Chapter 9

He picked her up off the bed and put her in the big wing chair at the little table. And he sat in the other stuffed chair he pulled up. Soames came in with silver covered trays and set them off to the side table and began serving them their entrees. It all looked and smelled delicious. He prided himself on being a gourmet chef and was pleased his master and Franchesca found everything delightful. "Wonderful Soames, delicious!" Eric exclaimed.

"Thank you Sir, would you like the fire lit while I'm here?" Soames inquired.

"Yes, it's getting chilly in here, that would be nice. Thank you." Eric replied.

"I'll be off to bed now Sir, if you have everything you need."

"Yes Soames, have a good night. You've outdid yourself. I'll clear it all in the morning." Eric said.

"Good night Soames "Franchesca chimed in. "It's really delicious."

"Thank you Ma'am, good night, both of you." and he left them alone. They sat quietly eating and Eric lit the candle and opened the bottle of wine and poured them each a glass. Franchesca had never tasted anything so good, it was all delicious. She felt so happy and content sitting in the beautiful big room with Eric with the fire aglow next to them. The fragrance of the lilacs still filled the room with their heady scent. It was like a wonderful dream she didn't want to wake up from.

They finished their meal and had some more wine, then Eric poured each of them coffee and they had raspberry frombe for dessert. They chatted and laughed in each other's company. Tonight was not a night for heavy discussions of her situation, her amnesia, her confusion, etc... Eric wanted everything to be perfect and if it meant giving her an extra dose of laudanum, then so be it. He just hoped she wasn't getting addicted to it.

He looked over at her thru the candlelight and admired her beauty. He was glad he was making her so happy tonight. She deserved it, he thought, he wanted her to feel like a queen. She would be his queen. He would make it so. He would make her his bride tonight.

They finished their meal and he cleared everything off the table and set it all aside. It could all be put away tomorrow. "Would you like some music, my dear?" he asked.

"Oh, that would be lovely!" she answered. And he walked to the gramophone in the corner of the room and put on a lovely melody for her. It filled the room with even more romance, if that was possible. She smiled and started humming along with the song.

"You have a lovely voice, my dear." he said.

"Oh Eric, I feel so happy tonight. If I could get up out of this chair, I would let you waltz me around the room!"

"Oh, you would?" he asked with a wicked smile. And he stood up and picked her up out of the chair and held her in his arms and danced around the room with her, her arms locked about his neck. He twirled her around and around and they danced and laughed until the music stopped. Then he placed her on the bed. She giggled and felt giddy.

"That was so much fun Eric!" she exclaimed. And he bent down and kissed her on her soft red mouth. She kissed him back with her arms around his neck, rubbing his hair that fell to the back of his neck.

"How are you feeling, my love?" he asked, looking deep in her eyes.

"I'm so happy, Eric, I don't ever remember feeling this happy. But the pain is coming back." she added.

"Oh, my love, wait here," and he ran to get her the laudanum, "Here, drink this up, my sweet. You'll feel good in no time."

And she took the small crystal glass and drank it down. He handed her some wine and she washed it down with that.

He fluffed the pillows up and sat on the bed next to her. He touched her hair and lifted it up to his nose. "You smell so good Franchesca."

And he lifted her chin and kissed her neck. This felt so good to her, she hadn't been kissed in years Maybe she had never been kissed? All she knew was that it felt so good to have this man beside her, touching her, kissing her. He smelled so good, too.