breeding, Pierre. You must remember that." "Of course, Daphne," he said softly. "No one
expects miracles overnight. As you said so yourself
just a moment ago--it's a challenge." He smiled. "I
wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you were capable of
making it happen, darling."
Placated, Daphne sat back again. When she
thought deeply, she pursed her lips and her eyes
glittered. Despite the things she had said, I couldn't
help but admire her beauty and her regal manner.
Would it be so terrible to look and act like such a
woman? I wondered, and become someone else's
fairy-tale princess? A part of me that wouldn't be
denied cried, Please, please, cooperate, try, and the part of me that felt insulted by her remarks sulked
somewhere in the dark corners of my mind. "Well, Beau already knows about her," Daphne
said.
"Exactly," my father said. "Of course, I could
ask him to keep it all a secret, and I'm sure he would
die in a duel before revealing it, but things are
&nb
sp; revealed accidentally, too, and then what would we
do? It could unravel everything we've done up until
now."
Daphne nodded.
"What will you tell Gisselle?" she asked him,
her voice somewhat mournful now. "She'll know the
truth about me, that I'm not really her mother." She
dabbed at her eyes with a light blue silk handkerchief. "Of course you're really her mother. She hasn't
known anyone else to be her mother and you've been
a wonderful mother to her. We'll tell her the story just
as I outlined it. After the initial shock, she'll accept