Cinderella Spell - Laurie Lee Page 0,23

though she were naught but a dream? He motioned for a tray of drinks and followed his heart through the French doors. Could he have fallen in love?

She found him before his eyes adjusted to the deepening shadows. “You are real,” the woman greeted him with a shy smile. Her voice sounded like a melody of songbirds.

“As are you. I was afraid you would have disappeared.” He reached for her hand. “Your fingers are cold.” He wrapped his hands round hers, an excuse to move closer.

“This night has been magical. I feel as though I’m in a waking dream. The ballroom is beautiful. The music … it’s like nothing I’ve heard before.”

“It was ordinary until you arrived. I feel as though I’m lost and yet somehow, I’ve found myself.” He laughed. Marissa would mock his ramblings, but he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled from his mouth. Something about her enchanted him. “Who are you? Where do you come from? Who are you with? Where are your parents?” What else could he know of her?

“Slow down,” she laughed, her eyes twinkling in the starlight. “I live in the Belton Provence. You would never believe what I had to go through to get here.” She looked away, color in her cheeks deepening. “I thought this was all mammon, but since meeting you … I feel … I can’t …” Her eyes darkened with emotion when she returned her gaze to him.

Robert understood what she seemed unable to express. “I know. My stepsister Marissa would think us mad.”

She placed one hand on his chest, and he thought his heart would burst. “It must be madness. How else could this be?”

“Maybe we are mad. Perhaps madness has taken over our senses and we will never be free of it. I don’t care.”

“I don’t want to be free either.” She nodded in agreement. Her eyes held him captive.

He pulled her closer. “Please, your name?” he begged.

“They call me Cinderella.” She whispered.

The way she looked at him made him feel breathless and powerful. He repeated her name as his hand crept to her cheek, caressing her soft skin. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He felt no qualms for asking. She was much more than he thought possible.

She stared, her eyes round with wonder.

Robert held both her hands. “My father orchestrated the evening to find my bride. Somehow, he knew you were out there, and this was the only way to find you.”

She shook her head, and the swirl of her hair captivated him.

“But I’m nobody,” she protested. “There’s barely a name to our family to get me here. Belton has to be the smallest province in the country. I have nothing to offer a king’s son.” She tried to pull away, but he held her tighter.

“Something greater than either of us is at work. I wouldn’t care if you had nothing at all or if you owned the largest castle between Monmoore and the ocean. None of that has to do with you and the way I feel. Say yes. Say you will marry me. I will bring you to the king. He can announce our engagement tonight.”

She shook her head, and a single tear dripped down her pale cheek. “Dance with me,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I am bound in a way that I cannot give us our heart’s desire. Not yet. Dance with me, tell your father of us on the morrow. You must find me. When you do, we can be together for always.”

He didn’t understand her tears, but he couldn’t deny her request. She moved her hand to his cheek. He drew her closer and sealed his promise with a kiss. A warm rush of love swept him under like a crashing wave. He was lost, his fate sealed. They returned to the open floor, swirling through the crowd without noticing the others. They were for each other only.

11

Marissa shook herself yet again. Foolish thoughts. The kiss was naught but an accident.

A friend of her mother took her hands. “Marissa, darling. You are a beauty.” The woman leaned in and kissed both cheeks.

“Lady VanCleif. Good to see you.”

“With so many eligible ladies in attendance, I thought it proper to force my son to attend.”

A young man stepped to his mother’s side. Marissa bowed. “Sir Scott, thank you for allowing your mother to force your attendance. We have a great need of men among such a crowd.”

Though half a dozen years older, Sir Scott had an