“Oh, but I will if I create a diversion just as I leave.” Her gaze met Tatiana’s. Hate gleamed in the older woman’s eye and her voice was cold. “I shall let you consider what that might be.”
Tatiana’s blood froze and at once she realized Valentina did indeed plan to shoot someone. More than likely Tatiana herself.
Natasha reached to remove the portrait from the wall. Surely someone would notice what they were doing? Valentina watched Natasha intently. Tatiana took the opportunity to discreetly peer around her. She spotted Matthew speaking with Beaumont and his wife. All three were looking in her direction, concern on their faces. Matthew started toward her.
“Help her,” Valentina ordered.
Tatiana had no choice. She turned to assist Natasha.
“Tatiana,” Matthew called and all hell broke loose.
Valentina whirled toward Matthew’s voice, the shawl slipping to the floor. A male voice yelled, “She’s armed!”
A woman screamed. Matthew was but a few yards away, Beaumont at his heels. The pistol in Valentina’s hand fired.
For a moment it was as if the world itself had stopped, frozen in time. Tatiana’s breath caught. A shocked expression colored Matthew’s face. Natasha’s gaze met with hers, and understanding flashed between them. She released the painting and Tatiana swung it with all her strength.
It smacked Valentina hard across her shoulder and the side of her head. The pistol flew out of her hand and she staggered forward. At once, strong hands grabbed her. The portrait thudded on the floor, a chunk of the frame skidding across the polished wood. A small, dark velvet bag lay half out of the hole in the gilded frame.
Chapter 21
For an endless moment no one moved.
Tatiana and Natasha traded shocked glances, then dropped to their knees beside the frame. Matthew hunched down beside them.
“Do go on, my dear. I can’t stand it a moment longer.” Natasha’s eyes gleamed with excitement. Tatiana stared at the velvet bag, wanting desperately to know if the Heavens were inside and terrified they were not.
“Go ahead, Princess,” Matthew said in a low voice meant for her ears only. His gaze caught hers and he smiled with encouragement. “It’s the end of your quest. Your adventure.”
Something in his tone caught at her heart. No doubt it was nothing more than the emotion that gripped her at knowing that he was right. Whether the Heavens were here or not, this was indeed the end of her search.
She nodded and her gaze caught on a wet stain on his jacket. “Good Lord.” Without thinking she touched it. Blood smeared on her fingers. “Matthew, you’ve been shot!”
“I noticed that.” He looked at the spot and grimaced. “It hurts like hell. But it’s not bleeding overly and I think it simply grazed me.” He grinned at her. “I fear I shall live.”
“Do not joke at such a time.”
“I told you once I had no intention of losing my life in the immediate future. I have not changed my mind.” The smile remained on his face but there was a look in his eyes she couldn’t decipher and his gaze searched hers as if he were committing it to memory. Abruptly, a chill raced up her spine. “Now”—he nodded at the bag—“go on.”
“Wait.” Natasha stood and gestured to her son. Beaumont moved to her side at once. “Do see if you can get the crowd to back away. I’m not certain it’s wise to let everyone see this.”
“Of course.” He glanced at the frame. “So they were here all along. And you never told me.”
“In truth, dear boy”—Natasha’s voice was firm—“it was none of your concern.”
Beaumont cast her a long-suffering look and stepped away. He spoke to a few of the closest spectators, who herded the bulk of the gathering toward more food and drink. Only a handful remained in an observant half circle: Beaumont and his wife, the duke and duchess, Lord and Lady Helmsley and Lord Stephen. Valentina stayed as well, restrained now by footmen. Tatiana turned her attention back to the portrait and drew a deep breath. She grasped the exposed velvet and pulled it gently. It caught and she tugged a bit harder. The bag slipped out of the hole. She picked it up and her hand trembled. The pouch was no longer than the span of her hand, tied with a silken cord, and with a weight that indicated it was not empty. She fumbled with the cord, but her fingers would not work properly.
“Allow me.” Matthew took it from her, untied it and tipped the bag into her hand. The sun, the moon and the stars tumbled onto her palm.
There was a collective gasp from those around her. Tatiana could do little more than stare. The ruby flashed blood red in the candlelight. The opal glowed with an unworldly iridescence. The two gems were oval in cut, perfectly matched in size, about the length of her thumb from the joint to the tip. The four diamonds were half the size of the colored gems, round and obviously perfect. Fire shot from the centers of the jewels with the slightest movement of her hand. Matthew emitted a long, low whistle. “So those are the Heavens. Quite impressive, and bigger than I expected. Rather gaudy as well, don’t you think?”
