by Jenni James
How she wished they could dance forever. How she wished the magical moment would never end. Was this truly love? Was this what it felt like to be cherished by someone, the joy she had always longed to know? For it was more splendid than anything she could have ever imagined.
All her life, she had wondered what it would have been like to have been cared for and held and looked at with such a light as she now saw in Prince Adrian’s eyes. It was overwhelming and heartbreaking to know that it would be over soon, that she would never truly feel what it would be like to be loved by him.
“Adeline?” Adrian spoke softly as he halted his singing and his steps. “Dearest, why are you crying?”
“I do not know. Am I?” She wiped at the tears and then moved her feet again. “Please, please do not stop. I could not bear it if we were to stop dancing now. I do not want to give this up just yet.”
Very tenderly and quite scandalously, Adrian tucked her into his chest, wrapped his arms around her, and began to rock back and forth. Her ear rested against his cravat, and if she did not know better, he felt as if every fiber of him was real—the faint whiff of his cologne, the deep thudding of his heart, the warmth of his chest. How could she cope without such a good, caring man in her life? How was she to leave this party and move on without him?
In that moment, she knew sorrow—a different sorrow than the loss of a parent or the knowledge of servitude—this sorrow was the realization that she was in love with a man who would never, could never be hers.
CHAPTER NINETEEN:
“Sweetling, I beg of you cheer up.” He placed a kiss upon the top of her head. “This is hard enough as it it—dancing with you, holding you. I would not trade this for a moment, but to see your tears as they are is breaking me.”
She reached up then and kissed him, expressing without words all she felt in that moment and needed him to understand. “Do not go,” she whispered. “Do not leave me alone.”
His hold tightened. “Never.” He returned the kiss with fervor. “My heart beats only for you. I have waited ages to feel it pound within me again, and now, it is as if it has been renewed.”
With her eyes closed, she moved her hands down his neck and shoulders and then to his chest, where she nestled against him. “You feel so very real. I do not want to open my eyes. I want to imagine you like this—as a living, breathing man—forever.”
“A prince.”
She shook her head. “Adrian, I would not care if you were the fire boy, let alone a prince—I would still have fallen madly in love with you.”
She waited for him to speak, to say something of her declarations. And when he finally did, he did not disappoint. “Oh, my dearest Cinder-Adeline, my heart churned to life the moment I felt your determination in finding me. That brave, beautiful face making her way down the stairs to confront the monster that I was.”
“What? I thought you did not know why I was in the library! That it was all a shock to you—you did not know you were moaning.”
“Let us occupy our minds with something else. Something less trivial than when or how I first saw you.”
“You beast!” She chuckled.
In answer, he swooped her up in his arms again and kissed her soundly once more.
When she opened her eyes, she blinked up at his handsome face not ten inches from her own. It looked more real and handsome than she had ever seen him before. His eyes shone such a vivid blue that she was astounded for a moment, and then she took a step back.
He clutched her hands while she glanced over his vibrant form. “Adrian, I do believe … if I did not know better, I would say . . . I cannot comprehend what I am looking at.” His skin was peach-colored and solid, his princely uniform completed in whites, reds, and golds. She could even make out the slight stubble along his jaw. “Why, you look like you are alive!”
Adrian let go of her hands to examine his. “Are you certain? I have always seen myself as such. However, my reflection in the looking glass belies the healthy way I appear and makes me seem pale and opaque.”
“I have never seen you look so real before. Has something happened to me that I may now see you as you see yourself?”
He firmly gripped his arms, chest, head, and then tousled his hair. His eyes went wide. “I am hungry, and dreadfully thirsty. I have not been hungry or thirsty for some twenty years!”
“Adrian, what does it mean?” She could not allow herself to hope yet—not yet. One does not merely come back to life after being dead for years. It does not happen. It could not happen. Adeline shook her head and took a step backward to truly look at him. “You look as if you are alive. It must be an illusion of some sort, for the reality of this cannot be true.”
“And why is that?” asked a female voice near the large doors.
Adeline and Adrian both whipped their heads toward the source of the sound. There stood Mrs. Humphries in a nonchalant pose, as if standing in ballrooms was something she did regularly.
“Do you have something to add?” asked Adrian. “Can you see a difference in me?”
“Of course I can.” She smiled. “You are alive once more.”
“But how?” he asked. “And how long will it last?”
Adrian must have been comprehending this all much quicker than she was because Adeline was still contemplating why Mrs. Humphries was there in the first place.
“Forever—well, until you grow old and die naturally.” The older woman grinned. “You do not have to look so astonished. I was certain you knew why I was here and what I had done to keep you safe.”
“Why you were where?” Adrian rubbed his face with his strong hands and shook his head.
“Come. Let us sit down and have a chat. There is much I need to reveal to you both. Adeline?” She turned toward her. “Please join me. You look as though you are about to faint.”
And that is precisely what it felt like to Adeline as well.
