The next morning, Clarisse was up at six. She dressed quickly and styled her hair as best she could. She was not entirely helpless without her maids, but she did depend on them for her immaculately coiffured look. She called the front desk and ordered breakfast for two, before opening her door to the hallway. As she expected, she found Joseph standing at attention just beside the door.

"Good morning, Joseph."

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"Won't you come in for some coffee and breakfast?"

"I will, thank you."

"It's on its way up."

Joseph sank heavily onto the sofa and leaned back, while Clarisse stood looking at him. The poor man could barely keep his eyes open. She took a seat beside him and squeezed his shoulder briefly. He looked up at her and smiled. "You look different, my dear," he told her.

"This is how I look without any help from Marie and Susannah," she explained.

"You look beautiful," he insisted. "Just different. I like it."

"Thank you."

When breakfast arrived, Clarisse, against Joseph's wishes, prepared him a plate and a cup of coffee. He was too tired to do more than protest, however, and soon enough he had finished eating. Their plates lay discarded on the table and Clarisse went to the window. It wasn't as grey a day as it had been yesterday. "When are we due at the airport, Joseph?"

"Let me find out." He took out his phone and made a quick call. He did not seem to like what he heard and after he hung up he immediately dialed another number. "Charlotte, I need your help. Will you please come to Her Majesty's suite?"

"Is there a problem, Joseph?" Clarisse asked.

"Yes, but we'll find a solution."

There was a knock on the door and Charlotte came in. "What's going on, Joe?" she wondered.

Joseph got up from the sofa and paced the room, his hands clasped behind his back. "I'm afraid that Genovia One is not yet skyworthy and will not be fully repaired for another three or four days."

Clarisse was annoyed. "I can't wait three or four days!"

Charlotte spoke up. "I'm sure that won't be necessary, Your Majesty. Let me call our travel agent. If two first class tickets are available from London to Pyrus, she will find them." She got out her phone and made the call.

"I can't believe this," Clarisse exclaimed indignantly. "And we thought yesterday was bad!"

"Your Majesty, please don't worry. Everything will be fine. Charlotte knows what she's doing."

Clarisse relaxed. "You're right about that. I suppose there's not much I can do now, anyway."

"Thank you very much, Liz." Charlotte hung up and spoke to her companions. "The flight doesn't leave until four o'clock this afternoon, but it will take us home non-stop."

"That means we'll need to leave the hotel at about two o'clock," Joseph pointed out. "I hope you two have things to do or a book to read. I'll be right here with this pot of coffee." He sat down on the sofa and poured himself a second cup of coffee.

Charlotte was concerned. "Is he going to be ok?" she asked quietly.

"I'm going to see if I can convince him to take a nap on the sofa," Clarisse explained quietly.

The young woman nodded. "If you need me, I'll be in my room working."

"Thank you, Charlotte. That will be all."

"Good luck, ma'am." And Charlotte slipped out of the room.

Joseph sat with his elbows resting on his knees, inhaling the steam from his coffee between sips. Clarisse could easily see how exhausted he was, but she didn't know if she would succeed at her goal of making him rest. She sat down beside him.

"Joseph, I'm just going to be in this room reading a book until it's time to go. Why don't you lie down on the sofa and get a little sleep."

He shook his head. "Certainly not. I can't sleep on the job."

"But I'll be in the same room with you. If anything happens, you'll be right here."

"No."

"Joseph, you're barely fit to do your job as you are right now. Why not sleep while we're safe in this hotel so you'll be sharp when we're at the airport?"

This argument won some consideration. "You may be right."

"Of course I'm right."

Joseph chose to ignore her remark. "But let's lock and bolt the door, just in case."

"As you wish."

"And you must promise to wake me if you're going to leave the room."

"Of course."

"Even if it's just to powder your nose."

Clarisse rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Yes, fine, I promise!"

"All right." He put down his cup of coffee and sat back, resting his head on the back of the sofa.

"You're not going to lie down?" Clarisse wanted to know.

"If I lie down it will be harder to wake me if you need something."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" she exclaimed. "Just lie on the bloody sofa."

He couldn't help smirking. "Your Majesty! Language!"

"Don't act so shocked, Joseph," Clarisse said dismissively. "Just because you swear in Spanish doesn't mean I don't know what you're saying."

Joseph winced. "I didn't know that."

"You know very well I've studied many European languages, including Spanish."

"Well, I didn't know you would have learned all of the curse words, too."

"Those are the most important ones, Joseph," she replied wickedly.

"Well, I'm sorry to have spoken like that in front of Your Majesty."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't look very repentant."

"Fine, I'll lie on the bloody sofa," he conceded. "Happy now?"

"Yes."

