§ § § -- December 23, 2003

"What do you mean, you're not coming with us for dinner at the main house?" asked Christian in surprise, staring at his sister. "Why not?"

"I have a dinner date," said Anna-Laura primly.

Christian and Leslie looked at each other in amazement; then Leslie grinned. "That's wonderful, Anna-Laura!" she said. "Who with?"

"You might recognize the name," Anna-Laura told her. "Gregory Nordeman."

Leslie thought for a moment, then blinked and stared at her anew. "How did you manage that? The only time Father or I've ever seen him was when he first came here looking to buy a home. He's almost a hermit—he owns the island newspaper, and Myeko said she's seen him a couple of times, chewing out some suits in the upper echelons over there." She sat up and leaned forward. "Father got the sense that he'd been through a lot of sadness in his life, but the guy wouldn't talk. He insisted he have his privacy and that no one bother him, and we respected his wishes. I should warn you, Myeko tells me he has a rather nasty reputation over at the newspaper. They see him as some sort of lofty dictator."

"Well, I'll admit that he was no friendlier with me when I first saw him. I saw a koi pond on his property and was admiring it, and he came out demanding to know why I was trespassing in his yard. When I told him who I was, it began to soften him up somewhat, and suddenly he asked me to have dinner with him. I don't quite understand it, but I agreed anyhow. I thought perhaps I'd let him properly apologize," Anna-Laura said.

Christian laughed and pointed out, "Anna-Laura, you were the one on his property!"

"I told him I had meant only to admire his koi pond," she said defensively. "I didn't think there was any need for him to be so rude and unforgiving."

Leslie giggled and Christian shrugged, still grinning. "Well," he said, "all I can say is that you're quite lucky you are who you are, äldresyster. In that case, I hope you enjoy dinner with this Mr. Nordeman. What about Lisi?"

"Oh yes," Anna-Laura said. "I haven't seen or heard from Roald all day, and I don't dare trust him with the baby. Would you two be willing to keep her?"

Christian looked at Leslie, who lit up. "That sounds like fun," she said.

Christian snickered. "Fun, my Rose? It's pretty obvious you've never cared for a baby before. I suppose I'd better be here to let you know what to do when Lisi cries for some reason and you find yourself coming up short on what to do about it."

"Don't be smug, Christian Enstad," Leslie said and bopped him playfully on the arm. "I actually think it's great practice for when we have ours. Hey, I have to learn sometime."

"So you do," he agreed. "It's just lucky I have experience with my nieces and nephews in their infancy. I still remember Arnulf and Kristina constantly recruiting me to watch Anna-Kristina while they were out at yet another party."

Anna-Laura remarked, "I sometimes thought she was going to start calling you Pappa when she began to talk. I think it would have served Arnulf right." They all laughed. "But thank you both. I don't know how the evening will go, and I'm sure I'll worry about both Lisi and Roald, but—"

"Don't," Leslie broke in. "Roald can handle himself for a while, and since Christian is the self-titled baby expert around here, I can watch him change Lisi's diaper and feed her while I get to have fun playing with her." With that, she stuck out her tongue at Christian, who rolled his eyes; and Anna-Laura burst out laughing.

"You two are fun to watch," she remarked. "Always teasing each other."

"You go and have a good time," Christian said wickedly, "while I discipline my wife for that smart little remark. Do you need a ride back to your bungalow?"

Anna-Laura hesitated, and Leslie stood up. "Don't worry about that. I'll give Father a call and he can send someone out here with whatever you need. Just tell me what you want to have brought over."

Three hours later Leslie drove Anna-Laura the two miles down their lane to the main access road for the Enclave. "Oh," she said when Anna-Laura gestured at the hedge-fronted property, "now I remember. This place used to belong to some really elderly count somewhere in Europe, and his heirs put it up for sale after he died. It sat on the market for almost two years before Mr. Nordeman came along and bought it. The sellers told Father he could make use of it if he needed to, while it was up for sale, so he used it for a fantasy once in a while. I got to see the inside a couple of times. Beautiful house."

