The Secret Prince (11 page)

“This wouldn't make me happy,” Dan said. He shot a look at Elly, and she blushed. “Other things are much more important to me. I'll sign a release relinquishing all rights to my royal status. If the Duke of Windsor could do it, so can I.”

Jacob's eyes remained steadily on Dan, as if reassessing him. “And there is nothing else you ask?”

“Not a blamed thing.”

Elly felt so proud of Dan. She stepped to his side and touched him on the arm to tell him so.

“It's a good plan, but I think we can improve on it,” Jacob mused, leaning back into his chair and spearing a piece of asparagus with his fork. “We will have the press conference and announce everything just as you have suggested. But—” he pointed the fork tines at Dan for emphasis “—the announcement will be made at a grand ball, in your and your mother's honor.”

Dan looked worried. “I don't think that's necess—”

“Humor me,” Jacob said, straightening in his chair.
“I don't often get a chance to outwit our aggressive brothers in the paparazzi. If we are to convince them that I am welcoming the cherished lost branch of my family, then we must make a grand show of it. As you've said…a positive spin to beat all positive spins.”

Elly grinned. “I think it will work, Dan. Really.”

Jacob looked as if he was enjoying the game. “Instead of a rivalry, they will witness brothers helping each other and celebrating their finding each other. Then, to further distract the press, we will invite so many celebrities they won't know who to focus on. The truth about my father's long-ago affair and Daniel Eastwood's birth will seem far less interesting to them.”

Dan looked thoughtful. Then he turned to Elly with a questioning look.

“Go for it,” she said. But she couldn't help adding wickedly, “Although I can't imagine shooting pictures of you if Tom Cruise were in the room.”

“Thanks,” Dan said dryly. He turned back to his brother. “Make a note not to invite Mr. Cruise.”

 

As soon as the announcement of the ball was made, Allison requested the services of her favorite seamstress.

“It must be wonderful to have someone who can make anything you want to wear,” Elly commented wistfully as she sat in the nursery playing with Kristina the day the dressmaker arrived.

“It's actually a very practical and cost-effective arrangement,” Allison said. She was chasing Cray around the room with a hair brush in hand. He was at the stage where he didn't like to be fussed over, and hair brushing was the worst sort of torture as far as he was concerned. “I know many women of the aristoc
racy who wouldn't wear anything less than couturier. Helena knows my taste exactly and will make me a one-of-a-kind gown or traveling suit for a fraction of the cost of a Parisian design.”

Elly laughed. “You watch your clothing budget that closely? Why, with all the money floating around this place?”

Allison shrugged. “Habit, I suppose. For a long time I had to pinch pennies just to support myself and Cray on a librarian's income. That was before his father came back into our lives. But I also think it's obscene to spend a fortune on clothing when the money could go toward helping people who really need it.”

Elly looked with admiration at the young American who had so recently become queen of the little country. She had grace, goodness and beauty. “I think that's wonderful,” she murmured. “So what is Helena making for you this time?”

“Nothing, actually,” Allison replied, winking at Helena as the woman unpacked her measuring tapes, notepad and swatches of fabric. “She's come to fit you.”

“Me?”

“I doubt you came prepared with formal wear, given your hasty escape from the States.”

“That's true, but—”

“And with the paparazzi still guarding the castle gates, it's impractical for you to consider going into town to shop for a dress. Of course, if you really insist, we could airlift you in the helicopter to Vienna, but that's just as expensive as Paris these days.”

“Oh, no!” Elly protested. “I don't want to put you to any trouble. Frankly, I hadn't even thought of a dress. I'm just glad that Jacob and Dan seem to be working together now instead of fighting.”

“I am too,” Allison admitted, finally tackling Cray and bringing him kicking and squirming into her lap.