Prince Adrian took her by the arm and led her to one of the chairs lining the walls of the ballroom. “Are you well?” he asked as he set her down.
“Are you?” She could not fathom him being perfectly healthy after coming back to life so many years later. In fact, she was quite woozy just thinking of the ordeal he must have gone through.
He ignored her query. “Dearest, you are very pale. Can I fetch you something?”
“I am . . . I am merely attempting to make sense of this nonsense.”
He grinned then, his glorious eyes twinkling into her own. “I learned long ago it was useless to make sense of the ridiculous. And as you can see, I am in every way ridiculous.”
Mrs. Humphries shifted in her seat. “As charming as this may be to you both, I suggest we take these few stolen moments to explain my part and then come up with a plan for how to go about introducing you into society once more. Your family will be talked to on their own, but this . . . this house party must be privy to somewhat of an explanation, do you not think?”
CHAPTER TWENTY:
It felt as though Adeline’s best response to anything at the moment was blinking. She was in a long, detailed dream, one of those daydream fantasies that awaken one with an awful start. She was certain that at any moment, she would stir from this and quite frankly never be the same.
Yet Adrian did not seem at all fussed about anything, except maybe Adeline’s wellbeing. “Should we ring for tea to help Adeline?”
Mrs. Humphries shook her head. “No, there is not time. Adeline will be missed shortly, and I must return to my duties. And sometime today I must write a letter to your older brother explaining it all.”
“My brother? Do you know the king? My family?”
“Of course! Your father sent me here when you were a babe, just after the betrothal was announced.”
“My father sent you here? To this castle?”
She looked at him as if he was growing horns from his neck. “Yes, dear. Now listen so I can get through this all. When you and the duke’s cousin became betrothed, your father sent
me here to answer an advertisement to work as the housekeeper and keep track of the family. He was not willing to marry you off to just anyone. When I saw the goings-on of the family, I was fairly certain that you and the young miss would not suit. I wrote of my concern to your father. He was adamant that he not offend the family with the removal of your suit, and so he and I devised a plan.
“You see, my grandmother was his trusted advisor. She was an herb woman with many abilities, and had helped with the courtly duties and royal family for years. Mostly healing ailments and predicting futures, that sort of thing. When she died, she passed on her book of potions to me. To move the tale along, I will attempt to briefly state that I created—at the insistence of your father—a potion to make your illness worse, which eventually led to your limbo now.”
“Wait a moment. But why?” Adrian looked stunned. “Why would my father ever condone death over me marrying my betrothed?”
“Ahh, I see. I have skipped over that part.” She nodded her head. “Well, the young miss was not worthy of you. I followed her through the years and found her in trysts with young men. I overheard mention more than once of how she had hopes to spend the German royal fortune, and how she had always detested the sound of the German language.”
Adrian looked appalled. “But she and I had never met. Truly she would not have had such prejudices against me before even speaking to one another.”
Mrs. Humphries shook her head. “Oh, she had them and many more.” She shifted in her seat again and waved her hand. “That is not the important part. What you must understand is that the potion would only allow the woman who would truly love you and care for you to see you. And once she admitted her feelings toward you in your frightening state, the spell would be broken and you would live again. You never actually passed away—you were merely in limbo all along.”
Adeline sat up. “And that was me—it is what I confessed to while we were dancing just now.”
He looked over at her. “You brought me back to life.”
“Aye. It was a miracle.”
He pulled her to him, but the housekeeper was not finished.
“Halt. You will have time enough for loving confessions later. At this moment, we need to come up with a plausible excuse as to why a full-blooded prince is in this castle. And not just any prince—one who looks exactly like a dead prince, and an uninvited one at that.”
Adrian shrugged and looked to Adeline. “Perhaps I can pretend to be a cousin?”
The housekeeper tapped her mouth. “A cousin could fit in nicely, since we have already implied that Adeline is a friend of the family. But how did you get here?”
Adrian held Adeline’s hand. “I will leave now and return in a few days’ time. By then, you can think of a wonderful reason for Adeline’s intended to arrive unexpectedly. There is a ball planned for the last evening. Perhaps that will be why I show up?”
Adeline grinned. Her ears nearly did not hear the rest of his words after he revealed that he wished to make her his intended. “Yes, please. I would love that more than anything.” Her chest suddenly grew cold. “But where will you go? What will you do?”
“I have some money stowed away for him from his father. He will do just fine for a few days on his own. And it is perhaps best if he spends time out of doors to see how the world has changed in the last twenty years. And perhaps acquire some more fitting clothes—in the latest fashion.”
“No, after Adeline agrees to wed me, I have one purpose for leaving her and one purpose only—blast the clothing, for all I care. I am going to recover her inheritance that her family so cruelly took from her. When I return, all shall be well again, and if I look like an ancient prince, then so be it.”
“Words cannot express how much I have missed you,” Adeline whispered. “I did not know you existed. I could not even imagine it to be true, but now that you are here, I can see how truly you have been missed.”
