wasn’t a quitter. There was a thread of steel within her that few recognized as such. Plus, she was resourceful when she needed to be.
But with Alex, she felt stymied. Stopped. Cut off from the possibility of ever making any sort of real marriage with him.
He not only despised her, he had actually lied to get her to agree to marry him. He’d tricked her into marriage.
And now she was stuck. Unwilling to divorce him. Unable to get through to him.
Lili refused to believe that any situation was truly hopeless. All problems had solutions. Even this one. She simply hadn’t found that solution yet. “I will find a way. I will work this out. I will get through to him, reach him, somehow...” she whispered to the darkness, like a prayer. Like a mantra.
But her prayer didn’t seem to be helping much. She didn’t believe in giving up. But with a man like Alex, what else was a woman to do?
* * *
By morning, Lili had made a decision. It wasn’t a happy one. But what could she do?
She would stay away from him—for the time being. Until some new approach came to her, she decided she’d be better off to stop beating her head against the stone wall that her new husband had for a heart. She would get on with her life.
The charade that the two of them were deeply in love made it necessary for her to remain in the same apartment with him. So be it. She laid claim to the extra bedroom—the one he wasn’t using to sleep in. On one side of the room, she created an office space where she could keep up her voluminous correspondence and keep track of the large number of charitable organizations to which she contributed. She sat on the boards of three of those organizations, so there was actual office work to do, as well as communications to handle. And then there were her duties as heir presumptive to her father’s throne. She kept abreast of anything and everything that concerned the well-being of her country and her people.
When her charities, her correspondence and her preparation to be queen were dealt with for the day, she painted. She used the other half of the spare bedroom for her art. Lili loved to get lost in her painting. She worked in watercolors. They were so soft and transparent and full of light. She painted butterflies and secret forest glens where cute, spotted fawns gamboled. She painted the gardens at D’Alagon and the courtyards at the Prince’s Palace. She painted unicorns because they were sweet and mystical and innocent. Because they were everything her cold, distant husband seemed to find silly and shallow and without merit.
Beyond the activities she pursued in her new office studio, she spent time with Alex’s sisters and with Sydney, Rule’s wife. At night, she had her romance novels to keep her company, to keep the spark of love and hope alive in her heart.
Three days went by—days in which Lili hardly saw her new husband. Now and then she caught sight of him coming or going from the apartment they shared. She ignored him. She had nothing whatsoever to say to him.
On the fourth day after her wedding, she was in her office studio painting a pair of flamingoes facing each other, beaks pressed together so that their heads and long necks formed a heart, when her father came to say goodbye to her. He was returning to Alagonia. He wanted to tell her he would send her lady-in-waiting to her.
Lili nipped that idea in the bud. “I really have no need of Solange now, Papa. There’s no room for anyone else here in the apartment and my chambermaid, Pilar, is in and out all day, helping wherever I need her. I think it’s time we...set cousin Solange free to go back to her own life.”
“You’re certain, my little love?”
“Yes.”
Then he wanted to know if she was feeling well, and how things were going with Alex.
Lili lied to him outright. She told him that she felt wonderful and that she and Alex were getting along beautifully. She actually did feel better physically, now that she no longer
But with Alex, she felt stymied. Stopped. Cut off from the possibility of ever making any sort of real marriage with him.
He not only despised her, he had actually lied to get her to agree to marry him. He’d tricked her into marriage.
And now she was stuck. Unwilling to divorce him. Unable to get through to him.
Lili refused to believe that any situation was truly hopeless. All problems had solutions. Even this one. She simply hadn’t found that solution yet. “I will find a way. I will work this out. I will get through to him, reach him, somehow...” she whispered to the darkness, like a prayer. Like a mantra.
But her prayer didn’t seem to be helping much. She didn’t believe in giving up. But with a man like Alex, what else was a woman to do?
* * *
By morning, Lili had made a decision. It wasn’t a happy one. But what could she do?
She would stay away from him—for the time being. Until some new approach came to her, she decided she’d be better off to stop beating her head against the stone wall that her new husband had for a heart. She would get on with her life.
The charade that the two of them were deeply in love made it necessary for her to remain in the same apartment with him. So be it. She laid claim to the extra bedroom—the one he wasn’t using to sleep in. On one side of the room, she created an office space where she could keep up her voluminous correspondence and keep track of the large number of charitable organizations to which she contributed. She sat on the boards of three of those organizations, so there was actual office work to do, as well as communications to handle. And then there were her duties as heir presumptive to her father’s throne. She kept abreast of anything and everything that concerned the well-being of her country and her people.
When her charities, her correspondence and her preparation to be queen were dealt with for the day, she painted. She used the other half of the spare bedroom for her art. Lili loved to get lost in her painting. She worked in watercolors. They were so soft and transparent and full of light. She painted butterflies and secret forest glens where cute, spotted fawns gamboled. She painted the gardens at D’Alagon and the courtyards at the Prince’s Palace. She painted unicorns because they were sweet and mystical and innocent. Because they were everything her cold, distant husband seemed to find silly and shallow and without merit.
Beyond the activities she pursued in her new office studio, she spent time with Alex’s sisters and with Sydney, Rule’s wife. At night, she had her romance novels to keep her company, to keep the spark of love and hope alive in her heart.
Three days went by—days in which Lili hardly saw her new husband. Now and then she caught sight of him coming or going from the apartment they shared. She ignored him. She had nothing whatsoever to say to him.
On the fourth day after her wedding, she was in her office studio painting a pair of flamingoes facing each other, beaks pressed together so that their heads and long necks formed a heart, when her father came to say goodbye to her. He was returning to Alagonia. He wanted to tell her he would send her lady-in-waiting to her.
Lili nipped that idea in the bud. “I really have no need of Solange now, Papa. There’s no room for anyone else here in the apartment and my chambermaid, Pilar, is in and out all day, helping wherever I need her. I think it’s time we...set cousin Solange free to go back to her own life.”
“You’re certain, my little love?”
“Yes.”
Then he wanted to know if she was feeling well, and how things were going with Alex.
Lili lied to him outright. She told him that she felt wonderful and that she and Alex were getting along beautifully. She actually did feel better physically, now that she no longer
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