He half pulled, half dragged her behind him, retracing their steps back the way they had come. Along the

corridor, down the stairs, through the hall, out onto the terrace and past the table where the dowager still sat.

Matt nodded politely but didn't break his stride.

Tatiana gasped a fast greeting. "Your Grace."

"Do have fun, children." The dowager waved gaily as if they were off for a picnic lunch.

He slowed a bit descending the terrace's stone steps to accommodate Tatiana, but he wanted nothing to impede their progress. He was at last going to learn what she was hiding, and he was not about to risk that she might think better of it.

"Where are we going?" She gasped.

"To the balloon." He sped up on the gravel walkway. "The one place I can guarantee we will not be overhead."

"Excellent idea." Her voice was breathless. "But must we run?"

"We are not running," he said, his tone clipped and determined. They circled the fountain and continued down the path toward the broad expanse of lawn that stretched endlessly toward the lake. "We are proceeding at a speed designed to ensure I have you where you can speak freely before you have the opportunity to change your mind."

"I shall not change my mind, but, Matthew, I cannot-" She stumbled behind him.

He turned on his heel, scooped her up in his arms before she could hit the ground and continued without

so much as a momentary pause.

"Matthew." She stared at him. "Surely you do not intend to carry me all the way to the balloon?"

"Surely I do," he said firmly.

"It is rather a distance, and you shall be exceedingly tired."

"I shall survive." He slanted her a quick glance. "It will be well worth it."

"I do hope so."

It might well have been his single-minded concentration, but they reached the balloon in no time. It was

fully inflated, tied to the ground with a series of stout ropes.

He tossed Tatiana unceremoniously into the balloon's wicker gondola, ignored her muffled "Ooph" and muttered comment and turned to study the scene.

Something didn't seem right, although he couldn't say what exactly struck him as odd. A fire still burned in a pit dug nearby, and the tunneling device used to direct the hot air sat on the ground. His tools and various other pieces of equipment were neatly arranged under the protection of the tent canopy. But there wasn't a servant in sight. Perhaps that was it.

"There were half a dozen men here when I left. There should be at least one or two still here."

"Obviously they were called away. Is that bothersome?"

"Not really."

It wasn't a concern, given that all he and Tatiana would do was simply ascend while remaining tethered to the ground. He could certainly handle that alone and indeed had done so uncounted times before. Still, there was something here that bothered him. Probably nothing more than apprehension over Tatiana's long-awaited revelation.

He shook off the feeling and climbed into the basket, running his gaze and his fingers over the ropes, lines, connections and hundred other tiny points where a problem could occur.

He nodded at the far side of the basket. "If you will untie those ropes at the same time I unfasten these, that will even the pull on the basket from the balloon and allow us to ascend in a relatively level manner."

"I am not an idiot, Matthew. I do remember." She huffed. "And this particular chore is not overly complicated. I think I can manage it."

He glanced at her. "I hope you also manage to remember not to untie the thickest rope. That's the line keeping us tethered to the ground."

She cast him a look of disgust and he bit back a grin.

Within moments they were rising smoothly in the gray sky. Matt watched the thick roll of rope on the ground, linking the craft to a stake driven deep into the earth, uncurl easily without the knotting or kinking that could cause a hazard later. The rope would allow them to go up approximately eighty feet, high enough to test his equipment, although for this quick flight he was not planning on testing anything. And high enough to avoid any possibility of eavesdropping.

They had ascended to a height of about twenty feet. Everything was proceeding as it should. Matt's gaze skimmed once more over potential problem areas. One could never be too careful. A fall from even this height would kill them.

"Now, then." He turned toward Tatiana and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm ready."

"Very well." The wooden rail that rimmed the wall of the basket came to just above the small of her back and she rested against it, grasping the rail in either hand, as comfortable in manner as if she traveled in balloons every day.

"Go ahead." He stared at her expectantly.

"I am thinking." She pulled her brows together in a considering manner. "I am indeed trying to follow the path taken by the Princess Sophia when she was in England."

"I have determined that much," he said wryly. "Why?"

"Well..." She paused. Her reluctance at this point was disquieting. Apprehension trickled through him. He had never believed what she was doing was dangerous in any way. At most he thought her quest was regarding something of a scandalous nature. Until the destruction of her room. Abruptly he realized how serious this might well be.

