Page 41 of Second Chance Prince
“If you stay, which I really don’t think you should, then you must promise you will allow me to do the talking.”
She still looked mutinous, but he was in earnest, and eventually, she promised. He rang the bell pull for a servant and, when one arrived, asked him to send for Karl.
“I don’t know where he is,” the man replied uncertainly.
“Then find out. Tell him his brother Prince Nikolai Lichtenberg, Duke of Holtswig, wishes to see him on an urgent matter. Can you remember that?” he said with quiet fury. “I can write it down.”
The man turned pale. “I can remember, sir,” he said stoically.
“Good. And while you do that, send someone upstairs for Chamberlain Francis Ruess. He may be asleep but tell them to wake him and say I need him and then bring him here. Do you understand me?”
The servant appeared even more anxious now, but he bowed low and said he did understand and closed the door behind him.
Niki turned to Roberta, who was watching him with a curious stare, and said, “Now we wait.”
Roberta sat down in her chair again, but he could see she was anything but relaxed. Niki went to the window and stood staring into the darkness. He did not look forward to what he was about to do, but as the ruler of his country, he needed to set aside his own feelings. Karl was popular and beloved by all of Holtswig, and Niki was not. What followed would not be pleasant for either of them.
Soon, he heard the chamberlain’s slow steps approaching, and the door opened. The old man was more stooped than usual—it had been a long day for him too—but his gaze was alert as it went from Niki to Roberta and then back again. God knew what he was thinking; his feelings were well hidden.
“Your Highness? You needed me? The servant wasn’t very forthcoming.”
“Sit down, Francis. Unfortunately, we have more work to do.”
He sat, looking again at Roberta, and Niki realized they had never formally met. He introduced them and saw his chamberlain raise a craggy eyebrow.
“Lady Roberta, it is an honor,” he said smoothly.
She managed a faint smile. “Thank you, Chamberlain Francis. An honor for me too.” Niki could tell they were both being polite rather than truthful.
“You wish to speak of your marriage?” Francis asked hopefully, perhaps believing his words from earlier had borne fruit.
“I do not,” Niki retorted firmly. Then, turning to Roberta, “Chamberlain Francis is aware of the nature of our engagement.”
“Oh,” she said, looking awkward. “That is…hmm.”
“He doesn’t approve,” Niki went on, wondering why he was being so mischievous.
“Doesn’t he?” She was surprised. “Surely you don’t want Nikihurt? This is the best solution the British government could come up with.”
Francis gave her words due deliberation before he answered, and Roberta was wise enough not to interrupt him.
“I don’t approve because it makes the prince look weak. And I worry if his people believe he is to marry a foreigner they will react negatively. It was always my wish that he would marry someone from our own country. There are many suitable prospects and—”
“But none who can save his life,” Roberta retorted. “I can do that, or at least, my government can. Besides, the engagement will be over in a few weeks, so let’s hope I will not taint him too much with my foreignness.”
She was upset and angry, and Niki was strangely gratified by it.
Francis seemed surprised too, eyeing her with new interest. “We will agree to disagree,” he said mildly. Then, turning to Niki, “But that is not why you have called me from my sleep, is it? What has happened?”
Niki took a breath and told him.
They heard the front door open and heavy footsteps approach. Karl called out a teasing reproof to one of the servants for interrupting him at a crucial moment while he was in the arms of a Cyprian. Niki grimaced. In the circumstances, such a comment only made his brother look worse.
There was a perfunctory tap on the door before it opened. Karl’s amiable smile encompassed them but there was an alertness in his eyes that made Niki suspect he was well aware why he had been called home.
“Brother! And Roberta! What a nice surprise. Chamberlain Francis…No one told me you had made the journey to London.”
“I thought it my duty,” the old man said.
