Chapter 21: A Door shut leaves a Window open

The next week seemed to last forever, and for good reason. Never did anybody think you could cram so much excitement into seven days. Danielle, Louise and Paulette spent the week preparing Jacqueline's wedding. It had been decided after much deliberation that since Henry was still living in the manor that Laurent and Jacqueline should stay there as well. This delighted everyone. Even though Henry was annoyed at the thought of having his father's hired help there to spy on him. He pushed his concerns aside because Danielle was happy. And that was all that mattered. She was finally happy.

They planned a simple, intimate affair, and yet the three women found themselves exhausted each and every night, and the list of things to think about, plan and prepare only seemed to grow, never shrink. Of course the they were happy to do it. Jacqueline was an important member of their family, and she deserved the kind of wedding dreams are made of. This fact, of course, did not keep her from worrying. No, Jacqueline was always the sort of girl who never wanted to make life harder for anybody, even if it meant abandoning her principles. So as the women prepared flowers and baked bread, sewn outfits and planned the guest list Jacqueline was constantly on hand to tell them that the whole thing really "wasn't a big deal."

Danielle, and the rest for that matter knew that she was lying through her teeth. There was no way anyone could miss the excitement and sheer joy in her eyes, and if you happened to miss it, her voice gave away any remaining secrets.

Henry and Laurent did their own sort of preparations, although their roles were far less stressful. They decided after the hundredth dirty look and being shooed away a million times that it was best if they let the women handle the preparations. It wasn't as if they knew what they were doing, anyway. So, the men of the family spent their days doing the kind of things men do to bond. And at this point, bonding was important because with Laurent marrying Jacqueline, and Henry and Danielle heading in that direction, they would be brother in laws. They would be family; so the sooner they started acting like one, the easier it would be.

It was hard at first. Laurent found himself falling into the Boss-Employee trap quite often, no matter how many times Henry scolded him for it. The Prince it seemed, thought of they as equals. Both were men who were madly in love, would do anything to keep that love, and weren't afraid to hide it. It took a while, but soon they began to make progress, and soon Laurent viewed Henry as just one of the guys.

Maurice enjoyed the role of the happy, but protective, soon to be father in law. He'd give the boys advice on love, commitment, communication and anything else he could think of. It was advice the younger men did not ask for, but in most cases were happy to receive anyway.

Finally the day of the wedding was upon them and everyone was in a tizzy. They should have known that no matter how much something is planned, prepared and carefully occastrated, at a wedding something has to go wrong. It's practically the law. They planned on having the wedding in the garden, but with all the rain they had been receiving lately the ground was way too soft to support all that trampling and Paulette was mortified to think that her precious flowers would be ruined. After a quick brain storming session, they decided that the hill overlooking the river was a suitable substitute. Only, they forgot to inform the preacher of the move, so when he arrived at the garden and saw that it was empty he assumed the wedding was canceled and started back home. It was Henry's job to track the man down when they realized he was missing. He found the confused man on the highway, and after a bit of chatter back and forth he and Henry returned to the manor and the wedding was underway.

The wedding itself was short but beautiful, and though it was one of the families happiest days everyone was glad it was over. In the hustle and bustle to get everything ready most of the chores were ignored and the ones that weren't were done half-heartedly. Henry and Danielle were hoping to have some alone time together. With he as the best man and she, the maid of honor, they hardly had a minute to themselves, never mind for each other. But, absence makes the heart grow fonder, they kept reminding themselves. Boy those philosophers weren't joking.

Finally after the guests had left, and everyone had settled in for the night the couple finally found time to sneak away. They found themselves in a field lying in a small pile of hay. The sky was beautiful that night. Crystal clear and dotted with millions of stars.

They were content just laying there, holding hands in silence. Well, at least, outwardly they were. Inwardly, they both were thinking hard. Henry found himself at the mercy of his jealous nature. Although he had been very happy for Jacqueline and Laurent, the more he watched the preparations and the moments between the couple the more he wished it were he and Danielle exchanging rings. He tried not to think too much about it, to convince himself that it would happen, naturally, in good time. And yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep Leonardo Da Vinci's voice out of his head, "You can't leave everything to fate boy, she's got a lot to do, sometimes you've got to give her a hand." Henry felt his adrenaline pumping and he was about to open his mouth to speak, but Danielle, being the unpredictable one she was, beat him too it.

"Henry, will you marry me?" She said suddenly. Henry's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. His ears started ringing, and for a moment he thought he'd faint. Good thing he was already laying down.

"What?" He sputtered.

"I didn't slur." She giggled.

"What brought this on?" In the back of his mind he was thinking that Danielle's reasoning was probably along the same lines of his own. But he had to find out.

"Why does it matter?" She asked a little annoyed.

"I guess it doesn't." Henry sighed happily and silence grew thick in the air.

"Henry!" Danielle squealed suddenly.

"What?" Henry asked feeling a bit startled. She playfully elbowed him in the chest and he let out an exaggerated groan.

"I just proposed to you and I'd like an answer!" She yelled in mock anger.

"Oh come on, Danielle don't make me say it." Danielle rolled over so her back was to him. "So it's like that, is it?" He chuckled nervously. Silence. He groaned, he'd always imagined himself proposing to her, not the other way around. He'd never even heard of a woman proposing to a man. "Danielle De Barbarac," he began with a sigh, "I would be honored to marry you." Still there was silence. "Danielle! Hello! I just answered you!" He said with a tone that matched her earlier one.

"What if I don't feel like it now?" was the reply.

"WHAT?? No! No! You can't, that's not…. Erg I can't even comprehend that!" Danielle turned back around quickly and put her finger against his lips.

"Sweetheart, sweetheart, relax before you have a stroke, I was joking." Henry's features smoothed out and he could see the joy sparkling in her eyes. For the first time he realized that she was serious. She really wanted to marry him.

"You fascinate me." He whispered before his lips were stolen by his future wife. But he was glad for it; conversation at that point seemed senseless.