She drew a deep breath. "But when I said I was writing a history of the princess's travels, that was not entirely accurate."

"No?" He widened his eyes in feigned surprise. "Imagine my astonishment."

"Perhaps it would be easier to start at the beginning."

"How refreshing."

She ignored him. "As a hereditary princess of the Kingdom of Greater Avalonia, I am permitted to wear the Heavens of Avalonia. Indeed, I am charged with the care and protection of the Heavens."

"The care and protection of the heavens?" He raised a brow. "Why not the sun and the moon as well?"

"The sun and the moon as well as the stars are indeed part of the Heavens."

He studied her. "Precisely what are you talking about?"

"The Heavens of Avalonia is a set of precious jewels. Specifically, it is comprised of a large opal

representing the moon, an equally large ruby for the sun and four slightly smaller, perfect diamonds-"

"The stars?"

"Exactly." She nodded. "They are set in a wide gold cuff and traditionally worn by the queen in the

absence of a hereditary princess. Otherwise, it is one of the duties of my office to safeguard the Heavens.

It is a tradition hundreds of years old."

"A tradition? Like Avalonian brandy?"

"Not exactly." She wrinkled her nose. "This one is much more pleasant and, well, legitimate. At any rate, I have worn the cuff for state events and ceremonies all of my life. It is only recently that it was discovered that the Heavens, which neither I nor anyone else had ever questioned, was fake.

"My brother Alexei learned of this quite by accident, in papers hidden away somewhere, I believe. The jewels disappeared during a time of great upheaval in my country's history, half a century ago. My grandfather was king and had a replica of the cuff created. He and the queen both died within a few years of the disappearance of the Heavens and the mere fact that it had vanished and been replaced died with them. It was a closely guarded secret and even my immediate family was unaware of it. The counterfeit is quite an excellent copy, but then I suppose it had to be."

"I see," he said slowly. "And all this happened fifty-some years ago?"

She nodded.

"At around the same time your Princess Sophia fled to England with little more than an infant, a bag of

clothes and-"

"The heritage of my country."

"Are you certain?"

"No. It is entirely possible Sophia did not take the jewels. Even if she had, I am confident her motives

were honorable. It was, after all, her sacred duty to protect them. But her flight from Avalonia coupled with the disappearance of the Heavens is too great a coincidence to ignore."

"A ruby, an opal and four perfect diamonds." Matt shook his head in disbelief. "Set in gold."

"I rather suspect by this time they have been taken out of the cuff. A handful of gems is much easier to hide than a wide gold bracelet. Besides, the gold is really not significant."

"Of course not," he said wryly. "The jewels alone must be worth a fortune."

"Indeed, they are priceless, but their value cannot be measured in terms of money." Her gaze met his, dark green-no, emerald-and intense. "According to legend, Avalonia will stand as long as the Heavens. They have been in my country for centuries and are a symbol of the right of my family to rule."

"It all makes a horrible sort of convoluted sense. Your ridiculous story about writing a family history-"

"It was not ridiculous."

"And why you wanted to be known as Lady Matthew instead of an Avalonian princess."

"Exactly." She nodded, obviously pleased that he understood. "If someone knew about the jewels, they

would never tell a princess. However, they might well inadvertently reveal something to Tatiana Weston,

a mere scholar." He stared at her for a long moment. "I thought your original story about writing a family history was ridiculous, but this one is even more absurd."

"Regardless, it is absolutely true," she said staunchly. "Oh, I believe the story." A gust of wind buffeted the basket and he gripped the rail on either side of him, bracing his feet to accommodate the sway. "What I don't believe is that you seriously planned to travel to the homes of three elderly women, engage them in conversation over tea, whereupon they would promptly tell you where a fortune in jewels is hidden." "I did not think it would be easy," she snapped. "I'm certain you didn't. I'm equally certain you planned to take advantage of their hospitality to search their homes." She clenched her jaw and turned her head to stare off into the distance. "It could have worked." "It's the second most foolish thing I have ever heard you say." He shook his head. "These are all honorable women from honorable families. They are not part of your Avalonian political intrigue. All they have ever done is to help a lady in need. You would do best just to tell them the truth."

"Possibly," she said grudgingly.

"While I shall never understand your thinking, I do realize how, to a mind like yours, your plan could seem reasonable. What I don't understand"-he chose his words carefully-"is why you didn't tell me."