Free Seized by Love by Susan Johnson Page B

strips our greenhouses of ten dozen
orchids and twenty baskets of strawberries, I would hazard a guess your dear
boy has found some woman who adores orchids and has a passion for strawberries.
Let us at least hope this sudden passion for strawberries does not signify yet
another
enceinte
mistress. He has populated the world quite adequately
already with his bastards."
    "Now, dear, don't be
too harsh on Nikki," Princess Kuzan remonstrated gently. "He's
supporting them all quite satisfactorily, even lavishly, and need I remind you
that you quite put him in the shade by your reckless escapades until I tamed you
into the joys of domesticity. The rumor mills put his streak of wildness at
your door, Misha my dear, for as you well know, the Kuzan bloodlines have long
possessed a reputation for vice," she finished sweetly.
    Nikki could do no wrong in
the eyes of his loving mother. He could be wild and a hellion, but her love was
unconditional and she served as a conciliatory influence on the occasions when
father and son's obdurate temperaments clashed.
    "I could perhaps argue
about who tamed whom, and from whence the taint of wickedness came, but I
politely defer to you as a gentleman should," old Prince Kuzan graciously
replied, smiling at his wife. Even after thirty-four years, she continued to
delight him. The wild Tzigane heritage of the ripe sixteen-year-old Gypsy he'd
married had never been submerged. That wildness had been but thinly veiled with
the veneer of sophistication necessary to move in Prince Mikhail's aristocratic
circles on the rare occasions it suited him to remove himself from the
comfortable, elegant seclusion of Le Repose.
    "I wish someday Nikki
could find a love like ours, Misha," Princess Kaisa-leena Kuzan wistfully
murmured.
    "We had rare luck,
love. It doesn't happen often in this world," the Prince replied with
obvious feeling, recalling their first tumultuous meeting thirty-four brief
years before.
    ----
Chapter
Four
THE RECONCILIATION

     
    Early the next morning
Alisa was shaken awake by Maria whispering frantically, "Mistress Alisa,
Mistress Alisa, you must get up!"
    Alisa brought herself up
out of a deep dream of Nikki, and reacted immediately when she saw the
terrified fear in Maria's eyes.
    "What's the matter. Is
Katelina ill?" Alisa asked anxiously, sitting up.
    "No, my lady,"
Maria said, wringing her hands.
    Alisa visibly relaxed,
settling back onto her soft pillow.
    "It's much
worse," Maria moaned nervously.
    Alarm again sparked in
Alisa's violet eyes.
    "Mr. Forseus has returned."
She began looking wildly around the room as if to flee.
    "No, my lady."
    "What is it, then, for
heaven's sake? Speak up, Maria," Alisa insisted.
    "A carriage of
orchids, my lady," Maria whispered qua-veringly.
    "A carriage of
orchids? What in the world are you talking about?" Alisa asked
incredulously as she jumped out of bed and rapidly stripped off her nightgown.
    "Well, my lady, you
know I always go to the chicken house very early in the morning to gather fresh
eggs for your and Katelina's breakfast. As I was slipping out the side door, I
saw a strange carriage coming up the driveway and ran out to see who it was.
The driver said he was Prince Kuzan's coachman and he had orders to deliver the
orchids, and, Mistress Alisa," she continued, aghast, "there are also
baskets and baskets of strawberries he has instructions to deliver to Mrs.
Forseus as well, and"—she paused to catch her breath—"and also this
letter for you. I told him to wait behind the bend in the driveway so he
wouldn't be visible from the house, but, my lady, you must hurry, the servants
will soon be up."
    Alisa had already snatched
the heavy envelope embossed with the golden seal of Kuzan from Maria's hand
before the old servant was finished with her explanation.
    She tore open the envelope
and pulled out the single sheet of paper. Swiftly her eyes scanned the heavy,
careless scrawl.
    "If you don't meet me
at the meadow in forty minutes, I shall ride