I am Casilda, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, one of the oldest families in the Spanish peerage. I am 21 and excelled by none—that's what Mamá says. She and my father exalt me as much as they can—not that I complain, of course—but there's a reason. The start of my 21st birthday holiday in Venice was marked by the news that I'd been married by proxy to the baby King of Barataria. That would be nice, *sí*, if I did not love another, that is, Papá's handsome servant Luiz.