22. Adrien
ADRIEN
“ H ave you seen Miss Bellamy?” Adrien asked, catching one of the footmen who was just leaving Claire’s apartment.
He shook his head. “No, Your Highness. I haven’t seen her. I was just delivering a message from the kitchens. Monsieur Faronne was asking to know a detail of the recipe she’d given him.”
Adrien looked at him in surprise. “What recipe is that?” he asked.
Again, the footman shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. But Miss Bellamy went to the kitchens this morning. It was a favorite dish of yours. I think I saw langoustines in a pan.”
The mention of the langoustines made Adrien think. He wondered if perhaps this was the same dish as Claire had cooked on board the yacht. But if it was, why had she left the recipe with Monsieur Faronne? Wouldn’t she be making it for him herself?
“You don’t think she’s leaving, do you?” he asked.
It was hardly appropriate to voice such a thought to a footman, and yet Adrien was now gripped by a sudden fear. He wondered if Claire having shared the recipe with Monsieur Faronne meant she had no intention of being there to cook it for him. The footman looked confused.
“I… I don’t know, sir. There’s a car waiting. But I don’t know where it’s going to take her.”
Adrien stared at him in astonishment. “Find her. And when you do. Tell her I have to see her. Tell everyone to look for her. She can’t be allowed to leave. Not until I’ve spoken to her.”
He was gripped by a sudden desperation. If Claire was leaving, everything was lost.
“Yes, Your Highness,” the footman said, as Adrien hurried away.
He’d wanted to wait and surprise her — to reveal the present he’d promised her from the beginning. But now, the thought of her leaving had galvanized him. Rushing through the palace, he told everyone he met to find Claire and to tell her to meet him at the royal theater.
“I’ll be waiting for her there,” he called out, hurrying along, gripped by a sense of desperation.
He’d taken Claire for granted, and expected her to be something she wasn’t yet ready to be.
In doing so, he’d come close to losing her — perhaps he already had.
But the thought of doing so brought with it a resolve, and Adrien knew he couldn’t allow her to slip through his fingers.
He loved her, and now was the moment to prove it.
“Miss Bellamy? Miss Bellamy?” a voice behind Claire called out.
She’d been returning to her apartment, looking for Esme, but now, as she turned, she found several people hurrying towards her from different directions.
“What’s wrong? Has something happened?” she asked.
It was one of the footmen who’d reached her first.
“His Royal Highness requests your company at the royal theater, Miss Bellamy. I’m to ask you to go there at once,” he said.
Claire was confused. They’d gone to the royal theater just a few days before, and Claire hadn’t thought anything more of it since. Why did Adrien want to meet her there?
“Well, I… now?” she asked, and the footman nodded.
“Immediately, Miss Bellamy. There’s a car waiting for you.”
The fact a car was waiting to take her on what was essentially a five-minute walk was a reminder to Claire of just how different her life now was.
In Monaco — in every aspect of her life to date — she’d been anonymous.
What she did, where she went, who she went there with — none of it had mattered.
But now, everything was different. Plans had to be made.
Nothing could be spontaneous. She still had time to get to the airport for her flight.
But to do so would be churlish. Cruel, even.
She wanted to speak to Adrien, and it was obvious he wanted to speak to her, too.
“All right. Let me just get my things,” she said.
Hurrying to fetch a coat, Claire was soon getting into the Bentley for the drive across the square to the royal theater. What was Adrien planning?
“I’m to take you to the rear entrance, Miss Bellamy,” the driver said, as he helped Claire into the car.
It was all very mysterious, but Claire was getting used to such things — life in Flandenne was nothing if not unusual…
“Thank you. That’s fine,” Claire replied.
Driving out of the palace gates, she heard the click of cameras as photographers hurried to see what was happening.
Looking longingly out of the window, she saw tourists sipping coffee beneath the cathedral spires and strolling in and out of the stores on the square.
She longed for that same anonymity, and yet the queen’s words still resounded in her mind — if it was love, the rest didn’t matter.
The car had crossed the square and arrived at the back of the theater.
No one had followed — their momentary glimpse enough to satisfy their curiosity.
The driver got out and opened the car door.
“Just through here, Miss Bellamy,” he said, gesturing to what had once been the stage door.
It was all very mysterious.
