The next morning found Clarisse and Joseph, bright and not-so-early, sitting up in bed together. Priscilla had left a breakfast tray in the sitting room and Joseph had brought it into the bedroom. They had eaten quickly, both ravenously hungry, and now they were enjoying a leisurely pot of tea and a chat.

"Do you have any other questions for me, Joseph?" Clarisse asked.

"I probably always will," he replied.

"Ask away."

"What made you change your mind yesterday?"

"A lot of things, really, but it was Mia who pushed me over the edge."

"How did she manage where I failed?"

"I told her not to follow my wretched example and throw away love for duty. She took my advice and then invited me to do the same."

"I see."

"I suppose she made me think of things in a way I hadn't done before."

"Not to mention that she followed your advice quite successfully," Joseph added. "I'm sure none of us knew we were about to see Genovian law changed when we arrived at church yesterday."

"That's true, too," she agreed. "I'm very proud of her."

"So am I. Next question: did you practice your marriage proposal ahead of time?"

"Of course not! How could I have even known-"

"I only wondered because it was just right."

"I made it up on the spot. I'm glad you liked it. It was the best I could do under the circumstances."

"Your lovely smile didn't hurt your case. You were so brave and beautiful, Clarisse."

"Do stop, Joseph!"

"I don't mean to embarrass you. But I know what you did and how difficult it was."

"You are worth any difficulty."

He took her hand and kissed it. "I will love you until the day I die."

She felt a little choked up. "That's enough about death, if you please."

He was contrite. "I'm sorry."

She paused and smiled. "I like your pajamas, Joseph. I should have known they would be black."

"They're not all black. I have colored ones as well. In fact, the black ones were a gift, meant as a joke."

"From whom?" she wondered.

"From Philippe. It wasn't my birthday, but…"

"He didn't know your birthday, anyway, since you never tell anyone."

"December twenty-second."

Clarisse kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Joseph. I will treasure it always."

"You are my wife, after all."

"Yes I am, and I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"You told me once that you had only one dark secret and that you might never tell me what it was. What about now? Will you tell me?"

Joseph chuckled. "Of course I will. It's not such a dark secret now."

She frowned. "I don't understand."

"My dark secret is that I fell in love with you about a month after meeting you."

Clarisse gasped. "That long ago?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I feel like I ought to say something, but I don't know what."

"There's nothing you need to say," he assured her. "You were married. I had no expectations, only distant dreams."

She looked at him with a mournful expression. "I hope you weren't too unhappy," she said quietly.

"Most of the time I wasn't unhappy at all. One of my favorite things happened nearly every day."

"And what's that?"

"You said my name," he told her.

"Your name?"

"I love the way you say my name," he confessed.

She smiled. "I'm glad I didn't know that all those years ago."

"What would you have done if you'd known?" he asked.

"I would have had to stop calling you Joseph!"

"What would you call me instead?" he wanted to know.

"I don't know. Mr. Romero?"

He shook his head. "No, that sounds almost as nice."

"Then I wouldn't call you anything at all."

"You couldn't do that," he told her.

"I could try!" she argued.

Joseph laughed. "It's probably a good thing that you'll never have to." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Clarisse leaned against him. "Probably so."

He kissed the top of her head. "What do we have to do today, my dear?"

She sighed. "You know, I'm not sure. If everything had gone according to plan yesterday, Mia would be married and you and I would be…"

"I would be packing my things to leave the palace," Joseph finished.

"And I would be trying to think of a way to keep you from going," she added.

"You thought of the very best way to keep me here."

"I believe so," she concurred.

"Are we going to take Mia's honeymoon for her?"

She shook her head. "Better."

"Better?"

Clarisse smiled. "We're going to take our own honeymoon, Joseph, a month or so after Mia's coronation next week."

"That is better."

"What time is it?" she wondered, turning to look at the clock. "My goodness! Why didn't you tell me it was so late?" She threw back the blankets.

"Because it's the day after our wedding, Clarisse, and we get to sleep late if we like."

"Yes, and we did sleep late, but now it's time to get up," she declared, getting out of bed. "You'd better get dressed before I call Olivia and Priscilla."

