Page 4 of You Belong to Me
“No one can deny that, darling, but has it gained her a long list of suitors? You know as well as I that she offends more than she charms, and men don’t usually make a habit of courting embarrassment. It’s a wonder that Englishman attended her as long as he did in St. Petersburg, and continued to correspond with her all these years. The English are sticklers for proper behavior, after all.”
He didn’t like reminders of the foreigner who had stolen his daughter’s heart with no intention of nurturing it. Were the man still in Russia, Constantin would seriously consider shooting him. But that bounder was no longer at issue, and the saints be praised for that.
“Simeon was a tolerant man just like me. He admired frankness, scoffed at hypocrisy, and was certainly no snob. It isn’t unrealistic to think that his son will have inherited his qualities.”
“Didn’t you also once tell me that your friend was a womanizer?”
Annawouldhave to remember that. “Simeon never confessed a great love for his wife,” he explained. “Theirs was an arranged marriage.”
Anna gave him a pointed look. “Which is exactly what you’re trying to foist on his unsuspecting son—an arranged marriage. Do you honestly expect the son to be any more faithful than the father, or for Alex to stand for anything less than complete faithfulness, considering how possessive she is of what’s hers?”
Constantin flushed bright red. “Dammit, Anna, it’s not at all the same. What I expect, or rather hope for, is that these children will find love together. If Simeon had loved his wife even a little, he would have been faithful to her. I expect no less from his son.”
“But therein lies the crux of the matter.If. You are putting all your hope on an ‘if,’ when you have never even met this young man. And for that matter, he’s not all that young if he’s about six years older than Alex. He would be thirty-one, more than likely already married—”
“He’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“Bohdan came through Cardinia on his way back from delivering the filly the Austrian duke requested. Bohdan knew I would appreciate word of the Petroffs.”
She conceded that point with a shrug. “So he’s not married, but you can’t deny he’s old enough to know his own mind and make hisown decisions. What makes you think he will accept a betrothal to a woman he doesn’t know just because his father might have arranged it? He’s no longer a child who must do his father’s bidding, even if his father were still alive. And another thing—won’t the Petroffs wonder why they did not find a copy of this contract in Simeon’s papers after he died?”
“Possibly, but I have a copy to show the young count when he arrives. He won’t doubt his father’s signature.”
“You forged it?”
“It wasn’t difficult, with a little practice. As for the count and Alex accepting the betrothal—” Constantin paused, then added almost bleakly, “It comes down to honor. Though I have misplaced mine, they will be trapped by it.”
“What if your Cardinian has none?”
“He is Simeon’s son,” Constantin said, as if that were enough to explain his confidence.
Anna sighed. It was becoming quite obvious that nothing she said was going to make a difference. That damn Rubliov stubbornness. They all possessed it, but none so much as the father—and the youngest daughter. Once invoked, it was unshakable.
Even though Constantin was sick with guilt over what he’d done, he would cling tenaciously to his reason for doing it. He wanted his daughter to find happiness.
Anna couldn’t fault him for wanting what all parents wanted for their children, but happiness could be defined in a hundred different ways. After the eight years they had spent together, and the dozens of times she had turned down his proposals, he should have realized by now that marriage was not every woman’s fondest desire.
She placed a hand gently on his arm, determined to try to make him understand that at least. “Perhaps you haven’t noticed that Alex isn’t exactly unhappy. She enjoys the freedom you allow her. She enjoys working with the horses, which a husband would never permit her to do. She has friends here. And she adores you—when you two are not fighting. Frankly, I think she even enjoys your arguments. Have you ever considered that Alex just wasn’t meant to marry? Marriage would more than likely constrain her, might even stifle her—unless she can meet a man who doesn’t give a damn for convention any more than she does, a rarity—”
“Or one who loves her enough to allow her certain freedoms,” he cut in, “but also is capable of denying her those in which she risks her damn neck.”
He sounded so exasperated with that statement, Anna almost laughed. “Isthatone of your motives? You really think a husband will be able to control Alex’s reckless nature even though you have failed?”
That got her a glower. “Perhaps not, but keeping her pregnant certainly will.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Motherhood would make a difference in Alexandra’s life.At the very least it would keep her from racing her horses so energetically. And Alexandra was very good with children. Though she had never said so, she probably did want some of her own. And she had been willing to marry that Englishman, in fact had desired it greatly, so she was not opposed to marriage.
Anna sighed. If she wasn’t careful, she would be applauding what Constantin had done.
“We have gotten away from the point,” she said. “What you are doing is forcing Alex and Simeon’s son into a marriage that neither one was expecting. It’s likely that they will both protest it, but I am absolutely certain that Alex will. And what happens if they don’t take to each other? If they are both against the marriage, they won’t exactly meet under the best of terms. Alex could end up hating the man, which would hardly produce the happy life you envision for her.”
“Purely suppositions, Anna.”
“But more likely than those you anticipate.”
“The truth will be clear when they meet,” he replied stubbornly.
