Runaway
Chapter Seven
By Katrina Chance
Danielle stood silent in the doorway, gazing at her love. She had never imagined that he would ever find her, ever coming looking for her. But here he was, just as she remembered him, standing before her. Danielle's eyes went cold at that moment at the memory of the hurt he had caused her several weeks before. If he hadn't have turned her away that night, she would never have been in this position, but now she was. She didn't know what he expected her to do or why he was here.
Henry gazed at the woman he loved. He couldn't believe that he had found her! That he found her here. Now that he had the chance to love her forever, he vowed not to let her go. He raised his head slightly to gaze into her eyes. He flinched slightly at the coldness he saw there, the pain he had caused. He could see the pain in her eyes and it pained him that he had put it there.
"Danielle, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Henry said in apology.
"You would have known if you had let me explain, like I wanted to. Instead you believed Rodmilla. You believed her lies," Danielle said coldly.
Henry flinched at her tone. "I'm so sorry about that, Danielle, believe me. I was wrong in not letting you explain why you did it or the truth about what you truly were."
Danielle glared at him in that minute, not caring whether or not he was sincere in his apology. Her pain overrode her love for him for the time being. "It shouldn't have mattered, Henry! If you truly loved me, you wouldn't have doubted my love for you, as you did that night! You showed me how truly vain you were, Henry! I doubt you ever loved me after that night!"
Henry was shocked at her words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I love you, Danielle, with all my heart!"
"I don't believe that for one minute, Henry! If you truly loved me, that night would have gone differently and you know it! You never loved me!"
"I do! What will it take for me to prove it to you?" Henry asked.
"There is nothing you can do! Don't you see! I'm not the young woman you thought I was, Henry! I am much different now, thanks to you! I have a new family, a new life, and it does not include you! Go back to Hautefort, and leave me alone!" Danielle exclaimed before slamming the door in Henry's face.
Danielle turned away from the door and walked away, not listening to Henry's pleading voice behind it. She walked into the kitchen to check on what was being prepared for supper, then headed upstairs to clean up for the meal.
Henry continued to plead through the now closed door. "Danielle, please! Please let me prove it to you! Please!"
But no answer came to his continued pleads. Danielle apparently was finished with him, he realized after several minutes. She had been in pain and her words had shown that. He had done this to her, he knew. But, did it really mean that it was over? Did she really feel that way? Did she no longer love him? Did he destroy his only chance with her?
He saw no answers to his questions. He turned away from the door and headed back to his horse. He mounted it and looked at Laurent and Jacqueline. "Did you hear what she said?"
"Loud and clear, your highness. Danielle was not at all happy to find you at her door, begging her for forgiveness when you didn't grant her the same forgiveness. You may have ruined your chance with her," Jacqueline said, having heard the hurt in her stepsister's voice as she railed at Henry.
"You have ruined all your chances with her, your highness. Now listen to my sister and go home!" came the voice of Ariel de Allers at that moment.
Henry, Jacqueline, and Laurent turned and looked at her at that moment. "And who are you?" Henry asked.
"I am Ariel de Allers, Danielle's sister. You've done too much damage to my sister's heart thanks to what you did the night of the masque. There is nothing you can do to change Danielle's mind, your highness. You better listen to her and go back to Hautefort. You know where she is now. Maybe if you give her time, she may reconsider, but right now, the pain is just too much for her. You hurt her too much. Go home; give her some time to think about what she wants. Maybe she'll change her mind," Ariel said from atop her horse.
Henry nodded. "I will go home, but if you would do one thing for me, Ariel."
"What is it, your highness?" Ariel asked.
"Remind her every now and then that I love her," Henry said.
"I will. I don't know if it will change her mind, but I will," Ariel said before spurring her horse onward toward the stables.
Henry and his group headed back into town to stay the night at the inn before returning to Hautefort the next day. They needed the rest.
Ariel walked into the manor to find Danielle lighting the lamps in the back hall. "Danielle, are you alright?"
"No, I'm not. And you know why."
"I know. I heard you giving him a piece of your mind. He deserved every word you said to him," Ariel said, rubbing her sister's stressed back in an effort to calm her down.
"I know. But I never gave him the chance to explain himself, you know that," Danielle said.
"What kind of explanation would he have given? And did he deserve to explain his actions, when he didn't give you the chance to explain your own actions?" Ariel asked, reasoning with her sister.
"You're right," Danielle said with a sigh. "You are so right, Ariel. He didn't deserve to explain his actions when he wouldn't let me do the same." She sighed again. "Let's forget about him for now. Let's go into the study and think about ways to torture Marguerite once she gets here."
"You got it! I have a few ideas, but let's talk about them and come up with a few more," Ariel said as both girls gleefully ran to the study.
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