Page 21 of One Weekend in Paris

John hovered behind her, waiting until she’d finished before he bowed in front of the royal family. “Good morning, Your Majesties.” He turned to Erik. “Your Highness.”

Erik waved at him. “You know you don’t have to stand on ceremony when we’re in private, John. Erik is just fine.”

The queen held out her hands to Nyssa’s lover, and he took them before leaning down to kiss each cheek in greeting before shaking the king’s and prince’s hands. “You’re very welcome to call us Manon and Olivier in private, John,” the queen invited. “After all, if I’m not mistaken you’ll be joining the family soon enough.” Her gaze shifted to her daughter, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched in question.

Nyssa gave her mother a warm smile. “Come, let’s sit and talk.” The private butler assigned to the monarchs’ suite served them hot beverages in expensive china before slipping out of the room once more.

Once they’d all make their teas and coffees to their liking, Nyssa took a deep breath before gazing at her parents. She felt John’s hand on her thigh, and his touch both relaxed and reassured her. “Maman, Papa, John and I have recently begun a romantic relationship.”

Her father’s face went blank and he looked directly at John. Nyssa had seen many a person on the receiving end of such a stare, and she frowned. “Papa, stop it.”

The older man suddenly burst into laughter after her mother swiped his arm. “Olivier, don’t make John uncomfortable,” the queen scolded him. She then turned toward her daughter. “We’re very happy for you both, darling. We know John is a good man and if he makes you happy, that’s all that matters to us.”

“Your Majesties, I assure you this is not some passing fancy for me. I’m very much in love with your daughter and want to spend the rest of my life by her side, if she’ll have me.” He lifted their joined hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of hers.

She blinked back a few tears. “You know I will.”

“Arthur will be most disappointed to hear that.” Her brother’s dry, droll tone interrupted the moment, and her mother laughed.

But Nyssa realized he’d given her the perfect opening to question her parents. “Speaking of Arthur,” she began delicately, placing her cup of coffee down on the table, “he told me something last night that was quite startling.”

“Oh?” Olivier looked at her questioningly. “What was that?”

She gazed at her parents, who were seated across the table from her. “He told me our parents had made some sort of agreement when we were children that should we both reach the age of thirty and remain unmarried, we would marry each other to strengthen the relations between our two countries.”

Her parents had very different reactions. Her mother laughed, obviously amused by such a notion, but her father stilled in his seat, going pale. “Oh, darling. I have no idea why on earth Arthur would have made up such a ridiculous thing. Ignore him.” This came from her mother, who was still smiling as she sipped her tea.

Nyssa frowned as she took in her father’s appearance. “Papa? Is he telling the truth?”

She already knew the answer deep down, but she needed her father to confirm it. Her heart was heavy when he nodded once. “Yes, he’s telling the truth.”

The smile slipped off her mother’s face and it was clear she knew nothing about it. “What? Olivier, what are you talking about?”

“It was a very long time ago. George and I were…well, let’s just say we’d had some drinks and since Nyssa and Arthur are around the same age, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Olivier!”

“You don’t have to worry, my dear.” He reached over and patted his daughter’s hand. “Nobody is going to force you to marry Arthur. I’m surprised George even told his son about it.”

“Good,” Nyssa exclaimed, relief washing over her. “There’s only one man I want to marry, and he’s sitting in this room with us.”

John squeezed her hand again and she gave him a warm smile before breaking protocol and leaning over to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“You and I will discuss this later.” The queen’s tone made it clear she was not happy with her husband, and Erik gave an exaggerated wince.

“Uh oh. Someone’s in the doghouse.”

Nyssa couldn’t help but laugh at her brother’s comment, and she covered it up with a fake cough. Even the family’s dogs had luxurious dwellings, and the thought of her father being banished to one amused her no end.

The food was brought to the table by several waiters, and the spread was appropriately fit for royalty. There was a platter of fresh fruit, along with another full of pastries such as croissants, brioche, and pain au chocolat, Nyssa’s favorite. The hot foodconsisted of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, bacon, and a quiche which smelled delicious.

Once everyone had laden their plates, they chatted about the success of the previous night’s ball, and Nyssa was delighted to learn her father had won one of the silent auctions—a week-long trip to a private resort in Switzerland for two. “Your mother and I thought you and John might enjoy it.”

“It sounds wonderful, Papa! Thank you. I’m not sure when we could go because the next few months are incredibly busy for us, but perhaps in the autumn.”

Discussion then turned to Nyssa’s job as their country’s ambassador, and she brought her family up to date with the latest news. They all spoke in a video call once a week to discuss things, but it was still nice to talk in person.

They spent several hours with her family, and her heart warmed to see them include John in their conversation as much as possible. They didn’t feel the need to censor anything, since John was privy to a lot of the royal family’s private information as necessary in his role. Her father occasionally lapsed into French, the national language of Lecroisa, but her mother always reminded him John was not fluent in French and he switched back to English with an apology.

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