Part 12 (2/2)
”That is not a blessing, but a curse.”
”Nonsense.” He winked at her. ”You worry too much. Have no fear that I'll be hurt. I'm always in control of my emotions.”
”And the women you have been with before this? Did you feel nothing for them?”
”Nothing that didn't disappear after I had to face them over breakfast twice in a row.”
Tata Natasha threw up her hands, the sleeves of her gown fluttering. ”Pah! I do not know why I even talk to you.”
”Because I am your favorite grandson, and you love me more than all of my brothers.”
”Nyet. You are the most frustrating of my grandsons. Find a good woman, marry her, have children-then you will be my favorite.”
”Perhaps I shall settle for second favorite. What would that take?”
”Cease your infernal teasing. I am serious.” She folded her hands together, her eyes s.h.i.+mmering with emotion. ”Alexsey, it is fate that you are here. You will meet someone here who can make you happy and help you fulfill your destiny as prince, if you'll just open your eyes and heart. I know this. Do not ask me how, but I do.”
”Are you a fortune-teller now, oh queen of the Gypsies?”
She didn't laugh. ”I have the blood of a seer, da. But I have the soul of a grandmother and as the phuri dai of our k.u.mpania, I know things that can and will be.”
”So you think love might strike me like lightning, as it did Father.”
”The person struck by lightning doesn't always know it has happened, not at first. The only question is who the fortunate woman will be. If you won't have Miss Sorcha, we will keep looking. During breakfast this morning, Sir Henry mentioned a family that's related to the king. The MacDougals or MacDonalds-Pah, I can't remember, what with the MacThises and the MacThoses. They have two daughters of marriageable age-young daughters, well brought up, and quite beautiful. Those qualities are important to consider in regard to your official duties.”
”Tata, I am one of four princes. Nikki will take the throne as the oldest. Grisha will oversee the army. And Wulf has the good sense to make certain the royal coffers are overflowing with gold.”
”So?”
”So there is no need for me to marry.”
”If you wish to wear the kaltso, you will marry.”
”Grandfather already had the ring when you met him; he was not married.”
”Your grandfather was different; he was responsible for his family from the age of seventeen. You had no such weight upon your shoulders.”
His jaw tightened. ”You must admit that it is not a requirement of the position that I wed. It is only you who think it necessary.”
She shrugged. ”I will admit that.”
”That's scarcely fair.”
”You will be better for it. Trust me. It is the one thing your father and I agree on-that you should marry before taking on the kaltso.”
”Bozhy moj, you and Father never agree on anything.”
”We agree on this.”
He slid her a look under his lashes and then pretended to frown thoughtfully. ”That is too much, even for me. I can fight you, or I can fight Father, but I cannot fight the both of you.”
Her gaze narrowed, an arrested expression on her face. ”What do you mean?”
”Perhaps you are right. I wish it were otherwise, but . . . Fine. I will start taking this endeavor of yours more seriously. As much as it pains me, I will start thinking about taking a wife. But just thinking about it. No more.”
She couldn't have looked more pleased. ”You mean that?”
He sighed. ”I do.”
”Very good. Very, very good!” She rubbed her hands together. ”We must find a good candidate. It's a pity you won't give Miss Sorcha the time of day. Of all the women at the ball, she seemed to- It does not matter.” Tata waved her hand generously. ”If she is not for you, then we shall find another.”
He rubbed his chin. ”Actually . . . there was a woman I found intriguing. . . .”
She leaned forward, all eagerness. ”Oh?”
”The oldest Murdoch daughter.”
She sat back in her chair. ”What?”
”She has a way about her. . . . I do not know what it is, but there was something. I like that she is no innocent miss, too. An older woman would please me.”
”You are serious?”
”Of course. She is the only woman I've found interesting.”
Tata made a noise that sounded like a cat choking on a piece of string. ”Nyet! She is too old! She'll never have children.”
”She's only twenty-four.”
”Soon to be twenty-five, and would be even older by the time you courted and married her. Add another year to conceive a child, she could be twenty-seven or twenty-eight, much too old.” Tata shook her head. ”There must be someone else.”
He pretended to think, his grandmother's eyes upon him. Finally he said, ”Nyet.”
She scowled. ”Of all the women at the ball, you like only this one, a woman too old to have children, dowdy and plain and plump and-”
”Miss Murdoch is neither plain nor plump.” To his surprise, a faint flare of irritation invaded his good humor. ”She's attractive and lively. And for once, I have met a respectable woman I wish to know better.” That was true, at least.
”She isn't-”
”Do you or do you not wish me to take my responsibilities more seriously?”
”I do,” Tata said in a sour voice.
”Then stand back and let me. I will spend some time with Miss Murdoch, get to know her, see if this lightning strikes or not. And if, at the end of a few weeks, she still intrigues me, perhaps I'll ask for her hand in m-”
”Don't be so hasty! Courting is not something one rushes into.”
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