Bed and Breakfast

When Maria woke the next morning, she instinctively reached her arm across the bed in search of Arthur who had held her as she fell asleep.

Her hand went across the smooth surface of the sheets that were now cold, and she opened her eyes to find that she was alone in her room.

With a groan, she turned over so that she could get out of bed and prepare for the day.

Of course he wasn't going to stay, so why was she so moody about it? She had only asked him to stay until she fell asleep, yet part of her had been hoping that he would stay the night with her.

After all, they were going to be married, so Maria didn't feel like they needed to be separated if they didn't want to be; on the other hand, Arthur was probably still needing space to figure out his feelings around what had happened with them, so she would need to be patient.

It had felt good going to sleep with him, she had been nice and cozy and secure, not that she was willing to admit that to herself as she was still partially trying to guard her heart.

Maria had never been so forward with a man in her life as she had been with Arthur lately.

Some of Arthur's unyielding confidence must have rubbed off on her, she thought to herself.

Once she was bathed and dressed, she made her way to the small dining area that she had remembered passing when they had entered the lodgings late last night.

She came to find Julien and Arthur sitting and having tea with the woman who owned the bed and breakfast, while her husband was busy cooking away in the kitchen.

"There she is. I take it you slept well, then?" the woman asked with a friendly smile.

"I did, thank you. It smells delicious in here," Maria replied as she breathed in the smell of sausage and eggs.

"What would you like, love?" the man asked from the kitchen.

"Whatever you're making is just fine with me," Maria said looking over to him.

"We just finished eating. Sorry we didn't wait; it looked too delicious to resist," Julien told her as she sat down with them.

Maria laughed and said, "That's quite alright. If it looks as delicious as it smells, then I'm sure I would have done the same."

"It tastes even better than it smells, if you can believe that," Arthur said as he smiled at her.

"You're making me blush," the man joked from the kitchen, which caused everyone to laugh.

After a couple of minutes, he brought Maria over her food, and she practically inhaled it as the conversations continued at the table.

The woman, who Maria now knew was named Cassie, looked at Maria and said, "The boys told me that you're traveling to France! You must be so excited to get back home; I've heard Paris is beautiful!"

"I wouldn't know, I've never been," Maria casually replied.

"Oh I must have misunderstood," Cassie started before Maria clarified.

"Arthur and Julien are from France but I'm from Greece."

"Maria and I just got engaged, so France will be home for her now, too," Arthur interjected.

"Engaged! Awww how lovely! Steven, do you remember when we got engaged? That was the best night of my life!" she cooed as she looked lovingly to her husband. "How did he propose?" she asked with excitement.

Maria's breath hitched, and she watched as Julien tensed and Arthur's lips pulled tightly in an almost frown.

She figured that Julien was nervous about the fact that they were royalty was bound to come up, but she was more concerned with the probability that Arthur was probably reliving all of the pain and hurt that came along with their engagement.

Obviously she could not tell the truth, so she decided to make up a story instead.

"Well, we went for a walk along the river at sunset. I thought it was just a walk, but after a little bit we had reached a beautiful picnic set up that was surrounded by lanterns. We enjoyed fruits, crackers, and wine, but mostly we just enjoyed each other's company. Then, he asked me to marry him."

Maria kept her eyes on Cassie the whole time so that she could avoid whatever quizzical look she was sure Arthur was throwing her way since they both knew she was lying through her teeth.

Cassie, on the other hand, ate the story up. She clapped her hands to her chest and sighed. "That's so romantic! If the atmosphere was that nice, I'm sure his words when he asked were even better!" she said with a giggle before she asked, "What did he say when he asked you? Did he talk about how much he loved you? Or how perfect you are together? Oh! Maybe he said you were his perfect dream?"

Maria felt her heart sink at Cassie's questions. She wished that any of the story or Cassie's predictions had been true.

Not really knowing how to answer, Maria simply said, "That part I'd like to keep for just us".

She hoped that the sadness she felt didn't come through in her tone or in her facial expressions.

"Ugh! Fine!" Cassie said as she threw her head back in a playful disappointment.

"I'd like to apologize on behalf of my wife. She always has been a hopeless romantic, and we don't get very many couples who come through the area, so I'm sure she's just excited," Steven said with a chuckle.

"Well if you think the proposal was magical, just wait until you hear what I have planned for the wedding," Arthur chimed in.

Maria, in shock, whipped her head in his direction just to see that he was already looking at her.

He winked at her above his tea cup that he was about to take a sip out of, just as Cassie squealed in excitement and clapped her hands.

Julien simply shook his head and continued to drink his tea.

Arthur went on to talk about this romantic garden wedding that supposedly was going to take place, and Cassie's eyes were glued to him the whole time as if to not miss any miniscule detail.

Maria's heart warmed listening to his tale of the intimate backyard wedding, and she wished they could have that instead of the big royal spectacle that she knew their big day would actually be.

At the end of the day, all she could hope for was that by the time they got to their wedding day, they would both be excited and in love, and far from any of the coldness and pain that they currently were fighting through.

She hated feeling like they had to walk on eggshells around each other.

After breakfast was finished and the valets packed the carriages, Maria and the brothers thanked and said their goodbyes to the lovely couple who owned the bed and breakfast before they continued on their long journey.