Free A Magnificent Match by Gayle Buck Page A

Annensky and I had it from someone else. If it is true, I shall miss you. You have been like a breath of fresh air this winter.”
    Megan felt her face warming. “That is very kind of you, my lord. I don’t know my plans, actually. It depends upon Princess Kirov more than anything, I suppose. There was no set date for my departure.”
    “Speaking of the house of Kirov, here is the prince himself,” said Lord George. Looking up into the Russian’s handsome face, his own face broadened into a grin as he put out his hand. “Misha, you bear! Will you join me at the crossroads inn? I am leaving shortly with a party of roisterers that begs the honor of your company.”
    “We shall see. I am committed to wait upon the pleasure of Miss O’Connell and my mother, and the ball does not end until the morning,” said Prince Mikhail Sergei Alexsander Kirov, a friendly expression lightening his ice-blue eyes.
    “Oh, is that how it is? Dull duty, indeed. Well, I shall be off, then,” said Lord George. He bowed to Megan, nodded to the prince, and left them.
    Prince Kirov held out his hand commandingly. “Come, mademoiselle. I wish to show you the conservatory. There is a striking lily in bloom which reminds me of your extravagant beauty.”
    Megan opened her fan and set it in languid motion. “I am sorry, your highness. But I have made it a rule that I am never seen going off alone with any gentleman.”
    “I am not any gentleman. I am your devoted host. There can be no objection,” said Prince Kirov with a glinting smile. His was a very charming smile, one that more often than not set female hearts fluttering and overrode gentle scruples. However, this once it failed in its objective.
    “On the contrary, your highness. Mrs. Tyler is very strict in her views of propriety. She guards my reputation with intense fervor,” said Megan.
    “Indeed! And where is Mrs. Tyler now, Miss O’Connell?” asked Prince Kirov, making a show of his disbelief. “Surely in the eyes of such a strict guardian, it must even be beyond the line for you to acknowledge a gentleman’s address without a chaperone within sight.”
    “Mrs. Tyler has us in her sights even now, your highness,” said Megan demurely. She raised her fan slightly to point toward a small knot of ladies seated a short distance away.
    Prince Kirov looked around quickly. Mrs. Tyler, mistaking Megan’s gesture, waved back in a friendly way. He bowed, then turned again to Megan. “You have reminded me of my duty, mademoiselle. Naturally you are correct. It would not be seemly for you to leave the ballroom alone with me as your only escort. I shall immediately bring together a few friends so that we may all go to the conservatory and enjoy the lilies.”
    Megan started to laugh. “But how absurd! You should not order things tailored so exactly to your whims.”
    “Why should I not? How am I to take you to the conservatory otherwise?” inquired Prince Kirov in a reasonable way. He sat down beside her, half-turning in his chair so that he could observe her face.
    “The conservatory must wait, your highness. I still have a very full dance card,” said Megan, proffering it for his inspection. “It would be exceedingly rude of me to disappoint my admirers.”
    “I shall admit to it, for my name appears on that card as well,” said Prince Kirov. He smiled and shrugged. “It is a pity that we are constrained by convention and by duty from what we most desire to do. But I am a Kirov. I have been raised to a full awareness of my duty to family and country. I shall not shirk either, even for the glimpse of a prized lily.”
    “What of those things that are of equal importance as duty, your highness?” asked Megan curiously.
    “Ah, you speak of the heart. Once I believed that my duty was always to be placed above matters of the heart. I have learned that sometimes that is not entirely true,” said Prince Kirov. He regarded her with lazy interest. “What of your own ideals.