By now she was in tears. “Thank you.”
“Donetta?” her mother chimed in. “We love you, and welcome you to the family, Enrico.”
Enrico swallowed hard. “That means more to me than you will ever know. Before long the coronation will take place and we’ll want your whole family here with us.”
“We’ll be waiting with excitement for that day. Thank you for giving us this marvelous news.”
“I love you and Papà,” Donetta said before they both heard the click. She buried her face in her hands.
Enrico put his arm around her shoulders. “Your parents are remarkable, bellissima.”
“They are.” She lifted her head. “So are you. The things you said to them reassured them as nothing else could.”
Enrico kissed the side of her wet face. “Let’s go to the palace. We’ll have brunch in the small dining room with my parents. My father will have been wheeled in, but he never talks, so Mamma will preside. I love her and can only hope she’ll be as gracious as your parents. Shall we go?”
Donetta reached for her handbag and he walked her out to the waiting limo with its tinted glass. After telling the driver to take them to the palace, he slid in next to her and put his arm around her again.
“After you left, I was in the depths of despair. I drove out of the city not knowing whether to work or go crazy. I couldn’t have dreamed my cousin would phone and tell me your jet had arrived in Saracene. For a moment I thought I was hallucinating, but you’re here and real.”
“I can hardly believe it myself. It was like a dream yesterday when I heard you say you wanted to marry me. So much has happened since then that I’m still trying to take it all in.”
“After we meet with my parents, we’ll have all the time we want and need to get used to the idea that we belong to each other at last.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
DONETTA REALLY DID belong to him now! The boy she’d been attracted to years ago had grown up to become the man she’d just married. But this was no fairy tale. They were on their way to tell his parents. Enrico’s mother wouldn’t react the way Donetta’s parents had done. She needed to be prepared for fireworks.
The trip to the palace didn’t take long. He helped her out of the limo and escorted her up the steps to the area reserved for the business of the king. The official flag of the country hung outside the throne room. Soon, this was where she would start to govern the affairs of the country with him. The feeling was surreal.
Further down the hall he led her up a staircase to the second floor, where they came to the small dining room. According to Enrico, the man who stood outside the opened double doors was his father’s caregiver. Enrico patted his arm as they entered.
The king, impeccably dressed and groomed in a gray suit and white shirt, sat in a wheelchair at the head of the oval table, with his head slightly drooped. His black hair was peppered with a lot of gray.
Enrico drew Donetta with him and leaned over. “Papà? This is my wife, Princess Donetta Rossiano of Domodossola.” He turned to her. “Donetta? Please meet my father, King Nuncio.”
Donetta was so moved to witness the love Enrico showed his father that she had to clear her throat to speak. “It’s one of the greatest honors of my life to meet you, Your Majesty. I’ve heard great things about you and know they’re all true because I see those same wonderful qualities in your son, whom I love.”
She’d never said those words to Enrico, but they’d slipped out now.
Of course there was no response from his father, but like Enrico, she hoped that something about this moment had reached a part of him that knew what was going on.
When she lifted her head, she saw the queen in the doorway, wearing a rose-colored two-piece suit. Again Donetta was reminded that Enrico had inherited attractive traits from both parents. “Your Majesty.” She curtsied to her.
“Princess Rossiano.” Just like that day at the concorso, Donetta saw no smile in the queen’s eyes. This woman was her new mother-in-law.
Enrico accompanied his mother to the table, where he seated her on her husband’s left side. Then he cupped Donetta’s elbow, took her around and helped her into a chair before he took his place between her and the king.
Two kitchen staff waited on them, pouring coffee and serving an elaborate brunch that included a variety of mouthwatering cut melons. Donetta made the effort to eat, but her nerves had taken away her appetite.
“Papà? Mamma? I asked the two of you to join with Donetta and me to celebrate our marriage.”
An audible gasp came out of his mother. Her face lost color, but Enrico kept going. “I’ve loved Donetta for years and now she has done me the honor of marrying me.”
He’d said the same thing to her parents, convincing her he loved her as fiercely as she loved him.
His mother’s brown eyes pierced Donetta. “You were promised to Prince Arnaud.” Her voice sounded totally shaken.
Knowing this moment had to come, Donetta girded up her courage. Enrico gripped her hand to give her his support. “I realized at the last moment that I couldn’t marry Arnaud when I knew I loved Enrico.”