After a while, Gretchen, the children's nurse, relieved the two women of the little ones so that they could concentrate on a gown for Elly. She chose a pale green silk to compliment her red hair, with cream-colored lace trim. After admiring Allison's closet-f of gowns with full, bouffant skirts, she worked out a very different, fitted design with Helena that started in a strapless bodice, clung to her waist and hips, then tapered to the floor in the back. In the front, the skirt was cut nearly as high as her knees to reveal her shapely legs. It was a sophisticated, sensual style that made her feel as elegant as any princess.

 

In a separate wing of the castle, Jacob met with Dan to discuss the details of their statement to the press. Dan listened to the wording Jacob's secretary had drafted and read aloud to them, his fingers peaked before his lips in concentration. Three other advisors, a woman and two men, also listened in, taking notes, looking terribly serious. The tension in the room was thick, and no one spoke until the reading was finished.

Then, in the silence, everyone looked at Jacob for a reaction. “I have no objection to anything there,” he said slowly. “I believe we've covered it all—the surrender of claim on the throne, the compensation…which I hope is sufficient?” He turned to Dan.

“It's more than generous. I didn't expect that much.”

“No more than your mother deserves,” Jacob said, his voice sounding husky with emotion. “I'm just sorry that it comes so late to her. As to your share for the children's program, I wanted to add more than we'd
initially discussed. By creating an annuity for your City Kids, you'll be able to operate freely for a longer period of time. I expect it will become self-perpetuating.”

Dan was moved. “Thank you for thinking of that. I wouldn't have.”

Jacob nodded, looking satisfied. “Does anyone have any objections or problems with the draft?”

His advisors closed their notebooks and the gaunt, gray-haired one cleared his throat. “
Nein,
Your Highness.”

“Then print it up in final form, will you, Wilhelm? We'll get on with plans for the ball.”

Dan sat with Jacob through the remaining meetings of the day at the king's invitation, although he felt of little use. Still, it seemed to be something Jacob wanted him to do—as if he was trying to include Dan in this official part of his life to make up for their earlier quarrels. As he heard Jacob negotiate with his cabinet, then his household staff, and finally with his social secretaries each element of the next few weeks' activities, he found himself more and more amazed by how hard Jacob worked and how sharply he focused on details. And through it all, Jacob listened attentively to suggestions and never dismissed anyone's ideas as without worth. He was a fair, generous and intelligent ruler, and Dan began to feel pride growing inside for this brother he'd never known he had.

 

As the night of the ball approached, excitement mounted in the castle. Elly felt it in the kitchens as Cook organized her army of assistants, some of them gifted chefs in their own right. A menu was designed and vast quantities of ingredients ordered. Supplies arrived daily and were added to the immense walk-in
refrigeration units in the castle's cellar. Wines were delivered by the case. And as the day neared, the fresh vegetables and meats came by the truckload.

Then there were the candles, by the hundreds, placed in sconces high on the stone walls of the immense ballroom. Banners were brought out of storage and cleaned to be ready for hanging. Flags of the attending nations were mounted in long rows leading from the castle gate through the courtyard and up to the front entry. Tables seemed to sprout from nowhere and were positioned along with chairs below the raised dais where the royal family would be seated. Elly's heart raced with anticipation.

And every night, Dan came to her room. They lay together on her bed and discussed the day's events. They laughed at the antics of the little prince and princess, and admired Jacob and Allison for their grace in handling what could have become an endless battle with the paparazzi. But after the talk and laughter, they made long, delicious love.

The one thing they never discussed was the future, for it was still forbidden ground. Nothing that Elly could see had changed in Dan's desire to have a family or her need not to have one. Although she thought about offering to adopt a baby with him, she sensed that this would be a terrible disappointment to a man who was capable of producing his own children. At times she felt so inadequate that she cried silently into her pillow after he had fallen asleep. When all was said and done, she knew that if the brothers' plan worked it would mean the end of her relationship with Dan. For leaving Elbia would mean losing Dan to his future bride, the mother of his children, whoever she might be.

