Castles Read Online Free PDF Page B

father about the terrible past two years he’d had. She imagined the last thing Colin needed now was chaos. Still, the Duke of Williamshire had been most insistent that she avail herself of his hospitality, and it wouldn’t have been polite for her to refuse her guardian’s wishes. Besides, living with Colin for a few days might make the request she was going to have to make of him easier.
    She arrived on Colin’s doorstep a little past the dinner hour. He had already gone out for the evening. Alesandra, her new lady’s maid, and two trusted guards crowded into the narrow black and white tiled foyer to present her note from the Duke of Williamshire to the butler, a handsome young man named Flannaghan. The servant couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years of age. The surprise of her arrival obviously rattled him, for he kept bowing to her, blushing to the roots of his white-blond hair, and she wasn’t at all certain how to ease his discomfort.
    â€œIt is such an honor to have a princess in our home,” he stammered out. He swallowed hard, then repeated the very same announcement.
    â€œI hope your employer feels the way you do, sir,” she replied. “I don’t wish to be an inconvenience.”
    â€œNo, no,” Flannaghan blurted out, obviously appalled by the very idea. “You could never be an inconvenience.”
    â€œIt’s good of you to say so, sir.”
    Flannaghan swallowed hard again. In a worried tone he said, “But Princess Alesandra, I don’t believe there’s room for all of your staff.” The butler’s face was burning with embarrassment.
    â€œWe’ll make do,” she assured him with a smile, trying to put him at ease. The poor young man looked ill. “The Duke of Williamshire did insist I bring along my guards, and I couldn’t travel anywhere without my new lady’s maid. Her name’s Valena. The duchess personally chose her for me. Valena has been living in London, you see, but she was born and raised in my father’s homeland. Isn’t it a wonderful coincidence she applied for the position? Yes, of course it is,” she answered before Flannaghan could get a word in. “Because she’s only just been hired, I can’t let her go. It wouldn’t be at all polite, would it? You do understand. I can see you do.”
    Flannaghan had lost track of what was being explained to him, but he nodded agreement anyway just to please her. He was finally able to tear his gaze away from the beautiful princess. He bowed to her lady’s maid, then ruined his first show of dignified behavior by blurting out, “She’s just a child.”
    â€œValena’s a year older than I am,” Alesandra explained. She turned to the fair-haired woman and spoke to her in a language Flannaghan had never heard before. It sounded a little like French to him, yet he knew it wasn’t.
    â€œDo any of your servants speak English?” he asked.
    â€œWhen they wish to,” she answered. She untied the cord at the top of her white fur-lined burgundy cloak. A tall, muscled guard with black hair and a menacing look about him stepped forward to take the garment from her. She thanked the man before turning back to Flannaghan. “I would like to get settled in for the night. The journey here took most of the day, sir, because of the rain, and I’m chilled to the bone. It was horrid outside,” she added with a nod. “The rain felt like sleet, didn’t it, Raymond?”
    â€œAye, it did, Princess,” the guard agreed in a voice surprisingly gentle.
    â€œWe’re all really quite exhausted,” she told Flannaghan then.
    â€œOf course you’re exhausted,” Flannaghan agreed. “If you’ll follow me, please,” he requested. He started up the stairs with the Princess at his side. “There are four chambers on the second level, Princess Alesandra, and three rooms on