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Henry only had a few days to find out who this mystery woman was. Her responses were so similar to what he would expect from Catherine it was uncanny. Plus running into the mysterious woman twice, it seemed like fate wanted him to discern her identity. That couldn't be a coincidence. He did choose to ignore the fact that in both settings any identifying markers were covered.
He wasn't sure what he would do once he figured out her identity. He knew she wouldn't want an affair, and neither did he actually. Maybe thank the woman for reminding him that what he already had was perfect. Or perhaps he would just be content in knowing that he figured her out.
But, he needed to figure her out first.
Currently he was standing along a stone wall in the courtyard. There were several women convening here as well and his current position gave him a great look out to watch them. Not that he was watching them per se but rather studying them to see if they could be his mysterious woman. So far no one really stood out to him.
He sighed out loud. He sounded pathetic, but this hunt was so exhausting. There was no particular woman that stood out in the throne room this morning. Granted that might not have been her fault but Catherine's for distracting him. Throughout his journeys through the castle he would happen upon women and still none of them struck him as the mysterious woman. Even now, he could see that there were clusters of noble Italian women scattered throughout the courtyard and still not a one even made him do a double take.
But wait, who was that?
Henry was about to give up and head back into the castle when he noticed a woman standing behind the fountain. Due their distance apart it was hard to approximate her height, the most defining characteristic about the mystery woman. But he could tell that she was the shortest woman amongst the group.
She was also hard to make out due to the fountain, her image was blurry due to the running water, but if he tried to move to his left there was a shrub that would block his view of the woman, and to his right was the wall he kept leaning against. The blasted woman also had her back turned to him, how was he ever going to figure her out?
This woman was wearing a red dress, just like his mysterious dance partner. That had to be a good sign. Her hair was up as well and it looked to be a lighter shade, though it was hard to tell with the water was able to her image. If only he could walk up and slide his arms around her, maybe even do a few dance steps, then he would be able to tell. The woman would feel just like Catherine in his arms, just without Catherine's face.
The woman turned, and seemed to look right at him! Maybe she could feel him watching her. He couldn't make out any distinguishing features due to distance and that blasted fountain, only an outline. This had to be the mysterious woman though. She seemed like the only one he couldn't place, and it seemed like any time he might catch a true glimpse, fate intervened.
But now the woman was walking away, it almost seemed like she was in a hurry. Luckily he knew the layout and could use that to his advantage. She was exiting the courtyard from the furthest point from his location, but unless she was to go into the kitchens (not likely since she was a noblewoman) she would have to go down the same corridor that was to his right. He wouldn't be able to see her enter the hallway but he could meet her there and just casually walk by, hopefully catching a glimpse
Catherine couldn't wait for the Venetian party to leave. As the negotiations drew to a close she found herself looking forward to not playing host for a time. Despite the rumors of her being a power-grabbing shrew, she did like not to have to always put on show and play the political games all the time. She would much rather be overseeing her youngest children's education, but instead she was in the courtyard playing nice with the visiting wives and mistresses.
Currently she and Contessa Russo were discussing the importance of the treaty to both of their husbands. Hopefully the contessa would relay to her husband what Catherine was saying.
"Pardon your majesty, but there is a gentleman intently watching you. In fact it seems as if he is straining to see you."
Catherine felt her eyes dart to the woman's face, as if looking at the contessa's face could give her a clue as to who this gentleman was, "There are quite a few of us out here, perhaps he is looking for someone."
The woman didn't seem to believe that, "I'm not sure your majesty, he really isn't looking about. More right at you actually."
"Perhaps he is looking at you. You are right in front of me."
"As flattering as that would be, I believe it is you he is looking at. I'm merely only a contessa, you are a queen, title wise you are much more interesting. You are also a good several years younger than me, and it seems your admirer is closer to you in age."
"Describe him" Catherine couldn't bring herself to turn and look yet. What if he recognized her? For goodness sakes they kissed, he could ruin her very quickly, Henry would be only too glad to be rid of her.
"Well it's hard for me to do him justice, these eyes aren't quite what they used to be. Plus between the sun and the fountain my view is much distorted. He is also standing in the shadow preventing me from being able to tell the color of his hair, if he even has any! He's not a lover is he?"
Catherine felt her jaw drop in shock, "Of course not! I would never stoop so low, but I often have courtiers seeking appointment with me, trying to get me to support their cause." She lied, not about having a lover (which she did not have), or people seeking her favor, but she knew the gentleman in question was not campaigning for anything.
"Well, the man seems richly dressed, so he is not a servant looking above his station" she added with a sly smile, "but his face is in the shadow, I can't make out any features."
"But what of his dress" Catherine implored, perhaps she could garner enough information to learn any identifying marker.
"He is in blue, perhaps on the darker shade, but the shadow could be making it darker. If there are any patterns, the water has distorted them."
That didn't help, many men wore blue.
