Ruby (Landry 1)

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