‘She met the criteria.’ He shrugged, as though it barely mattered.
But Frankie was persistent. ‘In what ways?’
He compressed his lips and studied her for a long moment, his eyes tunnelling straight into her soul. ‘She’s royal, for one, though a distant cousin to the ruling monarch of Sweden. She’s been raised to understand this lifestyle, the pressures of it, the need to be discreet, polite, dignified and private. She understands the realities of living life under a microscope.’ He said the final sentence with a hint of disdain, but it was gone again almost as quickly. ‘She is intelligent, beautiful, and we get on well.’
There was a pang of something in the region of Frankie’s heart. ‘Will she be disappointed not to marry you? Did she love you?’
He laughed and shook his head ruefully. ‘It is always about love with you, no?’
Frankie’s cheeks warmed as his eyes held hers thoughtfully. ‘No, she doesn’t love me.’
Frankie sighed softly. ‘You act as though the very idea of marriage between two people who are in love is absurd.’
‘Not absurd,’ he contradicted. ‘Just...romantic. Tianna knew what marriage to me would involve.’
‘I just can’t understand why anyone would agree to that,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘A marriage without love seems so...cold. So...devastating.’ She shivered.
‘You have agreed to it,’ he pointed out, watching her through half-shuttered eyes.
Her eyes flashed with pain and then she tilted her chin as though physically underscoring her determination. ‘I... I know. But our circumstances are fairly unique. Were there no Leo, wild horses couldn’t have dragged me into this.’
He nodded, as though her words were somehow reassuring. ‘Tianna is in a relationship with her father’s chauffeur. He’s from Syria and came to the country as a refugee when he was a child. He’s naturalised now, and she cares for him very deeply.’
Frankie blinked, her lack of comprehension apparent. ‘So why in the world would she marry you?’
‘Because he needs his job, because her parents would never condone the match, because she’d be disinherited and doesn’t particularly fancy the idea of getting a job. There are any number of reasons to keep their relationship quiet. Marriage to me would have provided excellent cover for her to continue her relationship.’
‘Oh, Matt, how can you speak so calmly about this?’
He sighed and squeezed her hand. ‘I can’t see there’s anything wrong with making informed, intelligent choices when it comes to your future.’
The car began to slow, and the crowds outside their windows thickened. Frankie had been given a crash course in royal deportment. For hours each morning and again in the evening, she’d been drilled in the protocol that would be expected of her as the future Queen. It all jumbled in her brain now, but she tried to grab hold of it.
‘Relax,’ he murmured, leaning closer to look out at the view with her. ‘The window will go down soon so you can wave to my people. They’re excited to see you.?
?
Beyond the window, now that they were driving more slowly, Frankie could see signs with their official engagement portrait, taken on the balcony of the palace, her head pressed against Matthias’s chest. There were handmade signs too, with her name all over them, and people wearing veils and throwing confetti.
Was Leo enjoying the spectacle? Or was he frightened by the noise? She angled herself in the seat in an attempt to look backwards but the limo was a little far away. ‘Why aren’t Leo and Liana in this car? There’s plenty of room.’
He didn’t look at her. ‘In case something goes wrong.’
‘Like what? He’s never motion sick. He travels well...’ Her voice tapered off as an alternative meaning unravelled in her brain. ‘You mean in case our car crashes?’
He shrugged. ‘Or theirs does. Or there’s a terrorist attack.’
‘So you won’t ever travel with our son?’
He eyed her now, his expression implacable. ‘No.’
‘But you flew over here with him.’
He nodded. ‘It was necessary on that one occasion. But I will not do so again. I have had this law written into our constitution.’
A shiver ran down her spine, and her chest heaved with emotion for the young man who’d felt it necessary to write in such a protection.
Surely this was a reaction to the loss of his parents and brother. She couldn’t help it; she reached over and squeezed his hand, rubbing the pad of her thumb reassuringly over his skin. But he looked at her with a quizzical expression, and Frankie realised her eyes were moist. Emotions were running rampant within her.