'The latch on one of the windows was unlocked an hour after Raymond had checked,' he explained. 'And someone had to alert the men that we would be attending the opera.'
'The prince regent could have mentioned it to…'
Colin cut her off. 'Yes, he could have,' he agreed. 'But he wouldn't have unlocked the window.'
'Did you catch all of them?' Henry asked the director then.
'Yes, we did,' Richards answered. 'They're safely tucked away.'
'I'll talk to them first thing tomorrow,' Colin announced.
'May I go with you?' Alesandra asked.
'No.'
Colin's voice suggested she not argue. His father supported his son's decision, too. 'It's out of the question, Alesandra.'
The discussion was over. Sir Richards took his leave a few minutes later. Colin accompanied the director to the door. Jade and Caine said their farewells at the same time. Both the duke and duchess walked to the door with them. Alesandra stood by the hearth, watching the way the family members talked and laughed with one another, and the sudden yearning to be a part of the loving, close-knit family fairly overwhelmed her. She shook her head against the possibility. Colin wasn't marrying her because he loved her. She mustn't forget that, she told herself.
The door closed behind Jade and Caine, and she realized then that Colin had already taken his leave.
He hadn't even bothered to say good-bye. Alesandra was so hurt by his rudeness, she turned around to stare at the mantel so her guardian wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.
The castle caught her attention and the anger she was trying to stir up over Colin's high-handed methods in gaming her agreement was all but forgotten. A wave of homesickness for her mother and father made her ache inside.
Dear God, she was miserable. She never should have left the convent-she realized that mistake now. She'd been safe there, and the memories of her mother were somehow far more comforting.
Alesandra took a deep breath in an attempt to stop the panic she could feel catching hold. She understood why she was so afraid. God help her, she was falling in love with the Dragon.
It was unacceptable to her. Colin would never know how she felt about him. She wasn't about to end up like a vine of ivy clinging to a man who didn't love her. She wouldn't hover, either, no matter how much she wanted to, and she would force herself to think of the marriage as nothing but an arrangement. Colin had his reasons for marrying her, foolish though they were, and in return for his name and protection she would leave him to his own agenda. She wouldn't interfere in any way with his schedule, and in return for her consideration he would leave her alone to follow her own destiny.
Alesandra mopped the tears from her eyes. She was feeling better now that she'd come up with a viable plan of action. She would request an audience with Colin tomorrow and tell him how she had worked it all out in her mind.
She would even allow for negotiating, but only on minor points, of course.
'Alesandra, your guards will bring your things over in just a little while.'
Her guardian made that announcement as he walked back into the salon. She turned to thank him. Uncle Henry frowned when he saw the tears in her eyes.
'What's this?' he demanded. 'Are you so unhappy over my choice for your husband that you…'
She shook her head. 'I was looking at the castle and it made me a bit homesick.'
He looked relieved. He walked over to stand next to her. 'I believe I'll take that back to our country house. I don't like seeing it touched. Colin and Caine couldn't keep their hands off it, could they?' he added with a grin. 'They can both be like bulls in a pen at times. I wouldn't want this treasure broken.'
He turned to look at the miniature. 'Do you know the story behind this gift?' he asked.
'My mother told me Father gave it to you,' Alesandra answered.
'The castle was a gift,' Uncle Henry explained. 'But I was asking you if you'd been told about the loan your father gave me? You have every right to hear it, and to know how your father came to my aid.'
His voice had gotten gruff with emotion. Alesandra shook her head. 'It wasn't a loan, Uncle, and, yes, I did know what happened. Mother told me the story because she thought it clever and amusing the way he tricked you.'
'Nathaniel tricked me? How?'
Alesandra turned and lifted the castle from the mantel, nodding when her guardian instinctively warned her to be careful. While he watched, she pried the drawbridge away from the latch, then handed the castle to him.
'They've been inside all the while,' she explained, her voice a gentle whisper. 'Have a look, Uncle Henry. The notes are there.'
He couldn't seem to comprehend what she was telling him. He stared at her with a look of astonishment on his face.
'All these years…' His voice cracked with tension and his eyes turned quite misty.
'Father liked to get his way,' Alesandra explained. 'He insisted it was a gift and you insisted it was a loan. Mother told me you demanded notes be signed and father accommodated you. But he had the last laugh, Uncle, when he gave you the castle as a gift.'
'With the notes.'
She put her hand on his arm. 'You hold the notes,' she said. 'And you must therefore accept that the debt has been repaid.'
Her guardian held the castle up and looked inside. He spotted the folded pieces of paper immediately. 'The debt will be repaid when you marry my son,' he said.
He didn't have any idea how his words affected her. His attention was on the castle now, and he therefore missed the look on her face.
She turned around and walked out of the salon. She passed Aunt Gweneth in the foyer but didn't trust her voice enough to speak.
Gweneth hurried into the salon just as Alesandra ran up the steps. 'Henry, what did you say to that child?' she demanded.
Henry motioned her over to his side. 'Alesandra's fine, Gweneth. She's just feeling a little homesick, that's all. Let her have a few minutes alone. Look at this,' he ordered then, his concentration turned back to the notes hidden inside the treasure.
Alesandra was forgotten for the moment. She was thankful no one followed her up the stairs. She went into her uncle Henry's study, closed the door behind her, and promptly burst into tears. She cried for at least twenty minutes and all because she was feeling so horribly sorry for herself. She knew she was being childish-pitiful, too- but she didn't care.
She didn't feel any better when she'd finished weeping. Her nerves were still frazzled with worry and confusion.
Dreyson arrived on the doorstep an hour later. She signed the papers he'd prepared and then listened to his long explanation regarding the transfer of her funds from her father's homeland to the Bank of England. The agent Dreyson had hired to make the transaction was having difficulty getting the money released, but Dreyson assured her it wasn't anything to worry about. It would just take time and patience.
Alesandra could barely concentrate on financial matters. She went to bed early that night and prayed for strength to get through the next three days.
Time didn't drag, however. Aunt Gweneth kept her busy with the preparations for the wedding. Unbeknownst to her husband or her family, Gweneth invited a few close friends to join in the celebration-thirty-eight, in fact-and there was so much to be done before the wedding she could barely keep up with her lists of duties. There were fresh flowers to be ordered for the tables inside, food to be prepared for the formal sit-down dinner she planned on serving everyone, and a gown to be sewn by the sour-dispositioned but incredibly creative Millicent Norton. The dressmaker and her three assistants had taken over one of the larger rooms on the third floor and were working around the clock with their needles and threads on the yards and yards of imported lace Millicent Norton had been
