The Royal Wedding Collection, Volume 2 by Julia James

Author:Julia James
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488037160
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE professor pushed hiS glasses higher on his nose and frowned. ‘Can’t make this out at all. Marianne, what do you think?’

She picked up the neatly typed sheets the professor had given up on and quickly skimmed the contents. ‘It’s suggesting there was a second castle in Andovaria owned by Ulrich von Liechtenstein.’

‘Does it pinpoint where?’

Marianne shook her head and reached for the pencil she had tucked in her pony-tail, putting a tiny note in the margin. ‘Doesn’t say. But, since he died in 1278, it’s the right time frame.’

‘Interesting.’ The professor pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. ‘I’ve had enough for today. I think I’m going to go and have supper with Eliana. How about you?’

Marianne shook her head. ‘I’ll finish looking over these, then I’ll have a shower and head for my bed. I’m tired.’

He nodded and Marianne reached for a jumper and pulled it over her head. She liked it in the open-plan office when everyone else had gone home. She felt safer there, more cut off from what Seb was doing than when she was in the guest wing. And she found it was better if she actively tried not to know where he was.

Today there’d been the sound of a helicopter taking off and returning and that had been bad enough. Her imagination had immediately started to picture where he’d been going.

Even the little information she’d unavoidably picked up about his life had begun to alter her perception of him. He worked hard. Long, long hours. Leaving early and returning late most days.

Marianne spotted another mistake in the translation the professor had been given so she made a small note in the margin and returned the pencil to her pony-tail for safekeeping. She kept working systematically through it, sheet after sheet, even when the last of the team had long gone.

It was all so fascinating. Names she vaguely recognised from other sources were becoming three-dimensional human beings with every paragraph. She rubbed a tired hand over her eyes and pushed herself to continue. One thing she’d learnt over the past two weeks was that it was better not to go back to the guest wing until she was ready to fall into bed. Sleep only came when she was completely exhausted.

* * *

Seb didn’t feel tired. A visit to support an inter-racial community project in the north of Andovaria, followed by the royal opening of the largest neonatal unit in central Europe hadn’t done anything to use up his restless energy.

He stood at the window and looked down at the guest suite. Everything was in darkness—which meant Marianne was sleeping. He glanced down at his watch. Five minutes after two in the morning. What the hell was he doing? He’d got the annual diplomatic reception in something like eighteen hours. He ought to try and get some sleep himself.

But…he knew there was little point. He simply wasn’t tired.

And he’d thought about Marianne all day. He’d had a spectacular view of the keep as he’d flown out today and it had started his mind wondering, yet again, what she was doing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.