“America!” Wide, amethyst eyes turned to Natalie. Eager hands reached out to take both of hers. “Wilkommen! You must come in. You’ll have a lager, ja? And then you will tell me how you come to be in the company of a rogue such as Dominic St. Sebastian.” Her laughing glance cut back to Dom. “Or do I address you as ‘Your Grace’? Ja, ja, I must. The whole village talks of nothing else but the stories about you in the papers.”
“You can thank Natalie for that,” he drawled.
The blonde’s brows soared. “How so?”
“She’s an archivist. A researcher who digs around in musty old ledgers. She uncovered a document in Vienna that appears to grant the titles of Grand Duke and Duchess of Karlenburgh to the St. Sebastians until the Alps crumble. As we all know, however, it’s an empty honor.”
“Ha! Not here. As soon as word gets around that the Grand Duke has returned to his ancestral home, the taproom will be jammed and the beer will flow like a river. Just wait. You will see.”
* * *
They didn’t have to wait long. Dom had barely finished explaining to Frau Dortman that he’d only come to show Natalie the ruins and aid her in her research when the door opened. A bent, craggy-faced gentleman in worn leather pants hobbled in and greeted Dom with the immense dignity of a man who’d lived through good times and bad. This, Natalie soon grasped, was a good time. A very good time, the older man indicated with a wide smile.
He was followed in short order by a big, buff farmer who carried the sharp tang of the barn in with him, two teenagers with curious eyes and earbuds dangling around their necks and a young woman cradling a baby on her hip. Natalie kept waiting for Herr Dortmann to make an appearance. When he didn’t show, a casual query revealed Lisel had divorced the lazy good-for-nothing and sent him packing years ago.
Dom tried his best to include Natalie in the conversations that buzzed around them. As more and more people arrived, though, she edged out of the inner circle and enjoyed the show. St. Sebastian might downplay this whole royalty thing, she mused as she settled on a bar stool and placed her briefcase on a counter worn smooth by centuries of use, but he was a natural. It wasn’t so much that he stood two or three inches above the rest of the crowd. Or that he exuded such an easy self-confidence. Or, she thought wryly, that he had already informed Lisel that he would pay for the beer that flowed as freely as the innkeeper had predicted.
He also, Natalie guessed, paid for the platters piled with sausages and spaetzle and fried potatoes and pickled beets that emerged in successive waves from the kitchen. The feasting and toasts and storytelling lasted through the afternoon and into the evening. By then, Dom had downed too much beer to get behind the wheel again.
Lisel had anticipated just such an eventuality. “You will stay here tonight,” she announced and drew an old-fashioned iron key from the pocket of her tiger-striped tunic. “The front bedroom has a fine view of the castle,” she confided to Natalie. “You and Dominic can see it as you lie in bed.”
“It sounds wonderful.” She plucked the room key out of the innkeeper’s hand. “But Dominic will need other sleeping arrangements.”
After Lisel Dortmann’s enthusiastic welcome, Natalie preferred not to speculate on what those arrangements might be. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to share a bed with the man—as much as she wanted to.
Nine
She took the narrow wooden stairs to the second floor and found the front bedroom easily enough. It contained a good-size bath and an alcove tucked under the slanting eaves that housed a small desk and overstuffed easy chair. The beautifully carved wooden headboard and washstand with its porcelain pitcher and bowl provided antique touches, while the flat-screen TV and small placard announcing the inn offered free Wi-Fi were welcome modern conveniences.
As Lisel had promised, the lace-draped windows offered an unimpeded view of the ruins set high atop the rocky promontory. The early evening shadows lent them a dark and brooding aspect. Then the clouds shifted, parted, and the last of the sun’s rays cut like a laser. For a few magical moments what remained of Karlenburgh Castle was bathed in bright gold.
She’d seen these ruins before! Natalie knew it! Not all shimmery and ethereal and golden like this but…
A rap on the door interrupted her tumultuous thoughts. Dom stood in the hall with the weekender he’d brought in from the car.
“I thought you might need your case.”
“Thanks.” She grabbed his arm and hauled him toward the window. “You’ve got to see this.”
He glanced through the windows at the sight she pointed to but almost immediately his gaze switched back to Natalie. Her eyes were huge, her face alive with excitement. She could hardly contain it as she turned to him.