Dorian drove the lapis blue convertible confidently and competently, feeling the wind in his hair and the sun on his face on this beautiful Spring afternoon. He was speeding a bit, but not driving as fast as he could have been. This was not the autobahn after all -- only a narrow road in the German countryside. But there was little traffic, and the Porsche did need to be driven a bit faster than most automobiles.

As he drove, Dorian was very aware that he was skirting the property of the Baron von dem Eberbach. He had learned this section of Germany quite well over the years and he knew exactly how far he was away from Schloss Eberbach, both by the road and across country. He could almost measure the distance in heartbeats.

Dorian was in this part of Germany because the person who made Dorian's heart beat faster, Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, was in residence at the Schloss. That, in itself, was not remarkable. It was Klaus' home after all. But he had never stayed there this long before. Not in the ten years Dorian had known him. The mystery of it was driving Dorian crazy.

True, Klaus' father had passed away five weeks ago after a brief illness, and the details of inheriting a barony were somewhat intricate. But Klaus had been in charge of the day-to-day running of Eberbach for years. He was more than a match for any number of solicitors and agents. Surely he could have been back at work by now... if he had wanted to be.

But when Dorian had descended on the NATO office in Bonn, after giving Klaus his privacy for a full month, he had been disturbed to discover that the Major was still on leave of absence. And that a new Major was occupying Klaus' office.  Klaus' subordinates, his "alphabet," could give Dorian no supplemental information. Dorian had left the office, rented a good car, and made arrangements to stay in an inn near the Schloss until he knew what was going on.

He knew little more today than he had last week. He was not staying in the village closest to Eberbach, but in a small town to the south of the Schloss on the other side of an expanse of forest. He had put in an appearance in the village to learn whatever he could. But if the villagers knew anything about the goings-on at Schloss Eberbach, they were keeping it to themselves. The only information he had been able to glean was that several of the old Baron's relatives were also still there.

When it came to Klaus, waiting was not one of Dorian's strong points. And although Dorian had found it necessary to be patient with the Major, his love for Klaus was too strong to leave him alone for long. The fact that Klaus did not return Dorian's love, and was, in fact, violently opposed to it, was a point Dorian did not dwell on. He had made a point of not dwelling on it for the past ten years.

In his more depressed moments, Dorian likened his pursuit of Klaus to picking a scab on one's knee. Horribly fascinating, picking the scab was hard to resist.  But as a result of the constant attention, the wound never healed. It hurt.  Eventually, it would leave a scar.

Preparing once again to pick at his wound, Dorian was driving back to the inn today from one last reconnaissance mission near Schloss Eberbach. Eroica was planning to storm the fortress tonight and speak with the new Baron himself.  Dorian's mind was occupied with the differing scenarios that the resulting conversation might take when he rounded a curve and almost struck a small trunk that lay partially in the road. He immediately braked the car and reversed to where the trunk lay.

Beside the road near the trunk, with two other smaller bags at her feet, stood a young woman. She was short, but well proportioned. Her boots and jeans were splattered with mud, and she looked as if she had been walking for some time with a burden too heavy for her.

"May I offer my assistance, miss?" Dorian was at his most charming, even if he was not entirely sure of his German, but the young woman remained pointedly silent.

Dorian pulled the car off the road and parked, cutting the engine.  Hoping to make the girl feel more at ease, he got out of the car and leaned against the boot, facing her. Close up, Dorian could see that she was probably not yet out of her teens, in spite of her well developed figure. Her dark hair had evidently begun the day in a tight coil against the back of her head, but it was now coming loose in long strands. In addition to the muddy boots and jeans, her pullover and jean jacket were smudged. He could not see the girl's eyes behind her dark sunglasses, but her cheeks were flushed and her mouth was determined.

Dorian removed his own sunglasses and said carefully, "You seem to have had a bit of difficulty. It would be no trouble at all for me to give you a lift into town, and it is a beautiful day for a drive."

The silent young woman looked Dorian over carefully. She saw a rather good-looking gentleman -- for an older man -- who wore his long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was tall and slender and pale. The camel colored leather pants he wore looked butter-soft and fit him as well as his leather driving gloves of the same color. His blue cashmere sweater matched the color of his car and --oh, my -- his eyes. Which were now smiling at her.

"Do you speak any English, my dear?" 

