Read Online Knight of Love by Catherine LaRoche - Free Book Online

recapture is all too possible. Our marriage—here, now—is the surest means to keep you safe.”
    When she made to speak again, he held up a hand. “As you suggest, let us discuss the matter rationally, my lady.” He straightened to rifle through his trunk and pulled out a box of chocolate bonbons. When he offered them to her, she saw no reason to refuse. As her first bite of the dark sweetness melted in her mouth, she felt her nerves already soothed.
    He tossed one of the bonbons into his own mouth. “You are not marrying Prince Kurt—correct?”
    A hard shudder gripped her, and she almost dropped her chocolate.
    It seemed answer enough for him, as a look of glacial blue ice came into his eyes. “As I said, we agree on that question, at least.” He gathered her hands in his. “At some point, however, do you not wish to form a good marriage? To have a home of your own, children, a position in society, an estate to manage, a partner with whom to share life’s journey?”
    His words caused a burn of pain in her belly. They cut so deeply into all she’d always wanted for herself. All she’d assumed she would have with Kurt, until he’d shattered her illusions. She pulled away from Ravensworth’s warm grip. “I did want those things once,” she said. “But the situation has changed.” She stared down at the box of chocolates and listened to her heart hammer in her ears. “The sort of husband I imagined for myself would no longer be interested in a marriage alliance.”
    â€œAnd why not? You’re quite a catch: Lady Lenora Trevelyan, well-educated beauty from one of England’s highest families.”
    She huffed out a ragged breath. “I assure you that I am no catch.” Anger fueled her words. But shame crawled across her skin as well. “I have changed. Rotenburg”—she hesitated, her voice dropped—“changed me.”
    A large hand nudged up her chin. There were those eyes again, that clear blinding blue of the open summer sky. “The blame and dishonor are all his, Lenora. You are guiltless. A good man would want only to slay the bastard, then cherish you for life as the princess you are.”
    She almost smiled. She did roll her eyes and laugh a little, despite herself. What claptrap this man spouted! “Actually, I’m only a duke’s daughter, I’m afraid—not a princess at all.”
    â€œIn Germany, you are a princess,” he answered stoutly. “Your mother was Her Serene Highness Prinzessin Astrid of the House of Sigmaringen, so you, too, hold that title here.”
    Lenora shook her head at him. “You may have inherited a German title through your mother, but you know as well as I do that it doesn’t normally work that way. My mother’s younger sisters made splendid matches here in Germany; my aunts produced a brood of Prinz and Prinzessin cousins for my brothers and me to play with on our summer trips to each other’s estates. But because our mother wed a British duke, we have no claim to German titles.” She’d thought of trying to reach her German aunts, but their family lands lay too far to the east, in Prussia. “Besides,” she added, “it seems every other lady in Germany is a Prinzessin. It’s no high honor here as it is in England.”
    â€œYou are a true princess,” he insisted stubbornly. “And we were discussing your future marriage.” He gathered her hands within his warm grip again. “When you wed, both you and your family will want for you an appropriate husband. The eldest daughter of a duke, especially one of your beauty and bravery, might hold out for a duke herself. I admit a mere earl is stooping a bit low, but in my favor, both the Ravensworth and the Wolfsbach names are ancient, the combined holdings of both titles are as substantial as many a dukedom, and the family estates are all in