Chapter One
A New Life Begins
Danielle runs down the road after the masque, running back to the manor, devastated after the way Henry had treated her after Rodmilla had told her version of the truth. She couldn't believe that he would ever treat her like that.
Just as she was running, she tripped and fell. Before she could get up, she was run over by several coaches and knocked out.
A carriage finally noticed the form laying in the middle of the road and stopped. The coachman was ordered down from his seat and told to check it out.
"It is a young woman, mistress. She's obviously been run over by several carriages," He relayed to his mistress.
"Is she alive?" the woman asks.
"Yes, but she is hurt badly," the coachman says.
"We'll take her to the chateau and help her heal and then she can tell us who she is," the woman tells him.
The coachman quickly obeys his mistress's commands and picks up the young woman and lays her in the carriage. He closes the door and climbs up to his chair and continues onward toward his intended destination.
Duchess Cecelia de Valle waits in front of her home, the Chateau de Valle, for her cousin, Marquise Annaliese de Monfort, to arrive. She had sent an invitation many weeks ago to her cousin to come visit her and her family for a few weeks. Annaliese had told her that she was coming tonight, so Cecelia had decided not to attend the masque, as did her son Marcus and her husband Duke Anthony de Valle. All looked forward to seeing Annaliese, because every visit she would bring a letter from Marcus's old friend Angelina de Vivre, whom he had become friends with before the death of her father had her mother taking her to live with her grandparents while she pursued a new life for them. Sadly, her mother had died within months and her grandparents continued to raise her.
The carriage pulled up outside the chateau and her coachman approached the door of the coach and opened it, first taking out the young woman they had found horribly run over not far from Hautefort. Annaliese came next and Cecelia came forward. "Annaliese, who is this?"
"We found her not far from Hautefort. She had been run over several times before we came upon her," Annaliese said.
"The poor thing! Let's get her inside and clean her up. Then I'll send for the doctor," Cecelia said.
The coachman carried the young woman inside and into the grand room Cecelia had directed him to and he laid the young woman atop a clean sheet her servants had placed on top of the bed.
They quickly stripped off the gown she wore and cleaned off any dirt from her face and arms. They dressed her in an old nightgown of Cecelia's and placed her under the cover on the bed.
Cecelia sent for her doctor and he arrived within 10 minutes. The doctor quickly examined the young woman and gave his diagnosis.
"It will be a long healing process, but she should recover completely, other than possible memory loss from her head injury. Don't move her from this bed unless I say so," the doctor said.
"We will not move her unless absolutely necessary. You do not have to worry, doctor," Cecelia said. "How long do you think it will be before she wakes up?"
"It may be a while. Her head injuries may keep her unconscious for a while. I also gave her a mild sedative so she will stay asleep for a while, so she is not in as much pain as she could be in with all her injuries," the doctor explained.
"Thank you, doctor," Cecelia said, leading the doctor to the door.
"I will come by in a few days to check on her progress. If she does awaken, please keep her as still as possible until I come," the doctor said.
"Of course. We will see you in a few days, doctor," Cecelia said before she closed the door of the chateau.
Cecelia walked back up to the young girl's room where Annaliese was sitting on the side of the bed, stroking the young woman's hair on her forehead. "I wonder why she fell on the road like that," she said.
"Something must have happened at the masque tonight that put her in that position," Cecelia said. "I will inquire about it with the other courtiers about her."
"It is too bad that you did not attend. You could have prevented this from happening to such a beautiful young girl," Annaliese said.
"We shall never know for sure. I am just happy that you found her before she was hurt worse or killed," Cecelia said.
"Very true. We should get some rest and let her rest so she may begin to heal," Annaliese said.
"Of course. Your usual room has been prepared and Genevieve is waiting for you as promised," Cecelia said as she and Annaliese left the room.