Crown Jewels

by Katherine Kingston, Mlyn Hurn

  Only one incident occurred during the dinner to arouse his tension. After the soup had been served, Fanny’s father turned to her and said, “We’re pleased that you grace us with your presence tonight, my dear.” Princess Merry added, “And very surprised. Your last time with us ended so poorly.”

  Baxter said a silent prayer and willed Fanny to look down at her hands. Amazingly, she did so before she lifted her head, turned toward her sister and smiled serenely.

  “But at that time I lacked the necessary example for proper behavior,” she said as sweetly as possible. “Master Baxter has since shown me how such incidents should be approached.”

  Merry looked stunned but almost immediately responded. “It’s a pity you couldn’t benefit from the examples you already had.”

  Fanny glanced down at the bracelet before she answered. “Perhaps it’s a mercy I had examples I could not learn from.”

  Merry looked puzzled by that, but before she could work it out, the gentleman on her right made a comment that distracted her attention from the interplay with her sister.

  Fanny looked back at him to see if he approved of her handling of the situation. Baxter raised his wine cup in salute of her cleverness. Happiness spread in a warming glow across her face.

  The rest of the dinner proceeded quietly. With so many visitors beginning to gather, the king had arranged for a group of musicians to entertain and provide accompaniment for dancing.

  Baxter partnered the princess for the first couple of dances, but the number of gentlemen eager to have a turn with her forced him to relinquish his position to others after that. He watched her carefully, though, even when she danced with others, and he made sure he was always in the same group, so the steps brought her near him often.

  In company her dancing was far more restrained and dignified than it had been the previous evening, for which he was grateful, but still her grace and charm worked on her partners. By the end of the evening, she had a line of suitors clamoring for a dance or just a chance to speak with her.

  He didn’t have a chance to speak with her until the festivities wound down and she left the room. He’d watched and waited for the opportunity, and ran to catch up with her as she headed toward her quarters.

  “You did very well this evening,” he told her. “Every man in the room had his eyes on you, and the unmarried ones all clamored for your attention.”

  “It was gratifying,” she said. “I admit to taking more pleasure in seeing my sister’s reaction to my words than was quite seemly.”

  “You’ve been too long on the wrong end of her sharp tongue. Now you have a way to defend yourself.” He turned toward her. “I’m very proud of you. You’ve done so well, if you like, tomorrow, you may spend the morning working with your plants. I ask only that you bathe and then come to me in the afternoon.”

  “Oh, I will,” she said, doing a hop and a skip in the corridor. Then she paused and turned toward him again. “Will you come out with me tomorrow? I’d like to show you some of my plants.”

  “Aye, I will. I’ll not be out as early as you, no doubt, will be. There are people I need to talk with. But I promise I will come. In the meantime, get your rest tonight.”

  She looked up and down the corridor to be sure they were alone before she said, “But won’t you be with me tonight?”

  “Not tonight. You’ll be sore enough as it is. It’s better we don’t couple again just yet.”

  She nodded, accepting it reluctantly.

  In the morning, he requested an audience with the king, which was immediately granted.

  “My Lord Baxter,” the king said to him. “We’re delighted with your efforts with Princess Fanny. She was a great credit to us last night.”

  “I believe she is a jewel, Your Majesty,” he answered. “But the jewel has been obscured and difficult to see, especially in the presence of one who shines more brightly.”

  “You have polished the jewel quite effectively, my lord. She glitters now. Already I’ve had some inquiries from prospective suitors. When she is betrothed, I’ll grant the reward you request.”

  “My thanks, Your Majesty, but please do take a care as to whose suit you accept. She has a strong spirit, but it’s brittle and easily bruised. Grant her to one who will understand and nurture her many virtues.”

  The king nodded. “Thank you for your concern for her. I will consider carefully before I approve a mate for her.”

  Baxter recognized the dismissal and retreated. After words with a few other persons in the castle, he went out to the garden to find the princess. A disheveled Fanny knelt on a pad while she pulled weeds from a bed of red and yellow flowers.

  “My lord.” She looked up and gave him a smile that rivaled the sun for brightness. “Welcome to my garden. Look at how the primroses and hollyhocks are thriving.” She pointed to a corner where some tall, leggy flower stalks leaned against a rough wood fence. She took him on a tour of the beds and paths, identifying a wide variety of herbs and blooms.

  He was impressed by how much she knew about the plants. Using weeds she’d pulled, she showed him the root systems, how they grew and spread into the ground to collect water and whatever they needed from the dirt. With a pointed metal tool, she explained how she turned over and chopped up the dirt to prepare it for seeds.

  Taking him up onto a part of the battlement nearby, she pointed out how the garden was laid out, how she arranged for plants that needed some shade to be in places where they’d be sheltered by walls or trees, while those that thrived in full sun were situated where nothing would obstruct the light.

  Her explanations and demonstrations intrigued him so much, he ended up spending the rest of the morning outside with her. At the midday bell, though, they both went inside and bathed before eating.

