The Affair

by Danielle Steel

  “Shit. How did this happen? I meant to ask you about it a few weeks ago, if we were supposed to do something to stop it, and I forgot. What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know. I think it’s too late to reverse it. It looks official,” she said, staring at him. They were divorced. The divorce had gone through. They had signed the papers three months before, and had never stopped the procedure. “Oh my God, I’m not married to you anymore.”

  “You’re a free woman.” It was kind of a creepy feeling, like a ship that had slipped its moorings and was drifting out to sea.

  They both called their attorneys and were told the same thing. It was too late to reverse it or cancel the proceedings. Their marriage had been dissolved, and the only thing they could do was get married again, if they didn’t want to be divorced. But for now, they were in fact divorced.

  They met in Nadia’s office at home after talking to their lawyers, and spoke in whispers. The children were home by then and they didn’t want them to know. Nadia was sure it would panic them, and she felt slightly panicked herself.

  “Do you want to get married again?” he asked her, unnerved by it too.

  “I think so.”

  “You think so? What do you mean by that?”

  “What if getting married again screws things up, or jinxes us or something?” She looked worried and he laughed.

  “This is ridiculous. We went through hell and we were married. Now we’re back together, and we’re accidentally divorced. Personally, I don’t like it. I like being married to you. I want to be married to you.”

  “So do I. I feel a little silly telling people we forgot to cancel our divorce, so now we’re not married.”

  “Let’s fix it. We don’t even have to tell anyone beforehand. We can just invite everyone to the château for a long weekend, surprise them when they get there, and do it,” he suggested. Nadia liked that idea too. They agreed not to tell anyone about the papers that arrived. They laughed about it in bed that night. “Actually, it’s kind of sexy making love to you and not being married. I’d forgotten what that’s like.”

  “Well, that’s a relief. We can’t get married until at least June,” she reminded him.

  “Why not? You have something more important to do?”

  “No, Venetia does. She’s not due till mid-May, if she makes it till then. She’s on bed rest, and she won’t be able to travel until the baby is a month old.” He had forgotten.

  “Fine. We’ll get married in June. Invite everyone then. I can’t believe I’m planning a wedding with my own wife.”

  “I don’t know how I forgot to cancel the papers. I think I was afraid to.”

  “And now?” he asked her. “Are you still afraid?”

  “No, I’m not,” she said and kissed him. Things had been perfect between them, better than she had expected. Maybe even better than before.

  “Are you happy?” he asked her seriously.

  “I am.” She nodded and nestled peacefully into his arms. “I can’t believe we’re divorced, though.”

  “That’s what happens when you play with fire. You’re the one who wanted to get divorced. That was your idea.”

  “I was trying to get over you,” she reminded him.

  “Well, you did a lousy job of it, fortunately,” he said, pulling her close to him. He loved sleeping with her again and waking up next to her, talking to her late at night and in the morning. The girls were happy too. It was as though the nightmare of the year before had never happened. She was so precious to him, he knew he would never be unfaithful again. She still had to meet Benoit, but she felt ready to now. What had happened wasn’t the baby’s fault. And Nicolas had no contact at all with Pascale anymore. Only with her mother. He and Pascale weren’t on bad terms, she was just pursuing her own life and doing what she wanted. Nicolas had been a moment in her life, and for her the moment was over. For Nadia she had been an explosion, a bomb that had hit them. She didn’t like to think about it, but she did at times, and marveled at the fact that they had recovered from it, and been able to get back together.

  “How are we going to do this?” she asked Nicolas about their remarriage. “We just go to the mairie, and have lunch afterwards?” The mairie was the city hall of each district of Paris and each small town outside Paris.

  “That’s a little dry, don’t you think? We could do it at the mairie for the legal ceremony, and have a church wedding the next day, the way normal people do it.”

  “I’m not sure how ‘normal’ we are. We’re divorced. Are you telling me you want a real wedding?” She looked amused.

  “I think I do,” he said, mulling it over. “Why not? We have a lot to celebrate. We could make it one-stop shopping. Benoit hasn’t been christened yet, and I suspect they’ll never get to it. We could have him baptized at the wedding, and have him at the château for the weekend. Or is that too crazy?”

  “Definitely crazy. I think we’re starting to border on the seriously eccentric. But I guess we could, as long as his mother doesn’t show up.”

  “She won’t. We won’t tell her.”

  “Don’t ever tell me that I’m still too American. I’m going to marry my husband, whom I accidentally divorced, while we christen the baby he had with his mistress, who was the reason for the divorce in the first place. In America, they put you in psychiatric hospitals for this.”

  “I don’t think it’s actually done in the better social circles here either, but I don’t care. Do you?”

  “Actually, I don’t. What the hell. Why not baptize the baby? I hope my mother is up to this.”

  “Your mother is pretty cool.”

  Nadia had an idea then. She wanted to discuss it with Venetia. She had come back to her marriage still in love with Nicolas, but with a stronger sense of herself, more self-confidence, and an independence she’d never had before. She had survived the worst blow that could hit a marriage, and had come out the other end, whole, and strong, and happy. Her sisters had noticed it too.