The girl gave a short nod, and Dorian relaxed and spoke more easily in his own language. "I'm perfectly harmless, I assure you. Or perhaps you'd rather I telephone someone for you? I have my cell phone with me."

That seemed to shock the girl into motion. She slung the straps of the two smaller bags over her shoulders and gripped the trunk by the leather handle on its short side, preparing to drag it. She spoke quickly and easily in English, but with a German accent.

"Oh, no. No, please don't trouble. There's no one I wish to call. I'm quite all right.

You needn't bother."

Dorian straightened and blocked her path. "Then please let me drive you into the town. I can't bear to see you carrying all these bags, and you really should not be out here on this road alone."

He took a step backward and held up his hands. "I promise to behave myself, and

I won't even talk to you if you'd rather I didn't." He pressed on. "Or I could just take your baggage into the town for you and leave the cases at the inn.  When you finally trudge all the way into the village, another several kilometers, you can pick them up there." Dorian could see that she was weakening.

"You know, my dear, you'll have a dreadful sunburn if you don't get indoors soon."

The girl eased the trunk back to the ground and let the other bags fall from her shoulders. Sighing, she said, "Oh, dear. I suppose you're right. I didn't think of that."

She looked uncertainly up at Dorian. He did not smile at her, but let her think it over.  Finally, she nodded and with a sigh, said, "Very well, I accept. Thank you."

Dorian opened the boot and deposited the bags and the small trunk, then handed the girl into the car and resumed his own place behind the wheel. Starting the engine, Dorian glanced at his passenger.

"Will you tell me your name? Or shall we remain strangers?"

Relaxing and running her hand over the luxurious leather upholstery, the girl said,

"Oh, you can call me Hildy, I suppose. And you?"

"Call me Dorian, my dear." Dorian pulled the car into the road and began the drive into town. "Do you mind telling me what happened to you? I didn't pass a stalled car anywhere on this road..."

Hildy slid down in her seat and lifted her face to the wind. After a moment or two, she turned toward Dorian and watched him, deciding something.

"You are English, aren't you?"

Glancing over, Dorian shrugged at his passenger. "Yes, just an Englishman on holiday."

Hildy shifted the sunglasses higher on her nose and stretched like a cat. She left her arm draped outside the car and said airily, "Fabulous! I *love* speaking English. French is more romantic, but not as much fun."

She sighed and continued easily, "I'm not from around here either. Not really.  My parents died when I was young, and Uncle Heinz shipped me off to a boarding school in the Alps. I've been imprisoned there for years. So I consider myself more a citizen of the world. You know?"

Dorian was a bit surprised by the personal nature of her conversation, but he smiled at her anyway. Hildy paused for another moment, then said, "Well, I've decided you're all right. I'll tell you my secret. But you must promise not to tell a soul! It is most important."

Dorian immediately replied, "I love secrets, and I promise not to tell a soul! Do go on."

Sensing a kindred spirit, Hildy sat up and leaned toward her new friend, saying earnestly,  "It's just that... I'm running away!"

Startled, Dorian slowed the car and turned a piercing look on Hildy. She deflected his concern.

"No, don't tell me it's a terrible thing to do to my family! I don't *have* a family!

And anyway, they don't care. They don't! I am escaping the most dreadful persecution!"

Dorian raised his eyebrows at her. "But, Hildy! What in the world can you mean?"

Hildy slumped tragically down in the bucket seat. She whipped off her sunglasses and turned a dark gaze on Dorian. "They're forcing me to marry my cousin, Nicky."

Shocked, Dorian stopped the car and faced his passenger directly. "Marry...? But surely you are old enough now to make that choice yourself!" A tendril of doubt formed in Dorian's mind. "Aren't you?"

Hildy hung the sunglasses from the neck of her sweater by one earpiece and began to twirl a wisp of dark hair around her finger. "Well, yes. I'm 18 as of yesterday. And I *could* choose someone else if I knew anybody. But that's not the problem. The problem is Nicky!" She turned toward Dorian with pleading eyes.

Giving in to his curiosity, Dorian grinned at her. "All right, I am prepared to detest your cousin Nicky! What is it that Nicky can do?"

After a dramatic pause, Hildy intoned, "On his deathbed, my guardian, Uncle Heinz, coaxed a promise out of Nicky -- that Nicky would take care of me and protect me. Marry me." 