  In the afternoon, they practiced more responses to snide comments, and also discussed the various duties of a lady in charge of a household. Some facets she already knew well enough: she could run a kitchen smoothly enough and knew how to keep accounts. But the niceties of entertaining guests, organizing the household servants, and dealing with the demands of rank among friends and visitors escaped her.

  Dinner that evening went smoothly again, with no incidents to mar it. Princess Merry made only one nasty comment, but Fanny brought out one of the ripostes they’d practiced and the older girl backed off.

  The next day, he actually spent some time helping her in the garden in the morning, then they continued their lessons in the afternoon.

  The crowd at dinner had swelled with the arrival of more guests for the wedding ceremony now under a sennight hence. The meal itself proceeded peacefully enough. He no longer felt constrained to keep such close watch over her.

  He had no chance to partner her for even a single dance that evening, she was in such demand. Each time she retreated to a corner for a rest or a table for refreshment, the men swarmed around her. At least once he looked over to Princess Merry and caught her frowning at her sister and the group of swains surrounding her. It worried him a little. The older princess was used to being the center of attention. Her soon-to-be husband hadn’t yet arrived, but she still had her own group of admirers. Clearly though, her sister’s popularity detracted somewhat from her own.

  But the trouble that evening came from a different direction entirely.

  Among the swains swarming the princess, Baxter noticed one figure that looked vaguely familiar—and made him distinctly uneasy, though he could remember no reason for his reaction. He was a dark-haired older man, getting heavy around the middle, but still handsome in a fleshy way. Baxter finally had to ask Lady Syndal to identify the man for him.

  “That’s Sir James Cannedy,” she said, then lowered her voice. “He has a dreadful reputation. He shouldn’t be anywhere near our princess.”

  Baxter remembered the man then, though not the reasons for his poor reputation. “He was a friend of my father’s.”

  “Your father thought he was a friend, and it pleased Sir Ja
mes that Lord Marko should believe it so.”

  “Was he not a true friend, then?”

  “I thought not, but I never had any proof to lend to your father.”

  “On what is his ‘dreadful reputation’ based?”

  “Things I’ve heard,” she answered. “His first wife died of a convenient illnesses after he’d run through her fortune. His second wife wore always a few bruises somewhere on her person. Many have doubted that she truly died in a fall as he claimed.”

  “Bad,” he admitted, “But no more than rumors and gossip.”

  “True. But I’ve always felt there was something not quite truthful and honorable about Sir James. And I’m uneasy at the idea of him paying court to Fanny, though I doubt her father would grant any petition of his. The king looks to a better match for her.”

  Baxter finally remembered that when he’d been about eight years old, Sir James had visited their household. Evidently it had been on some matter of business, of which he had no notion at the time, but he remembered taking a dislike to his father’s guest. The man had made at least one serving maid break down in tears and had caused one of the stableboys to get a whipping for not caring for his tack to his exacting standards.

  Baxter kept watch on Fanny through the evening. Sir James partnered her in one dance set. Fanny’s expression gave no clue to what she thought of the man, but she certainly didn’t seem overwhelmed by him in any way.

  Toward the end of the evening, Baxter was waylaid by an older woman who’d known his father and mother well in her youth, and naturally wanted to learn all she could of what had befallen them since. As a result, he was unable to leave the hall when most of the guests and household retired.

  He didn’t see Fanny leave, but the next time he allowed his attention to wander discreetly from his companion to scan the room, he couldn’t find her. Most likely she’d been tired and made her way to her chambers for the night.

  He could barely hold his own eyes open longer when he finally found an opening to bid the woman good even and retire to his own quarters. He met no one else in the hall or on the stairs.

  Until he got to the next floor, he heard only the scuffing of his boots on the stones and an occasional door opening or closing. As he started down the hall, though, he heard a strange squeal come from a dark corner and turned that way.

  Sir James had Princess Fanny backed into a niche, and he was attempting to kiss her. The squeals and grunts she made, together with the way she tried to push him off, showed clearly that she didn’t favor the attempt.

  Chapter 11

  Baxter went over and tapped Sir James on the shoulder. “I don’t believe the lady is enjoying this,” he suggested. “Perhaps you should leave her in peace and retire.”

  The older man turned, and glared at him with eyes narrowed and mouth pressed into a thin line. “This is no business of yours. Go your way and pay no mind.” He leaned forward in a way meant to intimidate. He partly succeeded. Sir James was a couple of inches taller and probably fifty pounds heavier than Baxter. Had he not known Fanny well enough to be sure she did not want his kisses, Baxter might have gone off and let him be.

  “But it is my business,” he answered instead. “Perhaps you’re not aware that I’m the lady’s tutor. It’s clear to me that she does not choose to be here with you, so I believe I must ask you to let the lady go.”

  Sir James’s frown deepened. His dark eyes glittered with anger and irritation, but after a few tense moments, he evidently decided against a fight and dropped his hold on the princess’s wrists.

  “Go to your quarters,” Baxter told Fanny.

  She hesitated for a moment, and he read concern for him in her expression.