  She called Venetia the next morning and confided in her. She was the only one she was going to tell. She wanted to surprise everyone else.

  “How did you manage to get divorced without noticing it?”

  “I just forgot about the papers, and then we got back together and that seemed more important.”

  “You’re probably right,” Venetia said, bored out of her mind. She had a drafting table over her bed in the daytime, so she could continue working. “So what do you want me to do?” Venetia thought the whole thing was funny.

  “I want you to design a fabulous dress for me. A total fantasy. I wore such a serious one last time. It was beautiful, but I want to have fun this time.” She had worn an ivory peau de soie gown with a lace coat over it and a ten-foot train, which they got at Bergdorf’s. “I want you to go crazy with it.”

  “Well, we could go little farm girl, or Heidi, if you’re going to do it at the château, or we could go totally nuts with a giant tulle ball skirt,” she suggested off the top of her head, but she could envision it on Nadia.

  “That sounds better. I want to look and feel like Cinderella.”

  “Oh my God. Are you on medication? Maybe you should be. Now you’re divorced, then you want to give a fantasy wedding. Are we dressing Nicolas like Elvis, or Prince Charming?”

  “He can wear a white linen suit. He has ten of them. I want my dress to be special. Lots of tulle skirt, I think Galliano did one like that once for Dior. I think it was yellow or pink or something.”

  “Are we doing white or a color?” Venetia was beginning to enjoy it and doodling as they spoke.

  “White. And cute little white organdie dresses for the girls.”

  “I can’t wait for this wedding,” Venetia said, giggling. “I have to figure out what to tell my workroom about who this is for. I’ll pick some fabulous roc
k star. I’ll send you a sheet for your measurements.” They talked about it for half an hour, and afterwards, Venetia continued to text her questions, which she answered, about how the bodice should look, sleeves or no sleeves, how long the train should be, pearls or tiny rhinestones. Nadia texted back “Both.” No veil since it was a second wedding. Venetia thought a tiara. She was having as much fun with it as Nadia was. It took the sting out of having discovered the day before that she was divorced. Nicolas had decided that was funny, but it still made Nadia uneasy. What if they never got around to getting married again? She didn’t like that idea at all.

  She and Nicolas picked the third Saturday in June, and they were able to book the small country church near the château. The priest faltered for a minute when Nicolas told him they were divorced, and he explained that divorced people could not get married in a Catholic church, and Nicolas explained to him that it was a technicality, and they were marrying the same people as the first time.

  “Ah, like a renewal of vows.”

  “Exactly.” It was the brief ceremony at city hall that would actually bind them together legally again. The church ceremony was more about religious tradition, and Nicolas mentioned to him that there would be a baptism too.

  “The bride and groom’s baby?”

  “Actually, the groom’s, not the bride’s.” The priest decided to ignore that. Nicolas reported to Nadia that everything was in order with the church. She had to go off to meet clients then, and she could hardly keep her mind on the project at hand. Suddenly, their unorthodox, very eccentric wedding seemed more exciting.

  Nadia sent Venetia her measurements, and the gown got under way. Venetia sent her emails showing her the sketches for it. They were going to make the bodice out of six layers of white organdie, and she’d be corseted in tight, with gossamer sleeves, and the tulle ball skirt was in fact enormous, with a hoop under it, so it would swing like a bell when Nadia walked.

  Nadia had extended the weekend invitation to her sisters and their partners and children, and her mother. Rose wanted to know if they were having a big party or a family event. And Nadia responded that it was a family party.

  “What do I wear?” she wanted to know.

  “Something summery and dressy.”

  “Long or short?”

  “Whatever you like.”

  Nicolas had hired a local quartet to play chamber music, with a violinist. Nadia was going to do the flowers herself the morning of the wedding.

  They had everything lined up by the first of May, when Venetia called her at two a.m. in Paris, eight p.m. in New York. “I’m in labor. They said they’re not going to try and stop it this time. I’m only three weeks early. I didn’t even think I was in labor, I thought it was something I ate. But it’s getting bad now.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, just scared. I hope she’s going to be okay.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Nadia said in a strong, encouraging voice. “You’ve done this three times, you know how to do it.”

  Venetia called Athena and Olivia too, and she kept calling Nadia every half hour to report in, until Nadia saw the sun come up. It was one in the morning in New York by then, she’d been in labor for six hours, and had finally stopped calling. Nadia walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee, waiting to hear from her, when Nicolas walked in.

  “No news yet?”

  “I hope she and the baby are okay.”

  “I’m sure they are.” He knew how close she was to her sisters. They were always there for each other. Olivia was at the hospital with Venetia, and Rose was waiting to hear at home.

  Venetia finally called at eight-thirty. It had taken longer than they expected. The baby had been turned the wrong way and they had to shift her, and she was a big baby, considering that she was born early. She weighed eight pounds and Venetia sounded like she’d been beaten up. But she was euphoric, and said the baby was beautiful. They were calling her Valencia. Ben sent a photo of her a minute later. The girls had already gone to school, and Nadia promised to show them later.

  “Congratulations!” Nadia said with tears in her eyes.

