For some reason, Christina’s sturdy, inelegant opinion made her comfortable. Brie smiled and reached for a cookie without thinking. “I can’t really blame politics. After all, I agreed to everything.”

“Well, what else were you going to do, for heaven’s sake?” Exasperated, Christina rose and walked over to a small cherry wood commode. She discovered she wanted badly to break something. Anything. “You were weak, disoriented and frightened.”

“Yes,” Brie murmured. “Yes, I was.” She watched Christina rummage and locate an exquisite little decanter.

“I need a brandy.” Without ceremony, Christina poured. “You?”

“Mmmm.” Brie only nodded an assent. “I didn’t even know that was there.”

Christina spilled a bit of brandy over the side of a glass, swore and blotted the drop with a finger. “You’ll remember.” She walked back, and her eyes were bright and strong when she handed Brie a snifter. “You’ll remember because you’re too stubborn not to.”

And for the first time Brie believed it, completely. With something like relief she touched her glass to Christina’s. “Thanks.”

“If I hadn’t let myself get talked out of it, I would have been here weeks ago.” With an unintelligible mutter, Christina sat on the arm of the sofa. “Your father, that Loubet and the wonderful Reeve MacGee should all be rounded up, corralled and horsewhipped. I’d like to give all three of them a piece of my mind.”

Brie laughed into her brandy. This was what she’d needed, she realized, to counterbalance that fierce protection from the men who cared for her. “I think you could do it.”

“Damn right I could. I’m surprised you haven’t.”

“Actually, I have.”

“That’s more like it.”

“The trouble is, my father does what he thinks best for me and the country. Loubet does what he thinks best for the country. I can’t fault either of them.”

“And Reeve?”

“And Reeve.” Brie looked up from her glass. “I’m in love with him.”

“Oh.” Christina drew the word out as she studied Brie’s face. She’d already made up her mind that she’d stay right there in Cordina until everything was resolved. Now she reaffirmed it. “So that part of it is real.”

“No.” She didn’t let herself look down at her ring. “Only my feelings are real. The rest is just as I told you.”

“Ah, well, that’s no problem.”

Though she didn’t want pity, she had been expecting a bit of sympathy. “It’s not?”

“Of course not. If you want him, you’ll get him.”

Both amusement and interest flickered over her face. “Will I? How?”

Christina took a quick swallow of brandy. “If you don’t remember all the men you had to brush out from around your feet, I’m not going to tell you. It isn’t good for my ego. Anyway, they’re not worth it.” She touched her glass to Brie’s.

“Who isn’t?”

“Men.” Christina crossed her stockinged feet and examined her toes. “Men aren’t worth it. Louses, every single one.”

Somehow Brie felt they’d had this conversation before. A laugh bubbled in her throat. “Every one?”