Chapter 5 #2
“I’m so sorry you had no one to talk to, well, other than that disagreeable man who had to be assisted from the table right before dessert was served.”
“Princess Hortense’s husband,” Estelle said to Linette with a small shudder, though she still felt sorry for the baron.
To be married to such an imperious termagant as Valentin’s half-sister!
How else would the poor man have borne it than drinking himself senseless?
Sighing, she leaned forward and kissed Linette’s cheek.
“Adam is waiting for you. Sleep well, dear sister.”
Linette nodded, covering a yawn with her palm as she left Estelle’s side and moved down the lamplit hall to the room she shared with her husband.
Alone for a few moments as Mattie had gone to fetch her a pitcher of hot water so she might bathe before bed, Estelle stepped into her room and shut the door behind her. Then she leaned upon the jamb with relief and shook her head.
Lord, what an interminable night, her only consolation that Valentin had rarely taken his eyes off her…much to Princess Hortense’s displeasure.
Those three noblewomen had apparently noticed his attention, too, their engaging smiles and flirtatious glances eventually becoming petulant stares though Estelle had done absolutely nothing to deserve them.
She had just sat there next to that wretched baron as he drank more and more, while she relished the sumptuous meal and of course, the exquisite dessert of chocolate-drizzled éclairs.
To her delight, Valentin had watched her savor each and every bite, his quiet smile warming her heart and making her long for when she might hear him laugh again. She had no doubt she would dream of him tonight—
“Estelle, open the door! We haven’t much time!”
Valentin!
Incredulous, her heart in her throat, she pulled open the door to find him glancing down the hallway and then back at her, his striking features half cast in shadow.
“May I come in? Only for a few moments before your maid returns—”
“Yes, yes, come in!” Estelle stepped back, Valentin so tall that he seemed to fill the threshold before entering and closing the door behind him.
Still so stunned that she could but stare at him, her hand pressed to her breast, her heartbeat racing beneath her fingertips, she didn’t know what to do first until she threw all caution to the wind and flew into his arms.
He caught her in an embrace as wild and impulsive, his mouth finding hers before either had a chance to draw breath.
Had any kiss ever felt so unbelievably thrilling?
Estelle knew somewhere in the back of her mind that they must stop—should stop!
—but after being separated all night at dinner and only able to stare at each other across the crowded room…
“Estelle…Estelle,” he murmured against her lips, crushing her against him. Yet all too soon, he lifted his head to look at her in the flickering lamplight, his gaze as intently honed upon her face as she’d seen it.
“If I learned one thing while imprisoned—”
“Oh, Valentin, no, I can’t bear to think of you suffering so!” she cried, though he silenced her with a finger pressed gently to her lips.
“Your sister and brother-in-law might hear us, my love. These walls are not so thick that sound won’t carry.”
He’d called her my love, Estelle exulted, knowing Mattie might return any moment and sensing Valentin must have something important he wanted to tell her. She nodded, which made him pull her against him once more and cradle her in his arms.
“If I learned one thing, it was that life is fleeting and precious and there is no time to waste. As soon as I’m crowned, no one can alter my wishes…and it’s my wish to take you as my wife. Say you’ll marry me, Estelle. I’ve dreamed of nothing else for so long. I’ve loved you for so long—”
“Yes, I’ll marry you! Oh, Valentin…” Tenderly, she reached up to touch his face, the hard planes in sharp relief against her fingers.
A beloved face she prayed in time would lose any trace of gauntness as she swore to herself she would do her best to make him forget the horror he’d endured on her and her family’s behalf.
Her courageous, selfless, beloved hero, Valentin.
His lips found hers, his kiss so gentle at first but becoming impassioned within seconds as if he, too, wanted to drown out all else in his mind other than the sensation of his mouth plundering hers.
Then reluctantly, with a ragged groan, he set her away from him and moved to open the door. Already a low, lilting tune reached them, Mattie humming to herself in the distance, the sound drawing closer and closer.
“Good night, my love.” Clearly allowing himself no more than to grasp her fingers, Valentin lifted them to his lips and kissed them. “Our secret will be a hard one to bear, but only for a few more days. Then we’ll be together for all to see—good night!”
He disappeared into the shadows as Mattie came around the corner bearing a pitcher, yet she started, water sloshing, when she saw Estelle standing there against the doorjamb.
“Miss Easton?”
Estelle couldn’t speak, overwhelmed by happiness as she glanced down the hall where Valentin had vanished as if the last moments had been a dream.
Yet her lips still aching from his kiss told her otherwise. Her rampant heartbeat told her otherwise. His words forever etched onto her heart told her otherwise.
I’ve loved you for so long…