  “I think I’m going to stop at four,” Venetia said, exhausted. “Four months in bed was way too long.” But she had gotten a healthy baby out of it. And Ben sounded happy too when they talked to him. Nadia called her mother and congratulated her. She had seven grandchildren now.

  “I can’t wait for your party next month,” she told Nadia.

  “It’s just family, Mom. But we wanted to make it a special occasion. We all have a lot to celebrate.” Olivia and Harley’s marriage had been saved. Venetia and Ben had a new baby. And Nadia and Nicolas were back together after the worst year imaginable, and a divorce they were planning to trade in for a wedding, even if no one knew it yet.

  Chapter 15

  The timing in June turned out to be perfect for everyone. The network let Athena take the time off. Seven weeks after Valencia’s birth, Venetia was back on her feet and feeling fine. She was almost back to her normal weight, and looked beautiful. Olivia and Harley had planned a trip for right after the weekend at the chateau. Nadia finished installing an apartment in London a few days before. Planning for the September issue had started but wasn’t insane yet for Rose. And this year’s September issue would be a breeze compared to last year.

  Nicolas had rented two vans to get them to the château, and everyone was in high spirits when they got there. He had sent their regular nanny to Brittany to bring back the baby with her. He had found some of the family christening gowns in a cedar chest at the château. They were beautiful, ornate, handmade gowns, and Nadia picked one that fit Benoit. It was the first time that she had seen him, and she held him for a few minutes as he cooed and smiled at her. Seeing him was the final hurdle she had to clear after the last year. She made it over smoothly, as Nicolas watched her hold him.

  “Thank you,” he whispered to her. She had made it possible for Benoit to be there, and being able to baptize him at the château on a special day for them meant a lot to him. He looked like a little prince when they tried the christening gown on him. He was fair like Nicolas, with a fine peach fuzz on his head, and big blue eyes. Pascale hadn’t objected to the baptism when he decided to call and asked her. She said she wasn’t religious and didn’t care. He did. It seemed more respectful to ask her.

  Neither he nor Nadia had commented when the Cannes Film Festival happened in May. He didn’t have a film there this year, and neither of them wanted to go. It brought back bad memories and probably always would of his year of insanity.

  Nicolas had brought the marriage license with him and had it in his pocket. Nadia’s dress had arrived in a crate that had to be specially built and sent to the château by truck. The wedding was scheduled for Saturday. Everyone arrived at the château the day before, and spent the day relaxing at the pool, and played Marco Polo with the children. Nicolas took Benoit in for a few minutes and he loved it, then he squealed with delight while Sylvie and Laure fussed over him. Valencia was too young for the pool and was asleep in her pram. They all had a big family dinner that night, to celebrate just being there together. It was the first time they had been with Nicolas since he came back. He slipped back into his place in the family very quickly. Nicolas and Nadia looked relaxed. No one knew about the wedding until breakfast the next day, when Nicolas announced it, much to everyone’s surprise. Harley was worried that he hadn’t brought a proper suit, and Nicolas said he could lend him one, but he didn’t need it. His summer navy linen blazer and white linen pants were fine.

  Rose looked amused when they made the announcement. They were certainly going all out to reforge their bond to each other. “You mean you’re renewing your vows?” They’d been married for twelve years by then.

  “Not exactly,” Nicolas explained in answer to her question. “We had a little administrative
glitch a few months ago. We appeared at the notaire for our divorce papers, and subsequently when we got back together, we forgot to cancel the divorce. In April we were advised that our marriage had been dissolved. So we are getting married today, for the second time.” There was a babble of comments, jokes and laughter, and everyone was excited to be part of it, and loved that they had done it as a surprise.

  “What if one of us couldn’t come?” Athena asked, stunned by the plan. For fourteen years, she had refused to marry Joe, and her sister was marrying the same man twice.

  “We made sure you all could come when we set the date,” Nicolas told her. “But if not, you would have missed a terrific dinner tonight, and seeing Nadia in the gorgeous dress Venetia made for her. I haven’t seen it yet. But the crate it came in is the size of this house.” The chatter continued for another hour. And they were all told that they had to be at the town hall at noon for the legal ceremony. They had a reservation at a local restaurant at one. The church ceremony was to be at six o’clock, with dinner afterwards at the château. They all scurried off then to put their outfits together and be ready on time.

  Rose watched them go and smiled. It was certainly unorthodox, but if Nadia was happy, it was all she cared about. And if Nicolas cheated on her daughter again, she was going to kill him herself.

  * * *

  —

  Everyone was standing at the vans outside at twenty to twelve, and they set off to the little town where the town hall was located. Nadia was wearing a very pretty simple white cotton dress she had found at the Bon Marché, by a designer she didn’t know but Venetia did and approved. She was wearing her dark hair in a neat ponytail, and high-heeled white sandals. She was carrying a small bouquet of white flowers that Sylvie helped her pick. They had their papers with them, and everything went smoothly. Ben and Venetia were their witnesses, and at twelve-thirty they were standing outside, congratulating the bride and groom. Nicolas looked relieved that they were legally married again. The rest was window dressing after this.