Afterthought by M J Marlow (red white royal blue .txt) 📖

after that as more and more of the pieces were sung and acted by the children themselves. Marcel and his team took roll after roll of photographs. The only bad note was when Pierre brought her a bouquet of red roses and baby’s breath. “We all wanted to thank you for helping us, Your Highness,” the little boy smiled. He saw her go white. “We thought you would like the flowers.” “My sister loves your flowers, Pierre,” Sebastian assured him as he squeezed Evangeline’s shoulder. “She is just tired.” He looked over at Constantia. “As I am certain you all are.” “Thank you for the lovely flowers, children,” Evangeline managed to smile for them and they did not notice anything wrong. Sister Constantia did and she remained behind as the other nuns got the children to the bus. “I have a stalker, Sister,” Evangeline told the woman when she asked. “He is fond of sending me red roses.” “Then you shall not keep these,” Constantia replied. She took out the large card. “It is this that is the true gift.” She watched Evangeline open it and smile as she saw the photograph of all the children and the nuns with her during one of her visits. It had been signed on the back ‘To Our Princess, With All our Love’ and all the children’s names and the nuns’ signatures were there. She took Evangeline in her arms as the girl burst into tears. “You are a gentle and loving creature, Your Highness. We will pray God protects you from your stalker.” She curtsied to Sebastian as she took the roses and threw them away. “Good night, you precious pair.” Sebastian smiled as he handed his sister a handkerchief. She was such an emotional little thing, he thought; as he escorted her to the buffet supper arranged for the older guests. Neither of them saw Elinor’s satisfied smile as they left. She had been quite pleased to note the reaction of the princess when she had seen the red roses. Their actions were bearing fruit already. She went to the office and reported their success with an immensely satisfied smile on her face. Evangeline and her brother and their entourage went to the gallery the next morning to hear a report on the fundraiser. She smiled at Sister Constantia as she saw the woman already there and then sat down. Elinor noticed that the girl had not slept well again and knew she had suffered another nightmare. She smiled vaguely as Elinor handed her a glass of water and sipped at it before setting it aside. “Every piece sold, Princess,” Max was astounded. “We had people bidding against each other on several of them. Even the children’s art sold and those monies will be put into accounts in the names of the young artists as you requested. Your artwork raised 2.5 million dollars for the orphanage.” “That much?” Eva was stunned. “I never expected people would actually want my sketches.” She squeezed her brother’s hand. “They’ll be able to afford all the repairs they needed done to bring the buildings up to code, Sebastian. Thank you for being a part of this with me.” “I would not have missed it, little sister,” Sebastian smiled. “How often does a doctor get shanghaied to sing Gilbert and Sullivan?” He leaned his cheek against hers. “You could have warned me. I felt a fool…” “You were superb!” She was glowing as she turned to Max. “Sister Constantia and I have a meeting with the contractors tomorrow at the Orphanage. They’ll be very glad to get their down payment.” “Evangeline has decided repair is not enough,” Sebastian smiled at her fondly. “Oh no! My little sister is having them restore the building to its original glory.” He kissed her hand. “Nothing done in a minor way by this Roza princess.” He looked at his watch. “The hour is late. We will take the checks to the bank, Max. Evangeline will bring you your commission afterwards.” Maximilian nodded agreement and got up to see Sister Constantia to the door. The nun was asking him about holding their fundraisers here again. The children, she was telling him as the door closed, had been quite excited about being in an art gallery. Evangeline caught Maximilian’s pleased smile and she was relieved. “May I ask you what may seem an impertinent question, Princess?” Elinor asked the girl as they got up to go. Eva nodded. “Why orphans? There are other charities you could have selected.” “Because, Madame Otto,” Eva told the woman, “I know what it is like to feel like you don’t belong to anyone and I do not want these children ever feeling that way. Not while I can do something about it.” “Is that child for real?” Elinor said after Eva and Sebastian had left. She was having second thoughts about what her brother had asked her to do. The more time she spent in this child’s presence, the less inclined she felt to hurt the girl. There was just something about the child that made you want to keep her safe. She would have to make a move soon or she would not be able to go forward with their plans. But then she thought of her twin sister imprisoned in the guise of a performing animal in Pietro’s carnival and she regained her perspective. She was not going to let this gentle child break her. The next morning dawned cold and clear and Eva and Sebastian went riding with their father and a team of security. They did not speak much, but enjoyed the time they had left together. Sebastian was going back to Vienna and would not be back until the Ball in two and a half months. Stefano could not put off his patients any longer and was headed to Florence for three weeks. Eva knew he was