If The Ring Fits...

“Wash your hands,” the prince ordered. “I will not ask again.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Christina mumbled, feeling like a newly enlisted marine in boot camp. She scrubbed but couldn’t rinse all the soap out of the filigree band.

“Find Mr. Armstrong,” Prince Richard commanded. “I need to speak with him immediately.”

“Your Highness.” Didier stopped at the door. “Perhaps—”

“Not now, Didi.” As soon as the door closed behind Didier, Prince Richard handed her his white gloves. “Put these on.”

The left glove was at least two sizes too big. “It doesn’t fit, Your Highness.”

“This is not a fashion show, Miss Armstrong. You will wear them. I do not need to have my mother see you wearing the ring. Or the press.”

The press. Prince Richard had a good point. She put on the right glove.

He walked toward the door. “Come with me.”

Uncertain and a little frightened, Christina hesitated.

“Now.”

She tilted her chin, trying to gain a bit of courage. “Where are we going, Your Highness?”

“Some place private, where we will not be disturbed.”

The palace reminded her of a dream castle, but the evening was turning into a nightmare. Surely the palace didn’t have a dungeon with a torture chamber. She followed Prince Richard out of the bathroom to a narrow, dimly lit hallway. “Exactly where is that, Your Highness?”

“My bedroom.”

Chapter Two

Christina stood outside the double white-paneled doors, her heart pounding in her throat. The prince, the engagement ring, his bedroom.

Oh, man. His bedroom, the prince’s bedroom.

No one would believe this was happening. Well, maybe her family would, but no one else. She pinched her arm to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

Prince Richard stepped in front of her and opened one of the doors. “You will wait inside.”

“Your Highness,” she said, then hesitated.

His I’m-better-than-you stare made her feel unwelcome, emphasizing the fact she didn’t belong. “What is it, Miss Armstrong?”

Christina might not be royalty, but she was an Armstrong. She forced herself to look him straight in the eye. “I’m sorry for ruining your birthday.”

“Go on.” With his hand at the small of her back, he led her inside. It was obvious he could care less about her apology. “Do not touch anything and stay away from the windows.”

She almost asked if she should remove her shoes before stepping on the carpet but thought better of it. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“I must return to the party. I believe my uncle is going to have a heart attack.”

A what? Heart attack? She tried to speak, but no words would come. Prince Richard closed the door behind her, and she heard a click. Christina tried the handle, but it was locked.

Locked in the prince’s bedroom. Alone.

But a heart attack? Was Prince Richard joking or did he really mean…She glanced at her gloved hand.

The ring. It had to be the ring.

Oh, no. What had she done? A heart attack. This was her worst yet. People died from heart attacks. Christina clutched her hands to her chest. She’d really done it this time. The marquess—such a charming, entertaining man. Unlike his nephew, Prince Richard.

A heart attack.

Awful, dreadful, inexcusable.

What would her family—make that the world—think? For once, she would deserve everything the press threw at her. She truly would not deserve to be an Armstrong.

She plopped onto the king-size bed, a fit-for-a-prince bed made of elegantly carved mahogany with pomegranate-shaped finials on the canopy posts. Through an open window, a gentle breeze, carrying the smell of the sea, filled the room, but the fresh air did nothing to ease the suffocating guilt.

Her fault.

Lying on the hard mattress, Christina pulled the gloves up to keep them from falling off. Over the years, she’d broken things, valuable things. She’d started a war, actually a small insurrection, as her father preferred to call it. But she’d never hurt…

Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. But breaking Tom’s thumb with the winch handle during a regatta could have happened to anyone. And Ron’s concussion was a total accident. Grabbing that cast-iron skillet was instinct, pure and simple. He could have been a burglar. If only she’d seen the box of Ho Hos first, but no one drops by at midnight unannounced. No one but Ron. At least she hadn’t had a gun. The gun, she couldn’t forget about Kent. But that was his fault, one hundred percent. Kent knew better than to take her skeet shooting. Thank goodness for the advances in medical technology. It was amazing what could be surgically reattached.

Okay, so she might have accidentally hurt a few men, but she’d never killed anyone. A heart attack? Tears welled in her eyes. The stupid ring. She’d cut off her finger if it would save the marquess. She really would. She’d do anything to rid herself of the helpless feeling settling in the pit of her stomach like a week old glazed doughnut.

After what seemed like a forever of silence, the lock on the door clicked. As Christina sat up, one of the double doors opened. Prince Richard stepped inside, followed by Didier and the marquess.

The marquess.

Thank goodness. He wasn’t dead. Christina ran and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re alive.”

The marquess smiled. “Now more than ever.”

She stared into his twinkling blue eyes, eyes that reminded her of the prince. Or had until she saw the real man beneath the princely facade. “I thought I’d killed you.”

“My dear Christina. May I call you that?”

Nodding, she couldn’t stop looking at the marquess. He was alive. Alive. A warm tear slipped down her cheek.

“Are those tears for me?” The marquess wiped her cheek with a white linen handkerchief. “You make this old man wish he were thirty years younger. Richard, my lucky boy, you have found yourself a wonderful—”

“Why would you think you killed my uncle?” Prince Richard asked.

“You told me he was going to have a heart attack. I assumed it was because of the ring.” Her heartbeat accelerated. The ring. She’d forgotten for a moment. Christina faced the prince, wishing he’d shown the same compassion and sincerity as his uncle, but all she saw was a scowl of impatience. How could she have ever mistaken him for Prince Charming? The two had nothing in common except the word “prince.” The realization made her long for a familiar face. “Do you know where my father is?”

The marquess gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “He should be along shortly.”