Runaway
Chapter Two
By Katrina Chance
Two days later
Danielle continued on her trek away from the old life she had left behind. She had only stopped a few times on her journey, the night before to stay at an inn for the night and occasionally in one small village or another for a quick meal. She didn't know where she was, but she knew she was still in France. She had gone down the road that lead to Paris, but had detoured off of that road when she got to another road that could take her south of the city. Anything she could do to avoid the winter home of the royal family, she would do.
She rode into a small village several miles away from Orleans and headed immediately for the nearest road to take her further out of the village when something spooked her horse and she was thrown off. She hit her head on the ground and was knocked unconscious.
The noblewoman of the village, Comtess Melisande de Allers, came upon the young woman a few minutes later and saw the horse a little further away, being calmed by her son, Michael.
"What happened?"
"Something spooked her horse and it threw her off. She landed on the ground and hit her head. She hasn't woken up yet," Michael said, gazing at the beauty as he also calmed down the horse.
"Let us get her back to the manor and see if she will wake up there and tell us where she is from," the comtess said in a voice Michael knew not to question.
Michael nodded and he scooped up Danielle and carried her to their home, the Manoir de Loir, at the edge of the village.
Danielle awoke several hours later in a beautiful room inside the manor. She launched up off the bed and looked around. "How did I get here?" she asked herself.
She was shocked when she heard an answer to her question coming from a corner of the room. "My son and I brought you here."
Danielle turned and saw the older woman sitting there, dressed in grand clothes, grander than the clothes she had seen either Marguerite or Rodmilla wear. "Who are you?"
"I am the Comtess de Allers, Melisande. And who are you, my dear?"
"I am Danielle du Barbarac."
"The young woman the prince spurned at the masque! Of course! You poor thing! And I knew your mother. Nicole is probably spinning in her grave right now over what happened!" Melisande said with a sympathetic look on her face.
"You knew my mother?" Danielle asked, rising from the bed and moving to a chair beside Melisande.
"Yes, we were good friends for years before she married your father and left the village where we grew up," Melisande told her.
"I wish I would have had the chance to know her, but she died giving birth to me," Danielle told Melisande.
"I know. August wrote me when she died and told me that she had given birth to a little girl. We wrote to each other for years until her death. When she wrote to me when she became pregnant, I told her if anything ever happened to her and August, that I would take care of their child and I would like to keep that promise," Melisande said to Danielle.
"What do you mean?" Danielle asked her mother's good friend.
"I would like you to stay here with us and become a member of our family, as Nicole would have wanted you to all along. You will gain a new family and a new name. You can say good-bye to your old life here, the life of Danielle du Barbarac, and start a new one, one as Lady Danielle de Allers," Melisande said with a smile.
Danielle smiled. Fate had brought her here, to a new family, the family her own mother would have wanted her with. "Of course, I will stay. It would honor mother's memory to become a part of your family."
"Then we must prepare you for your new role in life. You are now the daughter of a comtess and an earl. You must dress the part and learn everything there is to know about who you are to become," Melisande said with a smile.
Danielle nodded and was lead out of the room by her new mother, eager to begin her new life.
Jacqueline and Laurent walked through the village square, just enjoying being together. Jacqueline had just finished explaining to Laurent what had transpired in the past few days, after the masque.
"Your poor stepsister! The things she has been through, thanks to your mother!" Laurent exclaimed.
"I know. And I understand her running away. Mother and Marguerite believed that they had won, but we all know that Henry is not marrying her," Jacqueline said with a slight smile.
Laurent nodded. Henry had gone ahead and told his father, King Francis, that he would marry Princess Gabriella of Spain and the wedding was set for a week from now. "She needed to get away from her life here. She deserves to lead a new life away from here. And even if she had stayed, she still would have had to witness Henry marrying Gabriella."
"Yes, you are right. I hope she does find happiness in whatever life she begins. I will miss her though," Jacqueline said with a sigh.
"I know you will. Maybe someday, you will meet up with her again," Laurent said, embracing the beauty.
Jacqueline nodded against his broad chest. She hoped that, one day, she would meet up with her stepsister again.
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