‘I had so much to think about,’ he went on. ‘I’ve spent half an hour wandering the gardens thinking of what I was going to do-how I was going to cope-and then suddenly I remembered that Edouard was still here. That I’d left Edouard in your room. And for you to sleep with Edouard…’
‘It’s OK,’ she managed, and he shook his head. His fingers started raking her curls, almost absentmindedly.
‘It’s not OK,’ he told her. ‘Sure, I know it’s something that you’ll do and I can’t think what else is to be done tonight, but I know what you’re asking of yourself. After losing your Dominic, to hold Edouard… It’s one of the bravest things I’ve seen and I’ve been in some desperate situations in my time. Jess, how can I help? Shall I take him back to my room?’
She shook her head. Soundlessly. But she’d wept a little-just a little. He laid a finger on her cheek, he felt the damp track of tears and he swore.
‘You’re not responsible for Edouard,’ he told her, almost fiercely. ‘I’ll not make you responsible as well.’
‘It’s OK,’ she made herself say. ‘He needs me. For tonight he won’t let me go and I don’t blame him.’
‘But you’ve done enough.’
‘I can’t leave him.’
‘Maybe not.’ He sighed and glanced around, obviously working on a plan. ‘Tell you what. You sleep with Edouard and I will, too.’
‘What?’
‘You needn’t worry,’ he told her and there was that crooked smile she was starting to know so well. ‘I’m not insinuating myself into your bed. But you can’t tell me that being here with him by yourself isn’t painful.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘All I’m saying is that I’ll be here, too,’ he told her. He lifted a quilt that was lying over the foot of her bed and took a couple of pillows from the mound she’d discarded. ‘I’ll sleep on the settee,’ he told her. ‘Right here. It’ll make it different. You’re not sleeping alone with a child. You’re sleeping with both of us. Sort of a pyjama party without the movies and the popcorn.’ His fingers touched her hair again. Gently. Questioning. ‘Will that help?’
How could it help? But strangely she knew that it would.
‘There’s no need,’ she whispered and he nodded as if his question had been answered.
‘There is a need.’ He stooped, and ever so gently he kissed her. Lightly. Softly. Wonderingly. ‘Sleep well, my Jess. My heroine. My bride. Sleep well and know that I won’t burden you further.’
He left her then. She lay and listened as he made up the settee. It was crazy. There was no need. She couldn’t sleep if he was here.
She heard him settle in his makeshift bed.
‘Goodnight, Jess,’ he told her.
She’d never sleep.
She lay with Edouard warm against her and Raoul not ten yards away.
‘Just lie there and think of England,’ Raoul’s voice said into the night, and amazingly there was laughter behind the words. ‘Or Australia. Whatever takes your fancy.’
She smiled.
She’d never sleep.
She slept.
CHAPTER SIX
THEIR marriage took place the next morning, before the rest of the world realised the inhabitants of the royal palace were even awake.
For that they had Henri to thank. The elderly butler did his rounds early-at six. He had found Cosette and the rest of the staff missing, and he discovered that Edouard was not in his bed. He’d then gone to find Raoul and found him missing, too. Finally, starting to panic but not panicked enough to tell Louise, he’d checked Jess’s room, and his relief at finding them all present and correct was almost comical.
And when Raoul told him what he and Jess intended to do, he’d almost wept. He’d stood, stunned, while Raoul explained what was planned-and then he moved into action.
‘Well, if you’re going to marry I’d suggest you do it now,’ he told them, smiling as if he’d been given the world. He glanced at the still sleeping Edouard. ‘You leave the little one with me while you go and tie the knot,’ he told them. ‘I’ll take him to his grandmother.’
‘He might be upset,’ Jess told him.
‘He may well be,’ Henri agreed. ‘But what you’re doing is intended to make his life a whole lot less upset. It’s the best idea I’ve heard of in my life. Get on, the pair of you. There’s a magistrate down in Vesey. He’s a friend of mine-not a government man-and he’ll bend over backwards to make sure everything’s done legally. Tie the knot before Marcel and his government cronies come up with objections, and be back here in time for breakfast. I’ll have the champagne cold.’
He was brooking no argument. Even when Edouard stirred and woke he proceeded calmly, lifting the little boy- and attached teddy-into his arms before anyone could demur. Edouard whimpered a little, but Jess was there, pressing Sebastian close.
‘You’re going to your grandma now,’ she told him. ‘Henri will take you. Grandma wants to see Sebastian and his new trousers. Your uncle Raoul and I will be back soon.’
Edouard stared doubtfully from Raoul to Jess-but he was a child accustomed to whatever was thrust at him. His face shuttered a little but he sank against Henri’s chest and allowed himself to be carried away.
His stoicism almost broke Jess’s heart, but it firmed her in what she was doing. This marriage would give Edouard security and that was all that mattered.
‘OK?’ Raoul asked, as Henri disappeared with his charge. Jess nodded. She was feeling really strange, standing here with this man, in her nightdress and her bare feet-and she had a feeling this strangeness was just going to get a whole lot stranger. But she was right. This was a plan that could work.
‘No doubt at all,’ she told him. ‘Let’s get married.’
Raoul gave her a quizzical look and she managed to smile.
‘There are not a lot of women who’ve said that to you, I bet,’ she told him. ‘Even among your thousand.’
He gave her a sideways grin at that. ‘How do you know, Miss Cocky Boots?’
‘Right.’ She smiled, the strangeness easing in the face of his smile. ‘I forgot. They’re queued at the gate. All your brides. So let’s give them the slip and get this bride safely hitched.’
He smiled back. That gut-twisting smile. The smile that changed things…
It couldn’t be allowed to change things. This was a marriage of convenience, she told herself a trifle breathlessly as he disappeared to change and to shave. Her heart had no business twisting as it did at a stupid smile.
Even if that smile belonged to her bridegroom-and she was about to be married to one of the most gorgeous men in the world. And certainly the most eligible.
Forget about eligibility and gorgeousness, she told herself crossly. She had more important things to think about.
Like what to wear?
She really should have a little something in gossamer, she thought ruefully while she showered. A lavish something in white. And a diamond tiara or six.
Yeah, and a dozen bridesmaids and a glass carriage and a team of silver horses and horse-guards and trumpets and…
And nothing. Ridiculous!
In the end she chose jeans and a windcheater. She wanted to attract as little attention as possible, she decided, and when she came downstairs to find Raoul she discovered he’d done exactly the same.
‘Matching outfits,’ he told her. ‘The theme is denim.’
‘Very nice,’ she said and managed a shaky smile. ‘We’ll set a new trend. Is my limousine at the door?’
‘How can you doubt it?’ he demanded-and she went outdoors to find the battered gardener’s van parked at the