She suddenly laughed. "God! The whole thing was so 'Star Wars,' you know?  Remember that scene at the end when Darth Vader takes off his helmet and you see he's just an egghead and he's turned nice and is dying and Luke is... You know?"

Dorian was only vaguely familiar with the scene, but he nodded encouragingly.

"Yes, well, I *swear* that's how it was. Dreaded Uncle Heinz, who used to just scare me witless, holding Nicky's hand and making him promise... I think maybe it was his holding Nicky's hand that made the whole thing so eerie. I could imagine them fighting each other with light sabers more easily than I could *that* little scene."

She shifted in the seat and continued indignantly, "He made Nicky promise to protect me! From *what*, I want to know? I think I can protect myself. I even took a class in school. Father Francis said... What I mean is, my instructor said I exhibited a great deal of aggression. Something like that. I thought I did quite well!"

Dorian moved the car forward into the shade of some overhanging trees and put it in park. He was just beginning to unravel Hildy's story, and he was too fascinated to cut it short by arriving at the inn too soon. To himself he admitted that severe doubts had begun to assail him. Hildy may have been 18, as she said she was, but she was very young for all that.

"Hildy, this is all quite Gothic! Surely your cousin Nicky can't force you into marriage -- even if he did make a promise to your guardian. What makes you think he can marry you without your consent?"

"Well...," she turned her face away from Dorian's eyes and began hesitantly, "I may have told Uncle Heinz that I would marry Nicky when I was old enough." She glanced at Dorian's face. "All right, I *did* tell him that. But it was *years* ago, and Uncle Heinz wanted very much for me to marry Nicky. So I... I told him I'd make Nicky a good wife."

By way of explanation, she helpfully added, "I was in school with all those boring girls and the boring Sisters, and only boring old Father Francis... I was pretty stupid when I was younger. But the idea of a big wedding and a long veil and being in love with a dashing older man and having a home of my own seemed so wonderfully... you know. So romantic." 

Hildy gave a very unladylike snort. "That was before I met Nicky, of course. 

Nicky is *not* romantic in the least. And he's quite *old*! He was always away on business when I visited Uncle Heinz during school holidays, but his photos... 

Well, he's a very handsome man in photos. I sort of fell in love with the pictures, I guess, and imagined the rest. I never met him before Uncle Heinz got sick.

"Anyway, Uncle Heinz told Nicky I'd given my consent, so he made Nicky promise." Hildy looked straight into Dorian's eyes and said seriously,  "You don't know Nicky, so you don't know how... how *wearing* he can be. I just had to find a way out.

"Then yesterday I found out that Nicky is also to be my trustee until I'm 23!  I'm quite wealthy, but I'm an orphan, you see, so I have to have trustees and things like... Oh, I don't know much about all that stuff. Just that it seems that if Nicky has control of my money, he *could* force me to marry him. And he was so cold and... assessing. Like he was sizing me up or something. So I'm running away."

If all that were true, it would be a fairly chilling situation for Hildy. Dorian turned the facts in his mind.

"Well, the situation does seem quite unusual, I must say. But don't you have any other relatives who could help you? Surely they would not allow Nicky to force you against your will!"

"But that's just it!  There *is* no one else. Well, unless you count Cousin Greta and her husband William. And their stupid son, Freddy. And I guess, technically, Cousin Marcus and Cousin Fronia. Geez, what kind of name is *Fronia* anyway? The point is, they don't care and they don't count. Nobody can stand up to Nicky."

"I see," said Dorian. Momentarily at a loss, Dorian pulled into the road to resume the trip into town.

"May I ask what it is you plan to do now that you've got away from these people?" he asked.

For the first time, Hildy seemed to grow thoughtful. After a few moments, she turned back to Dorian.

"I think I want to go to school. University. My marks are good enough to get in somewhere, I'm sure. I'm not ready to get married to anyone. I need to meet some people and travel and... you know."

Dorian smiled at his passenger. "I do know. You need to experience things firsthand, find yourself, and learn about what you want out of life. Yes?"

"Yes! That's it. Something exciting is bound to come along, don't you think?" Hildy pulled her sunglasses off her sweater and pushed them onto her face, leaning back against the seat.

Dorian did think something exciting would happen to this girl. It seemed something already had. He began to think through the implications of Hildy's situation and was a little afraid for her. She seemed to be as naive as she was impulsive. University would be a good idea as long as someone kept an eye on her. 

