The Fairest Beauty

He was right, of course. But if they didn’t get back soon, Gabe’s father and brother might reach Sophie before they did and carry her off to Hagenheim. Would his faither insist Sophie marry Valten soon after they arrived? Would she be too intimidated by them to protest?

 

Gabe could hardly bear the thought of such a thing. To see Sophie married to his brother, to know he could never have her …

 

“I understand how you must feel, sir, but a man sometimes feels a call to action, to act on behalf of those unable to act on their own. Surely you can understand —”

 

“I understand. We shall leave directly after breakfast.”

 

“Oh, thank you, sir.” Gabe felt such a surge of relief, he almost hugged the man.

 

Baldewin frowned. “But not all your urges are from God.” His eyebrows lowered sternly.

 

“Yes, sir. Of course not.”

 

The man would be as uncomfortable a companion as one might expect his future father-in-law to be.

 

That night Sophie, Petra, and Roslind took turns brushing each other’s hair. The two women would bed down in Sophie’s room in the two empty beds, which would be more comfortable than the cots they had slept on at Hohendorf Castle, and much more comfortable than the nights they had slept on the ground as they had made their way to the Cottage of the Seven.

 

Sophie had already told the two women about falling in love with Gabe and their plans to marry. “I just don’t know how things will work out.”

 

Petra was in the middle of brushing Roslind’s hair when she looked over her shoulder at Sophie. “You must not worry. Gabe is the sort of man who will do anything for the woman he loves.”

 

“I know you’re right, Mama Petra. I just wish we could be wedded tomorrow.”

 

Roslind sighed. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a wedding at this cottage? Everything is much nicer here compared to the castle.”

 

Both Sophie and Petra nodded, and Sophie prodded them to tell her about their journey from Hohendorf.

 

Roslind, with her usual forthrightness, told of all their hardships and the amazing ways God had provided for them. They hadn’t even seen a wolf the entire time they journeyed, which was quite fortunate. But they had had a close call with a bear, one cold night when they hadn’t been able to find even rudimentary shelter, and the second night, they’d had to go to sleep hungry, but in the end, they arrived at the Cottage of the Seven unscathed.

 

The three sat together, their knees touching, on Sophie’s bed.

 

Sophie finally asked Petra, “If you are a lady, then who were your parents? And how did you come to at Hohendorf Castle?”

 

“I am Baron Kukelbrecht’s daughter. And I came to Hohendorf Castle because I loved your father.”

 

Sophie tried not to show too much shock and amazement. When Petra simply stared down at her hands in her lap, Sophie gently said, “Go on.”

 

“I knew your father, Duke Baldewin, when we were children. I was always a bit in love with him. He had blue eyes, just like yours.” She smiled at Sophie, finally looking at her. “He was gentle and kind but also very intense and serious. After his first wife, your mother, died, I met him again at a ball given at Hagenheim Castle. But he was so grief-stricken, he couldn’t talk about anything but her — and you.”

 

“My father spoke of me?” Sophie’s voice trembled, and she cleared her throat.

 

Petra reached out and stroked Sophie’s cheek. “Yes, of course. He loved you very much.”

 

As the pause became longer, Sophie urged, “Go on. You saw him at Hagenheim.”

 

“I saw him that one night, and then he left. I couldn’t get him out of my thoughts. Foolishly, I traveled to Hohendorf, just to see him. I hoped … well, I hoped I could get him to fall in love with me.” She stared down at her lap, her head bowed low. “It was an ill-conceived, impulsive plan. No plan at all, when I think about it. I … I had always loved him, and I didn’t want to lose him if there was a chance he might marry me now that his wife had died.” She shook her head. “He was not there when I arrived, and I did not reveal my identity to anyone. I managed to get hired as a cook, even though I knew nothing about preparing a meal. Pinnosa taught me everything I knew after I told her who I was and confided in her I was in love with Duke Baldewin.

 

“She and I often took turns helping your nurse take care of you, allowing her to visit her family in the village from time to time. And I loved you, hoping that one day” — her voice became a whisper as her breath caught in her throat — “I might call you my own daughter.” A tear dripped from her eye and fell onto her hand. “But when your father returned a few months later, he had already remarried. Married that fiend, Ermengard.”

 

Petra began to sob softly into her hands. “Forgive me,” she said, between sobs, “I am sorry.”

 

Dickerson, Melanie's books