A half dozen pairs of indignant female eyes turned toward him.
“My dear young man.” Natasha’s tone was adamant. “There is no such thing as a gaudy gem.”
“Nor can it ever be too big,” Lady Beaumont said.
“Not if it’s genuine,” the duchess added. “His grandmother has apparently failed somewhere in his education.”
“I think they are wonderful,” Tatiana said softly, still staring at the jewels in her hand. They winked up at her with a life all their own.
And a promise.
Their return would not ensure a peaceful reign for her father and eventually her brother, but their presence would be an asset. Nor could their return guarantee her family’s acceptance of her decision to relinquish her title or even ease the inevitable uproar that would greet her choice, but their recovery had given her the courage she needed to proceed with her plan. Not because she had found the Heavens, but because she had looked. Her fist closed tightly around the jewels. Matthew stood, took Tatiana’s free hand and assisted her to her feet.
“What now, Your Highness?” His gaze bored into hers, blue and intense, and she wondered if she would ever know what he was thinking.
“Now?” She shook her head. “I am not certain.”
Matthew opened her hand and returned the jewels to the velvet pouch that had protected them for more than half a century. He tied the bag, put it in her hand and covered it with her other hand. “Take them home, Princess.”
There was something in his voice that caught at her heart. She searched his gaze with a growing unease.
“He’s right, Your Highness, it is time to return home.” Dimitri’s voice sounded behind her. She gritted her teeth at the sound. The adventure was indeed over. She straightened her shoulders and turned to face him.
“Oh, dear God, let my eyes be failing.” Valentina groaned. “Please, tell me I am not seeing the terribly noble, always sanctimonious Captain Petrov.”
“Your Highness.” Dimitri bowed curtly to Valentina. “It is a pleasure to see you again as well.” He nodded sharply at the contingent of men at his heels. At once four stepped to Valentina’s side and relieved the footmen holding her.
Valentina raised a brow. “Surely you do not think you have any authority here. We are in England, not Avalonia.”
“Indeed we are, Your Highness.” Dimitri pulled a rolled paper from his coat. “However, this document, duly signed by the proper British and Avalonian authorities, authorizes me to return you to Avalonia or to place you on the first ship bound away from these shores.”
“I should have known. Very well.” Valentina shrugged as if it were of no consequence. “I hear France is nice this time of year.”
“How did you get that so quickly?” Tatiana studied the captain suspiciously. “You could not possibly have traveled to Avalonia and back this fast.”
“I did not,” Dimitri said. “I received the warrant authorizing the detention of the Princess Valentina—”
“I knew I recognized her.” Lady Beaumont nudged her husband.
“—in the same dispatch in which you received the letter from your brother. It was a precaution at the time, as no one knew where the princess might appear.” Dimitri turned to Valentina. “There is a carriage waiting, Your Highness.”
“I had grown rather tired of England at any rate. The parties are as dull as the men. And I am perfectly capable of leaving under my own power.” She cast the men holding her a scathing glare. Dimitri nodded and they released her.
Valentina looked at Tatiana and smiled ruefully. “I underestimated you, Cousin.”
“Cousin?” Lady Helmsley said.
“I shall not make that mistake again.” Valentina nodded in a regal manner to her escort and the group left the room, leaving behind a trail of questions.
“Captain,” Tatiana said, “why have you returned to London?”
“When I learned of the incident with his lordship’s balloon”—Dimitri cast an accusing look at Matthew—“I realized Valentina was a far greater threat to you than I had first imagined.”
Tatiana narrowed her eyes. “And you knew this because you had men following me.”
Dimitri’s voice was resolute. “I could scarcely leave otherwise, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness?” Beaumont said to his mother. “Was this none of my concern as well?”
“Try not to sound so put upon, Randall,” Natasha said in an offhand manner. “It was not my secret to reveal.”
Tatiana pulled in a steadying breath. “I do apologize. I thought concealing my identity would make it easier to find the Heavens—”
“The Heavens?” the duchess said to the duke.
“The jewels,” her husband said. “I will explain all later.”
“And in that I was wrong.” Tatiana smiled at Matthew. “I should have trusted that those who helped my aunt in her time of need were honorable and good and would assist me in finding the Heavens as well.”
