LITMIR.BIZ

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common sense. He’s available, you’re available. You know, he’s nothing like his brother. That’s what everyone says,” Marie-Claire said. “So if he did ask you to marry him…”

      “I would refuse, of course,” Lise said firmly.

      “But why?” Ariane asked. “You mustn’t let Wilhelm put you off marriage forever. You just heard, Charles is nothing like his brother.”

      “I don’t know that for sure. I don’t know anything about him. I met the man once at my wedding. Then he stopped by to see me. We had a nice conversation, but that’s hardly the basis for getting married again. They’re twins. How different can they be?” Lise asked. But in her heart she knew they were as different as night and day.

      “What about the baby?” Marie-Claire asked softly, her green eyes wide. “Don’t you want a father for your baby?”

      “Of course I do. But there are more important things. Like a warm, loving home. I think a child is better off with one good parent than with two parents who are at odds with each other. The three of us know a little bit about that.”

      Her sisters nodded in agreement. There was a long moment of silence while they were each lost in their own thoughts.

      “But what about security?” Ariane asked.

      “I guess you mean financial security,” Lise said. “That’s a worry, of course. I still have the jewels mother left us. I can always sell them if it comes to that. But I’ll tell you this. I’d rather live in the most humble cottage with Nanny and my baby than the biggest palace with a man I didn’t love.”

      “You mean you couldn’t love Charles?” Ariane asked. “He’s really very nice. Nothing like his brother. Except in looks, of course. They’re both handsome devils.”

      Lise sighed. As if looks mattered. “When I was your age, Ariane, and young and naive, I might have fallen in love again and jumped into another marriage, but…”

      “Young and naive,” Ariane sputtered. “Did you hear that, Marie-Claire? I’m an old married woman now and I demand to be treated with respect.” Her blue eyes twinkled and the three of them burst into laughter. The idea of Ariane as an old married woman at the age of twenty-three sent them into helpless giggles. Lise realized she hadn’t laughed for months. It was so wonderful to be with her sisters again. She’d been hungry for the warmth and affection they shared. After they’d calmed down, Lise gazed off into the distance for a long moment.

      “If only life was that simple,” she said quietly. “Loving someone because they’re nice.” Even as she spoke the words, she wondered if she’d know love when she found it. Chills up and down the spine, goosebumps on the skin, an erratic heartbeat. What did those things mean? A heightened sexual awareness, due to living a celibate life. That was all. Love was something else entirely.

      “So tell me, you two, are you both happy? Are you sure you’ve made the right choices?”

      Their spontaneous bursts of joy told Lise all she needed to know. They were both deliriously happy. After breathless assurances Ariane went back to the subject of Charles.

      It was clear Ariane hadn’t given up and that her goal was to see her sister as happily married as she was. “In Rhineland I heard there was hell to pay when Charles learned your belongings hadn’t been sent,” she said. “I tell you, one phone call from him and the servants dropped everything to make sure your trunks got packed and returned to you.”

      “I see,” Lise said thoughtfully. “Then I have Charles to thank. Because if he hadn’t come through, you wouldn’t see me in this dress today. I’d be wearing an old bedsheet.”

      “You’d look good in a bedsheet,” Marie-Claire declared with a grin. “Especially one with lace around the hem.”

      “Thank you, dear sister. It won’t be long before bedsheets are the only thing that will fit me. But I haven’t been reduced to that yet. I can still squeeze into some of my trousseau dresses. Believe me, before my trunks came, I had nothing suitable for a queen’s birthday party.” She stood up. “Which reminds me, I’d better go wish her majesty a happy birthday.”

      “We’ve already done our duty,” Ariane said. “We’ll see you later.”

      Lise took a deep breath and set out down a stone walkway in her strapped sandals, her sheer voile dress brushing against her bare legs. Her sisters only wanted what was best for her and her baby. But she was tired of hearing how different Charles was from his brother. That didn’t automatically make him good husband material. If and when she ever married again, it would be for love.

      Before she got to the queen, she was stopped by various old friends and acquaintances, all of them too polite to mention the scandal that had brought her back to St. Michel. She was thankful that not one mention was made of her former husband or her illegitimacy. She did receive condolences on the death of her father, for which she was grateful.

      She was just congratulating herself on her poise in the face of this situation she’d been dreading, when she spotted Charles standing at the side of a fountain where white marble cherubs spouted water into a circular pond. He was wearing a dark suit and gazing at her thoughtfully across the grass. She hesitated. She didn’t want to be rude, but what was her response supposed to be? What was the protocol in greeting a man whose offer of marriage you’d recently turned down? She managed a small smile and he must have taken that as an encouraging sign, because he quickly joined her.

      “I was wondering if you’d come today,” he said, his dark eyes traveling up and down her pale blue dress.

      She felt slightly dizzy in his presence. His intense gaze unnerved her. When he glanced at the rounded neckline of her dress, she was conscious of her breasts swelling, of the fabric tightly stretched across the bodice and of her nipples budding. She felt the color rise to her cheeks. If only she’d kept walking. Talking to the queen would be a piece of cake compared to dealing with Charles. Yes, he was clearly the handsomest man here today. And the memory of his words hung in the air between them.

      Take all the time you need…I’m not going anywhere.

      “It’s a bit of a command performance,” she said, proud of her composure in the face of the man who looked so much like her ex-husband. “Being my grandmother’s birthday. But I didn’t know you…”

      “She was kind enough to invite me.”

      “I see,” she said. “I was just on my way to wish her a happy birthday.”

      “I was hoping to have a few words with you.”

      “Well, now you have,” Lise said. But she should have known she wasn’t going to get off so easily.

      Charles smiled briefly at her attempt to dismiss him. “When you have a moment, won’t you join me for something to eat and drink?”

      “Well, I…” she said. She knew she needed some sustenance soon if she was to continue to engage in social discourse with him or anyone. If not for herself, for her baby. She needed to eat frequently and to stay hydrated.

      “You look a little pale,” he said. “I won’t keep you and I won’t distress you by bringing up anything unpleasant. I’ll be waiting at the table under the big oak.”

      “Very well,” Lise said. How could she refuse? There was a look in his eyes that told her he was sincere. Her sister’s words came back to remind her.

      He’s nothing like his brother.

      She turned to leave then turned back. “I almost forgot to thank you for fixing my roof,” she said.

      “I merely made a phone call,” he said.

      “You made another to get me my trunks.”

      He shrugged. “It was no trouble. If there’s anything else, please let me know. It must be difficult being a woman alone.”

      “I’m not

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