“Will you kiss me now, or shall I let you be?” she asked, and couldn’t help the fragility in her voice though she was attempting to sound resolute.
Hector pulled Nina to him, bending down to kiss her. She gripped his shoulders and kissed him back, her fingers dipping under the fabric of the robe, touching his skin.
He lifted his face and looked at her.
She thought if he pulled away from her this time, she might collapse in tears, but he smiled gently. Slowly, hesitantly, he caressed her cheek.
“You’ll stay with me?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes,” she said, knowing he didn’t mean for a while, that she could not possibly go back after this, and he was right, there’d be a scandal. “I’ll stay.”
Nina removed the diamond comb from her hair, drew several pins from it, too, and shook her head, letting the heavy mass of hair spill down her shoulders.
She raised her hand and took off the engagement ring, setting the precious emerald everyone had fawned over on the table, next to his papers and books and a bright, painted wooden box.
Then she pressed the same hand against his chest. His heart leapt up, like a wave, drawn by her touch.
Chapter 21
NO ONE KNEW WHAT TOsay or what to do in the wake of the colossal disaster. Instead they sat together in the drawing room, in a mute stupor laced with horror. Antonina’s mother and her sister were on a couch; Étienne Lémy sat on a chair while his brother paced in circles, a glass of wine in his hands. Valérie had lost count of how many glasses that made.
Luc was not sure at what point in the evening Antonina had stepped out for a breath of fresh air, but by the time the photographer fromThe Courierasked that they take the official portrait of the bride- and groom-to-be for the paper, she was nowhere in sight. When she was not found in her room, Valérie manufactured a lie and told everyone that the girl was a bit sick—this had a basis in reality, as Luc had explained she had not been feeling well.
“Nerves,” she had told the guests.
They had to endure another hour of the party, Luc gripping his glass, his favorite brother standing at his right while Valérie smiled at everyone, pretending all was well. As soon as the last guests were dispatched, the inquiries and recriminations began. Why hadn’t Luc stayed with her? Where could she be?
Gaetan walked in, and they all turned their heads. “She is not at our great-aunts’ home,” he announced.
“We must find her, wherever she is,” Madelena said. “She took nothing and could not have gone far.”
“We know where she is,” Valérie said, unable to contain herself any longer. “If there was any doubt, it has been erased. She has run off with Hector Auvray.”
Luc Lémy looked like he was about to hurl his glass at the wall, while Camille and Madelena clutched each other’s hands.
“It is late. We do not want to cause a scene, knocking on someone’s door at this hour,” Gaetan said, composing himself, ever tactful. “Come morning, we must head to Auvray’s home and see if she has indeed taken shelter in his abode.”
“Hector is my friend, and I can stop by his home tomorrow,” Étienne offered. “It may be best this way—it could be embarrassing if all of us burst in and Antonina is not there at all. For all we know, she might be halfway to Montipouret by now.”
“Yes, undoubtedly,” Gaetan muttered. “Let me show you to your rooms, gentlemen. Valérie, can you accompany my aunt and my cousin to their rooms?”
Valérie obeyed, courtesy making her muscles move, though she wished nothing more than to go to bed at once, her nerves frayed, her bones tense enough, they might split in two. A few minutes later, Gaetan joined her in their room.
“What shall we do tomorrow?” she asked as soon as he placed a hand on the covers.
Gaetan sounded resigned rather than upset. “If it turns out she is indeed there, I’m sure Étienne will bring them to us and we’ll have to make quick arrangements at the courthouse for a wedding.”
“You don’t mean to marry her to Hector Auvray?”
“What else do you expect me to do at this point?” he replied.
“Punish her!”
“She is not a child for me to spank,” Gaetan said.
“Our name, Gaetan,” Valérie said. “Do you think nothing of our name? What will people say when she is suddenly wed to Hector Auvray after we said she was engaged to Luc Lémy? You think no one will piece it together? That the servants will not talk?”
“I expect there might be gossip, even if I do my best to mute it,” he said. “That should be enough punishment.”