“Is no one coming to meet me?” Claire asked.
The driver shook his head. “His Royal Highness is waiting inside,” he replied.
Claire didn’t argue. But she was still confused, and nodding, she stepped out of the car and hurried to the stage door, lest someone accost her on the way.
It opened onto a narrow corridor, with doors leading off on both sides to dressing rooms, and a flight of steps up ahead leading to an open door, beyond which presumably lay the stage.
No one was about, and Claire stepped forward, about to call out, when footsteps sounded above.
“Adrien?” she said, looking up the steps as a figure appeared above.
It was the prince, and he smiled at her as he came hurrying down to greet her.
“I’m so pleased to see you. I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” he said.
Claire smiled. “It was all so mysterious. I still don’t know why you wanted to see me here. But of course I came. I thought… well, I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me.”
He came down the steps, holding out his hand to her and shaking his head.
“I wanted to. I had to. No… please don’t think I didn’t want to see you, Claire. I haven’t thought of anything else but you… and the baby, and… please, I’m sorry. I know this hasn’t been easy for you.”
Claire sighed. He was right, but there were times when Claire hadn’t made it easy for herself either.
She’d fought against the strangeness of it all, instead of allowing herself to embrace the growing feelings she’d had since arriving in Flandenne — feelings that now reared up at the sight of Adrien standing before her.
“It was meant to be a game, wasn’t it? It wasn’t meant to be serious,” she replied.
“I know, but that’s what it’s become, hasn’t it? Serious.”
She took his hand in his as tears welled up in her eyes. Nodding, she placed her other hand on her stomach, glancing down before looking back up at him, each holding the other’s gaze.
“I suppose we weren’t expecting… this,” she said.
“But you’re not angry, are you? I thought… well, perhaps you were going to leave.”
Claire felt guilty. She hadn’t meant to hurt him like this. To think of leaving on a whim had been a cruel thing to do. Now she was here with him — now she could see how obviously upset he was — she knew she’d been wrong to even think it.
“I don’t know, Adrien… I… it all got too much. I didn’t know what I wanted. I didn’t know what you wanted, either. And then the baby. I don’t feel ready to be a mom, but I’m going to be one. And you’re going to be a dad, and…”
Tears welled up in Claire’s eyes. It was all too much. Everything had changed, and she felt uncertain how to respond. Did he love her? If he did, then what his mom had said would be true, but if it was all a game to him…
“And that’s wonderful. I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose you, Claire,” Adrien said. “I know I’ve been a fool. I know I haven’t thought about you or how you feel or what it must be like for you. But that’s going to change. It has to.”
He put his arms around her, holding her close, and kissed her on the forehead. Claire didn’t know what to say. He still hadn’t said what she wanted to hear — what she wanted to know.
“Do you mean it?” she asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.
He nodded. “Let me show you,” he replied.
Claire was confused, but taking her hand, he led her up the steps towards the stage door.
“What are we even doing here? I didn’t think you were interested in the theater — not after the other day.”
He turned to her with a smile.
“I wanted this to be a surprise for after the wedding, but if there’s going to be a wedding, I need to show it to you now. I need you to know I’m serious, Claire.”
A sudden thought occurred to her, and Claire’s heart skipped a beat as she dared to hope as to what he was about to say.
“But the baby?” she replied, as he led her through the stage door.
“We’ll make it work, I promise,” he said, holding out his hand as Claire stared at the sight in front of her in astonishment.
They’d stepped out onto the stage, beneath the lights of the old theater.
Plays had been staged there for nearly two hundred years, and gilded boxes of the gods gazed down on them from above, beneath the frescoed ceiling that showed the heavens opening and a vision of the divine descending.
But it was what had occurred below that now took Claire’s breath away.
The seats of the auditorium had been removed, replaced with booths and tables, and a bar and counter built along one side.
Potted plants created walkways and an indoor fountain sparkled as a glorious centerpiece beneath a hanging chandelier glittering in the soft light reflecting on it.
The tables were lavishly set with sparkling crystal and silverware — intimately placed for tête-à-tête or larger for gatherings of friends and family.
There were wine buckets and candelabra, linen cloths and butter knives, champagne flutes and napkins elaborately shaped…
“The restaurant,” Claire exclaimed, looking up at Adrien in disbelief.