"Are you very sure about this, Mother?" I asked, wiping down the creases in the pink dress I had on.
"Yes, my dear. It is time for you to meet him. Our family needs to lock down this match. The La Ponte family is very influential. Only last year did their winery become the best in all Provence. And unlike the Protestant scum, they are good Catholics. You would do well to marry into such a family."
In the mirror, her face looked so pale. Her shaky voice told me that there was something that was bothering her.
"We could postpone the wedding a year later, you know."
The silence after my statement nearly tortured me.
"Anne Marie, if you are worried for me, please don't be. I will just miss your presence, my love." she stated, her eyes softening. "You will be a wonderful wife, ma chére."
"How is papa? Is he doing any better?" I asked, my eyes shifting to the vanity table.
"Now don't you worry about your father tonight. You're only concern tonight is charming Lord La Ponte, you hear me?"
Her stern voice had me looking up. The candle light in the room made her gray hair look almost like the blonde it used to be.
"Yes, mama." I nodded.
***
The dinner table was filled to the brim with guests. No nobleman in Provence was left uninvited to my mother's little dinner party.
Though little is a great understatement.
Hope you enjoy the show. A snide voice in me spoke up.
"Here, you are ma chére." my mother gestured to a chair opposite a young man I vaguely recognized.
Sitting down, I looked up at the man across from me. His eyes were pinned on the glass of wine in front of him.
In the candlelight his handsome face looked dark and brooding. But, when he finally looked up the green eyes that were looking up at me looked almost kind.
"Mistress Mercier." He let out a surprised sound. "My, have you grown up."
The simple sentence was said with such a gusto I almost choked on the sip of wine I was taking.
"Well, that tends to happen when you haven't seen a woman since she was twelve, Lord La Ponte."
A smile framed his mouth, revealing the almost perfect row of teeth.
"Well, you haven't lost your wit, I see. Though I must say that your legs look much longer now. Perhaps we should race around the estate again to see if you have gotten faster too?"
Oh Heavens help me. He is still the most arrogant man to ever walk this Earth.
"I'm quite sure this time I will definitely prove you cheating."
The laugh that escaped from his mouth boomed across the room, pulling the room's eyes to us.
"Definitely haven't lost your wit." He said between laughs.
It was so infectious that soon I couldn't help the smile lining my lips.
"Yes, Lord La Ponte. I am still very much aware of my wits." I joked.
His eyes that fell closed while he was laughing opened up again. There was a twinkle in his eye when he looked at me, like he didn't even see the other people in the room.
***
"Oh, the food was absolutely marvelous, Lady Mercier. Please give my compliments to the cook."
After dinner we had all moved to the drawing room.
Lord La Ponte was positively cheerful at dinner. Everyone enjoyed his company.
Everyone except me.
I couldn't seem to figure him out. He was so different from the boy I knew when I was a small girl. There was a light in his eyes that I did not recognize.
Maybe it was the many drinks that he had thrown back at dinner.
"Why, thank you Lord La Ponte."
"Oh! Please call me Gerard." He said, his voice taking on a more casual tone as he leaned over as if whispering a secret into my mother's ear.
A small laugh escaped her.
"Of course." She curtsied then and walked away, leaving me alone with him.
How uncouth. Leaving her unmarried daughter alone with another man.
"She seems quite eager to get this marriage over and done with." He commented, his head turning to look at me. "Not that I could blame her, of course."
I let out an involuntary scoff.
"You really think yourself so high and mighty that you would think I need to marry you? On the contrary, Lord La Ponte. I am woman enough to admit that any man who fancies marrying me needs me a lot more than I need him."
He smiled at me then.
"Quite right, Anne Marie. Quite right." He said, his eyes softening.
His voice sent a shiver down my spine then.
"I better get going then." He said suddenly.
"Very well." My voice made itself known, albeit only for a little bit.
The look in his eyes almost made me think twice about why I was being so nonsensical towards him.
Before passing by me, he took my gloved hand and slowly, as light as a feather, placed a kiss on it.
When his lips left my hand, I shivered, a cold setting in.
"Good night, fiancee." He said, and as swiftly as his words, disappeared into the midnight air.
***
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