She picked up her book and sat in the chair closest to the sofa; Joseph lay down against the cushions. Clarisse was prepared to continue the argument if he kept trying to flout her, but he fell asleep quickly. She read a few pages before resting the book on her lap and looking at her sleeping companion. She had never seen him sleep, naturally, but she found herself surprised at how peaceful he looked, though she wasn't sure why. Just because he dressed all in black and intimidated people for a living, didn't mean he would look stern and forbidding in repose. Most people did look more tranquil asleep than awake.

She returned to the book for a little while, but soon her eyes were drawn back to Joseph. Watching him like this was a novel pleasure for Clarisse - usually he was the one watching her. She pulled her chair a little closer and forgot her book entirely. When he started mumbling, she tried to understand what he was saying, but he spoke only gibberish. He was calm at first, his tone almost conversational, but then he grew agitated and Clarisse wondered if she should wake him. She wanted him to get as much rest as he could before it was time to leave for the airport, so she hesitated. However, his disquiet increased to a distressing degree and she knew that the time for hesitation was past.

"Joseph!" She shook him by the shoulder, hard. "Wake up, Joseph!" His eyes opened and he looked disoriented, but he had calmed considerably. She took his hand and chafed it, though she didn't know what she expected to accomplish by it. Perhaps she was simply needed to feel like she was doing something.

Joseph sat up on the sofa and looked around. "Clarisse? What happened?"

Clarisse sat beside him. "You had a nightmare," she replied in a soothing voice. "Everything is fine. It was just a dream."

He closed his eyes and sighed with relief. "Thank God."

She wondered what his nightmare had been about, but he didn't seem inclined to talk, so she continued to speak soothingly about this and that, hoping he would be himself again soon.

Joseph reached for the coffee pot, but Clarisse stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"I don't think I'm really meant to get much sleep today. I'll just have another cup."

"That's nonsense," she said gently. "Just rest your head on my shoulder."

He met her eyes and pondered her suggestion before giving in without protest. He fell asleep surprisingly quickly and his head began to feel heavy on her shoulder. Once she was sure he was sleeping, Clarisse wriggled and nudged him until his head rested on her lap.

The last time she had done something like this had been when her sons were young and upset about something. She could remember stroking Philippe's dark hair and speaking comfortingly until he fell asleep, at which point she kissed his head and let him slumber on. Joseph had very little hair and it somehow felt far too intimate to stroke his skin like that, not to mention kiss him, so she contented herself with running her hand slowly up and down his upper arm. Watching him sleep, caring for him in the small ways she could, Clarisse felt her emotions running over. She had experienced this overwhelming tenderness for him more and more lately and once again she wished that she were free to tell him so, and to love him without constraint. And it was love, even if she avoided calling it by its name. But she would try not to fixate on her own heartache. There was nothing to be done about it, after all.

Clarisse remained sitting with Joseph for several hours. At about one-thirty, she decided it was time to wake him. "Joseph."

He responded with some mumbling.

"Joseph, it's time to wake up." She shook his shoulder.

Joseph's eyes opened and when he realized that his head lay on Clarisse's lap, he sat up immediately.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," she greeted him with a smile.

He smiled sleepily. "Well, this is a lovely way to wake up."

"I'm glad you got some rest."

"So am I." He stretched his arms above his head. "I feel much better."

"Good." She kissed his cheek. Later she would wonder what had possessed her to do such a thing. Perhaps it was because they were sitting so close together or perhaps it was because watching him sleep had brought up feelings usually suppressed. More than likely it was a combination of the two.

Joseph's eyebrows rose in surprise and he studied her face carefully. She returned his gaze, feeling hypnotized by his lovely dark eyes. Before Clarisse had time to think, he leaned in and kissed her lips. At first, she was frozen with shock, but after a few seconds she relaxed into the kiss. He teased her with his tongue until she opened her lips and things became much more heated. She slid her arms over his shoulders and he pulled her close. They eventually broke apart when they needed to breathe and sat together with their foreheads touching.

"I can't believe you did that," Clarisse whispered.

Joseph chuckled. "Neither can I."

"I'm glad you did."

He was surprised, but responded quickly by kissing her again. She kissed him back and when they separated, they each retreated to their own side of the sofa, not far apart, but not touching. They were both silent for a while, lost in thought.

Joseph spoke first. "What are you thinking, my dear?"

"Trying not to think about how wonderful that was," she confessed.

"Why deny it, Clarisse?"

She sighed. "We've had this conversation before, Joseph. What I feel doesn't matter. It would be of no use to say it."

He took her hand and brought it to his chest. "You don't have to say it. I know."

"You must think me terribly selfish."

"Now why would I think that?"

"You've offered me everything and I refuse you, yet you stay."

"I can be patient."

"But for how long?"

"Not forever," he admitted. "But for a long time."

Clarisse smiled ruefully and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Joseph."

To be continued…

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