Then there was the money. This cousin of hers might be able to tie up her funds at his whim until she was 23, depending on the terms of the trust. Hmmm. The girl might need legal help. As for the marriage, Dorian didn't see how that could be made to come about. Surely there was a constraint about close relatives marrying. But he didn't know much about the laws here.

Dorian also realized that he needed more information about the relatives in question. They might have suffered a bit from Hildy's scathing description of them. He glanced at his companion and found that she was dozing off. She must have had a rough day of it. He returned to his thoughts of how he could help her.

Dorian maneuvered the car into the car park beside the inn and summoned a boy to help with the luggage. Dorian arranged for a room for Hildy and went back outside to fetch her.

Hildy sleepily followed Dorian into the inn and up the stairs to her room.  Making certain she knew where to find him, Dorian invited her downstairs for dinner and then waited until she had locked the door before going to his own room to freshen up.

"Well," Dorian thought, "so much for my visit with Klaus tonight." As he prepared to change his clothes for dinner, the thought came to him that Klaus would certainly know this girl's family. She could not have dragged that trunk very far, after all. Her relatives must live in the area.

Ah! A logical reason to call openly at Schloss Eberbach. Klaus could probably shed a great deal of light on her situation and could possibly act as a go-between, if he were so inclined.

There was a frantic knock on his door, and Dorian heard his name being called.

He rushed to open the door to find Hildy crying in the hallway.  He quickly ushered her in. Her dark brown eyes were huge in her face and dripping tears.

Dorian gripped her shoulders and looked hard into her face. "What is it, Hildy?

Are you hurt?"

"No, no. I've lost my handbag! I must have dropped it sometime last night. It had a great deal of money in it... I can't pay for my room! And I have no money for food or the train or *anything*!"

"You lost it last night! You were walking all last night? My dear girl, your family will be frantic with worry by now! Please let me call them and just let them know you're all right!"

Hildy cried louder. "NO! I don't want them to know where I am. And you promised not to tell anyone! I won't go back there and I won't marry Nicky!"

Seeing the stubborn set of Hildy's face and hearing the note of emotional exhaustion in her voice, Dorian changed tack suddenly.

"Yes, well. Don't worry about the room, my dear. I'll... I'll loan you the money until we can either find your bag or until you've settled things with your cousin."

Hildy looked relieved and began to quieten. //I need a brandy,// thought Dorian.

He gave Hildy a quick hug and said, "Now. Go back to your room, freshen up, and change your clothes for dinner. I'll get a table, and you can join me downstairs when you're ready."

After Hildy had gone, Dorian sat on his bed and wondered what the hell he had got himself into. The worst of it was that the girl was making him feel his age.  He felt sorry for this Nicky; Hildy would be a handful.

Rousing himself a few minutes later, he took a quick shower and turned his attention to his clothing. After donning fresh white silk briefs, he pulled on black slacks that fit him like a second skin, showing off his narrow waist, firm thighs and perfect ass. He added a wide-sleeved white silk blouse that he wore open at the throat and midway down his smooth chest. He cinched the long blouse at his waist with a long belt of silver disks and leather strands that wrapped around him and then fell at his side to mid thigh. He placed a beautiful beaten silver torque around his neck and added matching earrings. The cuffs of the blouse fastened tightly around his wrists with beaten silver cufflinks. His soft black leather boots had a short but sharp heel. Critically surveying himself in the mirror, he decided to wear his hair down. Finally satisfied with his appearance, he left the room to go downstairs.

And heard a commotion at the front desk.

Dorian's German had improved greatly over the past ten years, but this conversation -- if it could be called a conversation -- was beyond him. The clipped, machine-gun delivery of the harsh-sounding words was loud and very angry. The man on desk duty was trying to get a word in edgewise, but it wasn't working.

Suddenly, Hildy's story became blindingly clear to Dorian and he almost laughed aloud at himself for not realizing the truth sooner. Composing himself, Dorian stepped gracefully into the inn's front room to confront that angry voice.

A red-faced Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, with a grip on the innkeeper's shirt with one hand and a woman's handbag in the other, was yelling into the innkeeper's face. He did a double take when he saw Dorian, then threw the handbag to the ground in disgust.

