feeling they have to temper their remarks in front of me,” he replied.
“Of course, Your Highness.”
Christian gritted his teeth. It was going to be harder than he had hoped to get people like Reverend Ferrner to treat him as just another Swedish émigré.
“I was going to show Christian around Wapping. He is yearning for some good old Swedish home cooking. I thought we might take our midday meal over at Mrs. Kalm’s shop down by the river,” explained Erika.
“Ja, it’s a perfect place. Hot food and lashings of it,” replied the reverend.
It was good to be standing somewhere that made him feel like he was back home in Sweden. Even conversing in Swedish with a new acquaintance had Christian smiling. The easy camaraderie of his fellow countrymen was a welcome change to the often-stilted connection he shared with the English.
Hopefully, in time, that feeling of being a complete outsider would diminish. He could understand why people coming to a foreign country would gather and live in clusters such as the Swedes had done in Wapping. There was safety and comfort among your own folk.
After bidding Reverend Ferrner a farewell, with the promise of attending a church service in the near future, Christian and Erika collected Freya before heading down to the nearby river. Along the water there were many small taverns and alehouses, quite a few filled to the gunnels with drunken sailors.
When he frowned at the sight, Erika laughed. “Welcome to the waterside. It is always busy.”
He wasn’t so much disapproving the sailors or their drink, but the fact that Erika was walking among them had Christian ill at ease. A woman of her gentle breeding and station should not be exposed to such things. He was glad they had the dog with them.
She slipped her arm in his as they stopped outside a rough, but clean-looking red-brick establishment. The sign above the door showed a picture of a fat blackbird, and under it was the single word hemkomfort.
Home comfort—exactly what he needed.
“Are you still playing Christian Lind incognito prince?” she asked.
He nodded. Being among his own people without them bowing or scraping to him was what he wanted. He didn’t need them feeling uncomfortable.
There was also another reason for him wishing to drop all formalities when he was within the Swedish community. Erika, whether she realized it or not, was more relaxed around him when they were able to just be Christian and Erika. And the more comfortable she was in his company, the better the chance he had to convince her of becoming a part of his plan.
“Yes, I like just being me,” he replied.
“And who are you?”
He considered his response for a moment, carefully choosing his words. “Christian. Someone who enjoys being with you. Erika, you mean a lot to me.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicion evident in her manner. “What are you up to, Christian? You have been behaving strangely all morning.”
Damn. I am going to have to speak to her today. I can’t afford to have her putting up her defenses. She has to trust me.
“Let’s go inside and have some food. Order anything you like, I am paying. Once your belly is full then we can talk.”
Christian followed Erika inside the tavern, all the while praying that they served good strong vodka and plenty of it. He had a horrible feeling that he was going to need every drop before he could summon up the courage to ask her what he needed her to do.
As they settled into a cozy wooden booth and ordered their first drinks, he once more considered the question which had been rolling around his head for most of the morning.
How do you ask a woman to become your fake fiancée?
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you mad? That is a ridiculous idea.”
Christian held his hand up in front of her. “No, it’s not. Just hear me out, Erika.”
Erika wasn’t sure whether she should be hurt or just plain offended at his offer of a fake betrothal. In fact, she was still trying to figure out whether she had heard him correctly in the first place. Any wonder the blackguard had offered to pay for her meal, not to mention the half-dozen large glasses of potato vodka he had insisted she drink.
A woman would have to be half drunk before she seriously considered such an outrageous proposition.
They would pretend to be engaged for a time, work together at the most exclusive of private parties, and get Christian well entrenched into the upper