Traitors Vengeance - Part 7
The Royal party rode into the courtyard at the manor. The entire household was waiting outside to greet her. Danielle was so happy to see them all but she looked so miserable. She missed Henry already. She had no idea how long they would be apart. The thought of them not being together for a day was all too much for her.
Maurice left the line to go and help Danielle from her horse, but suddenly Lord Grey jumped down from his own horse and went to help her himself. He was not exactly sure what had made him act so rapidly. Maybe it was just that he was conscious of her safety given his position. Or maybe it was something else.
When Danielle was down off her horse she looked at the line of people. They looked a little nervous as if they were unsure of what to do. She realised that she was not the servant that had been sold just a week earlier anymore. To them she was no longer Danielle, she was a Princess, the Duchess d'Orleans. What must it be like for them to see the person but not be sure even how to address her anymore?
Despite the pain she was feeling she forced herself to smile and to hug the first person she came to. This was Louise. It was not long before Paulette and Maurice joined in. It was just like the day Danielle had rescued Maurice. The day she met Henry.
As they congratulated her on her marriage and exchanged cheerful hugs and smiles, Danielle was careful not to let her real feelings show. They knew nothing of what was happening, only that she was going to be staying with them for a while.
It was Steven who noticed how cold it was getting and urged the party inside. The Princess had been in his care for just a few hours it would not do for her to become ill.
Inside the manor was only recognisable by the way it was restored to its former glory. The empty shell it had been a week earlier was now filled with memories from the past. Tapestries once again hung from the walls, the books were back on their shelves in the library and her mother's treasured possessions were back where they had always been.
Once they were all settled in the parlour and had something to drink, Danielle began to tell them all about her wedding. The group sat there enthralled, hanging on every word. This was a story unlike any they had ever heard. Even Steven was enchanted by the tale.
"Where is the Prince now Mistress?" Louise asked, comfortably relapsing into using Danielle's manor title. "Will he join you?"
"No unfortunately. He has to stay at the Palace to continue negotiating with the Spanish Court." Danielle noticed sympathetic looks from both Jacqueline and Lord Grey.
In the quiet moments that followed Danielle took the time to look at Lord Grey more closely. He had been with her for hours yet this was the first time she had really seen him. He was very tall, taller even than Henry, but he lacked Henry's commanding presence. His hair was fair and cut very short. The clothes he wore, while obviously expensive, were just plain clothes. There was nothing of fashion about him. Even after only a day at court Danielle could tell that much.
What struck Danielle most though were his eyes. They were a piercing blue colour, but the expression behind them was hauntingly sad. It was as if they concealed a truth that was trying to get out but was too horrible to be known. Danielle was itching to know why he lived in France when he was obviously English. His voice had betrayed him. It was too deep and slow to be that of a Frenchman. It was a good voice though. One that she could imagine many a lady becoming lost in.
"I think I shall retire, it has been a long day," Danielle said as she stood. The rest of the room stood with her. This ceremony in her own home was a little unnerving. She turned to Jacqueline. "Will you come up and help me undress please?"
"Your attendant awaits you in your chamber Your Highness." Danielle gave her a pleading look as if she needed to talk to her. "But of course I can go ahead and dismiss her if you wish."
"Yes please, I would like very much to talk to you." Jacqueline left the room. The rest of the servants said their goodnights and Lord Grey escorted her to her chamber. She felt very nervous being escorted through a house she knew as well as herself by a man she did not know at all.
"I shall be just outside your chamber door if you need me Your Highness," Steven said on their approach to her room.
"You will be here all night? Will your wife not miss you?"
"I am not married Your Highness."
This shocked her a little. He was young and handsome. His rank as a duke would surely be a beacon for all courtiers within a hundred miles. Even if it was an English title, he would be a fine prize for any lady.
Inside the room Jacqueline was sitting by the fire, waiting for her step sister. As soon as Danielle saw the sympathetic look on her face she burst into tears, unable to keep them in any longer. Jacqueline rushed to her and gave her a sisterly embrace.
"Jacqueline, What's happening? I can't bear it." Danielle was blanketed in repressed emotion. Her sobs were thick and suffocating. She could hardly breathe let alone talk.
