32 #2
“My tutor insisted I learn French and English, though my English was not so good until—much later.”
Tanya didn’t notice the pause and said, “What little French I know, I learned from the patrons where I used to work, though not enough to manage a decent conversation. But I’m delighted we won’t need an interpreter.
So often I do require one, though I’m learning Cardinian.
I understand it’s very similar to Russian, so you should have much less difficulty learning it than I. ”
Alexandra had no intention of learning it, but she didn’t say so, and her curiosity had been aroused despite her determination to remain aloof. “You used to work?”
“Didn’t Vasili tell you? I was raised in a tavern without any knowledge of who I was.
When Stefan and his friends found me and tried to convince me I was a princess from this country, betrothed from birth to the Crown Prince, I didn’t believe a word of it.
I thought they were playing some elaborate practical joke at first, and then when they insisted I come along with them, I’m afraid I thought they were planning to sell me to some brothel.
Such things were known to happen along the Mississippi. ”
Alexandra’s eyes had gone wide during Tanya’s story, but now she burst out laughing. “A brothel?”
Tanya grinned. “I know how farfetched that sounds, but it happened to be much more believable than my marrying the king of some country I’d never heard of.”
“I see your point. What finally convinced you they were telling the truth?”
“When they had me on a ship bound for Europe, they finally admitted that Stefan was the king, rather than Vasili.”
“Vasili?”
Tanya snorted in remembrance. “That was Stefan’s idea. I was giving them trouble right from the beginning, and he thought I’d come along with them more willingly if I was told Vasili was the king I was to marry.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“Neither could I. I positively detested the man at the time, he was so condescending and downright insufferable, but I have to admit I’m quite fond of him now.”
“You mean it’s possible to get used to his arrogance?” Alexandra asked doubtfully.
Tanya chose not to answer that, at least not until she had clarified what she had begun to suspect. “Can I ask you why he didn’t want you to eat anything?”
“Will my answer get back to him?”
“Not if you don’t want it to.”
“Very well. He didn’t want you to see me eat anything. He thinks I eat like a pig.”
She said it with enough amusement in her tone that Tanya felt free to ask, “Do you?”
“Only when he’s around.”
“I begin to understand. Lazar told us about the trip, but mostly about Vasili’s behavior. You really don’t want to marry him, do you?”
“Would you want to marry a lecher like him?” Alexandra countered.
Tanya laughed. “I agree he indulges in excess, but he’s too handsome for his own good, and women tend to make fools of themselves over him. I had intended to warn my ladies that he is no longer available.”
“Well, that will save me the trouble of cutting off any more ears.” Alexandra snorted.
Tanya was startled. Lazar hadn’t mentioned that, merely that there had been threats. “Would you really?”
“No, but women tend to prefer not to find out.”
Tanya laughed again. “I suppose not. But, you know, Vasili has never had a reason not to be a libertine. And as I understand it, you told him you didn’t want to marry him when you first met him, which wouldn’t have encouraged him to change that aspect of his nature.”
“I had only learned of this damn betrothal a few hours before I met him.”
“You must be joking!”
“Not at all,” Alexandra said in remembered disgust. “My father kept it a well-guarded secret. He was afraid that if he gave me prior warning, I wouldn’t be there to meet Vasili at all, which was likely, considering how furious I was.”
“Was that the only reason you didn’t want to marry him—because you were angry?” Tanya asked gently.
“No…but I’d rather not discuss the other reason.” Alexandra was already blushing, just imagining the queen’s reaction to someone’s waiting seven years for a man to get around to proposing. “It’s—well, I find it embarrassing.”
“Then don’t think of it. But I have to ask, since I’m so fond of Vasili, if you still feel nothing for him.”
Alexandra wasn’t sure how to answer, considering that the woman was so fond of him.
“I have sensed, just recently, that he might have a few good qualities, though he rarely shows them. But—whatever I feel for him, it doesn’t matter.
You said it yourself, how contemptuous and insufferable he can be, and that’s about all I’ve seen from him.
I could never get along with someone like that. ”
“And how does he get along with you—as you are?”
Alexandra blushed. “I may have pretended to be something I’m not, but I was trying to make it easy for him to end the betrothal, since I can’t.”
And that put Tanya in something of a dilemma, wondering if she should tell Alexandra the truth about Vasili, or if it wouldn’t make any difference if she knew.
Lazar had told them some surprising things, about Vasili calling her “his” without realizing it, and asking Lazar to seduce her, then changing his mind, and displaying some obvious signs of jealousy over the girl.
That pointed to something other than indifference as far as Tanya was concerned.
“Would you be surprised to know that Vasili has done exactly what you have?”
“What do you mean?”
“He hasn’t shown you his true self. When I said I detested him—and I really did—it was because he was doing everything possible to make me detest him, and he did it all deliberately.”
“Why?”
“Because women tend to fall in love with him before they even know him—it’s that face of his—and he was afraid I would do the same when I was to be Stefan’s wife, not his.
He loves Stefan, you see. They are more like brothers than cousins.
And he’d do anything to assure Stefan’s happiness, including acting like the most despicable, condescending jackass imaginable, when he’s not like that at all. ”
Alexandra had gone very still. “He’s not?”
“Not at all—well, perhaps a little arrogant—no, make that very. I believe arrogance runs in the family. And maybe he does occasionally belittle things that he deems unworthy with that diabolical wit of his, but he more than makes up for that with his loyalty and dedication to duty.”
“What duty? He’s no more than—”
“One of the king’s personal bodyguards, his elite guard, and quite deadly with numerous weapons, which you can see for yourself if you care to take a stroll by the training field before you leave.
You know”—Tanya took a moment to reflect—“Vasili didn’t like me either when we first met.
He thought I wasn’t good enough for Stefan.
But when he could have let me escape—I tried to more than once—he didn’t.
‘Duty before preference’ was how he put it, and he meant it.
And there’s something else you probably don’t know.
He’s also incredibly charming when he’s not trying to be nasty. ”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t know,” Alexandra said in a hollow tone.
“Please, you weren’t supposed to be hurt by what I’ve told you.”
“I’m not,” Alexandra insisted, if a little stiffly.
“If Vasili has shown you the worst he can be, it’s because he didn’t want to get married. He was very upset when he learned of this betrothal. He went to Russia to—”
“Get rid of me.”
Tanya winced. “He told you?”
“Yes; he’s been quite honest about that at least.”
“But the point I was trying to make was, I’m not so sure he still feels that way. Yet he’s locked himself into this role he’s playing for you—just as you have.”
Alexandra wasn’t so sure Vasili was playing a role, but if she was to believe it, then that made the whole thing even worse.
He was so against marriage he had to pretend—just as she did.
And what would happen if she showed her true self?
Would it matter? No, he had been against marriage before he’d met her, and again after, and Tanya might not be sure, but she was—he was still against it.
And he was a lecher. The queen hadn’t contradicted that.
And she had to be crazy even to think about it.
“Vasili might have some noble virtues I would never have guessed at,” Alexandra said. “But he’s still a lecher.”
“Yes, and probably will be—until he falls in love.”