The Affair - Danielle Steel Page 0,104

afraid?”

“No, I’m not,” she said and kissed him. Things had been perfect between them, better than she had expected. Maybe even better than before.

“Are you happy?” he asked her seriously.

“I am.” She nodded and nestled peacefully into his arms. “I can’t believe we’re divorced, though.”

“That’s what happens when you play with fire. You’re the one who wanted to get divorced. That was your idea.”

“I was trying to get over you,” she reminded him.

“Well, you did a lousy job of it, fortunately,” he said, pulling her close to him. He loved sleeping with her again and waking up next to her, talking to her late at night and in the morning. The girls were happy too. It was as though the nightmare of the year before had never happened. She was so precious to him, he knew he would never be unfaithful again. She still had to meet Benoit, but she felt ready to now. What had happened wasn’t the baby’s fault. And Nicolas had no contact at all with Pascale anymore. Only with her mother. He and Pascale weren’t on bad terms, she was just pursuing her own life and doing what she wanted. Nicolas had been a moment in her life, and for her the moment was over. For Nadia she had been an explosion, a bomb that had hit them. She didn’t like to think about it, but she did at times, and marveled at the fact that they had recovered from it, and been able to get back together.

“How are we going to do this?” she asked Nicolas about their remarriage. “We just go to the mairie, and have lunch afterwards?” The mairie was the city hall of each district of Paris and each small town outside Paris.

“That’s a little dry, don’t you think? We could do it at the mairie for the legal ceremony, and have a church wedding the next day, the way normal people do it.”

“I’m not sure how ‘normal’ we are. We’re divorced. Are you telling me you want a real wedding?” She looked amused.

“I think I do,” he said, mulling it over. “Why not? We have a lot to celebrate. We could make it one-stop shopping. Benoit hasn’t been christened yet, and I suspect they’ll never get to it. We could have him baptized at the wedding, and have him at the château for the weekend. Or is that too crazy?”

“Definitely crazy. I think we’re starting to border on the seriously eccentric. But I guess we could, as long as his mother doesn’t show up.”

“She won’t. We won’t tell her.”

“Don’t ever tell me that I’m still too American. I’m going to marry my husband, whom I accidentally divorced, while we christen the baby he had with his mistress, who was the reason for the divorce in the first place. In America, they put you in psychiatric hospitals for this.”

“I don’t think it’s actually done in the better social circles here either, but I don’t care. Do you?”

“Actually, I don’t. What the hell. Why not baptize the baby? I hope my mother is up to this.”

“Your mother is pretty cool.”

Nadia had an idea then. She wanted to discuss it with Venetia. She had come back to her marriage still in love with Nicolas, but with a stronger sense of herself, more self-confidence, and an independence she’d never had before. She had survived the worst blow that could hit a marriage, and had come out the other end, whole, and strong, and happy. Her sisters had noticed it too.

She called Venetia the next morning and confided in her. She was the only one she was going to tell. She wanted to surprise everyone else.

“How did you manage to get divorced without noticing it?”

“I just forgot about the papers, and then we got back together and that seemed more important.”

“You’re probably right,” Venetia said, bored out of her mind. She had a drafting table over her bed in the daytime, so she could continue working. “So what do you want me to do?” Venetia thought the whole thing was funny.

“I want you to design a fabulous dress for me. A total fantasy. I wore such a serious one last time. It was beautiful, but I want to have fun this time.” She had worn an ivory peau de soie gown with a lace coat over it and a ten-foot train, which they got at Bergdorf’s. “I want you to go crazy with it.”

“Well, we could go little farm girl, or Heidi, if