father is as unreasonable as you are. I hate him. I hate you. I hate all men.”
Just what he needed—to listen to her bellowing and bellyaching all the way back to Orlantha. He jerked out a handkerchief from his other pocket and effectively gagged her. Adele’s eyes widened in shock.
“Sorry, Princess, but I have no intention of listening to you carrying on like that while I’m driving.”
Matt got in on the driver’s side, started the engine and headed down the brick driveway toward the main road. With a little luck, they’d cross the border in a few hours and by morning he’d be on a plane headed back to Paris. Occasionally he glanced at the princess. She didn’t look at him, didn’t acknowledge his presence in any way. She sat there, with her hands cuffed behind her and his handkerchief tied over her mouth, staring straight ahead into the dark night, her entire demeanor regal and unflinching. He knew she had to be uncomfortable, but no one would ever guess by the way she acted.
An hour and forty minutes later they were halfway to the Austrian border, traveling along a back road, just in case Yves Jurgen had been foolish enough to try to follow them. The weather quickly turned nasty. An autumn storm created heavy streaks of lighting and rolling booms of thunder. Then came the downpour. The rain became so heavy that Matt couldn’t see two feet in front of the car, leaving him no choice but to pull off to the side of the road.
He killed the motor and turned to Adele. “Will you promise to behave yourself if I remove the gag?”
She didn’t respond immediately, just glowered at him. Then finally she nodded.
Matt reached out to untie the handkerchief. “If you start up again, the gag goes back in place. Understand?”
She nodded. He undid the knot and removed the gag. She took a deep breath, then licked the sides of her mouth where the handkerchief had chafed her skin.
“Mr. O’Brien, I didn’t run away simply because I find Dedrick personally offensive.”
“Look, honey, it doesn’t matter to me why you ran off. Can’t you get it through that pretty little head of yours that I’m just doing my job?”
“And I’m trying to do mine!”
Realizing she was probably going to give him some sad sob story, Matt didn’t respond. The wind beat against the car, whistling around them as the rain continued pouring. He wondered how long they’d be stuck here. The sooner he got this woman off his hands, the better.
“Mr. O’Brien?”
“Mmm-hmm?”
“Do you know anything about the politics in Orlantha and Balanchine?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“Are you aware that there are factions in both countries that wish to see the two reunited as one country?”
“I think I heard something to that effect.”
“Have you also heard about a group called the Royalists?”
“Can’t say that I have, but something tells me that I’m about to.” Matt turned in his seat so that he faced Adele. “If you promise not to do anything stupid, I’ll undo the handcuffs.”
“Do you want me to promise that I will not try to run from you?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Then I promise.”
Matt stared at her for a moment, trying to discern her credibility. What the hell, he’d take a chance. After all, how far could she go if she did try to run?
After taking the key from his pocket, he gave her back a gentle shove forward, then reached down and unlocked the handcuffs.
She brought her hands slowly around to the front and rubbed first one wrist and then the other. Repeating the process several times, she said, “Thank you.”
Matt wasn’t sure which princess he preferred. The quiet-spoken, accommodating lady or the other—the defiant, hostile spitfire. He definitely trusted the spitfire more. This sweet act she was putting on now worried him. Was she up to something? Or had she simply changed tactics thinking honey attracted more than vinegar?
“About the Royalists,” she said. “They are a secret society that is active in both Orlantha and Balanchine. Their goals are to reunite the two countries under one king and for the combined nations to be ruled solely by the monarch. They want to turn back the clock two hundred years.”
“What does this have to do with your marriage to the duke?”
“I believe that Dedrick is a Royalist.”
“Got any proof?”
“Not yet, but soon, we hope.”
“We?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. O’Brien, but I cannot explain further. I simply do not know how trustworthy you are. Considering the fact that you’re working for my father, I—”
“How does Dedrick being a Royalist have any effect on your marriage? You’re a princess. Your old man is the king. I’d say your whole family are Royalists.”
“No, we are not!” Adele huffed. “You do not understand. My father rules Orlantha in conjunction with an elected council, headed by a chancellor and a vice chancellor and we do not want Orlantha reunited with Balanchine under any circumstances, and most definitely not as a monarch-ruled country. We suspect…I suspect that if Dedrick becomes the prince consort, he will try to usurp more and more power, especially in the event of my father’s death someday. As my husband, he would have almost as much authority over the government as I do.”
“Interesting story,” Matt said. “Why don’t you tell it to your father when you return to Orlantha?”
“I have told my father, but he refuses to believe me.”
“Because you don’t have any evidence against the duke.”
Adele sighed. “No, I don’t have any evidence, and my father won’t postpone the wedding and give us…give me time to prove Dedrick is not only an unsuitable husband for me but an unsuitable prince for Orlantha.”
“So you ran away to buy time for your unnamed cohorts in Orlantha to gather evidence against Dedrick?”
“That’s right.” Adele smiled. “So you see, I cannot go back, not yet. If I return to Orlantha, my father will force me to marry Dedrick next month.”
“Why don’t you marry someone else?” Matt gazed through the Opel’s side window. “Looks like the rain’s letting up.” He started the engine and shifted gears.
“Marry someone else… You mean marry another man before my father can force me to marry Dedrick?”
Matt pulled the car back onto the road and headed southwest. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. If you’re already married to another guy, your father can’t force you to marry Dedrick.”
“It