“She was looking for missing jewels?” Lady Helmsley said to her husband. “What a wonderful adventure.”
“Perhaps you can write about it, my dear,” Lord Helmsley said.
“Just think,” Lady Beaumont said to the viscount. “They were right under our noses all along.”
“Indeed they were.” He stared at Tatiana. “As was she. I realize it now, you bear a striking resemblance to my grandmother. That’s why I thought we had met.”
“Forgive me, Your Highness.” Dimitri stepped closer and lowered his voice. “I must insist on leaving for Avalonia immediately. It is imperative that the Heavens be returned to their rightful place without delay.”
“Yes, of course.” Tatiana glanced at the bag holding the Heavens for a long moment, then shifted her gaze to Matthew. At once, she knew her course was clear. “Captain, you have served my family and our country well. There is no one I trust more. Therefore”—she held out the bag to him—“I charge you with the care of the Heavens. Take them home, Dimitri.”
Shock colored Dimitri’s face. “Your Highness, I cannot possibly—”
“Of course you can. I shall make the journey back to Avalonia sometime soon to speak with my family, but for now I would much prefer to stay here.” She lifted her chin. “With my husband.”
“Your husband? You married him?” Dimitri’s gaze shot to Matthew. “Him? But Your Highness, he…
he… he flies!”
Lord Stephen snorted. “Not anymore.”
Tatiana sighed with exasperation. “Nonetheless, he is my husband and I will stay with him.”
“No.” Matthew shook his head. “You won’t.”
Tatiana stared at him. “Matthew.”
“Come, now, Your Highness, the return of the jewels won’t be nearly as significant if Captain Petrov brings them back instead of you.” Matthew’s voice was light, as if he were discussing something of no more significance than the weather. “You should go with him. It is, as you have so often said, your duty to safeguard the Heavens.”
She shook her head. “I found them. I have fulfilled the responsibilities of my title and I see no barrier now to giving it up.” She ignored the gasps of those behind her. “The only title I wish is that of Lady Matthew.”
“Don’t be absurd.” Matthew scoffed.
A cold hand seemed to squeeze her heart.
“It was great fun, this adventure of yours. I cannot tell you when I have had a more enjoyable time. I have to thank you for that and thank you for Paris as well. But it is past time to face the realities of life.”
Matthew shrugged. “You’re a princess. I’m the youngest son of a marquess. Even in children’s stories that’s not a suitable combination.”
She stared into his blue eyes, as cool and unconcerned as his tone. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying it was a lark, Princess. For both of us. Granted we went a bit too far, but”—he grinned—“we were carried away. Passion and all that. A grand passion, I might add.”
“It was more than that.” An odd desperate note sounded in her voice.
“Was it?” He raised a brow. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Her voice rose.
“Perhaps. For a moment. Or rather six days. Not even a full week. Oh, I admit I was upset when you left me in Paris. Pride probably more than anything else, but eventually I came to my senses and realized it was for the best.” He shook his head.
“You said once that I married a companion to a princess, not a princess, and you were entirely right. I never would have married you if I had known who you are. And, in truth, if you were who I first believed you to be, well, by now I probably would have grown tired of you. I don’t think I’m well suited for marriage, and especially not marriage to a princess.”
She grabbed his arm. “I will give up my title.”
“For me? Don’t.” He studied her curiously. “How can you possibly do that and be happy? You have lived your entire life for your country and your family. You cannot turn your back on all that as easily as you once turned your back on me.”
“Matthew, I—”
“And I certainly have no intention of trailing after you like a well-trained puppy. I may not have done much with my life thus far, but it has been my life. I would not do well as the consort of a princess.” He shrugged off her hand. “Besides, you told me you would not put another man in that position. Why, I’d probably have a mistress myself in no time.”
She sucked in a hard breath. “I do not believe you.”
“Believe me, Princess.” His gaze bored into hers. “Get your annulment. You should have done it a year ago. Whatever we might have had once no longer exists. You have your life to lead and I have mine. It’s
as simple as that.”
She struggled to remain calm. “But you said you were happy that we were still married.”
“Of course I said that I was happy we were still married. Would you really have shared my bed if I hadn’t?”
She stared at him in disbelief. Anger and pain flashed through her. She didn’t know what to think. What to believe.
He lowered his voice and smiled wickedly. “And you did share it exceedingly well.”