"It looks quite large from the outside," remarked Anna-Laura as Leslie let the car coast down the long driveway.

"Sixty rooms or so, I think," Leslie said, nodding. "Well, here you go. If you need a ride home, just call us, and either Christian or I will come and pick you up. I hope you two have a wonderful dinner. It sounds like a really nice friendship is in the works."

"I hope so," Anna-Laura said reflectively, sitting there for a moment and considering it. She looked at Leslie. "It's been more than twenty years since Esbjörn was killed. In the last few years I had begun to think it might be time for me to consider finding someone else, but it's very difficult for a princess. Gregory knows who I am, but he wasn't intimidated, which for me is a good first sign."

Leslie grinned. "Then I wish you both luck. I can't wait to hear how everything goes. Have a lovely evening." Anna-Laura smiled, thanked her and got out, watching her back out of the lane again on her way to the front door.

The main entrance consisted of two large, heavy wooden doors varnished black and adorned with highly polished brass rings. Anna-Laura grasped one and knocked several times, then took a step or two back and waited. Faintly she heard the fading sound of Leslie and Christian's car's engine retreating back down the side lane; otherwise there was only the constant chirping of birds, including the intermittent squall of a distant peacock.

Then the door opened and Gregory Nordeman looked out at her; he smiled, then bowed to her and said, "Your Highness—welcome, come on in. You have perfect timing; I was just finishing setting the table. I hope you're hungry."

"Famished, in fact," Anna-Laura admitted with a sheepish chuckle, stepping inside when he moved aside for her. She stopped in the entry and looked around with an assessing eye. "What a lovely entryway," she commented. "Just that elegant light overhead and the mirror on the wall, and that little mail table there. It lets the wall décor stand out."

"I tend to be minimalist in my decorating," Gregory said, closing the door. "Follow me, Your Highness, if you would."

"Please call me Anna-Laura," the princess requested hopefully. "It hardly seems fair for you to continue using the honorific when you've told me to call you Gregory."

"Thank you, Anna-Laura," he said, glancing back at her and smiling again. "I generally hate standing on ceremony, but I know royalty's different. This is my den here." He gestured at a large room to their left, paneled in blond wood that Anna-Laura instantly recognized as Scandinavian in atmosphere. The bookcases were all blond wood also; there were darker wooden blinds at the windows, and one painting on an otherwise unadorned wall, over a huge oaken desk. "The kitchen and dining room are back this way."

Anna-Laura liked the sparse, clean look of his interior rooms, but she had the feeling that something was missing all the same. Part of her mind wrestled with the thought, trying to figure it out, while she paused for Gregory to pull out a chair for her. Smiling at him, she sat down and let him finish seating her, then surveyed the table while he took his own seat. She found herself impressed by the layout and recognized several dishes that were uniquely jordisk in origin. "I hope," she said, "that you didn't go to all this trouble just for me."

"Not necessarily," Gregory said with another smile at her. "As a matter of fact, I have Jordsonian ancestry. Or maybe I should use the proper term and say 'jordisk' instead." His smile became a grin. "Just about a year ago I bought out a notorious tabloid in Lilla Jordsö, and ever since then I've been trying to turn it into a respectable publication. I ended up firing ninety-five percent of the writers and hiring new ones—mostly college graduates who were perfectly happy to work for an initially low paycheck just to get a foot in the journalistic door." He began to dole out portions of assorted items onto her plate. "I wanted to get people to try the new look and format of the thing, so I lowered the cover price, cut the salary of the few remaining staff by about twenty percent, and issued a few ultimatums about what I would accept and what I wouldn't. No gossip, no feeding the rumor mills, no made-up stories, no speculations, and no pictures taken of any celebrities without their permission or at least their knowledge. I made a few other changes as well, but those were the most important ones to me."

