The Runaway Royals - Part Two

Henry and Danielle burst into their chambers in a whirlwind of dancing and riotous laughter. The reception had bee a complete success. In the space of just a few hours Danielle had been able to charm the ambassadors of eight nations. Not one had left without being enchanted by her wit and beauty. Now though, the only charming she wanted to do was on her husband.

"You wait here Milord," Danielle commanded. "I'm going to go and change into something a little less constricting." Henry would usually resist anything that involved Danielle being away from him, but a night-gown would be much easier to negotiate than the red velvet gown she was currently sporting. Also he realised that she needed the time alone so that she could find her gift.

"I am your faithful slave milady. your wish is my command." He stepped back and bowed, kissing her had. "But please, do not be too long." Danielle had no intention of being away any longer than necessary. Sometimes she would tease him and spend up to an hour just talking with Hélène, but tonight was not one of those nights. She walked over to her dressing room in as Regal a manner as she could muster, and walked through the door.

Once inside her elegant glide was exchanged for a childlike run. She wanted to be back with Henry. Hélène, hearing her mistress, entered the dressing room from her own adjoining chambers. "Wasn't tonight just wonderful. Have you ever been to such an event Hélène?"

Hélène could honestly say that she had not. The Queen truly had surpassed herself. "It was marvellous Danielle." Hélène had no problems with being so informal with her mistress. they were more like friends.

"I am so pleased that you enjoyed it. I did notice though that you did not dance. Surely it wasn't through want of offers." Hélène began to undo the hooks and laces on Danielle's gown.

"I rarely dance. There are few men that I feel comfortable with."

"Lord Grey is an excellent dancer. You would think a man so skilled on the battlefield would have little grace, but he was very elegant." Hélène smile at the mention of Steven's name. He was a man that she felt comfortable with. They had spent many hours talking alone on every subject. But she had noticed that he never spoke of himself. She had a feeling that his exile was very unpleasant, involving something, or someone that he would rather forget.

Danielle sat at her dressing table so that Hélène could remove the pins from her hair. On the table was a folded piece of paper with 'Danielle' scripted on it. She unfolded it to reveal a note in Henry's handwriting.

"Darling Danielle,

The ring was a symbol of your being part of my family. These symbolise your being an immovable piece of my heart.

Your devoted husband

Henry"

Danielle picked up a small wooden box from the table. It was just like the one he had given her with the ring. She lifted the lid, and in it was a pair of exquisite, heart shaped, diamond earrings. She gasped. The were beautiful. As Hélène continued to brush her hair, she delicate removed them and put them on.

Hélène could only watch in silence as Danielle got excited about her gift. Over the years she had received several boxes like that with similar gifts within. Most were stored in her father's castle in Lyons. The only one she kept with her was a small pendent that Henry had given her for her fifteenth birthday. Even then he was a show off, always flaunting his privileges. She had never been sure why it had been so precious to her. Maybe it was the inscription. "Lena, through storms and tragedy, best friends forever, Henry." It had been the last gift given to her as Henry's best friend.

"They're beautiful," Hélène finally managed to say. "It seems a good ending to a perfect night."

"Not quite perfect. I so wish that Jacqueline could have been there. I have hardly seen her since the Spanish left the court. What could have happened to make her so reclusive all of a sudden?" Hélène knew what had happened between Jacqueline and her mother, but had been ordered not to say a word to Danielle.

Eventually Danielle was ready to return to her precious Henry. Hélène retreated into her own chamber and Danielle returned to her husband. Henry was stood by the window, staring out into the countryside.

When he heard the door open he turned to see his bride. She was wearing the earrings. She looked beautiful. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him, covering his face with kisses.

"Henry...my love, they're...wonderful. You...really do...spoil me."

"Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to see you with beautiful things."

"Do I have to undress you myself, or are you going to get ready for bed?"

"Why don't we take our honeymoon now?" He said in an excited voice.

"What, at this very moment?"

"Yes. If we left now, we could be well away by morning. We would be miles away and nobody would be able to catch us."

"The King would confine us to the grounds forever. We would be the only King and Queen still under house arrest from the previous monarch. He said no and he meant it."

"Father was being completely unreasonable. Our presence here is not necessary right now. Yes he would be angry, but I think that Mother can see that he is being unreasonable, she would be able to calm his temper. Please Danielle. We need time to be alone. Work on the University doesn't start for another two months and we have weeks until the trade fair."

Danielle had to admit that the prospect of time alone with Henry was a very tempting thought. "But where would we go?"

"Where ever we want. We needn't take much with us, we can buy what we need along the way, I have plenty of money. Is there anywhere that you would like to go to?"

"Well... no, it's nothing."

"What? Is there somewhere special to you?"

"Before my father married the Baroness, he had promised that we would go to a small town on the coast where he had relatives. He promised to show me the sea, but he died before we ever had the chance to take our trip."

"And you never saw the sea." Danielle nodded. "Well that's where we will go. Nobody has to know who we are. We can get along inconspicuously and we will be back here in no time." Danielle's apprehensions were disappearing by the second.

"What do you say?"

She sat down for a minute. She needed to think this through. On one hand she had to risk the wrath of the King. But on the other was an exciting adventure with her beloved Henry. He had once said to her that for their love, he would defy Heaven itself, maybe a little defiance was needed.

"All right then, let's go. Let's wait until Hélène has gone to bed, I can go and get dressed and then we can go." She began to remove her earrings and ring. "I wouldn't want to lose these."

"No, leave the ring," Henry said. "This is more than a nice piece of jewellery. Only Royalty has this ring. It is your lifeline if ever things go wrong. If we were attacked or robbed, we would be able to get help by showing this ring. It's very important that you wear it always." Danielle put it back on her finger and then stood up and kissed Henry.

He returned the kiss with real passion. She reached down and began to tug at his shirt, pulling it from out of his britches. "I thought that we were supposed to be putting clothes on," Henry said breathlessly.

"We will in time," Danielle replied. "But as for now, we have at least an hour before we could possibly leave. We may as well put that to good use."

"Well milady, when you put it like that." He lifted her clean off her feet and carried her over to their bed. "Maybe we could delay for a little while." And he began to make love to her. How could he possibly resist his Danielle? His angel.