12
It was a long first day on the road, exceedingly so.
The stallion in Vasili’s party turned out to be his and was a high-strung animal that refused to keep to the sedate pace of the wagons, at least during the morning.
Vasili was continuously forced to ride ahead of the group and back, though Alexandra was sure a few of those rides were merely to demonstrate his impatience with the slow progress they were making.
Her two stallions were much better behaved.
They yearned for some brisk exercise themselves, but when denied, they didn’t make a fuss about it.
Even when Vasili drew abreast of her in the early afternoon, to inform her that they wouldn’t be stopping for lunch or even to rest, Sultan’s Pride ignored the big roan he was riding, while Vasili had to fight to keep his horse from nipping at hers.
As for their not stopping, Vasili had delivered the news smugly, and Alexandra received it with a good deal of amusement, which she managed to keep to herself.
She had been informed that they needed that extra time to reach the first posting house.
They should have arrived by early evening.
As it was now, even without the stop for lunch, they wouldn’t arrive until late that night.
It wasn’t difficult for Alexandra to figure out that Vasili thought he was getting even with her for the delay the wagons were causing them, but she had planned for just such a contingency.
All of her people had packed food that didn’t require cooking, but Vasili’s group hadn’t been given the same.
His own empty belly wouldn’t let him keep up that ploy for more than a day or two, she didn’t doubt.
As far as Alexandra was concerned, she had won the first round hands down and was feeling pleased about that, which was fortunate, because she needed some positive feelings to counteract the tight knot of misery her leave-taking was causing.
Her last glimpse of her father had been all too brief, but her memory of it was engraved in her mind.
She’d paused momentarily in front of the house, where he’d been standing on the porch, but only to give him one last opportunity to prevent her from leaving home.
She hadn’t even drawn close, had remained on the road, and when it was apparent that he wasn’t going to say the words that she needed to hear, she said, “Good-bye, Papa,” so softly that it was doubtful he’d heard.
And that had been all she’d said, no hug, no kiss, no pleading for him to change his mind.
Her father had been hurt by her unforgiving attitude. She’d seen it in his face before she had ridden on, and it had brought such a tightness to her chest that she’d thought she would suffocate from it. But her own hurt had forbidden her to soften and bid him a proper good-bye.
And her own hurt was making her decide that she would never see him again after today. She’d get the count to end the damn betrothal in order to satisfy her honor, but she wouldn’t go back home. She’d go to England instead. That was what she should have done three years ago.
Alexandra was tired by the time they finally reached the posting house. It was late at night, just as Vasili had predicted it would be, and although she was satisfied with the way the day had gone, she wasn’t going to repeat the arduous pace tomorrow.
The wagons were supposed to delay the trip, not keep everyone in the saddle longer to make up for lost time.
Besides, she didn’t like her animals traveling in the dark, where unseen potholes might crop up to cause injury.
If they couldn’t reach the next posting house, town, or village before dark tomorrow, they would camp beside the road, with or without her betrothed’s permission or presence.
She didn’t wait for his presence now before entering the posting house.
She’d been there before on a trip west to purchase one of her mares, so she knew the proprietor and took it upon herself to order the necessary number of rooms for the night.
She’d be sharing hers with Nina. The men could divide the remaining four however they liked.
Since Vasili would be paying the bill, she would have ordered more rooms if they had been available.
As it was, with twelve in her party, he had a lot more mouths to feed than he’d counted on, and she also took it upon herself to order food for everyone.
She didn’t go overboard there, because she couldn’t see food going to waste.
But how nice it would be if Vasili ran out of money before he got home.
She waited for the others in the common room.
Nina was the first to join her there. The maid had ridden on one of the wagons because she was not as comfortable riding for long hours on horseback as Alexandra was.
So they hadn’t had a chance to talk all day, but Alexandra wasn’t all that surprised by what was prominently on her friend’s mind.
“You didn’t tell me he’s the most handsome man you’ve ever seen in your life,” Nina said accusingly as she sat down at Alexandra’s table.
