Runaway
Chapter Five
By Katrina Chance
Two weeks later
Henry sighed as the three of them exited yet another village. They had been traveling for two weeks, checking out every village along the road, every small hut or large estate, looking for Danielle, but no luck.
"Where could she be? Could she have traveled farther than we thought?" Jacqueline asked the two men.
"Possibly. But she could have gone any direction when she left the manor. We just have to keep looking," Laurent said reasonably.
Henry nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Laurent's right. We just have to keep looking. One of these days, even if we have to leave France ourselves, we shall find her."
Jacqueline nodded at the two men. She understood their reasoning. But she wasn't so sure she could keep going for so long. But then her determination kicked in and she swore to herself that she would not give up until she found her stepsister.
The three of them continued on toward the countryside, hoping and praying that the next village they would come upon would be the one where they would find Danielle.
Danielle walked in the gardens of the Manoir de Loir, a smile upon her beautiful face. She was so happy in her new life. She still couldn't believe her luck. She had found the woman who had been a good friend of her mother's and instantly she had a new family. She was very loved by both of her new siblings, her brother Michael and her sister Ariel. Her new mother Melisande was the perfect mother and her father Thomas was the perfect father. In fact, Thomas reminded her of her birth father, August, in every way.
She stopped and smelled the scent of a white rose in the garden. She felt so good here. She felt as if her old life never happened. To her now, it hadn't. She was content in the life she now led. She was the daughter of a comtess and an earl; she was a noblewoman herself, a Lady, as she would be considered in the royal court.
She sighed. The royal court, the place where she had been turned away by her love. The love that had actually given a Spanish princess her right to be with her love. Why couldn't Henry have listened that night? Why couldn't he have given in to his own love for her and truly considered the story Rodmilla had told and had Danielle give her version to come up with the total truth?
She shook her head of these thoughts. She had to forget about Henry, she knew. He would find someone else to marry, someone else to be his queen. Maybe he had made his choice already.
She continued to stroll through the gardens, content with her life. Nothing could change who she was now. No one. Not even Rodmilla. Her thoughts turned to what her new parents were doing that very day. They were on their way to the Manoir de Barbarac to confront Rodmilla and Marguerite about their treatment of her. She understood why they had to do it. She had learned, through the many stories that Melisande had told, that her mother had been the daughter of a French Marquis and to have her daughter treated as a servant was just wrong. She and Ariel had stayed behind, letting their parents do what they had to. But Danielle knew her sister. Ariel had taken another carriage to a nearby village to visit the man she was in love with, a young Lord whose father very much approved the match and had even taken a liking to Danielle when they had come to visit the family a week ago.
Danielle smiled at the thought of her marrying a young Lord herself. A handsome man whom she could love even more than she loved Henry. She sighed again. Her thoughts could not keep on going back to him. She shook her head and continued on her walk, enjoying her life and putting Henry out of her mind.
Comtess Melisande de Allers sat quietly beside her husband in their carriage. They were on their way to avenge a wrong that had been done to their adopted daughter. She looked out her side of the carriage as they were approaching the gates of a small estate, one she knew to be Danielle's former home, the Manoir de Barbarac. The very place where Danielle had been wronged by her stepmother and one of her stepsisters. Danielle had told her that Jacqueline always was courteous to her, even when she was treated like she was nothing by her stepmother and by her stepsister Marguerite.
They had told Danielle of their plans and she understood that they had to do this. She decided to stay behind, as did Ariel. Both knew that their parents had to take care of this on their own. They did not need to interfere. Michael, though, was a different story. He wanted to be there when they went to confront Rodmilla and Marguerite. But his schedule at the University kept him away.
The carriage pulled up in front of the manor and both Melisande and Thomas noticed Rodmilla waiting for them. They knew that she realized who was coming to her door and she didn't want to disrespect who they were. But they were both about to prove to her that she had already done that very thing.
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