“Without the assistance of Leonida.”
Herrick snapped his attention back to Stefan, his eyes hard with warning.
“You speak for her?”
“Someone needs to.”
“Forgive me, your Grace, but I fear you overstep your bounds.”
“I was not the one to risk her lovely neck by sending her to a foreign land to play thief while a madman haunted her every step.”
The old soldier stepped forward, his jaw tight. He was not a man accustomed to having his warnings ignored. A pity for him that Stefan was not so easily cowed.
“Miss Karkoff is no longer your concern,” Herrick growled.
“This entire situation remains very much my concern.” Stefan allowed a superior smile to curve his lips. “If you will recall, the letters that have caused such trouble belonged to my mother.”
“You are in Russia now, not England.”
“Is that a threat, Gerhardt?”
The man returned Stefan’s smile, too wily to be lured into open confrontation. There was a reason he had been Alexander Pavlovich’s longest serving advisor.
“I am merely pointing out that you are a visitor and it will be the Czar’s decision how long your stay might be.”
Stefan shrugged aside the warning. His lofty position might not make him utterly immune to the Emperor’s anger, but it did offer him a protection few others could claim.
/> Alexander Pavlovich would not be anxious to further strain the relationships between Russia and England, no matter what his opinion of King George.
“You believe that Alexander Pavlovich will force me from the country?”
Herrick refused to back down. “If need be.”
“Take care,” Stefan said softly. “If I am forced to leave I assure you that Leonida will accompany me.”
The very air prickled with menace as both men battled to dominate the other.
“That is a very foolish boast, your Grace. Perhaps you do not comprehend just how attached Alexander Pavlovich is to Leonida. You do not want to incur his wrath.”
“If he was so attached, he would never have allowed her to be put in danger.”
“He did not…” Herrick snapped his lips shut as he realized just what he had admitted.
“He does not know of the letters, does he?” Stefan mocked, knowing it was the one true weapon he held over this man. “Or the fact that the Countess was being blackmailed.”
Herrick’s jaw clenched, his expression hard as he sought to regain the ground he had lost. “You are an intelligent gentleman with a brilliant future in England. Why would you entangle yourself in the Countess’s private matters?”
“I became entangled the moment Leonida arrived in Surrey.”
The danger in the air thickened. “The Romanovs owe a debt of gratitude to your family, so I will offer you a word of warning. Leonida is a precious jewel of the Empire. Should anyone, no matter what his title or position, dare to harm or insult her, you can be certain that justice will be done.”
Stefan scowled. Herrick Gerhardt had always been fiercely devoted to Alexander Pavlovich, and it was only to be expected his loyalty would extend to Leonida, but Stefan found himself bristling at the man’s possessive manner.
Leonida was not the property of Russia.
She was his.
“Thus far the person who has caused her the greatest harm is her own mother,” he snapped.