Page 73 of Second Chance Prince
“Your speech?” Antonia asked, with raised eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you were making one.”
Roberta hadn’t either until yesterday, when she was informed it was tradition for the person marrying into the Lichtenbergfamily to express their joy at the prospect. “Matilda and I had hoped to bypass the need for it, but Chamberlain Francis has reminded Matilda several times now, and she said she can’t ignore him. Evidently, it is protocol.”
“Oh.”
“On the positive side, Matilda promised me it would be short, and she would write it all out for me to read.”
Antonia had untied the golden cord and unfurled the thick parchment, which—true to Matilda’s promise—did not seem very long. “It’s in the Holtswig tongue,” she said with a wary glance at Roberta.
The servant lurking at the door hastened to explain. “The chamberlain insisted,” she said. “You do not have to learn the words; you can read them as written. Everyone will be thrilled you have taken the trouble to speak in something other than English, especially the older ones.”
Roberta thanked her and tried another of her smiles, which wasalmostreturned. Perhaps her effort to train the household that it was all right to smile was working.
When she turned back, Antonia was frowning down at the words on the paper. “Are you sure this was Matilda’s handiwork?”
“She told me she would write it for me, but I thought it would be in English.”
“Well, I don’t think she wrote this at all,” Antonia said. She shook her head. “This isn’t the sort of speech you should make. It is…” She looked confused. “Robbie, I have learned enough of the local tongue to know this speech is vulgar and unkind. If you read this out, it will upset everyone and certainly make you no friends in your new country. Some mischievous person hasswitched the speeches.”
Shocked, Roberta stared back at her. Who would do such a thing? Panic made her shuffle about, much to the disapproval of her dressers. “What should I do? I will have to read something!”
Antonia smiled. “Don’t worry. I will write you a suitable speech. I have a fair grasp of the language now. I’ll keep it simple, and very sweet.”
Roberta felt herself relax, trying to ignore the servants swarming around her and whispering their irritation to each other. “Thank you, you are the best of sisters, Antonia.”
Antonia grinned. “You see, my dedication to learning Holtswigger came in useful after all.”
Urging her dressers to hurry up, Roberta stood still long enough to allow them to ease the garment into place. There was silence as they examined her from all sides, and then a huge sigh of relief. Her hair had to be brushed until it shone like ebony against the cream material, and she was wearing the Ashton pearls, which had also come to Holtswig with her. Finally, the wedding gift from Niki was placed upon her head—a tiara that sparkled and gleamed with jewels of every color.
“You really do look like a princess,” Antonia whispered in awe as they made their way out into the sunlight.
“I even feel like one today,” Roberta admitted in surprise.
Despite the sunlight the air was chilly, but that the sun was shining todaydidfeel like a good omen.
The carriage that was to take her to the church was decorated with flowers—where they had got them from, she had no idea. Matilda had certainly worked miracles in a short time. Antonia helped Roberta hold up her train, and they sat together as thecarriage moved off slowly.
A crowd had gathered to watch her procession through the town, and there were cheers and shouts, some of them in the old language. Roberta hoped they were calling out to wish her luck. The faces she saw were smiling, and the children were waving small replicas of the Holtswig flag—three swans on a green background—so Roberta waved back.
That caused a stir. The older citizens exchanged looks and words, shaking their heads, but the children didn’t seem to care. They were laughing and waving wildly, hoping for another response from their new princess.
“I don’t think I am supposed to look happy,” Roberta said.
“Pooh!” Antonia replied. “Be yourself, Robbie. It is your day, so you should enjoy it.”
And then they were at the church, and she was facing the long walk down the aisle, and at the end of it was Niki.
She felt a mixture of emotions. This was very different from her wedding at Grantham. It felt like a serious commitment to Niki and his country, and she was determined to uphold her promise to be his wife and stand by his side. The alternative would have been to let Niki go, and she wasn’t about to do that because she…Roberta swallowed the lump in her throat.
She loved him.
She loved him and it didn’t matter that she had few people she knew and fewer friends in this country, and that her future looked a lot like traveling down a bumpy road. She was going to travel it anyway. She and Niki would travel that road together.
Niki was dressed in his dark blue uniform with the row of shiny medals pinned to his breast. And—she blinked, not sure whether she was hallucinating—he was wearing a crown! It was more somber than her tiara and was made of gold, but if she had ever doubted the importance and eminence of the man she loved, it sank in now. Prince Nikolai Lichtenberg, Duke of Holtswig, was waiting for her, and she was about to be his princess.
The wedding service turned out to be a lengthy affair. For a time, they sat on padded chairs and listened while a priest spoke extensively, and then they knelt and made their vows. Roberta stumbled over hers while Niki sounded calm and confident. At one point, he reached for her hand and squeezed it. Roberta was grateful for that, but she noticed Chamberlain Francis frowning at the breach in protocol.
And then, at last, it was over. They made their way together back down the aisle to the polite applause of the congregation. The bells started to ring, and Roberta could see that the crowd outside had grown enormously since she had arrived. As soon as they were spotted, the cheers began and then grew louder as they made their way to their carriage. Somewhere behind her, Matilda and her children would be waiting for their vehicle, and Freddie would be there, watching over Niki. They weren’t alone with this surging, noisy mob, but it felt like it.
