A Right Royal Mix-up
Here we are, chapter 9. Still a little on the short side, but plenty going on! Enjoy it!
Disclaimer – Any Harry Potter related blah is not mine and belongs to J K Rowling. The plot and stuff is borrowed from 'The Princess Gets Engaged' by Tracy Sinclair.
Chapter 9
Lily concentrated on holding up her train as she descended the broad marble staircase. She was so intent on not tripping that she didn't notice James waiting for her below.
His eyes held admiration as he gazed at her. "You look exquisite," he said in a deep male voice.
"You're not too shabby yourself." She smiled.
Some of the men she'd gone out with looked uncomfortable when the occasion called for a tuxedo, but James could have posed as one of those relaxed sophisticates in a men's magazine. His dinner jacket was tailored to perfection, and the formal black-and-white attire accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow hips.
"Are you ready for another mob scene?" he asked.
"Ready if you are." She took the arm he offered.
There were hundreds of people milling around the baroque grand ballroom. They were all dressed splendidly and the women were bedecked with precious jewels.
The noisy chatter died down as everyone faced the doorway expectantly. Lily and James paused at the top of the stairs while a palace servant in fancy livery stepped forward.
"Princess Gabrielle and Prince James Philippe Potter," he announced solemnly.
Lily could hardly keep from wriggling with pleasure. It was exactly like a film and her part was a starring role. She lifted her head regally – hoping her tiara was securely anchored – and accompanied James down the stairs to the ballroom.
After a few moments the orchestra began to play and people gathered around the dance floor. Robert had told her their appearance would be a signal for the music to begin, but he hadn't told her that she and James would dance the first number alone.
Lily was self-conscious as she moved into his arms, aware of all the eyes on them. But when he put his arms around her and drew her close, the crowd seemed unimportant.
James was a marvellous dancer. She followed him effortlessly, almost as if she were part of him. They glided silently around the room, communicating with their bodies. Lily glanced up at his rugged face once and he smiled, sharing her unspoken pleasure.
When the music stopped they were surrounded by people, as always, and she moved reluctantly out of his arms.
That brief interlude was the longest time she spent with James that evening. Everyone wanted a word with them and they gradually became separated.
Lily glanced around every now and then, looking for James, but he seemed to be enjoying himself without her. Of course, a lot of these people were his friends, she told herself, and he hadn't seen them recently. She couldn't help noticing, however, that a lot of those friends were female.
Once when she glanced over he was talking to a pretty young blonde, and another time it was a stunning older woman with dark hair dramatically pulled back from her face. He didn't seem to have a preference. He gave all of them the kind of flattering attention any woman responded to. Lily was reminded of Henri's assessment of James – the newest face attracted him. She dismissed the uncharitable thought – James was supposed to be charming tonight.
One of the most outstanding new faces was that of a brunette with milky skin to complement her chestnut hair. She was perhaps in her early thirties and a total knockout.
Lily wanted to know who she was, but she hesitated to ask, in case she was supposed to know. When the brunette managed to get James alone in a corner, Lily decided to chance it. While she was trying to decide how best to frame the question, a woman in the group around her made it unnecessary.
"You'd better watch your fiancé," she said. "Noelle has a predatory gleam in her eye."
"James is the one who'd better watch out," one of the men said with a laugh. "There's no telling what Charles will do if he catches him making nice with Noelle. The old boy's jealousy is legendary."
"It serves him right for marrying a woman almost twenty years younger," another woman observed tartly. "What did he expect?"
Lily followed the woman's gaze to an older man with a slight paunch and thinning hair.
"Noelle could be a little more discreet," the first woman said.
"Some women just have a need for attention," Lily remarked.
"You used to speak plainer than that, Gabrielle." The man chuckled.
Some other people joined them and the conversation shifted. Lily forgot about Noelle until she looked around for James a little later and discovered the brunette was still by his side. Not only that, she was clinging to his arm and whispering something in his ear. He nodded and the two of them started for the door.
A white-hot flame of anger engulfed Lily. Henri was right! Anybody would do. How could she have been so taken in by James? And how could he carry on with another woman right here in the palace at his own engagement party?
