Page 39 of The Prince’s Wallflower Wife (The Wallflower Academy #4)

‘I know you do,’ he said quietly. ‘But it’s…it’s hard to say.’

This was the hardest thing that Daphne had ever done, but she needed to do it. She owed it to him. She owed it to herself.

‘I am sure it is hard to say,’ Daphne murmured, her gaze not leaving Christoph’s face. ‘But I need you to tell me.’

The wind whistled through the trees, causing several golden leaves to fall to the ground, and she waited.

Daphne waited, because she knew that if he did not wish to tell her, if Christoph could not bring himself to, then what they had, this marriage, was at an end.

She would have this child, and she would love it, and she would be Christoph’s wife in name only.

But she did not want that.

‘I told you before that Anton…that my brother…’ Christoph cleared his throat. ‘I told you that he was an unpleasant man. Cruel.’

‘A harsh man, cruel—like your father, as I recall,’ Daphne said, her mouth dry.

He nodded, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists. Daphne fought the impulse to take them and kiss them.

Christoph was finally talking. Finally explaining. She could not interrupt him now.

‘It is a strange thing, to discover that a person who has the same parents as you, who is to all intents and purposes the most alike to you in all the world, is a monster,’ Christoph said finally.

Daphne nodded, but said nothing.

‘I was happy, when Anton married Katalina,’ Christoph said with a bitter laugh.

‘I thought he was…untethered. That he needed an anchor—something, someone, to ground him. I thought Katalina could be that person. I hoped she would be, and for a time it seemed she was. For a time, we all breathed a sigh of a relief. For a time, I thought things…things could be different.’

She could see the difficulty, the pain in his words, the way Christoph’s whole body was reacting to the telling of this tale—and she was proud of him. Daphne had never felt prouder.

Christoph blew out a long exhale. ‘An accident, he said. She tripped down the stairs—that was what he told me. I didn’t ask more questions, and I am ashamed of that now, because I should have known—I should have guessed.

Katalina was asking for more freedom, more opportunities to serve our people through a charity.

That would mean more time alone, more independence, and that is just not something Anton could have accepted. ’

Daphne shivered at a cold breeze that she could not feel on the outside, but which she felt deep within her, iced within her chest.

‘I vowed I would not let him hurt another woman,’ Christoph said, his eyes piercing into her. ‘And then I found it. A letter. You.’

His voice cracked and Daphne fought the instinct to step towards him, to pull him into an embrace.

He was poison, this brother of his. It had to be drawn out, all of it. The truth had to be told. Only then could they move forward.

‘I panicked,’ Christoph said simply. ‘I could not, I would not, allow a poor, unsuspecting woman to come into our family and be subjected to… I could not just sit by and watch a woman have her spirit broken—and, when she tried to find a life for herself, for her neck to be broken as well.’

Daphne’s throat knotted painfully. It was shocking, to hear such a thing spoken of.

‘And so I thought—I could leave.’ Christoph’s eyes lit up, and he laughed bitterly. ‘You do not realise a cage is a cage until the door opens and you realise you can leave. And this Miss Smith, a woman I had never met and had no loyalty to—she had money.’

This was hard to hear.

‘Money that would give me independence. It would give me the chance to save Laura, to provide a home for her, an alternative to staying with Anton. He broke her wrist just before I left Niedernlein,’ said Christoph bleakly, and Daphne raised a hand to her chest as she gasped.

‘And I thought, I can create a new life. It would hurt to leave Niedernlein, my people, but I could serve a new nation in some way, any way. I could build a life, find a way to belong.’

‘You could have told me this,’ Daphne said, unable any to restrain herself any longer.

A trio of deer meandered into view just over Christoph’s shoulder, but her attention was regained by her husband as he laughed bitterly. ‘You might have taken it as a threat! You may not have believed me. You may have written to him, God forbid, to someone in Niedernlein.’

‘I would not have.’

