“Many of his supporters remain. Vigilance is necessary, particularly to the south. So I have a new appointment. I’m to be an itinerant professor, of all things. God knows I’ll need your help to manage that. The living won’t be much, but I’ve been promised a cottage near some vineyards. The countryside is beautiful, I hear.”
Violet had no doubt of it. A picture appeared in her mind’s eye. Rolling hills scored with rows of grapevines. An ancient cottage with green shutters, nestled on a south-facing slope. White, freshly laundered linens hanging from a line and billowing like sails in the lavender-scented breeze. Dogs. Chickens.
Christian.
Excitement buoyed her next twirl in the dance. “It’s going to be perfect.”
He grinned. “I know I promised you a lavish affair. But can you make do with a simple wedding? They’d want us settled by late summer, and you’ll have training to complete. I’d like a proper honeymoon before we depart.”
“I’d like that too. Where shall we honeymoon?”
“Anywhere.” He pulled her indecently close, and his hand slid down her spine until his fingertips grazed her backside. Heat flared between their bodies. “So long as I have you and a warm, soft bed, we don’t need exotic scenery. We don’t even need clothing.”
She laughed to herself. Oh, what a wonderful, thrilling, passionate, love-filled life they were going to share.
“From tonight on, we should speak French whenever we’re alone. They will give us new names, but I shall make a habit of calling you mon ange, to make it easier. Have you come up with a new pet name for me?” He lifted a brow. “I hope I’m no longer The Disappointment.”
“Certainly not.” Tilting her head to give him an assessing look, she ran through possible endearments in her mind… mon coeur, mon amour, mon cher.
“Ma moitié,” she decided. “My half. Because when you left, my heart was ripped right down the middle. And when you came back, you made my joy complete.” Her voice broke a little, and her gaze fell to the snowy drifts of his cravat. “Christian, I… I wouldn’t know how to live without you.”
He stopped dancing and slid both hands to her face, tilting her gaze to his. His eyes were solemn and ardent. “You will never need to learn.”
All onlookers were forgotten. The ballroom ceased to exist. They closed the distance between them, each leaning forward by slow degrees…until their lips met in the middle.
Two halves of one perfect, passionate kiss.