Taking a risk Catherine turned to look at the gentleman. If it was the man and he recognized her she could lose it all. But then again what were the chances? There were several gentlemen wandering around the castle, this fellow could be any one of them just enjoying the lovely day watching the fountain, though her gut instinct told her that was not the case.
Unfortunately (maybe fortunately?) Catherine couldn't make out any details herself. The man seemed to be wearing blue, about Henry's height and build, and was most definitely looking in her direction. It had to be him, something within her told her it was. That same feeling was also telling her to run. If he recognized her…she didn't really want to think of potential outcomes.
Catherine excused herself from her company and began towards the exit furthest from him. But if he were familiar with the grounds he'd know there was only one passage way. She could cut through the kitchens, but that would cause quite a scene. She could, however, grab a kitchen servant and make them walk with her, making it look like the queen was down there for business and not coming from the courtyard.
Henry waited along the corridor with a big smile on his face. This was it. He would finally see the woman who shared his pain. He had no proof that the woman soon to be walking down the corridor was the masked woman, but he knew. He could feel it in his gut. He seemed to be continually drawn to her and once again he was drawn to that woman in the courtyard.
He couldn't wait. Maybe she would look like Catherine? They seemed so alike in everything else it seemed only natural she would look like her. Or maybe she didn't resemble Catherine at all and all the similarities from the ball were made up in his delusional want of his wife.
Except she didn't show up, in fact no one walked by him. This made no sense, she wouldn't have walked through the kitchens would she? From that particular courtyard there were only two points of entry, one of which he was standing in, the other where he saw the woman make her way towards. The woman couldn't be hiding from him, maybe she did recognize him.
Henry started back towards the way he came stopping just around the corner. He looked down where he had been standing trying to survey the scene. The woman couldn't have just disappeared, perhaps she was waylaid by someone?
Slowly he turned around back on his heels getting ready to round the corner to make his way forward, maybe then he would just pass her chatting with someone.
"Oof!" he grunted as his hands came down around the shapely body that he had collided with.
Catherine.
They both had rounded the corner at the same time, colliding. Although Henry couldn't complain, the collision had allowed him to wrap one hand around her back, while the other hand landed on her shoulder. Her torso had pressed up right against his and her hands were clutching his sides.
Henry smiled, he had found himself in worse situations before.
"Henry, what on Earth? Why are you practically running down the hall accosting me?"
She was obviously not as pleased about their encounter as he was, although her hands were still holding on to him, and she hadn't seemed to notice his hand around her back. Truthfully if anyone happened upon them they'd think they were having a romantic encounter.
"I was looking for someone." Her hands left his sides.
"Don't worry I'm sure any of the women in the courtyard would love to be your mistress for the night." The tone of her voice would have frozen their best wine.
"No, I was looking for my valet" he lied. Catherine's comment had irked him a tad. He was looking for a woman, just not for the reasons that she would expect.
Knowing that his next comment could potentially start a fight, especially if he tried to pay her back for her snide comment, he recalled the previous conversation with the woman. Pay her a compliment. His mysterious woman said that she hated being greeted with negativity. She also said try to pay his wife a compliment. He looked his wife up and down. It would be easy to pay her a compliment. Her dark red gown fit her perfectly. Why would he want to look for any other woman? Especially with her looking like this?
"Catherine, you look lovely in that dress"
Henry lightly grabbed both of her hands, brought them to his lips, and gave each one a small kiss. He then turned around and took off from where he came.
Catherine stood rooted to the ground, a small smile developing on her face, one that she would deny if anyone ever asked her about it. Her husband could be his own mystery sometimes. Suddenly coming back to reality, she looked over at the kitchen maid who had been silently standing through the whole thing.
"Come on. We've a menu to plan!" Catherine barked. She felt slightly bad for the tone she used, but Henry had disrupted her. Plus she was still searching for the mysterious gentleman. The path she was taking would lead her right by him, provided he was still there. He could have walked off by this point, thank you Henry.
Making her way around the corner, Catherine could feel the anticipation building. She had to go through this way, there was no other choice.
As she rounded the corner, her eyes fell on the location that the man had been standing. Empty. The tension immediately left her body, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Really she should be thankful the gentleman had disappeared, had he recognized her and then saw Henry, it could really spell disaster for her.
But she had really wanted to know who he was, or at least what he looked like. As she walked by she scanned the area. Maybe the gentleman was just hidden from the corner? But no, it had seemed he had moved on and made his way back into the castle.
Why she even got her hopes was beyond her. She had no proof that the gentleman was the masked one, only a gut feeling. Of course now she would never know, thanks to Henry and his stalling her.
Looking back at the kitchen maid Catherine gave her orders, "Make everything served at dinner this evening his majesties favorites."
What could she say, despite his stalling he had paid her a compliment, and he himself had looked quite dashing in his blue doublet. She could also recall his arm wrapped around her back pulling her close to prevent her from falling. Or perhaps she was just serving all of his favorites because she was head over heels for him.