“I would hope so.” Adrian smugly grinned and then winked. “Anyone who loves me as much as you do must have a dashed hard time letting me go.”
Just when Adeline believed she was looking at the most proper of gentlemen, he had to open his mouth once more.
“I would rather shoot you than kiss you again for that remark!”
“Fibbing does not become you, darling.” He chuckled and stole a kiss anyway.
“Ahem. Are you two through?”
Adrian looked up in astonishment. “Oh, no, Mrs. Humphries. I fear this will never end. Now that I can hold her for real, the adventure has just begun. I have waited my whole life—and even death—to meet this hoyden. I will not allow the saucy minx to forget it, either.” He leaned down and kissed her again.
Adeline clutched his shoulders and hung on, for there was nowhere else she would rather be anyway, and they both knew it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
An hour later, once the hired carriage arrived and just before Adrian left, he approached her for their first good-bye. “I will return as soon as possible—and if I do not have all of your affairs sorted, I will still return for the ball and then head back out until all is as it should be.”
“Thank you.” It felt as though a piece of her was leaving with him.
“Do not look so forlorn, my dearest. I will return as promised. Try to mingle with the guests more. Oh! That reminds me. The gentleman you so clearly dumped into the lake has left. I made sure he was removed from the vicinity immediately.”
“I had no idea.” Her jaw dropped. “Was there a scene?”
“No.” Adrian grinned. “I believe he was more than eager to leave all on his own.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, it is a relief to know I will not have to see him again. Even though it was you who tossed him, I would have had no difficulty doing so myself had things escalated even more.”
Adrian stared at her a moment. “I have changed my mind. Do not mingle with any of the guests.”
“But why?”
“I cannot have another fool fall in love with you before I return.”
Adeline laughed. “You are the only fool I know irrational enough to do so.”
He kissed her. “’Tis a good thing, I do not believe my heart would be able to handle competition at the moment. I finally have you, and I do not intend to let you go.”
He kissed her again, causing her knees to go a bit weak. Then he put his tricorn hat upon his head and bowed. “Be safe. I cannot wait to dance with you. Good-bye, my love. Until I return.”
And then he was gone, rushing down the stairs and into the waiting coach and off before she had a moment to ponder how cold and lonely she felt.
* * *
Four nights later, a couple of hours before the ball, Adeline was pacing up and down Mrs. Humphries’ small rooms. The many layers of her golden skirts twirled around her legs each time she turned.
“You look lovely, my dear!” the older woman exclaimed. “Prince Adrian will not be able to keep his eyes off you tonight.”
“Yes, but he is not here yet, and the ball is almost upon us.”
“Do not fret so. He will come, and then all shall be revealed.”
Adeline took a deep breath and then halted her fidgeting. “Forgive me. I must look an absolute fright at the moment.”
“No, you look like a princess. A beautiful royal girl who has captured the heart of a very noble prince.”
Her chest began to flutter wildly again. “I fear I may need to take a walk in the gardens to ease this tension.”
The older woman waved her away. “Yes, yes, go and allow the cooler air to help calm your nerves.”
“Thank you,” Adeline whispered. “I would not have any of this without you. I hope that you do not think I am ungrateful and not aware of all you have done for me.”
“Hush. You have relayed the same message over and over again for the past few days.” The housekeeper stood up and walked toward her. “Now go and calm your mind. You have a prince to dance with tonight. You need time to compos
e yourself, for it will be as if you are in your own fairy tale.” She pushed her out the door and then said, “I am so excited for you.”
Adeline chuckled to herself at the abrupt manner in which she had been excused and then hurried her way to one of the many flower gardens. The cool night air was a refreshing respite and did much to calm her frazzled state. She walked them until her time to herself was interrupted by another visitor.
“What are you doing in that gown?” Coralie came suddenly from around a hedge. “I have already warned you about appearing in stolen garments—but to do so in such a fashion disgusts me!”
Adeline took a few steps backward. “Coralie, I promise you this is my gown. I was given it.”
The clouds parted, and the moon revealed all the glittering jewels intricately sewn across the bodice. Indeed, the gown was too fine for a mere miss or even a lady to be wearing.
Her stepsister sneered. “I do not believe you. No one would give such an ugly servant anything of that worth.” She walked purposefully toward Adeline. “Now take it off. Your filth should not be seen in such finery. Remove it now!”
Adeline was appalled and froze in place. “I will most certainly not remove anything.” Had her stepsister gone mad?
Coralie lunged forward and yanked upon the delicate sleeve, tearing the gold fabric and popping off several jewels, which scattered to the ground. The wild girl shrieked and picked up some of the stones. “Each one of these would pay for several gowns. How did you come by such luxuries? What have you done?”
“Nothing, I swear. Mrs. Humphries gave it to me.”
Coralie’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Then the housekeeper has been stealing from Lady Middlesong!” She then yanked on the other sleeve with one hand and the gold skirts with her other. A great tearing sound echoed through the garden.