A little alternate ending for Mont-Oriol, by Guy de Maupassant. I do not own the respective work.
What I do own is this little one shot.
He stood there, transfixed by her pale appearance, while she gently cradled the baby to sleep - Christiane was sure of one thing, that Paul had purposefully lied to her when he 'declared' his so-called love for her - and now Andermatt was just looking for more business to do with old man Oriol. Paul, however, did not fully lie to her - he was just an opportunist, true - but that changed the moment he met Christiane and fell in love with her.
The young man took a few steps inside the room, only to be greeted by the hateful and hurt look of Christiane's eyes, the latter exhausted by her carriage and lack of sleep. The silence between the two increased as she stopped cradling the baby and did nothing but stare at her former lover - she was ready to brand him just another lost young man with eyes only for money - but Paul wasn't the man to give up so easily.
"Christiane..." he said her name softly, a bit of pain in his voice.
"No, Paul. No. I won't allow you to see her." Christiane said, pursing her lips.
"Please..." the man said as he advanced a bit more.
"I will call for Andermatt if you take one step further." she said sternly, looking at the ridiculous man before her.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I-"
"No, you're not, you fool. You were just looking at the money." Christiane silenced him with a hand.
"I'm honest, Christiane. I didn't want to hurt you, not intentionally -"
"Spare me this talk, Paul. You have said this to probably a lot of women in your life." the exhausted woman said.
He couldn't say much - she formed an opinion and she would stick with it until the end of her life - even if he knew it was wrong. But he also knew she was right about his previous motives for falling in love - money - and found himself wishing the ground would swallow him whole in front of Christiane. He couldn't bear to see her icy glare piercing through his heart and soul, even if he loved her dearly.
Far too dearly than he cared to admit.
"I do not want to tell this child that she had the most horrible specimen of a father, Paul." Christiane said, breaking the small moment of silence between them.
"But what do you want to tell her?" Paul dared to retort her words.
"I want her to know that her father is Andermatt, and not you. I want her to grow under his protection, and not yours!" she said, after taking a small breath to gather a bit of strength.
"I meant what I said, Christiane. I want to see her safe...I want to see us safe." Paul added, despair written on his face.
"How do I know you'd honor your word? You have already crushed it a lot of times. This says a lot about you," she scolded him. "The man I loved wouldn't have done that, dumping me right after he saw an opportunity to become so rich, that love was nothing else but a trifle to him."
"I-"
"Don't deny it! The moment you saw Louise, you thought she'd be just the right match!" Christiane said, a frown on her beautiful lips.
Paul's eyes were transfixed on her lips - oh, God, what would he give to kiss those lips again - and her beautiful eyes, his hands desiring once more to touch that pure, silken skin of hers, to hear her voice calling so tenderly his name during their throves of passion...
Why only just now, he saw everything with clarity? His eyes were opened to this beautiful woman before him - she was still beautiful, despite her carriage - and why did he refuse to take responsability for the small fruit of their love? The little child was a part of her, a part of him.
Why would he deny himself such happiness, just to have more money?
"Christiane...I never lied when I said 'I love you'. In the past, those words meant nothing to me until you came along, and I was captured like a canary in a golden cage. I don't deny I'd enjoy my freedom - but I'd want to be with you more than anything on this world..." Paul said, breaking again the silence.
"Would you really, really do that for me, and this child before you?" Christiane said, doubting his words.
"I would, Christiane," he said, hope glistening in his saddened eyes.
"I will discuss with Andermatt - I know he will not care at all about this, but still, I want him to know I found someone." she said as she rang a small bell next to the table.
A servant entered, bowing respectfully towards Christiane.
"Tell Baron Andermatt his wife Christiane wishes to speak with him - privately." she said, authority ringing from her voice.
"Of course, Lady Christiane." the servant said as he bowed again and left the chambers.
"I trust this answer pleases you, Paul Bretigny?"
"Yes. Yes it does." Paul said as he took Christiane's hands in his.