Barbara Hannay - A Royal Proposal

Just the same, she managed not to gush over the food, and she only jumped once when Faysal called her Olivia.

She couldn’t quite hide her fascination with her surroundings, though. Her bright blue eyes widened with obvious delight at the fountains and the terraced gardens and the arcade decorated with exquisite blue and gold tiled mosaics. And Rafe thought she was just a little too impressed by Faysal, who was, as always, handsome and ultra-charming.

Nevertheless, the meeting went rather well, and Rafe was feeling relaxed when Charlie retired to the powder room.

As soon as she’d left, however, Faysal, who had dressed today in European trousers and a white polo shirt instead of his customary white robes, looked across the table to Rafe with a narrowed and sceptical dark gaze.

‘So,’ he said, his lips tilting with amusement. ‘Who the hell is that girl, Rafe?’

Inwardly groaning, Rafe feigned ignorance. ‘You know who she is. She’s my fiancée, Olivia. What game are you playing?’

‘That’s the very same question I want to ask you. You’re trying to pull a swift one over me, old boy.’ Faysal nodded to the corridor where Charlie had disappeared. ‘That girl is Olivia’s double, I’ll grant you that, but, unless she’s had a complete personality transplant, she is not the girl I met in Saint-Tropez and again at your engagement ball.’

Rafe sighed heavily as he remembered the extravagant ball he’d hosted. At the time he’d needed to make a big stir about his engagement and to show Chancellor Pontier how serious he was. He hoped there hadn’t been too many guests as astute as Faysal. ‘Is it really that obvious?’

Faysal’s smile was sympathetic as he nodded. ‘I’ll admit I observe women with a deeper interest than most.’

This was true, but still Rafe was afraid he had a problem.

‘Her name’s Charlie,’ he said. ‘Or rather, Charlotte. She’s Olivia’s twin sister. I tracked her down in Australia.’

‘Australia? So that was the accent.’

Rafe grimaced. ‘Is that what gave her away? Her accent?’

‘Not really.’ Faysal eyed Rafe with a level and serious gaze.

‘What, then?’ Rafe demanded impatiently.

‘Her sincerity.’

Hell.

Rafe knew exactly what Faysal meant. There was a genuineness about Charlie that had been totally absent in her sister. He gave a helpless shrug. ‘I can’t do much about that.’

‘No,’ Faysal observed quietly. Then he frowned. ‘So what happened to Olivia? She hasn’t been abducted, has she?’

‘No, I wouldn’t be sitting here passing the time of day with you if that was the case.’ Rafe shrugged. ‘She ran away.’

Faysal looked only mildly surprised. ‘She panicked, in other words.’

‘Yes, I think she must have.’

His friend gave a slow, thoughtful nod. ‘Getting engaged to that girl wasn’t your smartest move, my friend.’

‘I know.’ Rafe sighed again. ‘As you know, it was all about convenience. It was such a shock when my father died. So unexpected.’

‘The pressures of being an only child,’ Faysal mused. ‘If your mother had still been alive...’

Faysal didn’t finish the sentence, but Rafe knew exactly what he was implying. His mother had died three years ago, but if she’d still been alive she would have seen through Olivia Belaire in a heartbeat. And in no time at all, his mother would have produced a list of a dozen or more highly suitable young women for him to choose from.

These girls would have been from good schools and families. They would probably have all had university degrees and perfect deportment and grooming and impeccable manners and be interested in good works. The list of his mother’s requirements for a princess were numerous. She had never approved of the girls Rafe had dated.

His criteria for selecting a female companion had been quite different from his mother’s. But those carefree days were over.

‘If you can see through Charlie,’ he said, somewhat dispiritedly, ‘I’ve got a problem on my hands, haven’t I?’

His friend shook his head and smiled. ‘No, not a problem, Rafe. If you play your cards correctly, I’d say your Charlie could be quite an asset.’

No, Rafe thought, Faysal’s reading this wrong. His friend might have approved of Charlie’s prettiness and sincerity, but he hadn’t seen her horror at the thought of actually having to marry him.

‘She’s a temporary stopgap,’ he said firmly. ‘That’s all.’

CHAPTER FIVE

‘SO, ARE YOU going to give me a performance appraisal?’

Charlie and Rafe were back in the plane and taking off for Europe when she posed this question.

She’d tried her hardest to be cool and sophisticated in Faysal’s home and she needed to know if her efforts had been satisfactory. After all, there wasn’t much time to lift her act before they arrived in Montaigne.

She was watching Rafe intently, waiting for his answer, and she didn’t miss his frown, although he very quickly hid it behind a smooth smile.

‘You were perfect,’ he said.

‘Are you sure?’ She’d tried really hard to lose her accent, but she suspected that he wasn’t being totally honest. ‘I need to hear the truth, Rafe. I don’t want to let you down.’

Which was a noble way of saying that she didn’t want to face the embarrassment of being caught out.

‘You were fine,’ he said with a hint of impatience.

Charlie wasn’t sure that ‘fine’ was good enough, but she didn’t want to pester him and become annoying. She consoled herself that Rafe would have told her if she’d made a major blunder.

‘So there’s nothing you need to warn me about before I arrive in your country?’ she tried one more time.

Rafe smiled. ‘No, just be yourself, Charlie. It would be different if you really were my fiancée, but for now, I think you’ll do well just as you are.’

‘Right.’ Charlie wished the mention of Rafe’s ‘real’ fiancée didn’t bother her so much.

‘Just try to look as if you’re enjoying yourself,’ he said.

She couldn’t help smiling. ‘That shouldn’t be too hard.’

It was true. Everything about this trip so far had been wonderfully exciting. If Charlie hadn’t been so worried about poor little Isla, she would have looked on this as the adventure of a lifetime.

* * *

As soon as they reached their cruising height, Rafe opened his laptop again. Apparently, he was studying everything he could about mining, so that he could outwit the Leroy Mining Company who wanted to wreck his Alps.

For most of the flight Charlie watched movies. Her head still buzzed with a host of questions—questions about Rafe, about his family and his country, and what he expected of her—but he was clearly preoccupied. And, as he’d made it quite clear, she didn’t have the responsibility of a ‘real’ job.

That belonged to Olivia.

Her sister.

Charlie felt a deep pang at the thought of the girl who was her mirror image. Her sister. They shared the same mother. Had shared the same womb. The same DNA.

How could her father have kept this secret from her? Learning about it now, Charlie felt hurt. Deeply hurt, as if she’d been denied something precious. The other half of herself.

She wondered how on earth the decision had been made. Obviously her parents had decided to split and take a child each. But how had they made that choice?

Tossed a coin? Drawn straws?

Charlie wouldn’t dwell on the fact that her mother had rejected her and chosen Olivia. It could warp her mind if she let that sink in too deeply. The important thing to remember was that she loved her father very much. She’d had a wonderful childhood and they’d shared many adventures, and they had a great relationship. She couldn’t imagine her life without her sweet, dreamy dad.