were brutal to me.”
“Yes, I was. And to many more people, as well. I would do anything to go back and change it all now—anything.”
She searched and wandered across his earnest attractive features. “How can I trust you?”
“Have we not had a pleasant time these past twenty minutes or so? Can this not prove that we can get along? That maybe I am not as ghastly as I once was?”
A lopsided grin formed upon her lips. “Perhaps not as ghastly.”
In all tender seriousness he said, “I am sorry. I am wholeheartedly, earnestly, profusely sorry. And I vow, if you allow me, to make it up to you every single day of my life.”
“Did the beast really send you?”
“Yes, he did.”
She sighed in frustration before stating, “You are forgiven. I will proceed to allow you to rescue me, and perhaps become your friend. However—” she raised an eyebrow to ward off his happy smile—“I’m pretty positive tonight I shall taste my first wolf stew.”
Alexander threw his head back and laughed, more in love with her than before.
It was at this exact moment, while the prince was kneeling before Cecelia— with a rose lying between them and their hands clasped tightly—looking like the happiest man on earth, that her mother happened upon them both.
“Cecelia! Cecelia, my dearest girl! You are to be married to the prince?! My daughter, the soon-to-be queen!” she exclaimed loudly, in all the ecstasies of a mother’s wildest dreams coming true, before she swooned and crashed gracefully upon the cobblestones before them.
CHAPTER NINE
PRINCE ALEXANDER WAS STILL chuckling over Cecelia’s shocked countenance at her mother’s announcement and then dramatic fall as he rode his horse, Sterling, home. You would have thought someone had slapped Miss Hammerstein-Smythe, she was so appalled.
He was not appalled. He should have been. But he wasn’t.
In fact, the sweet irony of the situation did much to please him in his good humor as he travelled back to the castle. He would’ve loved to have stayed longer, just to guarantee those rumors spread like wildfire even faster than they were already going, but he had a meeting with his cousin, the Grand Duke, Lord Bellemount—heir to his throne—within the hour and so could not waste another minute.
He did, however, allow his thoughts to roam with great care over the delightfulness of Cecelia. How could he not? Never had he met a female more enchanting than her, and he’d be a simpleton not to spend a good portion of his day thinking about her.
It was very, very true. He wanted to marry the gel.
He needed to marry her, so he could wake up each morning and see what it was she would do or say that would make him laugh. Oh, how she made him laugh! How she made his heart prick into consciousness whenever she was around. He wanted to be a better man for her. He needed to be. He wanted to slay all her dragons and show her the carefree beauty of the world.
He needed Cecelia like he’d never needed any girl before.
She was lively, and endearing, and strong, and humorous, and simply charming.
Alexander was so busy allowing his mind to wander over the past memories of her that he did not fully acknowledge the pickle he’d placed himself in for quite some time. Indeed, it was not until his horse was entering into the castle courtyard that the smallest fissure of doubt crept into his thoughts at all. But when it came crashing into his euphoria, it did take hold and lay claim to all other previous moments of happiness and perfection.
For in that instant he realized he would never own her. She would never become his because she would have to be in love with the beast for him to break the spell. And yet, he had just entangled them both in a very large and scandalous “imaginary engagement,” that the whole village was speaking of. He was in love with her as the prince and the wolf, but she—she may become forced out of propriety’s sake to accept a real proposal of
“Yes, I was. And to many more people, as well. I would do anything to go back and change it all now—anything.”
She searched and wandered across his earnest attractive features. “How can I trust you?”
“Have we not had a pleasant time these past twenty minutes or so? Can this not prove that we can get along? That maybe I am not as ghastly as I once was?”
A lopsided grin formed upon her lips. “Perhaps not as ghastly.”
In all tender seriousness he said, “I am sorry. I am wholeheartedly, earnestly, profusely sorry. And I vow, if you allow me, to make it up to you every single day of my life.”
“Did the beast really send you?”
“Yes, he did.”
She sighed in frustration before stating, “You are forgiven. I will proceed to allow you to rescue me, and perhaps become your friend. However—” she raised an eyebrow to ward off his happy smile—“I’m pretty positive tonight I shall taste my first wolf stew.”
Alexander threw his head back and laughed, more in love with her than before.
It was at this exact moment, while the prince was kneeling before Cecelia— with a rose lying between them and their hands clasped tightly—looking like the happiest man on earth, that her mother happened upon them both.
“Cecelia! Cecelia, my dearest girl! You are to be married to the prince?! My daughter, the soon-to-be queen!” she exclaimed loudly, in all the ecstasies of a mother’s wildest dreams coming true, before she swooned and crashed gracefully upon the cobblestones before them.
CHAPTER NINE
PRINCE ALEXANDER WAS STILL chuckling over Cecelia’s shocked countenance at her mother’s announcement and then dramatic fall as he rode his horse, Sterling, home. You would have thought someone had slapped Miss Hammerstein-Smythe, she was so appalled.
He was not appalled. He should have been. But he wasn’t.
In fact, the sweet irony of the situation did much to please him in his good humor as he travelled back to the castle. He would’ve loved to have stayed longer, just to guarantee those rumors spread like wildfire even faster than they were already going, but he had a meeting with his cousin, the Grand Duke, Lord Bellemount—heir to his throne—within the hour and so could not waste another minute.
He did, however, allow his thoughts to roam with great care over the delightfulness of Cecelia. How could he not? Never had he met a female more enchanting than her, and he’d be a simpleton not to spend a good portion of his day thinking about her.
It was very, very true. He wanted to marry the gel.
He needed to marry her, so he could wake up each morning and see what it was she would do or say that would make him laugh. Oh, how she made him laugh! How she made his heart prick into consciousness whenever she was around. He wanted to be a better man for her. He needed to be. He wanted to slay all her dragons and show her the carefree beauty of the world.
He needed Cecelia like he’d never needed any girl before.
She was lively, and endearing, and strong, and humorous, and simply charming.
Alexander was so busy allowing his mind to wander over the past memories of her that he did not fully acknowledge the pickle he’d placed himself in for quite some time. Indeed, it was not until his horse was entering into the castle courtyard that the smallest fissure of doubt crept into his thoughts at all. But when it came crashing into his euphoria, it did take hold and lay claim to all other previous moments of happiness and perfection.
For in that instant he realized he would never own her. She would never become his because she would have to be in love with the beast for him to break the spell. And yet, he had just entangled them both in a very large and scandalous “imaginary engagement,” that the whole village was speaking of. He was in love with her as the prince and the wolf, but she—she may become forced out of propriety’s sake to accept a real proposal of
Similar Books