T
he night of the ball, the castle was ablaze with lights, and the delectable aromas of a hundred different foods wafted from the kitchens and through the halls. Dan and Elly had discussed the evening's escort arrangements. Elly had told Dan he should really accompany his mother and she would enter the grand ballroom on her father's arm.

“But I get the first waltz,” he had insisted.

“Definitely…well, unless Tom shows up…” Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

“Cruise?”

“You got it.”

He laughed at her. “Deal.”

But when he left his room dressed in the tuxedo Jacob had lent him, since they were nearly identical in size, he turned down the hallway toward Madge's room and saw two figures leaving it.

“Hey there, you stealing my girl?” he shouted, laughing.

“Sure thing, what you gonna do about it?” Frank Anderson retorted. He grinned at Madge. “Doesn't this young man of yours have a date of his own?”

“I know we discussed going together, Danny,” she said coyly. “But Frank thought it might be nice if you two children went as a couple, then we could…”

“I get the picture,” Dan grumbled, as if disappointed, although he definitely was not. “This is a setup.”

Frank shrugged. “You two seem to be spending a lot of time together.” He gave Dan a long look, as if for the first time considering the younger man's intentions toward his daughter. “We thought you and Elly might appreciate making your entrance together, if only to stir up the press one last time.”

Dan hesitated, feeling awkward. “I hope you don't have a problem with my seeing your daughter, sir. She's a wonderful woman, and I have only the best intentions toward her.”

“No problem,” Frank said gruffly. He offered his arm to Madge and she slipped her hand through the crook. “I just don't want to see Elly get hurt. You wouldn't do anything to harm her, I know. Would you, son?”

There was grit underlying the man's polite tone, and his pale eyes hardened for just an instant. Dan suspected Madge, who was preoccupied with arranging the folds of her gown, wasn't in a position to see them. But he read Anderson's look as a warning.

“I would never do anything to hurt Elly,” Dan stated firmly, meeting her father's gaze. “Never.”

Frank nodded and his smile returned, all signs of a
storm gone. “I was sure that was the case. Why don't you go fetch her now? She must be anxious to join the party.”

“Yes, sir, I will.” Dan stood in the middle of the long stone corridor and watched his mother and Frank walk away, chatting amicably. The excitement for the evening had left him. He felt a chill through his bones as he replayed Elly's father's words.

Frank hadn't threatened him by any stretch of imagination. What he'd done was merely place a sobering thought before him. Which was that, just by encouraging Elly's affections, he was laying the foundation for breaking her heart. Because they both knew that, as hard as she'd tried to deal with her fears, ultimately nothing had changed. Their relationship existed only on a day-to-day basis. No commitment to the future existed.

Feeling far less festive, Dan walked slowly along the guest wing and stopped in front of Elly's door. The same door he'd entered with his spirits joyfully sailing many nights before this one. Now the ship of his heart was dragging the bottom of a dark cove, and he had to haul himself up out of the depths of his depression to put on a smile when he knocked on Elly's door. He wouldn't say anything to her about his discussion with her father. That would only upset her, and he wanted the little time they had left together to be happy. He could at least give her sweet memories.

He knocked.

“Come on in, Dad!” she called through the door.

“It's not Dad,” he responded, forcing cheer into his tone. He stepped inside. “The senior branches of our families have run off without us. We'll just have to—”
He broke off, stunned then mesmerized by the vision before him.

For the next two minutes, Dan felt incapable of speech. He barely breathed and nearly tripped over his own feet. Elly stood shimmering in the light from a tall antique bronze floor lamp. The pale green of her dress appeared as light as sea foam, and the gleam of her red hair, piled loosely on top of her head, might have been a flame for the fire it ignited in his loins. A gold choker clasped around her throat was centered by an outrageously large emerald.

“Lord but you're beautiful, woman.”

She smiled. “That's the sort of reaction I like from a man. What were you saying?”

