Chapter 4 #2
At the very least, she wished she knew some way to make him smile! Anything to ease his heart and mind after what he must have suffered…
“Come, Estelle. There’s a gazebo up ahead.”
Valentin had hooked his arm through hers to guide her along a path through carefully tended rosebushes laden with blooms, their heady fragrance enlivening her senses.
Yet no more than the closeness of him, Estelle feeling as if everything had grown right once more with the world. She was so focused upon his striking profile and the lean strength in his arm that she didn’t see the gazebo with its cupola roof until they’d come upon it.
“I had a picnic prepared for us,” he said, leading her up the white-painted steps to a rose petal strewn table set for two.
She saw him then, the older, gray-haired man she recognized at once as Robert, descending the opposite stairs as if he hadn’t wanted to disturb them.
He gestured to Mattie, who had followed her and Valentin at a respectful distance, and together they moved to a shaded bench further along the path.
“Close enough…but not too close,” Valentin murmured, pulling out an ornate metal chair for Estelle so she might sit down.
Then he moved another chair closer and joined her, watching her face as she gasped in delight at the spread before them: Two sparkling glasses of white wine, delicate finger sandwiches, purple grapes and plump strawberries dusted with sugar, and a silver plate piled with sweet confections.
“I didn’t give Robert much notice, but he’s done well with our little picnic, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes, it’s wonderful!” Estelle accepted a brimming glass from Valentin, so warmed by his thoughtfulness that she didn’t need a sip of wine to blush with pleasure.
He didn’t pick up a glass though, instead appearing content to watch her as she eagerly sampled a cucumber finger sandwich after he gestured for her to try one.
In truth she was famished, and one sandwich became a quick succession of four, followed by a buttery baked tart filled with raspberries and cream that nearly had her swooning.
“I love desserts, I can’t deny it,” she admitted sheepishly, licking a fleck of sweet cream from her finger in a most unladylike manner. To her surprise, Valentin leaned forward to wipe away another smudge on her cheek and then licked the cream from his thumb, too, laughing.
Laughing! A rich masculine sound that thrilled her to her toes, and made her giggle, too, grinning at him like a besotted fool.
For she was besotted with Valentin Chevalier, utterly and completely.
She knew that now as surely as she was breathing…the two of them sitting there together, a soft breeze ruffling his hair and lifting strands around her face even as he drew closer to tilt her chin upward and gently, oh so gently, press his lips to hers.
She no longer heard the birds singing or the chatter of squirrels as her heart began to beat faster in her ears, the wondrous sensation of Valentin’s kiss unlike anything she could have dreamed.
Then as quickly as it had begun, he drew back from her when Robert approached the gazebo, a young footman following at his heels.
“My lord, word has come that more guests have arrived…as well as Princess Hortense. Would you like me to relay that you’re presently engaged and will see them at dinner?”
“I’ll never hear the end of it if you do,” Valentin said grimly, glancing with apology at Estelle as she blinked with amazement at his darkened mood. She could sense his reluctance to leave her, evidenced by his heavy sigh.
“Valentin?”
“Forgive me,” he murmured, rising from his chair. “My half-sister doesn’t appreciate being kept waiting. I had hoped to discuss so much more with you, but it will have to wait. Do you trust me, Estelle?”
Astonished at how intently he stared at her or that he would have even asked her what she hoped was written so plainly in her eyes, she nodded. “Completely, Valentin…but I don’t understand—”
“You mustn’t let anything you see distress you. It’s all a game I must play, nothing more. A few days until the coronation and ball, and then after that night, it will all be over. Will you promise me?”
“Yes…yes, I promise.”
“Good, then I’ll see you at dinner.” His gaze softened for a moment, but then he seemed to resign himself to whatever duties lay ahead of him. “Robert, please escort Miss Easton back to her room.”
“Of course, my lord.”
As Estelle stared in confusion, Valentin left the gazebo without another word or a glance behind him.
His stride long, his shoulders stiff, his demeanor every inch a royal prince.
She would have sat there longer, too, still stunned by how abruptly the course of their afternoon had changed, if Robert’s low voice hadn’t nudged her into motion.
“Miss Easton, shall we go?”
Nodding, she rose and accepted the valet’s proffered arm, her gaze falling upon the last bit of raspberry and cream tart left upon her plate.
She couldn’t resist, popping the sweet morsel into her mouth not because she was hungry, but to relive the magical sound of Valentin laughing.
Laughing!
At once she smiled, though she missed him so dreadfully already and they had only been moments apart.
Oh, yes, she was helplessly, hopelessly besotted.