Anna-Laura raised an eyebrow, very much impressed. "Now that I think of it," she mused, "it does seem as if there are somewhat fewer so-called reporters dogging our steps when we go out. Which of the tabloids did you buy?" He told her the name of it, and she stared at him, wide-eyed. "Herregud, that was the worst one in the city!"

"Precisely," Gregory said, loading his own plate now. "I think it's been turning around pretty well, although it's still struggling. But I'd rather have a slow-selling, decent magazine than a best-selling dirty rag. I have some integrity, and I think that's too rare in this world."

"I as well," murmured Anna-Laura faintly, glancing around the room, wondering at this prickly man with the sense of honor. She took a bite of a fish dish and exclaimed, "This is wonderful!"

Gregory looked up sharply, then grinned. "I'm glad to hear it. I spent all afternoon cooking and hoping it'd come out right."

"You didn't," said Anna-Laura, blinking. "Oh, Gregory…I never expected you to go to so much trouble just for my sake."

"I told you I wanted to present a proper apology," he said, pausing in his own eating to reach out and grasp her hand for a moment. "I hope I did."

"I daresay you outdid yourself," she told him. They looked at each other for several long seconds, blue eyes and hazel ones searching each other; then the moment grew too intense. She blushed, he released her hand, and they resumed eating, neither speaking for a while. Anna-Laura savored the food and wondered where he'd learned to cook like this.

"So what are your plans for Christmas?" she asked idly after a little while. "I think it will be quite the novelty being on a tropical island like this for the holiday. I'm likely to spend the day with my brother Christian and his wife; they haven't been in Lilla Jordsö for Christmas at all, and I suppose I can see the lure of their own home during the holiday. It's going to be difficult enough without Ceci…" She closed her eyes and tried not to break down in front of Gregory. He remained silent, and it gave her a chance to recover. "In any case, I'm glad not to be alone. What will you be…" She looked up and her voice trailed off: Gregory's expression had frosted over.

"Nothing," he said coldly. "I give all my employees the damned thing off if they want it, but I spend the day working. There's no one for me to go to."

And that was when Anna-Laura realized what was missing in this mansion. "You don't have any family photographs on the walls," she said without thinking. "Why not?"

"I have no family," he informed her tightly, and she felt her face heating up in a new blush. "Would you mind changing the subject?"

She regarded him nervously for a few seconds, then gave one stiff nod. "I beg your pardon for intruding," she said formally and returned her full concentration to her plate.

This time the silence went on for so long that Anna-Laura could no longer continue eating. She was used to the company—and constant chatter—of her family at the table, and the quiet felt extremely unnatural to her. She wanted to ask where there might be a powder room, so she could escape even for a moment to try to regain her composure; but she didn't dare open her mouth. She was too close to tears—not only from the ongoing pain of losing Cecilia, but now from her own discomfort and increasing unease. Their people had always seen Princess Anna-Laura Enstad Lagnebring as a strong woman with no fear of standing up for either herself or others; but right now she felt like a small child who had just committed an egregious breach of good manners.

"Is the food all right?" Gregory asked suddenly, startling her.

Anna-Laura's gaze snapped to his, and she told herself to remain composed in front of this man. "It's very good, thank you," she said as she might have to a waiter in a particularly fancy restaurant. "It has all been delicious, and I appreciate the effort you exerted." She drew in a breath while he stared at her without expression. "However, I believe I've overstayed my welcome. If you'll kindly excuse me, I'll take my leave of you—"

"No," he broke in. "Please stay."

She sat frozen in mid-sentence with her mouth open to form the next word. What does he want of me? came the thought, a little impatient, a little desperate. At last she found her voice again. "I was no longer certain I was welcome," she informed him stiffly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It seems," Anna-Laura said, taking refuge behind the cold royal formality she'd grown up using among all sorts of dignitaries at home, "that I have somehow stepped over another boundary with you. I dare not remain any longer to possibly repeat the mistake. In any case, I'm sure that you prefer to be alone." She pushed back her chair and stood up, then pivoted on one heel and started out of the room, hoping madly that she could remember the way to the main entrance. She didn't care if she had to walk all the way back to Christian and Leslie's house; all she wanted was to get out of here.