"SCHEISSE! This is all I needed to make this day a living hell! What the fuck are you doing here, you pervert?!"

Unfazed by this greeting from his beloved, Dorian posed gracefully in front of the furious man and said, "My dear Major. Would you by any chance be 'cousin Nicky'?"

Klaus stared at Dorian for a stunned second before he launched himself at the laughing man. "Where is she?! If you had anything to do with this, Eroica, I'll kill you!"

Dorian danced away from Klaus' clutching hands and darted behind the desk, still laughing. Keeping the desk between himself and Klaus, Dorian tried to inject a little calm into the situation as Klaus chased him around the furniture.

"Klaus, she's safe! She's all right! I passed her on the forest road this afternoon and gave her a lift. That's all, I swear!"

After several minutes spent in a futile chase, Klaus finally let out a frustrated yell and rammed his fist into the wall beside Dorian's head.

The pain made Klaus' head swim. While he was fighting off the faintness, he heard soft voices and felt himself being led to a chair. He sat, and felt a cool cloth bathing his injured hand. When his head cleared, Klaus looked up and found himself seated beside a table in the inn's empty lounge, under the scrutiny of concerned blue eyes.

"Klaus? My love, have you broken your hand? Klaus?"

"No, you idiot. I have not broken my hand." Klaus pulled it quickly out of Dorian's gentle grasp and winced at the pain. He probably *had* broken his hand.  Thank God it wasn't his gun hand.

Klaus saw a glass of whiskey on the table in front of him, and, at Dorian's nod, he raised the glass and sipped. The liquor helped clear the remaining fog from his brain.

Remembering his mission, Klaus demanded, "Where is Hildegard? Goddamn it.

Doesn't she know how foolish all this is?"

Dorian had used the time between Klaus' injury and his regaining his senses to examine his love. Klaus' face was drawn and pasty, his eyes surrounded by dark circles of exhaustion and grief. The past weeks had not been easy on Klaus.

Calmly and soothingly, Dorian replied, "Hildy is upstairs. She's quite all right. I'll fetch her in a moment -- after you've calmed down."

Klaus jumped to his feet and began to pace angrily back and forth, holding his injured hand against his chest.

"CALMED DOWN!?  Do you have any idea what I've been through with that girl for the past five weeks? Scheisse! It's enough to drive me to drink. Of all the stupid, illogical, ridiculous... I've never heard such an endless stream of drivel in my life! And then she leaves the Schloss in the middle of the night with ALL her baggage -- Christ! the trail she left dragging that stupid trunk of hers! -- and spends the night in the forest. ALONE and UNPROTECTED! Just as if she didn't know how dangerous it was! Idiot! What the fuck was she thinking?!"

Trying to suppress his grin, Dorian said seriously, "She's very upset, Klaus. She thinks you were going to force her into marriage."

Klaus abruptly stopped pacing and stared at Dorian. "What? With whom?"

The grin escaped. "Well... With you, my love."

Astounded, Klaus blinked at Dorian. "Where in hell did she come up with that nonsense? How the fuck could I do any such thing?"

Dorian's eyes twinkled laughingly at the bewildered look on Klaus' face. "Well, because you're her trustee and she's at your mercy, of course. She considers herself to be alone in the world and dreadfully persecuted."

Klaus sank, exhausted, into a chair beside Dorian. "What?"

"Of course, Klaus! You must understand." Dorian sat forward in his chair and began a dramatic narration.

"Hildy is a beautiful, innocent young woman recently emerged from a sheltered environment. She finds that she is trapped by relatives she doesn't trust, in a dusty old German castle, completely at the mercy of her dark and mysterious cousin." 

Dorian batted his eyelashes at Klaus, who was staring at him in fascination.

"You're making this up."

"No, I'm not."

Dorian clasped his hands together over his heart and continued. "This brooding, handsome older man is also the innocent girl's trustee and has complete control of her fortune for the foreseeable future. He has made a deathbed promise to his father that he will marry the girl." 

Klaus' opened his mouth to speak, found he couldn't, and slumped resignedly in his chair as Dorian continued in dramatic tones.

"The young woman cannot consent to wed this man, but knowing that he will be ruthless in keeping both his promise and his control over her fortune, she does the only thing she can do. She escapes in the night and blindly runs toward her brilliant future."

