Years Between Us

The first time she married into the House of Valençay, she wore white, adorned in jewels as Philippe's wife-the Countess of Valençay.
The second time, though, she wasn't supposed to.

For four years, Élodie remained where everyone expected her grief to keep her, within the walls of Valençay, among memories that refused to fade and feelings that should never have existed.

Some loves arrive like lightning.
Others arrive quietly, over shared silences, over lingering glances, and years spent standing on the wrong side of a line neither person dares cross.

But grief is patient.
And so is love.

And some lines grow harder to see the longer you stand beside them.

Especially when the man on the other side looks at you as though you've hung every star in the sky.

(major editing ongoing)