Page 106 of The Taste of Light
"I will no longer speak as the monarch. Pedro, you avenged my brother. Fernando will rest knowing you have finished his life's work. You have my gratitude. I could not ask for a more worthy addition to my family." He clasped Pedro's shoulders. "I want you as my brother-in-law. Princess Isabel's husband."
Chapter 48
Themid-morningsunpushedinside her bedroom. Vesuvio’s peacock engaged in a fight with the D’Angola hens outside her window, and Anne covered her ears with a pillow. Lying on the bed, Anne gazed at her possessions. The rose wallpaper, the flowery candelabra, her row of books, her music box. If only she could fit inside her old clothes, but they had shrunk. Either that or she had swelled out of proportion, unfit for her previous life.
James whimpered and touched his humid nose to her cheek.
"I won't cry, James. I know you hate when I cry, so I won't." Anne burrowed into his warmth. As long as James remained with her, she would resist the tears. The pug had partnered her in Pedro's adventure, and they would survive its aftermath together.
"May I come in?" Julia peeked through the slitted door. Her time must be near. She was much larger than when Anne… had left.
Tony sauntered inside after his mother, his hands shoved inside his pockets.
Julia placed a breakfast table beside her. "Tony misses his teacher."
Tony shrugged, rubbing the carpet with the balls of his feet. "The new tutor stinks of ear wax."
Julia covered her chuckle with a cough. "Tony, you shouldn't say that. It's not polite."
James whined and turned on his back, displaying his stomach.
Anne caressed his ears and tried to make him comfortable, but he wouldn't stay still. "I don't know what is wrong with him. He seems restless."
Tony petted James’s head. "I think he needs to go outside. Can I take him to the garden? I promise the peacock won't come near him."
Julia laughed and brushed Tony's hair. "I'm sure peacock Zezé won't die if James barks at him. He is quite sturdy."
Tony snorted. "It is James that is scared to death of the old boy."
Anne consented, and Tony carted James outside. Alone with her sister-in-law, Anne wondered how long it would take for the subject to arise.
Julia straightened the counterpane and then perched on the edge of the bed. "It's been a week since the arena. I didn't prod on the train trip here, but… has Ulrich raped you?"
Anne shot to her feet. So that was why they walked around her as if stepping on eggshells. "No, of course not."
"You hardly touch your food. You don't speak. Tony misses his playmate, and Griffin worries constantly."
"How would you feel if Griffin were to marry somebody else?" Anne said the words as one might handle a thin crystal. A torrent of feeling sprang to the surface, raw and uncomfortable. Anne halted the whirl by locking her teeth and closing her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms.
"Dear, if you love Pedro this much, why leave? You haven't given him a chance to—"
"When I was growing up, Griffin made fun of me because I wanted to meet the perfect prince." Anne took a shuddering breath. "I just didn't expect I would not be his princess."
"Go back to Lisbon. I will start your bags."
"And ruin his redemption? Pedro deserves this so much." He needed this. He had taught her that love wasn't selfish.
"Do you think it is fair to take the choice from him?"
"What choice?" He would be the third in line for the throne, the king's closest advisor, and marry a princess. How could she compare? "If I stayed, he would have married me out of obligation."
Julia sought Anne’s gaze, her expression nurturing and kind. "You don't know the treasure you are, do you?"
"Please, Julia. I'm trying so hard." Love was selfless. Love must be selfless. "Why is it so hard?"
Julia opened her arms. Anne accepted her embrace, trying desperately to swallow all the tears. An entire ocean of them waited to pull her under, and if she succumbed, she would never return to the surface.
Julia sighed and held her at arm's length. "It helps to cry."