"Dragging a trunk behind her, I suppose." Klaus raked his hand over his face and through his hair. "Christ! Is that what she told you? She must be out of her mind!"

Dorian reached for his own glass, and took a sip of brandy. He sat back in his chair. "Oh, no, darling. She's merely young and romantic. Why does she call you Nicky?"

"God knows! I don't. I never even met her until she came here six weeks ago. What I do know is that she makes me feel incredibly old."

Dorian laughed, "Oh, God. I thought the same thing just an hour ago!" The two men shared a deprecating look and a twisted smile. Klaus looked away.

After a moment, Dorian asked quietly, "Did you promise to marry her, Klaus?"

Klaus glanced at Dorian, and saw that the man was not looking at him but was staring at the table. A bit surprised to find that he didn't care to taunt the other man, Klaus bit back the sharp answer that had been on the tip of his tongue, then answered seriously.

"No. I promised to manage her affairs for a few years, watch out for her. Try to keep her out of trouble. Ha!" Klaus tossed back the rest of his whiskey.

Dorian looked into Klaus eyes and said simply, "I was sorry to hear of your father's death. Are you all right, my love?"

"I would be if it weren't for this infernal nuisance!" Exasperated, Klaus slammed his empty glass down on the table and said, "Christ! I'm surrounded by idiots.

"My house is full of distant relations who will not LEAVE! They're driving me insane! I have nothing in common with any of them! My cousin Greta and her husband can't stop talking about their idiot son, Freddy. Freddy himself is disgusted with them and either argues with them at the top of his lungs or stays in his room playing that ridiculous music on his guitar. Greta thinks she's some great decorating expert and has endless ideas for 'updating' my schloss. Ideas, by the way, that make my skin crawl! My other cousin, Marcus, is a fawning, ingratiating little prig, and his sister Fronia hasn't stopped crying since Father died! I have no idea why. Cook is threatening to leave if Greta doesn't stay out of the kitchen. And I can't return to NATO until they go away! Now Hildegard runs off to do -- God knows what! -- with no money, no transportation and no idea what she's doing!"

Klaus closed his eyes. Dorian motioned to the bartender, who hurried over with another whiskey then returned to the bar.

"Breathe, Klaus," said Dorian. "Just take a deep breath. Good. Now sip this."

Unquestioning, Klaus obeyed and became calmer. He looked into Dorian's understanding eyes and grimaced. "I'm listening to you. I must be crazy already."

Dorian smiled at his love and replied gently, "I think you're just exhausted, my darling. Whether you admit it or not, these past weeks have been very difficult for you to handle alone. All you need is a little perspective. And some peace and quiet."

Klaus looked down at the table. When had Dorian grown to know him so well?

Dorian said, "Will you let me help?" He took advantage of Klaus' silence and gently touched his uninjured hand. To Dorian's surprise, Klaus did not draw away.

"Now then," Dorian began in a calm voice. "I'm going to fetch Hildy and bring her to you. You will talk to her and explain why she doesn't need to run off.  Then

I am going to drive both of you back to the Schloss, where you will both get a good night's sleep. 

"Tomorrow, you will graciously thank your relatives for coming to your Father's funeral. You will firmly, but politely, tell them that you need some privacy, and you will help arrange for their travel home. I'm sure that one of the alphabet can help with the details if you should need assistance. You will then inform Cook that your relatives are leaving, and when. You will arrange for Hildy to return to her school, and you will discuss her further education with her and with the administrators there.

"At some point, my love, you may wish to assign her affairs to another trustee. 

But you owe your oath to your father this much. It shouldn't take you long to get everything under control, and then you will have some breathing room. You can take another week or so to rest before you return to work. All right?"

Klaus stared at Dorian for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "Yes, all right.  It's a good plan. Go bring the idiot down here."  He paused for a minute then said tiredly, "Don't leave me alone with her. I still want to strangle her."

Dorian left Klaus nursing his whiskey and his injured hand and climbed the steps to Hildy's room. She had fallen asleep, but he managed to rouse her and tell her who was waiting for her in the lounge. He promised not to leave her alone with Klaus and persuaded her to go down the steps with him.

When the two of them entered the lounge, Klaus had himself well in hand. He rose tensely, but he managed to greet Hildy without yelling at her.

"Hildegard. What the hell..." he broke off as Dorian cleared his throat. He began again. "I am quite... relieved to find you in one piece, you id.. you little fool. Sit."

