The Ambassador's Daughter

Chapter 26

Louise stared out the window of the library. She was supposed to be restocking some World War II reference books her father had used a couple of days ago, but she'd gotten distracted. She couldn't even say what had distracted her. But when her mother walked into the room, she found Louise leaning against the window frame, her arms folded over the books.

"Louise!" Elise snapped. Louise looked up, startled, nearly dropping her books. "Do try to focus on the present, child." Louise ducked her head.

"Sorry, Mamma." Louise moved to the shelf and put the books away.

"What are you constantly day dreaming about these days?" Elise asked, handing Louise another reference volume. Louise shrugged, and blushed an interesting shade of red. Elise raised an eye brow. Louise was usually much more composed than this. Elise had the uncomfortable suspicion that her daughter's discomfiture stemmed from a relationship of some sort with Barnes. When they had finished restocking the shelves, Elise went to find the ambassador.

Louise returned to her room. She turned her phone on and checked her messages. She had a voice mail from her cousin. Louise listened to it, smiling as she heard Laura yelling at her kids to be quiet so they didn't wake the baby before she realised the machine was recording. "Oh! Hi, Louise. It's me, Laura, haven't heard from you in a while. Just wanted to know how the ball was. Thanks for sending the picture, you were stunning."

While Louise was on the phone, her mother stood outside her door listening as best she could. It alarmed her how frequently the name "Bucky" came up. Elise gave up trying to over hear her daughter and went to find her husband. He'd been in a meeting earlier. Elise found him in his study.

"Do you realise your daughter is on the phone with Laura right now." Elise said without preamble.

"Yes." Brandt replied not looking up.

"Do you know often she mentions Bucky Barnes? And have you noticed how distracted she seems of late?"

"No and yes, respectively. My dear, is there a point to this? I'm very busy." Elise sank into a chair in front of her husband's desk.

"William, you said you were going to take care of this. What are you doing to protect your daughter?" Brandt looked up. He had a plan set, not that he was going to share the details with his wife. The less she knew the better, but he did not appreciate her tone.

"Elise, I promised you that I would take care of everything. Trust me."

"Just do something soon," Elise demanded, "Before our daughter gets hurt, or worse." Elise stood and left the study. Brandt sighed. All he needed was for Louise to make the next move. And for that he would be very patient.

Brandt observed his daughter becoming increasingly antsy. Her focus and attention span became limited and she spent most of her time staring off into space. Two days after her mother went to him with her concerns, Brandt received a call from the garage. "Sir," Gordon said,"Miss Brandt is here, we are going to the palace, again." Without waiting for a reply, Gordon hung up. Louise had gone to the garage again, which means that Gordon did not have time to stay on the line. Also, Brandt was sure that Gordon was only doing this because Brandt had threatened him with dismissal if he refused. Brandt hung up his phone and sat back in his chair. He would give Louise a few more free trips to the palace and then he would enact his plan to put her mother's fears to rest.