Luisa laced her fingers rather than straighten her loose shirt, her only clean one after weeks of rain. She wished she could meet him on equal terms, dressed to the nines. But her budget didn’t run to new clothes. Or a new hairdryer.
She smoothed damp locks from her face and pushed back her shoulders, ignoring the way her stomach somersaulted. She refused to be intimidated in her own home.
‘I was admiring your view,’ he said. ‘It’s lovely countryside.’
Luisa cast her eyes over the familiar rolling hills. She appreciated the natural beauty, but it had been a long time since she’d found time to enjoy it.
‘If you’d seen it two months ago after years of drought you wouldn’t have been so impressed.’ She drew a deep breath, fighting down the sick certainty that this man was trouble. Her skin crawled with nervous tension but she refused to let him see. ‘Won’t you come in?’
She moved to open the door but with a long stride he beat her to it, gesturing for her to precede him.
Luisa wasn’t used to having doors opened for her. That was why she flushed.
She inhaled a subtle, exotic scent that went straight to her head. Luisa bit her lip as tingles shot to her toes. None of the men she knew looked, sounded or smelled as good as Raul of Maritz.
‘Please, take a seat.’ She gestured jerkily to the scrubbed kitchen table. Luisa hadn’t had a chance to move the buckets and tarpaulins from the lounge room, where they’d staved off the leaks from the last downpour.
Besides, she’d long ago learnt that aristocratic birth was no measure of worth. He could sit where her friends and business partners met.
‘Of course.’ He pulled out a chair and sank into it with as much aplomb as if it were a plushly padded throne. His presence filled the room.
She lifted the kettle, her movements jerky as she stifled hostility. She needed to hear him out. ‘Would you like coffee or tea?’
‘No, thank you.’ His face was unreadable.
Luisa’s pulse sped as she met his unblinking regard. Reluctantly she slid into a chair opposite him, forcing herself into stillness.
‘So, Your Highness. What can I do for you?’
For a moment longer he regarded her, then he leaned forward a fraction. ‘It’s not what you can do for me.’ His voice was deep, mellow and hypnotic, holding a promise to which she instinctively responded despite her wariness. ‘This is about what I can do for you.’
Beware of strangers promising gifts. The little voice inside sent a tremor of disquiet skidding through her.
Years before she’d received promises of wonderful gifts. The future had seemed a magical, glittering land. Yet it had all been a hollow sham. She’d learned distrust the hard way—not once but twice.
‘Really?’ Her face felt stiff and she found it hard to swallow.
He nodded. ‘First I need to confirm you’re the only child of Thomas Bevan Hardwicke and Margarite Luisa Carlotta Hardwicke.’
Luisa froze, alarm stirring. He sounded like a lawyer about to break bad news. The voice of warning in her head grew more strident. Surely her ties with Maritz had been completely severed years ago.
‘That’s right, though I can’t see—’
‘It pays to be sure. Tell me—’ he leaned back in his seat but his eyes never wavered from hers ‘—how much do you know about my country? About its government and states?’
Luisa fought to remain calm as painful memories surged. This meeting had a nightmare quality. She wanted to scream at him to get to the point before her stretched nerves gave way. But that glittering gaze was implacable. He’d do this his way. She’d known men like him before. She gritted her teeth.
‘Enough.’ More than she wanted. ‘It’s an alpine kingdom. A democracy with a parliament and a king.’
He nodded. ‘My father the king died recently. I will be crowned in a few months.’
‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Luisa murmured, struggling to make sense of this. Why was he here, interrogating her? The question beat at her brain.
‘Thank you.’ He paused. ‘And Ardissia?’
Luisa’s fingers clenched as she fought impatience. She shot him a challenging look. He was like a charming bulldozer, with that polite smile barely cloaking his determination to get his own way.
‘It’s a province of Maritz, with its own hereditary prince who owes loyalty to the King of Maritz.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘My mother came from there, as I’m sure you know.’
She shivered, cold sweeping up from her toes and wrapping around her heart as bitter memories claimed her.
‘Now, my turn for a question.’ She planted her palms on the table and leaned forward, fixing him with a stare. ‘Why are you here?’
Luisa waited, her heart thudding hectically, watching him survey her beneath lowered brows. He shifted in his seat. Suddenly she wondered if he were uncomfortable too.
‘I came to find you.’ His expression made her heartbeat speed to a pounding gallop.
‘Why?’
‘The Prince of Ardissia is dead. I’m here to tell you you’re his heiress, Princess Luisa of Ardissia.’
CHAPTER TWO
RAUL watched her pale beneath her tan. Her eyes rounded and she swayed in her seat. Was she going to faint?
Great. A highly strung female!
He thrust aside the fact that anyone would be overcome. That his anger at this diabolical situation made him unreasonable.
She wasn’t the only one whose life had been turned on its head! For years Raul had steered his own course, making every decision. Being fettered like this was outrageous.
But the alternative—to turn his back on his people and the life to which he’d devoted himself—was unthinkable.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Of course.’ Her tone was sharp but her eyes were dazed.
They were surprisingly fine eyes, seen without that shadowing hat. Blue-grey a moment ago, now they sparkled brilliant azure. Like a clear summer sky in the Maritzian Alps. The sort of eyes a man could lose himself in.
She blinked and shifted her gaze and Raul was astonished to feel a pang of disappointment.
He watched her gnaw her lip. When she looked up and flushed to find him watching, he noticed the ripe contours of her mouth. With the grime washed away, her features were pleasant, regular and fairly attractive.
If you liked the artless, scrubbed bare style.
Raul preferred his women sophisticated and well groomed.
What sort of woman didn’t take the time to style her hair?
Pale and damply combed off her face, it even looked lopsided. Anyone less fitted for this—
‘I can’t be his heir!’ She sounded almost accusing.
His brows rose. As if he’d waste precious time here on a whim!
‘Believe me, it’s true.’
She blinked and he had the sense there was more going on behind her azure eyes than simple surprise.
‘How is it possible?’ She sounded as if she spoke to herself.
‘Here.’ Raul opened the briefcase Lukas had brought. ‘Here’s your grandfather’s will and your family tree.’
He’d planned for his secretary, Lukas, to take her through this. But he’d changed his mind the moment he saw Luisa Hardwicke and how unprepared she was for this role. Better do this himself. The fewer who dealt with her at this early stage the better.
Raul suppressed a grimace. What had begun as a delicate mission now had unlimited potential for disaster. Imagine the headlines if the press saw her as she was! He wouldn’t allow the Maritzian crown to be the focus of rabid media gossip again. Especially at this difficult time.