“Your father and my mother have run off to the ball together. I'm to escort you.” He moved closer and gave her a playful leer. “Lucky me.”

She ducked away from his reaching hands. “We don't have time for that now,” she said, laughing.

“I just want to feel the fabric.”

“Right.”

“Honest.”

“I think we'd better save all that feeling stuff for later. Jacob expects us downstairs for the receiving line at exactly eight o'clock, and it's— Oh my gosh, it's seven-forty-five now!”

Elly snatched a silk shawl from the back of a chair, gave her hair one final glance in the mirror, and whisked past Dan. He dove in front of her to swing the door open a fraction of a second ahead of her. Shutting it behind him, he quickly caught up with her to offer his arm.

“Slow down.” He laughed and patted her hand where it rested on the ebony sleeve of his jacket.
“Nothing's going to happen until we get there. They won't even open the castle gates to guests until eight.”

“I'm just worried about what will happen once the press arrives. You and Jacob seem so sure that everything will be fine, but isn't this like inviting foxes into the hen house?”

“You think they will find some way to use the ball to make things even worse for Jacob?”

“Or for you. Yes, it could happen. There always seems to be an angle they can manipulate to create the appearance of scandal.”

Dan frowned. “I've wondered about that too. But we've come this far and there's no turning back with over five hundred guests about to fill the ballroom.”

From the far end of the corridor, bright lights flickered and glowed, and an orchestra played. Elly drew a deep breath and entered the immense hall on Dan's arm. She knew she should have been praying that everything would work out that night as planned. Instead, she felt a deep sadness because, if all did go well, this night would mark the end of everything the two of them had shared. It was one thing to sleep with Dan for a few days or even weeks, secure in the knowledge that she couldn't become pregnant because they were being careful each and every time. It was another to remain in a long-term relationship that he might try to alter to meet his desire for a family. He was single-minded and stubborn enough a man to think he might succeed.

Elly's heart fluttered with emotion as they crossed the ballroom toward the royal couple of Elbia, bedecked in jewels and formal regalia. She tried to focus on the next few hours, which would be so important to all of them.

Jacob wore the legendary von Austerand crown, and Allison a diamond-and-sapphire necklace that set her eyes sparkling. But all Elly could think as she took step after step toward them was that the man at her own side, whose arm she now leaned on, the same man who had wrapped his arms around her in passion, would soon leave her. She almost wished the brothers' plan would fail, compelling Dan and her to stay shut up in the castle another week…a month…an eternity. But she knew that was foolishness. Nothing she could do would delay their inevitable parting.

Conversely, she had never felt as close to any man as she felt to Dan. Letting him go would be the most difficult and painful thing she'd ever done.

When they at last stopped in front of the royal couple, Elly curtsied to Allison and Dan made a real bow to his brother. “Looks like you have a good turnout,” Dan commented to Jacob, keeping his voice low.

“Indeed.” Jacob lifted one coal-black eyebrow. “The question now is, will they be satisfied with the show we have to offer them?”

Dan took his place in the receiving line to Jacob's left, and Elly stood beside Dan. She looked around the vast hall but couldn't find her father or Dan's mother among the guests slowly entering through the three sets of soaring doors at the far end. She hoped that Madge hadn't succumbed to last-minute jitters and decided not to come. On the other hand, her father could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. She would leave that worry to him.

“By the way,” Jacob said, slanting a mysterious glance at his queen, “we've discovered the culprit who leaked news of our brotherhood to the press.”

“You have?” Dan asked, suddenly alert.

Elly leaned forward to listen. Whoever it was, she was sure Jacob would fire him or her immediately for such a serious breach of trust.

“Yes,” Allison said solemnly, although her eyes twinkled as if she were secretly amused. “It seems that Cray's fascination with telephones is to blame. Gretchen told me that she was changing the baby one day when the phone rang and Cray picked it up. She didn't think anything of it at the time, believing he was talking to me or Jacob.”

