When Strangers Marry (Vallerands #1)(30)

Satisfaction flared in Max’s eyes as he realized that the bargain had been struck, and that they were negotiating the fine points.

“From my perspective, petite, we are already intimately acquainted.”

She knew what he was referring to. “Since I was unconscious for most of that time, it hardly counts.”

“Very well. I will allow you some time before we share a bed. However, I reserve the right to try and persuade you not to wait.”

He reached for her again, but Lysette scooted backward and kept her knees between them. “I should also make it clear that I am not a naturally obedient sort of woman.”

A sudden smile lurked at the corners of his mouth. “I knew that from the moment I met you. In return, let me make it clear that I am a man of limited patience. Don’t test it too often, d’accord?“

“D’accord,” she agreed. Glancing down at her knees, she spoke in as diffident a tone as she could manage. “What if I should eventually bear a child? Would that displease you?”

“Not at all,” Max said gruffly, his gaze flickering to her stomach in a glance that made her spine tingle. “Although you may wish to wait for a year or so. You’ll have quite enough changes in your life to deal with.”

“I won’t have any choice in the matter, once we begin sleeping together,” Lysette said with a frown. “God decides such things.”

For some reason he looked amused. “At last, something you don’t know,” he mocked gently. “There are ways to prevent pregnancy.”

“How?”

“It’s irrelevant at the moment, isn’t it? When you invite me to your bed, I’ll enlighten you.”

He looked so disreputable and handsome, with his dark hair falling over his forehead and a smile playing on his lips, that Lysette felt a pang of pleasure deep inside. She could hardly believe that this magnificent man was going to be hers. No other woman would ever hold him in her arms or take him to her bed. Lysette intended to enchant him so thoroughly that the thought of straying from her would never occur to him. Of course, she knew that he had absolutely no intention of falling in love with her. He planned to enjoy her body and assume the role of husband without ever endangering his heart. Lysette, however, had very different plans.

Max’s eyes turned smoky. “Why are you smiling like that?”

She told him the truth. “I am thinking, Max, that before long, I am going to have you wrapped around my finger.”

The statement caused him to laugh. “Lysette,” he replied softly, “before long, I am going to be wrapped around your entire body.”

———

The Vallerand clan— not to mention all of New Orleans— reacted with scandalized delight to the news of Maximilien’s wedding. Always preoccupied with the subjects of courtship and marriage, the Creoles had already begun to make predictions about the fate of the bride. Some said the wedding would never take place, while others claimed to have heard from a reliable source that the girl was already enceinte. One thing was certain: If and when a child was born, there would be an assiduous counting of days to determine when it had been conceived.

Lysette’s genealogy was analyzed in every Creole parlor. Little fault could be found with her bloodlines, but that did little to quell the rumors flying around New Orleans. After all, not one member of the bride’s family would attend the wedding. Parents held Lysette’s situation up to their daughters as an example of the hazards that would most certainly befall a disobedient girl.

Owing to the events leading up to the proposal, there would not be a large wedding at St. Louis Cathedral, but rather a small affair, with only a brief religious ceremony. Still afterward there would be a large banquet at the Vallerand plantation. Everyone in New Orleans begged for invitations, unseemly rumors notwithstanding.

It was expected that the music, food, and wine at the wedding banquet would make the occasion one to be remembered for years to come. In the old days Vallerand hospitality had been known as the finest in the territory. At Irénée’s desperate petition, a celebrated old French baker temporarily came out of retirement to bake the many-tiered wedding cake.

The wedding would fall on a Monday, not a bad choice, although Tuesday was currently the most fashionable. It was considered vulgar to marry on Saturday, or Friday, usually the day on which public executions were held. As tradition demanded, Lysette was kept in strict seclusion beforehand, while everyone speculated as to what she looked like. Expectations ran high, as most decided that she must be an extraordinary beauty. Vraiment, what other kind of woman would tempt Maximilien Vallerand to marriage, after all these years?

Chapter 6

Irénée walked through the double parlors with a satisfied smile, making certain that the guests would find no flaw in her house, no fingerprints on the glass, no wilted flowers. As Creole tradition dictated, the wedding ceremony would take place in the afternoon.

The house was filled with huge garlands of roses, and the silver and crystal had been polished. The wedding cake was a splendid towering creation adorned with sugar-paste flowers so skillfully tinted that they were nearly impossible to distinguish from real ones. Now, with only a few hours remaining until the wedding, there was little to worry about.

Her smile faded slightly as she heard a minor commotion out in the hall. Certain the twins were up to some mischief, she rushed to the doorway with scolding words on her lips. “Justin! Philippe! Pas de ce charabia! Pas de ce—”