  “No one wants to make a great deal of noise and commotion at this time of night,” he reassured her. “I just want to have a word with Sir James.”

  She nodded and hurried down the hall. Both men watched until she disappeared around a corner.

  The older man leaned toward him again. “I do not know who you are,” he growled, “but I do not allow anyone to interfere in my business. Especially not servants, even when they call themselves tutors.”

  “I’m no servant,” he said, struggling for calm in the face of the man’s insult. “But what concerns the princess is my business. You’ll not harass her or take liberties.”

  “I intend to offer for her hand, and I believe the king will consider my suit,” Sir James said. “Therefore she is my business.”

  “That will be determined when you’ve presented your offer and been accepted. In the meantime, leave her alone.” Baxter turned to go, but stopped and whirled toward him again. “Oh, and I am not a servant. I’m Baxter of Denzwig, son of Lord Marko.”

  He turned again and walked away, leaving a glowering Sir James staring after him. He went into his room, through the connecting door to the room where they’d had their lessons. At the far door, he stopped and knocked briefly before opening it and peering in.

  A servant had helped the princess out of her gown and was now brushing out her hair. Baxter asked her to leave them for a few minutes.

  “Are you all right?” he asked her.

  Fanny stood up and ran to him, threw her arms around him, and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m fine. He took me by surprise or I’d have run away from him. But I worried for you.”

  “You needn’t.” He debated whether to tell her Sir James’s plan, but decided not to. In all likelihood, the suit would be quickly quashed and she need never worry about it.

  Her fingers were pressing into his bottom and her hips grinding against his. His cock sprang to immediate attention, but he pushed her back. “Your maid is waiting. Let her put you to bed, and I’ll come to you in a little while.”

  For the next few days, Baxter arranged for a maid to accompany Fanny at any time when he couldn’t stay at her side, even when she worked in the garden. Though it kept her from being cornered or surprised, Sir James still managed to have himself seated next to her at dinner one evening and claimed her for a couple of dances.

  They had several peaceful days where Fanny gained confidence and ease in attending family functions. Merry had learned not to goad her sister, and the king seemed thrilled with her blossoming.

  Baxter kept watch and realized he wanted her more and more with each passing day. The thought of turning her over to another man was a burning poker in his gut, but he knew he’d have to accept it.

  Meanwhile, Merry had learned not to challenge her sister in verbal battle, but began to work a different sort of competition. She put herself to even more effort to attract the attention of every available man, though she herself was bespoken. Until her future husband arrived, she apparently felt free to flirt and entangle as many others as she could.

  It didn’t bother Fanny, since she found most of the men occasionally interesting and moderately appealing but no more. He knew part of the reason for that lay in her feelings for him, and recognized the danger in her attachment. He could only hope that she’d be able to adjust to belonging to another man when the time came.

  He didn’t recognize that it represented a danger of a different sort until too late.

  As usual dancing followed dinner, with pitchers of ale, wine, and water set out on the tables pushed back against the wall. With the wedding so close now, the crowd in the room had swelled. Baxter joined various groups for conversation and met several people who knew various members of his family or other acquaintances.

  When Princess Merry approached him, he assumed she was performing the duties of a polite hostess. He enjoyed partnering her in a country dance. Though Merry’s conversation consisted mostly of gossip about various guests and comments on their clothing and other personal features, he still found her intriguing. She wasn’t as intelligent or sharp-witted as Fanny, but she was quite lovely and extraordinarily charming when she chose to be. Though he realized Merry was exerting a particular effort to be ingratiating and command his attention, he still found it
hard not to be charmed by her and caught up in her enchantment.

  He lost track of time as he partnered the princess in several more dances and listened to her chatter. Only when Fanny joined them and said, “I hope you’ve had a pleasant evening,” did he realize that the crowd had thinned and more guests were departing to their rest.

  Merry gave her sister a grin whose surface charm didn’t entirely disguise the malice beneath it. “We’ve had an entirely pleasant evening. Lord Baxter can be a most stimulating partner when he chooses.”

  “I’m well aware of that, sister,” Fanny responded.

  “Then it’s a pity you cannot always meet his needs for companionship.”

  Fanny drew a hard breath. Baxter wanted to reach out, grab her wrist, and press the bracelet to remind her to think. Unfortunately, he stood too far away.

  “If that’s so, why does he then spend so much of his time with me?” Fanny asked, the effort to keep control clear in tone.

  “Because he has a task to complete, of course,” Merry responded. “Papa has promised him a reward for taming you.”

  “I wouldn’t describe it as taming,” Baxter said. “More like guiding. Or teaching.”

  Neither woman paid any attention to him. All their focus was on each other.

  “But he has spent time with me in the garden, purely for companionship. Not all our time together is lessons.”

  “Are you sure?” Merry asked. “There may be lessons of another sort going on even there. But look, tonight, when he no longer believes he must keep watch over you every minute, he gladly spent time with me.”

  “Well, no, it wasn’t exactly like that,” Baxter tried to put in.