Joseph got out of bed. "Is that how we should do it every day?"

"I think that would be best," she affirmed. "For now, at least."

He nodded and took his suitcase into the bathroom. "I'll be out of the shower in a few minutes."

Clarisse went to her closet to choose something to wear. She selected her most cheerful looking ensemble and brought it into the bedroom, where she draped it over the back of the chair at her vanity table.

"Clarisse!" Joseph called from the bathroom.

She went into the steamy room and spoke over the noise of the shower. "What is it, Joseph? Are you out of soap?"

He poked his head out from behind the curtain. "I need some help washing my back."

Clarisse laughed at him. "You've been washing your own back for a long time, my dear."

"Yes, I have, but I seem to have forgotten how."

"Is that so?" she asked.

"Yes. It's quite inconvenient."

"You are incorrigible, Joseph," she replied, but she untied her robe and dropped it on the floor.

"It's working, isn't it?"

"Don't think it will work every time," she warned him.

"Why's it working now?" he wanted to know.

She fixed him with a flirtatious gaze. "Because it so happens that I need help washing my back."

Joseph simply laughed, then held out his hand. Once she had dropped the rest of her nightclothes on the floor, he helped her into the shower and into his arms.

#####

"I can't believe you broke your promise," Joseph admonished Clarisse.

"I didn't break my promise," she asserted. "I just haven't had time to watch it."

"Well, you can't put it off any longer, my dear."

She held her hand out reluctantly and he placed the DVD case in her hand. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. "How can you be sure I'll like it?" she asked.

"How can you be so sure that you won't?" he returned.

"I can't," she admitted. "And I did promise I would watch it."

"You know, I'm almost glad you put it off. Now I will have the privilege of being present for your first time watching it."

Clarisse laughed and kissed her husband's cheek before going to the entertainment center and inserting the disc in the DVD player, as he took a seat on the sofa. She picked up the remote control and sat down next to him.

"I hope you're not one of those men who always has to have the remote control in his hand," she remarked.

Joseph was amused. "Married to you?"

"Very funny, Joseph." She started the film. "I'm looking forward to this, you know, even if I've been avoiding it."

"The truth comes out."

"Yes, well, I always intended to keep my promise," she argued. "I just wasn't in a great hurry to do it."

"Well, I'm glad you think you might enjoy it."

"I wouldn't go that far. But if I don't like it-"

"You'll be sure to tell me so," he interrupted.

"Something like that," she replied merrily.

His lips twitched in enjoyment of their comfortable repartee and he kissed her cheek. "Now settle in, my dear." He put his arm around her shoulders and she sighed contentedly. She propped her feet up next to his on the ottoman and leaned against him, letting her hand rest lightly on his thigh.

In spite of her skepticism, Clarisse enjoyed the film a great deal. Joseph teased her, naturally, but she took his raillery goodnaturedly. This was just the sort of evening she had often wished for: a cozy night in, snuggled on the sofa in their pajamas, enjoying a chat or a television show, but especially each other's company. She felt warm at the prospect of sharing her bed with him again, tonight and for the rest of their lives. She had wondered if she might be too old to still enjoy that aspect of marriage, but she had been glad to find this concern unfounded. There was something unexpectedly moving about making love with Joseph, and she could see that it was because she loved him and knew that he loved her. She refused to look back in regret, but she was thankful that after years in a marriage of friendship and fondness, she was now granted the joy of this new kind of marriage. She knew how lucky she was.

Joseph took the remote control from her hand and turned off the television and DVD player. "Clarisse, are you asleep?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "No, not asleep, just very, very comfortable."

"That's good, but I don't think you'll be comfortable much longer slouched in your seat like that. Let's go to bed."

She smiled and replied in a low voice. "I'm not sure if you mean that suggestively or sensibly, but either way, the answer is yes."

He chuckled softly and stood up from the sofa, taking her hand and leading her into the bedroom. "What if I mean both?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand. "Even better."

The end.

This is the end of the story proper, but I will post an epilogue soon.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you can spare a few moments.