"Anna-Laura, please!" Gregory exclaimed, and though she heard him get out of his chair and follow her, she kept walking. "Please wait…" When she didn't stop, he reached out and seized her arm. "Please."

Forced to stop, she eyed him warily. "If I stay," she said after a moment, "perhaps you had better tell me what is and is not acceptable dinner conversation for you."

Gregory winced and muttered, "Damn. Anna-Laura, I don't mean to drive you away. I guess I've been a loner too long. Look…if you'll agree to stay here and finish dinner with me, and let me serve you the special dessert I made just for this occasion, then…then I'll explain why I said what I did, and why it bothers me as it does." He cleared his throat. "Will you stay, please?"

"Don't feel obligated," she said softly, raising her eyebrow at him again. "Personally, I'd far rather talk about losing Ceci with someone. However, that's only how I am."

He hung his head for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing sharply in through his nose, as if trying to gather himself. When he looked up, there was a strange expression on his face, an uncertainty that Anna-Laura suspected seldom, if ever, appeared there. "I hope you can forgive me," Gregory said. "It's just that it's never been easy for me to talk about anything with anyone, especially not something like that. I, uh…I'm used to intimidating people. I deal almost exclusively with my employees in various parts of the world. Probably the only person I couldn't scare was Roarke, and that amazed me." He paused, studied her and then added, "Well, till now. Seems I can't scare you either."

"I see," Anna-Laura murmured, folding her arms over her chest and regarding him. "And was I merely another person to frighten, so that there would be no more questions, no further trespassing? Lest you forget, I am a princess, and royalty is raised to know no subordination, no inferiority. I won't try to emphasize my royal status, but neither will I allow you to treat me as something you would step on."

Gregory frowned a little and released her. "If you think I'm going to do that on a regular basis, then maybe you should leave. I'm used to being in charge, Anna-Laura…or should I start calling you Your Highness now?" Anna-Laura scowled in return, but he went right on. "I'm a take-charge person, a go-getter, a self-starter. I have no patience with indecisive people—and even less with pushy and rude people. I also don't like people who ask personal questions. Unfortunately, you asked me what I consider a personal question, and it got my temper going." He looked at her for the space of two heartbeats, then said neutrally, "It's up to you. You can stay or go as you choose."

"I thought you wanted me to stay," she said.

"I do," he told her, "but I'll leave you the choice."

She still hesitated. "Don't you fear that I'd ask you another personal question?"

Gregory sighed and said, "I'm trying to apologize, to explain myself, Anna-Laura. I'd like to try to make this up to you as well. But as I said, if you want to leave, then you can leave. I won't force you to stay."

"Just tell me something," Anna-Laura said slowly. "Why do you consider my asking about your plans for Christmas a personal question?"

"That wasn't the personal question. It was the one about why I have no family pictures on the walls," Gregory replied.

"I beg your pardon," Anna-Laura said, again taking refuge in formality. "I retract the question; you need not answer it."

"Don't go all royal on me," Gregory said, far more gently than she had learned to expect from him in the few hours she'd been acquainted with him. "Please. I feel like I have to kowtow at your feet."

Anna-Laura murmured, "Må sanktarna hålla plass till mej. Gregory, I can't help being royal. I was born royal." She risked a glance at him and saw him watching her with a pleading look. "Perhaps," she admitted with a tiny smile, "I 'go all royal on you', as you say it, because I find some comfort in it…in reinforcing my station in life so that I feel less intimidated by the other person."

Out of nowhere, he grinned. "Was that a confession?"

"I suppose it was," she said after a moment's surprised reflection. Raising the eyebrow again, she said with a small smile of her own, "Now you owe me one."

Gregory laughed and bowed to her. "Your wish is my command, Anna-Laura. Now if you'll come and sit down again, and consent to dessert, I'll make a confession to you, and I hope you'll still feel charitable about me after you hear it."