worried about her being left alone in Paris, but she was looking forward to it. And she had the sisters, Marcel and his team, and a security force of twenty, along with the household staff here with her. She was hardly going to be alone. She had promised to spend time with the Grimaldi family as much as possible. “I can’t believe you’ve only been with us three weeks, Evangeline,” Stefano finally broke the silence. “Are you certain you need to remain in Paris?” he asked for the tenth time since she had come to the decision. “You are paying people to handle this restoration, child.” “It’s not just the restoration, Father,” Eva reminded him. “The orphans are going to need to be settled elsewhere while the work is being done. And I promised them that I would help them with their Christmas pageant.” “Just do not ignore your lessons, child,” Stefano told her. “I shall call you every evening…” “I love you too, Father,” Eva smiled over at him warmly. “I’ll bet you a month’s allowance donated to the Orphanage that Shalimar and I can beat you back to the stables.” She heard their laughter as she took off without warning. She leaned against the mare’s neck and hung on for dear life. She knew Shalimar was swift; riding her was like being swept along by a storm force wind. She could see the stables as they came out of the trees and heard her father or her brother behind her. Black moved into her peripheral vision and she knew it was Sebastian on Goliath catching her up. She urged Shalimar on and gave her mare full rein. She was already dismounted when her brother rode in. “You were holding her back?” Sebastian was astounded. He patted Shalimar’s nose. “They should have named you Zephyr, you swift beauty.” He frowned suddenly as he realized that their father hadn’t shown up yet. “Where’s Father?” he looked back down the trail and there was no sign of him or the security men. He got back on Goliath. “Stay here, Eva.” Eva ran to the office and was picking up the receiver to call the house when someone grabbed her. She drove her elbow back and heard the man grunt as it connected with his ribs. But he did not let go. She was pulled out and forced towards a waiting van. Eva’s mind screamed in protest as she realized she was being abducted. They had done something to draw her father and brother away and that had left her open to attack. Well, she was not going without a fight! They were going to find that trying to abduct a Roza was not an easy task. She twisted around and drove the heel of her hand up under his nose. He let her go then with a curse and she was running. She heard galloping hooves as she got out into the corral and found herself being enveloped in her father’s embrace. “You’re not staying behind, Evangeline,” he said as he looked at the bruises on her arms. She started to protest and he shook his head. “Your safety is far more important to me than any other person’s welfare; don’t you understand that, child?” Eva couldn’t speak then. He was completely sincere and she was lost. Her father loved her so deeply that she knew he would willingly die if it kept her safe from harm. She couldn’t let that happen! So she let him think he had won and went about her business for the day with her mind spinning out a plan that would allow her to remain in Paris. She took a shower and changed then went to the car. Sebastian feigned horror and alarm as she drove them to the bank. “You’re awfully quiet, little one,” he said as they entered the building with the proceeds from the fundraiser. He turned her to face him and she would not look him in the eyes. “You know he’s only doing what he thinks is best for you, Eva.” “I’m not used to having someone care that fiercely about my safety,” Eva replied honestly. She saw the bank manager coming their way and smiled. She knew the man; he was her dresser’s brother. “Monsieur Clermont. I deposited the monies from the fundraiser yesterday and completely forgot that I wanted to add to them.” She went into his office with him while Sebastian remained outside the door. “I would like to take the same amount from my personal account to add to the Orphanage restoration funds.” “I should have called you, Your Highness,” Clermont frowned. “Someone has purchased the building that is currently being used as the orphanage. They plan to turn it into a hotel.” “No!” Eva cried out in protest. “Where will the orphans go if this is done?” “I do not think the new owner cares,” Clermont replied. “He is in this for business, not charity.” He saw her go pale and went to get her brother. Sebastian brought her some water and stroked her hands. “I am sorry, Your Highness but such things are common practice…” “I want his name,” Eva said tightly as she turned on the man. “He has to be made to understand that he cannot do such things to people!” He shook his head and made noises about client confidentiality. “Then you will have to decide whose business you prefer, Monsieur Clermont. If this man goes through with his plans to destroy the orphanage, I will be moving my accounts to another financial institution.” She got to her feet and left without another word. She entered the orphanage and joined Sister Constantia in the office. For several moments she just stood looking out the window overlooking the playground. The sound of children’s laughter brought tears to her eyes. But then Eva began to smile. She turned to the nuns and her brother and he knew she had a plan. He knew every expression on that pretty face of hers now. “My father wants me to