‘You do not know what you would have done,’ Christoph countered in a kind voice. ‘I… I intercepted your father’s letters. Made the arrangements. Ensured that I covered my tracks as best I could. I left Niedernlein knowing I would probably never return. I married you…’

Daphne tried to smile. ‘And you fell in love with me.’

‘Much against my will,’ said Christoph with a laugh.

‘I had everything I wanted: freedom from Anton; distance from Niedernlein; safety for my sister. Wealth…more riches than I would ever have had as the second-born prince. The opportunity to start again. But now…now I have so much more to lose. And…and you’re smiling. Why?’

Daphne could not help it. His confession was precisely what she had expected it to be: loving, considerate and kind.

Outraged at cruelty and struggling to hide devotion.

It was terrifying to consider that she had walked away from such a man.

That she could have lost him, in her terror and instinct to shy away from love in case it hurt her, a flame burning so bright it burned.

Daphne caught Christoph’s gaze and smiled, warm affection replacing the chill of fear.

He shook his head. ‘I do not deserve your smiles. There must be a spy in our house, someone who placed those letters exactly where you could find them.’

‘What, these letters?’ Daphne said innocently.

She pulled the letters from her father and Anton from her bodice and tried not to laugh as her husband’s eyes widened.

‘Firstly, what else are you keeping down there?’ he said with a grin. ‘And secondly, can I have a look?’

He reached out a hand and Daphne batted it away, but she did so with a chuckle, and could not deny the spark of pleasure that crackled between them as she did so.

‘These letters,’ she said firmly. ‘They were placed there for me to find, weren’t they?’

‘I would never have left them lying around,’ Christoph said, wincing. ‘Which I know does not say much in my favour.’

‘Which means they were put there specifically to drive a wedge between us,’ Daphne said softly, watching his eyes to see whether he would draw the dots together. ‘Someone in the house who has power over the household. Who can go where they please. Who has never particularly liked me.’

She saw the moment Christoph made the connection.

Had her face given her away?

‘That damned—Henderson! He works for Anton?’

‘I am sorry to say that my father is not the most discerning of men,’ said Daphne with a wince of her own.

‘I do not believe it would have been difficult for Henderson to impress. When you left Niedernlein, perhaps your brother wished to keep an eye on you. It would have been only too easy for one of his connections in London to recommend Henderson to my father. Your brother has probably been using him for information for weeks. But you do not have to concern yourself. I have dealt with him.’

Christoph’s eyes widened. ‘Should…should I be afraid of you?’

It was difficult not to laugh at that. ‘Perhaps. But, as it happens, I merely informed my father that our butler had been spying on us and selling our secrets to our enemies.’

Evidently her husband had not expected such a response. ‘Daphne von Auberheiser!’

She shrugged. ‘I told naught but the truth. He is gone. We do not have to worry about him again.’

‘I am sorry, Daphne. Not because you found out about the circumstances of our marriage, but because I was not the one to tell you.’

It was precisely what she wanted to hear. What she needed to hear. And that was why Daphne allowed the letters, meaningless as they now were, to fall to the ground as she launched herself into her husband’s arms.

Whether or not he could have known such an embrace was coming, Christoph certainly leapt into action. Daphne found herself lifted bodily from the ground as his hungry kiss overwhelmed her, making her head spin and her heart soar.

Oh, it was bliss to be within his arms again, to be touched by him, his hands cupping her buttocks as he lifted her from the ground.

It was splendid to be kissed by him again, his knowledgeable tongue teasing instant pleasure from Daphne as she gasped in his mouth.

It was intoxicating to know that, whatever forces had conspired to harm them, they were safe and they were together and, if they weren’t careful, she was going to pull him down onto the slightly damp lawn and make love to him.

When they finally broke apart, Daphne could barely breathe and Christoph’s lips were bruised with the passion of their ardour.

‘I love you, Daphne,’ he growled. ‘And even if you cannot love me in return—’

‘I love you,’ she interjected, heart singing.

‘Would you mind not interrupting as I make this declaration?’ Christoph said with a grin.

Daphne laughed and the laughter freely flowed through her as it never had before. ‘I do apologise, Your Highness.’