Lily was so furious that she didn't stop to realise the prince's behaviour shouldn't concern her. He wasn't cheating on her; he was cheating on Gabrielle – and the princess didn't care.
Lily's teeth were tightly clenched as she watched James and Noelle start up the staircase. Noelle was leaning against him and he had his arm around her. It would serve them right if her husband did find them together!
She instinctively glanced around to locate the older man, and was appalled to see him starting for the door. The stormy look on his face was evidence that he, too, had seen the couple leave together. Fortunately he was having trouble getting through the crowd.
Lily hesitated only a split second. James didn't deserve any consideration, but for all she knew, Charles had a wand. He might be just fed up enough with his wife to make an example of her next conquest. At the very least, he would cause a nasty scene that would be the talk of the town. She was doing this for King Claude, Lily assured herself.
After excusing herself from the group, she crossed the room more rapidly than Charles. Everybody stood aside to let her pass.
Once outside the ballroom she ran rapidly up the stairs and down the corridor, calling out to James. Numerous guestrooms opened off the hallway and she didn't have time to look into each one – the outraged husband was not far behind.
James came out of one of the rooms alone. When he saw Lily he managed to look pleased. The man was a quick thinker; she had to give him that.
"Gabrielle! I'm glad you're here," he said.
"That's a little kinky," she answered coldly. "Isn't one woman at a time enough for you?"
He looked at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"
"The brunette in the bedroom. I hope she hasn't had time to take her clothes off. Her husband isn't into sharing. And from I've been told, he gets pretty pissed off about it."
"You think that Noelle and I…?" He stared at her incredulously.
"That's good. Hold on to that expression because you're going to need it." Lily glanced over her shoulder at Charles, who was panting slightly as he made his way up the long flight of stairs.
James's jaw set. "I can see you've made up your mind without letting yourself be confused by the facts."
"There's no room for confusion." She could see Noelle standing by the bed in the dimly lit room, hurriedly smoothing her hair. "A man and a woman don't go upstairs to a bedroom in the middle of a party just to talk."
"That's the first thing you've gotten right," he drawled.
Lily's scowl changed to a bright smile as Charles reached the top step. "Have you come to see the engagement present James's family sent me? I promised Noelle I'd show it to her and then I got stuck with old Madame Brouchard. A dear thing, but such a bore!" Lily rolled her eyes. "Finally James offered to take Noelle upstairs for me. It was so sweet of you, darling." She put her hand on his sleeve, digging her nails into his arm.
"Anything for you, my precious," he answered through gritted teeth.
Charles wasn't buying a word of it. He moved closer to James and thrust out his chin. "Gabrielle might be willing to overlook your disgraceful behaviour, but I'm not. If you don't keep your hands off my wife, sir, you're going to regret it!"
If Lily hadn't been so angry it would have struck her as funny. Charles was like a little bantam rooster challenging a hawk. James towered over him, fit and powerful.
Charles turned away and bellowed, "Noelle! Come out of there this instant! You've made a fool of me for the last time."
She came out of the bedroom with an edgy smile for Lily. "Charles, darling, I'm sorry if you felt abandoned. I didn't think you'd be interested in seeing Gabrielle's gift or we would have asked you to come along."
"Do you expect me to believe that's why you're up here?" he demanded.
"You're not going to start that again." She sighed dramatically. "When are you going to get over this insane jealousy?"
"When I can trust you out of my sight for more than five minutes," he answered grimly.
"You have to stop imagining these things. You're getting positively paranoid."
"I wish that were true," he answered bitterly. "I don't know how long I can go on like this. It's just one man after another."
"Like the Count de Tremoille? You didn't imagine we were having an affair?"
His anger turned to guilt, leading Lily to surmise that was the one time Noelle was blameless – or else she and her count didn't get caught.
"I apologised for that," Charles said uncomfortably.
"As well you should! And for all the other things you've accused me of. Let's go back to the party and leave this lovely couple alone."
Lily and James watched silently as Charles and his wife went down the stairs.
When they were out of sight Lily said, "That was quite a performance she put on. I felt I should applaud."
"You and Charles make a good pair," James answered morosely. "You're both good at leaping to conclusions."