“Apparently, the switchboard operator had meant to connect a reporter to our public relations office, but in error rang the nursery,” Jacob explained. “Cray launched into one of his usual chummy conversations that encompass everything from what he had for breakfast to parroting things he's overheard his parents talking about.”

Allison rolled her eyes in motherly exasperation. “Gretchen remembers him saying something about his daddy having a big brother in America. But by the time she took the phone from him the caller had hung up. Whoever it was, he must have rushed straight off to chase down more leads.”

Elly laughed out loud. “Oh no!” She looked at Dan, who was shaking his head in amazement.

“True,” Allison said. “I think we're going to have to monitor the young man's calls until he learns that gossiping to strangers is different from talking with family members.”

A burst of motion erupted near the immense central doors, interrupting the group's shared amusement. A dozen photographers broke through a line of dignified couples who had been approaching the dais. They rushed across the ballroom, cameras clutched in front
of them, brushing roughly between guests who stared with irritation at them. Elly looked on helplessly as Jacob's security team closed ranks in front of the receiving line.

“Nein!”
Jacob said, his voice sharp. “Let them through.”

“They can wait until the formal announcement,” Dan suggested gruffly.

“No. We might as well let them take their shots.”

Elly stood nervously at Dan's side as the paparazzi's cameras flashed and whirred, and some of them shouted questions at the king and his brother. Jacob answered in a controlled voice for both of them. “It's only fair that we wait until everyone is here, gentlemen and ladies of the press. If any questions aren't answered when I make my statement, you'll have time to ask then.”

Dan stood stiffly and nodded his agreement.

Elly scanned the room and finally spotted her father leading Madge their way. She caught his eye and shook her head subtly, warning him off. She didn't want Madge to be caught in the barrage of camera-wielding reporters.

Then her gaze skipped to a newly arrived party—a famous Italian actress and her movie-producer husband, accompanied by an entourage of three other couples. One man she recognized as a British soccer champion, another an American actor who had just won an academy award. The women with them looked so familiar, she was certain she must have seen them in recent movies. An idea struck her.

“Oh!” she cried out excitedly, tugging on Dan's arm. “Isn't that Maria Stanza!”

In a single wave of motion the photographers swiv
eled in the direction Elly was pointing. A second later, the entire press corps was dashing across the room, dodging past less notable guests to reach their new quarry. Flashes exploded, questions were shouted, but they were all aimed at someone other than the royals.

Allison glanced down the line toward Elly and smiled appreciatively. Jacob's expression hadn't altered, but his vivid blue eyes appeared relieved.

“Very smooth,” Dan commented in her ear, giving her a quick squeeze.

Elly grinned. It looked as if Miss Stanza was enjoying the attention, and her friends were getting some welcome publicity as well.

After the receiving line disbanded, the guests danced to an orchestra that alternated Viennese waltzes with classic love songs and modern tunes. The press was kept busy recording the images and words of distinguished politicians, sports figures, and entertainment industry stars. It was ten o'clock before Elly knew it, then the music stopped and Jacob stood on the dais to make his speech.

The crowd's chatter gradually hushed and everyone looked up at the young king.

Jacob welcomed everyone in German, then in French, and finally in English, which was the language in which he chose to make his statement:

“Ladies and gentleman, I thank you for your attendance,” he said solemnly. “I intend to keep this very short. Most of the information you require for your articles is contained in the detailed press release that you are about to receive. It includes a complete history of my father's relationship with a lovely woman by the name of Margaret Eastwood, before his marriage to my mother. This relationship had been kept a secret by my
father and Ms. Eastwood in order to protect all involved parties. My mother never knew of it, and neither did I until recently.”

Jacob drew a deep breath and looked around the silent room. “It is with great pride that I welcome my brother Daniel Eastwood to our country. He has become a friend to me personally and to my family during his stay with us. We value him as a strong addition to our family.”