Page 14 of Adoringly, Edward
She placed her hand in his, her stomach flipping pleasantly as he lifted her hand and bestowed a light kiss over her fingers.
But all too quickly, he dropped her hand and glanced over her shoulder. She knew he was looking for her father. He wasn’t attending the event tonight, thank the stars.
“Perhaps, Lord Beaumont,” she said in an attempt to bring his attention back to her, “you might seek me out later for a dance.”
He shook his head. “I am not dancing tonight. I will owe you for the next event.”
Unease pinched her in the gut as she searched his eyes for…for what, exactly? He was cold and aloof and seemingly uninterested. Where was the confident, flirtatious, playful man she’d met weeks ago?
Because he was not here.
Without a word, Vivienne curtsied and turned on her heel in a hasty escape before her mortification could make an entrance. This was not going to plan. She’d expected this to be easy. But the task was far from it.
“Mama,” she lamented, a shaky hand covering her mouth the moment they ducked behind a pillar.
“All will be well,” her mother reassured, rubbing her arm encouragingly. “We will get through this. Together. If not him, we will find someone else—”
“I don’t want anyone else.” She couldn’t imagine raising a child with a man who wasn’t the father. Tricking someone like that… It left a sour taste in her mouth. “It has to be him.” She stole her mother’s fan, as Edward still held hers, and fanned her face to attempt to dry her damp eyes. “What will we do?”
Her mother fixed the broach on her bodice as they both glanced in Edward’s direction. “We planted the seeds. Now we must let them grow.”
“What is wrong with you?” Tobie laughed, smacking Edward in the shoulder. “She was making eyes at you and you stood there like an idiotic fool.”
“She’s the king’s niece,” he answered in a daze, staring at her fan he still held in his hand, not quite believing what just transpired. “The warlord’s daughter.”
“And?” Charles shoved him in the direction Vivienne had disappeared, but he dug in his feet. “Go talk to her.”
Edward shook his head, rounding on his friends as he hissed, “We explored the gothic estate together. During the masquerade.” When he only received blank looks, he emphasized, “Weexploredit.”
“Oh, Edward…” Ivette shook her head sympathetically.
“By the heavens…” Barnaby tsked as he tipped Edward’s chin up and patted his neck. “You’ve done it now. You’re going to lose your head.”
He placed a hand over his throat, imagining a sharp, steel sword beheading him for deflowering the princess. Well, he was almost certain he wasn’t the one to do the job in the first place, but all the same…
“I can’t see her again.” He backed up, a feeling of wrongness climbing his body as his heart acted up like it always did before an episode. A sharp pain exploded through his head. His palms became cold and clammy.
Cedric took several steps forward, but Edward held up a hand to stop him. He didn’t want to make a scene. He could control this. Hecould.
The conversation continued without him, the others oblivious to his struggles. Tobie said, “I thought she was still a child.”
Barnaby shook his head. “She came of age a few months ago. At least her age can’t count against you, Edward.”
His stomach twisted uncomfortably. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Not on my shoes.” Barnaby stepped backward and fixed his sleeves. “Edward, you are of good breeding and in good standing with the king. Sure, you’re no prince… But sometimes even princesses will marry beneath them.”
“I. Cannot. Marry. Her.”
For many reasons. First, he was terrified of the woman’s father. Second, his sister would never allow it. Third, if Vivienne—his dear childhood friend—discovered just how weak he was, she would run for the hills.
Charles crossed his arms, staring at him with an intense expression. “Did you not stop to think of the consequences?”
Edward pressed a hand against his stomach in an attempt to quell his queasiness. “I wasn’t thinking at all. Besides, I didn’t know who she was. Or I would never have…” He trailed off when bile climbed his throat.
“Who else knows? Do her parents?”
He gave his friend a pointed look. “I’m quite certain I would have been killed in my sleep by now if someone else knew. I don’t think she’s told anyone.”
