The moment had come, and wild horses couldn’t keep him away from his sweetheart. And he absolutely considered Charlotte to be his sweetheart, despite the fact she was English and lived so far away. From the moment he’d met her in Brighton, he’d known that she was the only woman for him.
Which was more of a problem than he wanted to admit.
“Petrus, hold up a moment,” Oskar called after him.
Petrus clenched his jaw and slowed his steps, turning back to wait for Oskar and Fredrik to catch up with him in the hall. Oskar wore his customary frown, but it seemed somehow more pronounced.
“We must talk,” Oskar said, falling into step with Petrus, Fredrik walking on Petrus’s other side, and setting a sedate pace.
Petrus didn’t like the serious set of Oskar’s expression. He had a bad idea he knew what Oskar wanted to talk about.
“It is all well and good that you made yourself a friend in Miss Sloane, whose arrival I know you have been anticipating even more than the Rathborne-Paxton family’s,” Oskar said, “but you know full well that Father has other plans for you.”
Petrus tried not to stumble as they reached the stairs and headed down to the main part of the palace. He knew too well what his cousin meant.
“With all due respect to Uncle Milas,” Petrus said, “I should be at liberty to choose my own bride.”
Both Oskar and Fredrik tensed by Petrus’s sides as they reached the ground floor and continued on.
Oskar cleared his throat and, keeping his voice low as they walked through a part of the palace filled with servants and palace retainers, said, “Lady Jenny Lindstrom has been sent all the way from Stockholm for you. She is a fine and noble woman. It is not right for you to throw her over in this manner, simply because some wealthy Englishwoman has snagged your attention instead.”
The words felt like ice water being poured down Petrus’s back. He had been aware from the moment Lady Jenny was introduced to him that both his family and hers expected things from them. Lady Jenny had arrived just as he was about to depart for England on his first voyage to search for his half-brothers, and he hadn’t had much time to speak to her. Then he’d met Charlotte.
In every way, Lady Jenny and the whispered claim she had to him should have taken precedence over Charlotte. Their acquaintance was longer, Lady Jenny’s position in the Swedish aristocracy meant she outranked Charlotte, and the king himself had expectations of the match. But Petrus’s heart was already spoken for.
He just wasn’t certain that was enough, or that he could delay the inevitable any longer.
All of those troublesome thoughts were blasted from his mind the moment he stepped into the large dining room where luncheon had been set. There she was, amidst the bustle and noise of his half-brothers and their wives, looking as sweet and radiant as Petrus remembered her to be.
“Char—er, Miss Sloane,” Petrus said, tripping over his tongue and threatening to trip over his own feet as he swept into the dining room, heading toward his sweetheart.
Charlotte brightened like the Aurora Borealis at the sight of him, which warmed Petrus’s heart. She truly did look perfect in a dove-gray traveling coat, the hem of her cranberry-red skirt showing below the hem. Charlotte’s abundant, soft hair was caught up in the latest style…in a way that made Petrus want to run his fingers through it and ruin the style until Charlotte’s hair fell in golden waves around her shoulders. Charlotte’s blue eyes were bright, and her cheeks rosy from fresh air and travel. She was simply the most beautiful, the most perfect—
The sound of Oskar clearing his throat snapped Petrus out of his thoughts.
“Won’t you introduce us to your friends?” Oskar asked.
Aegiria might have been a progressive enigma, but certain rules of society still applied, and Petrus was in danger of breaking all of them.
He reined himself in and turned his attention from Charlotte—who lowered her eyes with an understanding half-smile—and strode over to shake Francis’s hand.
“It is good to see you, my friend,” he greeted his half-brother. “I trust your voyage was easy?”
“It was indeed,” Francis said. He peeked between Petrus and Charlotte, as if he knew which way the wind was blowing.
Petrus moved to stand by Francis’s side, facing Oskar and Fredrik. “I would like you to meet Lord Francis Rathborne-Paxton, Earl of Cathraiche,” he said, then continued quickly with, “And his wife, Lady Priya. And this is my cousin, Crown Prince Oskar of Aegiria, and my brother, Prince Fredrik.”
“How do you do,” Francis said, bowing respectfully to both Oskar and Fredrik.
The next several minutes were spent in what felt like endless introductions as each of the Rathborne-Paxton brothers and their wives were introduced, hands were shook, and bows and curtsies made. Petrus was aware of Lady Jenny standing at the fringes of the assembly with Queen Sylvia, and also that more and more of the royal family, including Oskar’s siblings, were making their way into the room, adding to the necessary introductions.
It felt like ages before he was able to work his way around to Charlotte’s side so that he could introduce her. “And last but very much not least, this is Miss Charlotte Sloane.”
He smiled at Charlotte with a fondness that anyone in the room would have a hard time mistaking.
Which was, unfortunately, quite literally the case. A kind of hush fell over the now crowded room as the Aegirian folk all studied Charlotte with particular curiosity. The Aegirian folkandLady Jenny.
Lady Jenny, whose face pinched slightly in distress, and who clutched her hands together in front of her stomach as though her world stood on the verge of crumbling apart.