Dorian cleared his throat again. "Please *be seated*," Klaus amended through clenched teeth.

Hildy sat primly on the edge of a chair and folded her hands in her lap.  Watching her in light of the tale Dorian had told him, Klaus recognized the truth of the matter. The girl was living in a romantic dreamland. Christ.

Klaus glanced up at Dorian and nodded. Dorian, relieved that Klaus understood, glided to the bar and asked for a small sherry. He returned to the table and placed it in front of Hildy. Hildy stared at Dorian.

"You know him! You promised me and then you betrayed me to him! How could you?"

Klaus broke in, "That's enough, Hildegard. He didn't betray you. I found your track in the forest -- and your purse, I might add -- and I guessed you might have come here. Dorian had no idea who you were running away from; you're the only person in the world who calls me Nicky. If you had called me Klaus, he would have known right away."

"Very well, I was not betrayed," said the persecuted heiress. "But you are here now anyway and there is nothing I can do to stop you."

"Stop me?" Klaus took a deep breath and said as steadily as he could, "Hildegard, it may surprise you to learn that I did *not* promise my father that I would marry you. Nor do I wish to marry you. You may rest easy."

Hildy looked uncertainly at Klaus. "You don't want to marry me?"

Klaus immediately replied with brutal honesty, "Not in the least."

Hildy cocked her head at Klaus and asked curiously, "Why not?"

Completely at a loss for words, Klaus could only stare at Hildy, who was waiting for his answer.

Dorian, his own composure taxed to the limit, came to Klaus' rescue. He said with only a faint tremor in his voice, "Perhaps he... er...perhaps he is not free to love you, Hildy. You know that someone as mysterious and handsome as your cousin can hardly be expected to have an untouched heart."

Hildy looked away from both men, her eyes focused on a picture neither one of them could see. She seemed to consider Dorian's answer.

Hildy returned her attention to Klaus. "Well, I suppose someone your age who was still unmarried would practically *have* to have been blighted by love. That's probably why you prefer to be called Klaus instead of Nicky, which is *so* much more romantic. Someone who called you Nicky broke your heart, didn't they?"

"Someone my age? Damn it, girl, how old do you think I am? And the rest of that stirring little speech, as well as this entirely revolting situation, is a load of crap!"  Klaus rose from his chair. "Go get your things, Hildegard. It's time to stop this foolishness and go home."

Hildy stood, and drawing her small frame up to its most imposing, she thrust her chin forward and said, ringingly, "It is *not* my home, and I will *not* go with you! I refuse to be your prisoner any longer. You are dreadful and mean and cold, and I *hate* you! You are *incapable* of loving anyone, and I don't think anyone could ever love a man like you! Your father didn't love you. Nobody will *ever* love you!"

"Stop it, Hildy!" Dorian suddenly appeared in front of her and gripped her shoulders, shaking her. "That's more than enough. You don't know what you're talking about."

Dorian looked up to see that Klaus had turned away from the table and was striding for the door. Hildy had begun to cry. Dorian maneuvered her into a chair and sat facing her. He waited until she had wiped her eyes and calmed a bit before he began.

"Your cousin is loved, Hildy. He is loved very much indeed. You know nothing about him at all. He simply doesn't parade his personal life for your amusement.  He is a very private person."

Dorian paused for breath, then continued sternly, "You may not understand that or understand that his relationship with his father was complicated. But Klaus loved his father very much, and for you to say that Klaus' father didn't love him...

"You have deliberately hurt a good friend of mine, Hildy. I can't believe you said those things. If you didn't mean them, it just proves how immature and silly you are. If you did mean them, then you are cruel and selfish and I will be sorry I helped you today."

Dorian stood. "I don't know if Klaus is here any longer. But if he is, you will either apologize for your words or you will go to your room. If you apologize, you will return to the Schloss with him. If you go to your room, you may resume your little adventure tomorrow alone. I will have nothing further to do with you."

He stood and abruptly left her sitting alone in the empty lounge. Dorian wondered if he should try to find Klaus himself, but he decided not to. Klaus was too tired for anything more today. If Hildy did bring herself to apologize, Klaus would probably be hard put even to accept the apology.