‘Right, where was I?’ Christoph lowered her slowly back onto the ground, though she could not help but notice that his hands kept a tight hold on her buttocks. ‘Ah, yes. Daphne, I love you.’

‘You’ve said that bit,’ she teased, delighted to see the way his face worked at the second interruption.

‘If you’re not careful, I shall have to kiss you again,’ he warned. ‘If only to prevent you walking away from me.’

Daphne quivered at the mere suggestion, sensing a pressing rod of iron against her hip.

Christoph groaned. ‘I’m trying to think clearly here. The least you could do is not…not be so damned alluring.’

It took a great deal of self-control, but somehow she managed to step out of his embrace, though Daphne did not meander too far. She never would again.

‘I am sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘For leaving. I… I panicked.’

‘I had never thought a confession of love would cause such a thing,’ her husband said quietly, and Daphne’s heart broke at the pain, the self-judgement, it contained.

‘It was… I have never allowed anyone to…see me. I had no intention of letting you do so,’ she admitted with a wry smile. ‘But, before I knew it, you knew me better than anyone in the world. Better than myself. Any moment, I thought, you would find me out.’

‘Find you out?’ Christoph frowned.

Daphne swallowed. ‘Realise…realise that I was not worthy of your love. I am just a wallflower, and—’

‘Just a…? Daphne von Auberheiser, you are a wallflower and you are my wife,’ Christoph said fiercely, taking her hand and placing it on his chest. ‘Worthy of me? What about me being worthy of you? When you walked away—’ and here his voice cracked ‘—I thought—I thought you’d finally realised how much better you were without me; that my character had convinced you that your love was undeserved. ’

It was difficult not to stare in wonderment. Christoph thought she could not love him…

It was preposterous. It was ridiculous. It was…entirely understandable.

Daphne breathed a laugh. ‘It appears we both love each other and fear losing the other. I am not sure if there is a word for that.’

‘I think it is “marriage”,’ said Christoph with an answering laugh of his own.

‘Dear God, the depths of our love could have caused us to have lost each other. We fear being known, my darling, because we assume we are unlovable but it is the pair of us together that makes me feel as though I could conquer the world!’

‘You are a prince, I’m afraid—not king of the world,’ Daphne teased, her lungs tightening.

Christoph grinned. His smile was warm and welcoming, the only thing she wanted to see every morning and the last thing she wanted to see at night. ‘As long as I’m king of your world, Daphne.’

She had to laugh at that. ‘Is love going to turn you into a terrible poet?’

‘God knows, and I hope you and I find out,’ he said with a lopsided grin. ‘I… I cannot imagine being married to anyone else. Come back with me, Daphne. Build a life with me. Love me even through my shortcomings. Love me even through my failings. Love me. Please.’

And she kissed him, pressing up on her tiptoes to reach him, and tried to show him through her kiss that she would, she would, she would…

When the kiss was over, Daphne breathed into his neck. ‘I love you, Christoph. And I intend to stay married to you and be your wife for a very, very long time. Your wife…and the mother of your child.’

There was a strange blankness in his eyes, then sharpness. ‘Child?’

‘It’s early, I know, but my flux—’

‘A child?’

‘And Gwen had her doctor see me and he seemed certain—’

‘A child!’

Daphne shrieked with laughter as her husband, the man she adored, swept her off her feet and spun her round, his words spilling out in a rush that mingled with the air whistling past her ears.

‘And they’ll be loved, Daphne. They’ll never have to worry. They’ll have a life of safety and peace. A child!’

‘Christoph Augustus Heinrich Maximus Anton Philip von Auberheiser, put me down!’

Christoph halted, lowering her to the ground with an abashed face. ‘Yes—yes, of course. We must be careful of you.’

And Daphne fell in love with him a little more. Was this what true love was—a constant exploration of the person before her as she realised that there was always more of him to discover, always more of him to find, always more of him to love?

‘We must be careful of each other,’ she said quietly, cupping his cheek and adoring the look of affection he gave her. ‘And we always will be.’