Alexandra raised a brow. “How do you know I haven’t seen better?”
“Because no man can be more handsome than that,” Nina said with absolute conviction.
Alexandra had already drawn that conclusion for herself, so she didn’t bother to argue about it. “Is that supposed to make some sort of difference?”
“It would to me.”
Alexandra sighed. “Nina, the man is too handsome. If you haven’t realized what significance that has, then I’ll be pleased to tell you.
It’s already got you looking on him favorably again, when last I heard, you were on my side.
And it got one, two, or all three of the housemaids to sleep with him last night, even though they knew he was my betrothed. ”
Nina gasped. “How do you know that?”
“Because I found all three of them crawling all over him this morning.”
“Which doesn’t mean he slept with them,” Nina was quick to point out.
“No, but it proves he’s irresistible to women, at least to most woman. It also proves that even if he’s married, women will still be chasing him. Am I supposed to live with that? I don’t think so.”
Nina still wasn’t convinced. “Chasing doesn’t mean catching.”
“But it does mean constant temptation coming his way,” Alexandra replied. “And I don’t intend to turn into a jealous shrew for any man.”
Nina grinned. “You’re saying you could love him if you gave it a try.”
“I’m saying no such thing, and be quiet, your brothers are coming.”
Stenka took the chair next to Alexandra and, like his sister, skipped a greeting in order to get straight to his own complaint. “It would have been simpler and less exhausting to beat him up and warn him off, Alex.”
Timofee arrived to catch only the end of that comment. As he took his seat, he asked, “Are we going to beat the Cardinian up? We should have done it this morning, before I developed saddle sores.”
And Konrad, the last to arrive, addressed only the portion he caught. “Saddle sores, Alex? You? Your arse should be tough as—”
“That’s enough,” Alexandra interrupted, and she looked at each of them separately as she said, “No, no, and no,” in answer to their remarks.
“I’ve already explained my plan to you, and you agreed it’s a good one.
We’ll give it a chance before I consider any other options.
But beating him up isn’t going to be one of them. ”
“A shame,” Stenka said with a sigh.
She gave him a stern look before continuing.
“Rest assured, we won’t have another day like today.
He’s trying to keep us on his schedule, and even if we can manage it much easier than he can, I won’t wait for him to give it up, not with my babies along.
Speaking of which, have they been settled in for the night? ”
“They’re rigging up a separate corral for the mares, since they aren’t equipped for so many horses here,” Timofee told her. “It will do for one night.”
They went on to discuss a few other matters pertinent to traveling, but were interrupted when Vasili finally made an appearance with his friend, Lazar Dimitrieff.
That one had approached Alexandra earlier in the day to introduce himself.
She hadn’t been a bit surprised to find out that he’d purchased one of her father’s whites and was riding him, a gelding she knew to be of easy temperament.
Ordinarily she would have discussed the merits of the animal with him, would have enjoyed doing so and at length, but she had decided not to be friendly to anyone in Vasili’s group, and that included Count Dimitrieff, which was a shame, because he seemed quite likable, and they obviously had a love of fine horseflesh in common.
It didn’t take him long, though, to give up trying to instigate a conversation with her when she all but ignored him.
She had deigned to share a few words with him only because he’d asked about Nina. “Who’s the little cherub?” had been his exact question.
“My maid, Nina Razin.”
“Related to those Cossacks?”
“Their only sister,” she had told him.
Her reply had produced a drawn-out sigh. “And here I thought I just might enjoy the trip home.”
She had wanted to laugh at his forlorn expression, it was so funny. Instead she had warned him, “You’ll stay away from Nina—unless she wants to be bothered.” And she had said no more.
She wondered now if he had informed Vasili of her rudeness. She certainly hoped so. She wanted him to know that her contempt wasn’t reserved just for him, and that his friends and family weren’t going to be immune from it.
Vasili gave her only a cursory glance upon his entrance. There was one seat left at her table, but she was sure he wouldn’t take it. But then, as long as he could witness her table manners, which were going to be atrocious for his benefit, it didn’t matter where he sat.