The Breadth of Heaven Read Online Free Page B

trying?”
    “I don’t think she’s neurotic,” said Kathy impulsively. “I think she’s simply rather nervous—especially about her children. She may have good reason to mistrust all those people.”
    “I don’t think you are in a position to judge,” said Leonid coldly. “However, I am glad that you seem likely to regard her with sympathy. You must always remember that she is an important person, and that she has to be protected at all times. Her upbringing has not been such that she is able to, as you would say, fend for herself. She has very little understanding of the world, and is quite incapable of looking after her own interests. She has”—smiling urbanely—“none of the toughness of character which is such an advantage to young women like yourself.”
    Kathy felt definitely staggered, and only just succeeded in preventing herself from retorting that in sacking her entire staff on the spot Her Serene Highness had exhibited a good deal more toughness of character than she herself would ever be likely to muster.
    All she said, however, was: “I’ll do my best to protect Her Highness’s interests.”
    “If you don’t,” said the Prince coolly, “you will answer for it. To me.”

 
    CHAPTER THREE
    When Kathy awoke the next morning she remembered immediately that her life had taken rather an extraordinary turn, but for several moments the details of what had happened completely eluded her, and when she did manage to recall the events of the previous evening they seemed to her so fantastic that for a moment or two she found herself half wondering whether she had dreamt it all. But it was real enough, as she soon realized ... and then she glanced at her watch and saw with a stab of horror that she had overslept. The Prince wanted to see her at ten o’clock, and it was already half past nine.
    It didn’t normally take her very long to get dressed in the morning, but on this occasion she spent so much time making up her mind exactly what to wear that it was almost five minutes to ten before she was finally ready to vacate the sanctuary of her own room. As far as she had been able to gather, her new job would commence as from this morning, and she was slightly uncertain exactly what sort of dress she would be expected to wear while on duty. But eventually she discarded the idea of putting on one of the neat grey dresses which she usually wore behind the reception desk, and settled instead for a rather attractive woollen suit which she had bought herself only a fortnight earlier. It was the colour of autumn leaves, and almost exactly matched her hair, and she couldn’t help appreciating what it did for her appearance as a whole. She felt decidedly nervous at the prospect of what might possibly lie in front of her, and the suit gave her morale a much-needed boost.
    Just before ten o’clock she closed the door of her room behind her, and started to make her way along the winding corridors of Ransome’s to the Prince’s sitting-room. As she walked, she thought how little she really knew about the sort of life that was now going to be hers, and once she even found herself wondering whether the imperious young woman who had engaged her services might already have changed her mind. But she didn’t honestly think that was likely. She recalled the scene in Mr. McArthur’s office late the previous evening, when Prince Leonid had coolly informed the hotel manager that it was going to be necessary for him to forgo the services of Miss Grant. Kathy had felt dreadful about it, for as it was, Ransome’s was short-staffed at the moment and she had certainly expected Mr. McArthur to make some small protest, or at least to level some reproaches at herself. But she had underestimated the lengths to which Mr. McArthur was prepared to go in order to please so vitally important a guest as Prince Leonid of Tirhania. She had felt like an inanimate object being handed to the Prince on a platter, and as it had been very