Dorian walked through the rear doors of the inn and stepped into the garden. It was still cool, and he wouldn't be able to stay outside long, but the fresh air was welcome. Dorian walked to a small fountain at the back of the garden and stood staring at the water for several minutes. He stiffened as the noise of a match striking came from behind him.

Klaus sat in the shadows nearby, lighting a cigarette. As the smell of tobacco came to him, Dorian heard, "She is a tiresome girl, isn't she? Has she recovered?"

"I find that I don't particularly care," Dorian said acidly. "That little performance was beyond the line." He turned to face Klaus. "Darling, are you all right?"

Klaus took a deep drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke up and away from Dorian's face. "You've asked me that a lot tonight," he said, flexing his injured hand. "But surprisingly, yes. I'm fine."

The tip of the cigarette glowed. On a breath of smoke, Klaus said, "What she said about me... I've said those same words to myself often enough in the past.  Every one of them. It's odd, but when I actually heard someone else say the words, I knew they weren't true."

Not knowing how to respond, Dorian remained silent. Klaus came to stand in front of Dorian. Giving the other man a twisted smile, Klaus asked, "Did you tell her that you love me?"

Dorian rested his weight on one cocked hip and twisted a golden curl in his fingers. "Well, not exactly. The passive tense is so useful, don't you think, darling?"

He sighed and gazed into Klaus' hooded green eyes. "But I do love you so, Klaus," he whispered.

"So you keep telling me."

A figure appeared silhouetted in the doorway, and Klaus stepped away from Dorian. "It seems that Hildegard is looking for one of us."

The girl hesitantly approached Klaus and bravely met his eyes with her own.  "Cousin Nicklaus, I'm very sorry about what I said. I'm very sorry, and I know it wasn't true."

Klaus stubbed out his cigarette and blew out the last of the smoke in a sigh. "I know, Hildegard," he said calmly. "It's all right. Can we go home now? Or do you have anything else planned for tonight's entertainment?" At the girl's stricken look, Klaus regrouped.

He said, "Look. I hate being called Nicklaus or Nicky.  And I think you probably hate being called Hildegard. If you'll call me Klaus, I'll call you Hildy. All right?"

"Ok," said Hildy. "New names, new beginning?"

"All right. But you'd better understand this. I'm never going to want to marry you.

Get that out of your mind."

She grinned at him. "You don't know what you're missing."

"The fuck I don't," he said under his breath as he turned toward Dorian. Dorian bit his lip to keep from laughing and stepped toward Hildy with his arms open.

Hildy stepped into them for a quick hug. "Thank you for everything, Mr. Dorian. 

I'll go get my things and meet you in the front hall... Klaus."  She turned and ran back into the inn and up the stairs.

Silence descended in the garden, broken only by the sounds of the fountain.  After a few minutes, Dorian heard, "You don't need to drive us to the Schloss, Lord Gloria. I feel quite sober and alert enough to make the short trip in safety."

Dorian turned back to the fountain and tried to control his disappointment. He heard Klaus move and suddenly felt the warmth of another person standing close behind him. He wanted nothing more than to lean back into that warmth and feel Klaus' body against him, but he knew Klaus would not allow it. He tensed in the darkness, waiting for more words of rejection.

Klaus' breath was very close to Dorian's ear, and Dorian shivered as he heard the quiet words. "I am glad you were here tonight, Dorian. You have been a great comfort to me. Thank you. I will implement your suggested plan in the morning and rid myself of all these pests. I have no doubt that it will take a few days.  And until matters are settled, I trust that you will remain in the area in case I should require your support."

Dorian's eyes filled with tears, but his smile was glorious as he turned and faced his one true love. "Of course, my love. I'll be right here."

Klaus was standing so close that Dorian could smell the whiskey and the cigarette on Klaus' breath. His green eyes glinted in the faint light, and they held Dorian's blue ones for a moment before Klaus stepped away from the other man.

Klaus drew his car keys from his pocket. "No promises, Dorian." He walked toward the inn, turning as he reached the door to say, "I'll ring you tomorrow. And then you can tell me what you were doing here."

He went into the inn, and Dorian heard the sounds of the luggage being brought down the stairs, voices carrying on the breeze. Dorian drew his arms around himself for warmth, and smiled.

He would tell Klaus he had been here to find a runaway.

****************

The End

Many, many thanks to Josan and to Kadorienne for beta and encouragement!