"He might be fooled into believing what he wants to believe, but I'm not blinded by love."
"That's quite obvious. Love means keeping an open mind."
"Or letting yourself be fooled by phoney charm," she replied icily. "I realise how much you like variety, but you might at least have had the decency not to carry on right here in the palace."
"I know you won't believe me, but that was never my intention."
"It just happened?"
A muscle twitched in James's square jaw, but he didn't lose his temper. "Regardless of your opinion of me, I would never get involved with a married woman. Noelle and I were simply having a conversation – "
"A lengthy one," Lily interrupted.
He frowned. "We were talking, when suddenly she said she didn't feel well. I offered to find Charles and have their car brought around, but Noelle said she'd be all right if she could just lie down for a few minutes. She said these bouts occurred now and then. They were nothing serious, but she didn't want to worry Charles."
"Give me a break! You believed her?"
"I had no reason not to. She seemed so shaky that she had to hold onto my arm."
"You can't be that gullible!" Lily exclaimed.
"Forgive me for being a gentleman," he said irritably. "Perhaps I should have waited until she fainted or something equally dramatic, but it didn't occur to me."
"Okay, so you took her upstairs. Then what? She looked extremely healthy when her husband appeared."
"She made a remarkable recovery," James admitted wryly.
"Why are you the only one who's surprised?" Lily asked with heavy irony. "You're not exactly inexperienced with women. I could tell from across the room that she was coming on to you."
He stared at her with narrowed eyes. "That bothered you?"
"Not in the slightest! In fact I was amused. Until you were brazen enough to take her upstairs – in the middle of our engagement party! In the future I'd appreciate it if you'd conduct your affairs more discreetly," she finished coldly.
"It's nice to know that you sanction my future dalliances."
"Why not? It's more realistic than expecting you to change your ways."
"If you have such little hope for our marriage, why did you warn me? Your father might have decided he didn't want a notorious womaniser in the family."
"Is that why you made a spectacle of yourself with Noelle? To get out of the marriage?"
"I already told you that isn't what happened," he rasped. "But since you think it did, I'd like to know why you didn't let Charles catch me with Noelle. He's too little to rough me up, but he could have made a nasty scene."
"We've both been involved in too many scandalous incidents," Lily answered tartly. "It's time we either resigned ourselves to the marriage, or found some dignified way to avoid it."
James gazed at her thoughtfully. "I never thought I'd say this, but that's remarkably mature of you."
"I'm sorry I can't return the compliment." She lifted her chin and marched over to the staircase. "I'm going back to the ball. One of us ought to keep up appearances."
"I gather that's your charming way of asking me to join you," he drawled, strolling over to her.
Lily was too angry to answer. She started rapidly down the stairs, forgetting to hold up her train. Fortunately James was beside her because she caught her foot in the trailing fabric and would have pitched down the entire flight of stairs if he hadn't caught her.
His arms reached up and pulled her against him. She was off balance, so her body leaned heavily against his and her head was cradled in the curve of his neck. A bystander would have concluded that they were embracing, since neither moved for a long moment.
Lily felt the lethargy that always came over her when she was in his arms. It was maddening, considering that she disliked him intensely! But very few women could deny his potent masculinity.
She tried to move away, but he swung her into his arms. "I'd better carry you down. That train of yours is lethal. You could have broken your neck if you'd fallen down these marble stairs."
"That would have solved your problem," she murmured.
"I might not want to marry you, but that's a rather drastic solution."
His reminder was like a dash of cold water. She struggled out of his arms at the foot of the stairs. "Thank you," she said curtly. "I'll be fine now."
The evening seemed endless after that, especially since James remained by her side. Lily found it difficult to muster a smile when people told her what a handsome couple they were.
Finally she said to him in a low aside, "You don't have to stay with me."
"There's no place I'd rather be, my love. Now that Charles has reclaimed his wife," he added mockingly.
"I'm sure you can find someone equally cooperative." She turned and walked away.
Hope that's enough to be getting on with! Next chapter – I leave our favourite couple for a while, and concentrate on Remus/Ariadne…
Chemichunga… :~D
For your safety, a life vest is located under your seat.