Eventually she calmed down enough to be able to sit down and speak. "Jacqueline, why is this happening to me? I knew that things would be difficult for us, but after just one day together."
"It must be awful for you, I can't imagine what you are going through. I just cannot believe that the Spanish could be so wicked."
"How did you know of the Spanish demands?"
"Marc told me when he informed us of your coming."
"Marc?"
"Captain Laurent," Jacqueline was now blushing. Danielle was a little surprised at her being on first name terms with the Captain. Even Henry still called him Laurent despite their many years of friendship. Eager to learn more of their relationship, Danielle pressed for more details.
"Have you seen him often over the past week? I shouldn't imagine he has much time to leave the palace, he never seems to be away from Henry's side."
"He has some free time. When mother and Marguerite were consoling each other over the Prince's marriage," Danielle winced at this, she was still uneasy about the thought that Henry was to marry another woman. Jacqueline realised what she had said and tried to steer away from that subject. "We rode across the woods together to the ruins at Amboise." The mention of that sacred place set Danielle off crying again.
"I think I'll go to bed now. Can I please come and speak to you in the morning, I am in desperate need of your counsel. And please ask my attendant if she would mind coming to me." Jacqueline nodded and left. This gave Danielle a chance to look around the room. It was the same room that she had inhabited as a child. It looked just the same as it used to. Memories came flooding back to her of the last time she had cried in that room, while she was still grieving for her father.
She was only allowed to stay in the room for another two years after his death. Then the so-called hard times hit the manor and Danielle was demoted to being a servant rather than a daughter of the household. She remembered her last night in there before Rodmilla moved her below stairs. She had sat in her fathers favourite chair by the fire and read her copy of Utopia.
"Utopia," she called out loud. She had left the book Henry gave her back at the Palace. How could she be so stupid. The only thing that could give her any comfort, besides Henry himself, was that book, the first thing Henry had ever given her. She had to go and get it.
The grey cloak that she had worn on her way to the manor was lying on a chair. She grabbed it and slung it around her shoulders. She didn't care about the King's orders she had to have that book, maybe even see Henry also.
At that point there was a knock on the door. Danielle called for the visitor to enter. A lady, not much older than herself, nervously entered the room. She curtseyed gracefully. "You called for me Your Highness."
"Yes, I have an urgent errand for you. I have left a certain item back at the palace, a book. It is in my chamber. Please will you go and retrieve it. I simply have to have it tonight. The King would not be happy if I left the manor or I would get it myself you understand."
The girl nodded and gave herself a little inward smile. She had expected her new mistress to be cool and graceful. She new that she had been a servant before marrying the Prince, but she had expected that the Prince would have married somebody more sophisticated. After all in the past, style and elegance had always been so important to him.
"Would you like me to help you undress before I leave Your Highness?"
"No it can wait until you get back, I shall not sleep until I have the book anyway... I'm sorry I do not believe that I know your name."
"Hélène de Lyons, Your Highness. I shall go right away." Danielle looked relieved that she was going to have the book back soon.
Hélène sedately walked out of the door and straight into the broad chest of Lord Grey. "Monsieur, I am so sorry," she said.
"Quite all right Mademoiselle. Is the Princess all right?" He tried to sound as if he had only a professional interest, but Hélène knew the signs when a man was enchanted by a lady. She smiled, a pitying smile.
"Yes, she has just left something at the palace. She wishes me to go for it."
"You cannot possibly go for it yourself. There are many dangers for a lady riding alone in darkness."
"But the Princess will not rest until she has it. It is a book which I believe to very precious to her. I must go for it, I cannot send Maurice, he is too old to be sent out so late at night."
Steven knew that she was right. "There is a royal page somewhere on the grounds, I shall send him. I cannot go myself for I am not supposed to leave her door even." Hélène smiled at him. She knew that he would rather be close to the Princess than tracking down a tiresome page. Men could be so transparent.
Hélène retreated back into the Princess's room and Steven set off down the corridor in search of the page who had accompanied them. He was an odd little man, who seemed a little too keen to take the assignment of coming to the manor. But Steven gave him the benefit of the doubt. Now he just had to find him, and worry about what the Prince would do if he ever found out that he had deserted his post.