Lover Be Mine A Legendary Lovers Novel - By Nicole Jordan Page 0,79
the royal family had fled to neighboring Austria with their portable wealth and fine artwork—the jewels, silver, paintings, and tapestries. They’d hidden the rest—the larger sculptures, furniture, and carpets—among their countrymen. They were eagerly welcomed back by the population, though. Whereas much of the wealthy French aristocracy ruled uncaringly over the dirt-poor peasants, in Navartania, class structure was more equitable. And although the denizens chiefly followed the culture of southern France, they had an independent streak and had never fully surrendered to Boney’s rule, instead pledging loyalty to the House of de Villars.
Given his deteriorating health, the prince had to rest frequently, especially after their outings. When he was not napping in his rooms, Sophie could be found at his side. Concerned for his welfare, she coaxed him out to the garden terrace into the fresh air and sunshine. While he reclined on a chaise, she read to him or merely kept him company, quietly speaking in a soothing voice.
“My mother is not well, your highness,” Sophie explained. “Although she has grown stronger over these past few months, she still has bouts of low spirits and spells of physical weakness that lovely weather such as this helps to cure.”
Jack suspected her chief goal was to foster discourse between father and son, a fact that Sophie readily admitted when they next discussed the prince.
“Your father is hungry for knowledge of you, Jack, even if you don’t care to know any more about him.”
She also subtly probed Prince Raoul’s life with Lady Clara, a subject that brought Jack conflicting feelings of pain and wistful memories of joy.
Jack and Sophie were often alone, however. Such was the case the afternoon of the third day when he received an unexpected surprise. Hearing the sounds of hooves and carriage wheels outside the palace, Sophie went to peer out a window of the salon.
“I would not have expected the prince to have so many visitors. I wonder what the occasion is.”
Jack joined her at the window in time to see a procession of carriages roll into the courtyard.
“Good heavens, is that your cousin Skye?” Sophie asked when a well-dressed lady spilled from the first vehicle, followed directly by his sister, Katharine.
“What the devil?” Jack murmured as his cousin Quinn, the Earl of Traherne, descended after them.
The second carriage delivered his older brother Ash, Marquis of Beaufort, with his new bride, Maura, along with their aunt by marriage, Lady Isabella Wilde. Even more unexpectedly, their elderly uncle, Lord Cornelius Wilde, had accompanied them.
“I’ll be damned,” Jack remarked in bemusement before pointing out their identities to Sophie.
The final two carriages contained servants and baggage, he noted. As his family swept into the palace, he escorted Sophie from the salon in order to greet them in the enormous entry hall.
Skye immediately enveloped Sophie in a warm embrace before performing the introductions amid much laughter and chatter.
Meanwhile, Jack questioned his sister about the purpose of their visit. “What in blazes brought you here, Kate?”
“We came to support you, of course. From our family council, we knew you meant to visit Navartania after meeting with Mrs. Pennant in Paris, so we followed you to France shortly after you left London. We mean to present a united front against your father—as well as satisfy our rabid curiosity. We all have wondered about Prince Raoul for years.”
“Yes,” Skye chimed in. “We wanted to be here in case you needed us. We also wished to set Mrs. Pennant’s mind at ease. When we saw her in Paris, she charged us with making her displeasure known to you. She is not at all happy with you, Jack.”
“I would not expect her to be,” he replied, catching Sophie’s faintly accusing eye at the reference to her abduction.
“We dragged Quinn into acting as our escort to Europe,” Kate added. “And then Maura and Ash decided to come.”
“To be truthful, my wife twisted my arm,” Ash said with a smile. “You will see, Miss Fortin, that the women in our family rule, so their wishes always take precedence.”
“Hah!” Kate retorted. “That is a whisker if I ever heard one. It is all Skye and I can do to hold our own against you domineering males. At least Maura has made the battle more even.”
Softly laughing, Maura interjected a further explanation. “Our wedding journey was already planned for Italy and the Mediterranean coast, Miss Fortin, so we decided to detour through Navartania.”
“Then, to effect an even greater show of force,” Skye said, “Aunt Bella and Uncle Cornelius elected to