. “I am glad you came,” he said, as he removed
his gloves and stuffed them into his breast pocket. “If you must know, I’ve been up
and down that bloody path a dozen times since dawn.”

Secretly aroused by the flattery, Rose leaned back on one elbow and smiled provocatively.
“I am not sorry to hear it. You deserve to suffer for what you did to me two years
ago.”

His eyes were full of daring. “I thought you said all was forgiven.”

With a hint of mischief, she puckered her lips. “I did say that, didn’t I? Oh, blast
it. I suppose the truth is out. I am still bitter and will probably make you pay an
ungodly sum for the rest of your God-given days.”

He, too, leaned back on an elbow and crossed his booted legs at the ankles. Rose was
instantly lost in the splendor of his impossible male beauty and the divine perfection
of every word that passed his lips, yet nothing could have prepared her for what he
said next.
Nothing.

“For a lifetime with you … I would pay any price you desire, Rose. For as long as
you wish.”

The morning breezes whispered through the tall grasses while she struggled to contain
the intoxicating fire in her blood, and fight this dangerously tempting emotional
involvement with a man she had never been able to forget.

He was rugged and virile beyond any imagining, and she could not fully comprehend
the power he possessed over her. Despite everything that happened in the past and
her recent engagement to a future emperor, all he had to do was enter a room and she
melted.

“What are we doing?” she asked breathlessly in one last attempt to gain control over
her desires. “We both know this cannot be.”

He drew back slightly. “I know nothing of the sort, for there is something between
us that cannot be denied, Rose. Did you not feel it come alive again when we met in
England?”

She sat up and looked out over the spectacular panorama below. “Yes, but I am engaged
now.”

His voice was like a thunderbolt that shuddered through her body and shook her deeply.

“Do you love him?” he asked.

Her emotions were in a tumultuous state. She did not like the question.

“I do genuinely care for him,” she replied. “And I respect him. He is decent and kind
and he loves me. I think.”

“But do you love
him
?”

Rose swallowed hard. She was concerned about where this was heading. “What I feel
for him is not the same as what I feel for you.”

He leaned back on his elbow again. “Vague, but it’s a start.” He plucked a long piece
of grass and absently wrapped it around his thumb. “What, exactly, do you feel for
me?”

“That is a very bold question, Leopold, and I do not wish to answer it because I honestly
do not know what I feel. My head is telling me one thing, but my emotions are pulled
in two different directions.”

He regarded her with those penetrating blue eyes that never failed to beguile her.
“So there is hope, then.”

She scoffed. “Hope for what? That I will have one last fling with you before I leave
for Austria? Or do you imagine I will break off my engagement and pledge my heart
to you instead?”

“Would you, if I asked you to?”

She stared at him in shock. “Good God, what a cowardly question.”

“Me? Cowardly. How so?”

“It is completely hypothetical and requires me to divulge the secrets of my heart,
while you have committed nothing at all beyond a simple ‘what if.’”

Feeling angry all of a sudden, she rose to her feet and brushed the grass from her
skirt. “I am not your plaything. Do not presume I am available to you the moment you
have a change of heart and beckon me with your famous trigger finger.”

He stood up as well. “I presume no such thing, Rose, and I apologize if I have offended
you. That was not my intention.”

She frowned. “Then what
was
your intention?”

His chest rose and fell quickly as if he had just sprinted a great distance. “To convey
that I have not known a single day in recent years that was not interrupted by thoughts
of you. I cannot purge you from my heart, so if it is a commitment from me that you
desire, it is yours for the taking.”

She hadn’t known what to expect when she rode out to meet Leopold this morning, but
she had certainly not expected
this
.

“Do you have any idea what you are saying?” she demanded to know. “I am pledged to
another man. Archduke Joseph of Austria! It is a political marriage to unite our two
countries, and it was arranged by my father before he died. You cannot make me an
offer. You have no right.”

He took hold of her arm. “But do you love him, Rose?”

All her haughty mettle sailed out of her body in a wild rush of recklessness. She
was confused suddenly by the grief she felt over her father’s death and the undecided
condition of her heart. Leopold was standing before her, pledging his love. Joseph
was a thousand miles away.

Heaven help her. She had been so sure of her decision to marry Joseph, for not only
was he a kind and courteous gentleman, it was also a great boon for her country. It
had pleased her father on his deathbed and had patched up all the holes in her wounded
pride after Leopold’s terrible rejection.

But here she stood on this gorgeous summer morning with the sun reflecting in the
luminous blue of his eyes while he held tight to her arm, not allowing her to escape
him.

Not that she wanted to. Her traitorous body was on fire with need, and she wanted
him with a ravenous hunger that knew no bounds.

Joseph was polite and thoughtful. He did not tempt her this way. He did not set her
passions on fire.

“I don’t know what I feel,” she said at last. “I just lost my father. Nothing is easy
or clear. Everything feels upside down.”