Moment of Truth
By Misha
Disclaimer- I don’t own any of the characters, I am just borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am finished.
Author’s Notes- This is my entry for Day 20 of my 31 Day Challenge: meet the parents. This is set a few weeks after “The Ending You Least Expected”. I have given Dante’s mother a lot of thought, including her role in Cordonia and while I only hint at things here, I am sure she will show up again in the future.
Paring- Eleanor/Dante
Rating- PG
Summary- Eleanor meets Dante’s mother.
Words- 1645
Eleanor had been in London for just over a month when she came home one day to find a beautiful woman lounging on the couch, obviously very comfortable. This would have been a lot more shocking, and possibly upsetting if the woman’s bright red hair and uncanny resemblance to Olivia didn’t immediately clue Eleanor to her identity.
Which gave her an edge, because Dante’s mother looked surprised by her presence, giving her an appraising look.
“Lady Alessandra,” Eleanor greeted politely, which caused the older woman’s eyebrows to shoot up even further.
“It seems you have me at a disadvantage,” she commented, getting to her feet, “since you know who I am, but I don’t even know your name, let alone your connection to my son.”
“Eleanor Sloane,” Eleanor introduced, waiting to see if the name clicked.
“The American who caused so much drama in the last social season,” Alessandra mused, “may I ask what you are doing in my son’s apartment?”
“I live here,” Eleanor said coolly. She knew enough about Lady Alessandra not to be offended that Dante hadn’t told his mother about their relationship.
“Really?” Alessandra asked her. “Good for Dante, sweeping the scandalous American away. I knew he had to have inherited something from me and I do love dramatic gestures.” Alessandra smiled and motioned to the couch, “Come sit and chat with me. I mean, if you are involved with my son, we should get to know each other better.”
Eleanor wasn’t quite sure to proceed. Alessandra seemed pretty comfortable, but this was Eleanor’s home and maybe it was time for her to regain control of the situation.
“Would you like some wine?” She asked, heading to the kitchen instead.
“I’d love some wine,” Alessandra told her, “red, please.”
Eleanor grabbed two bottles because she preferred white, and glasses and brought them to the living room. Somehow she had a feeling this conversation was going to require more than one glass of wine.
“So would you like to tell me how you went from competing for a King’s hand to the scarlet woman of Cordonia to living with my son?” Alessandra asked once the wine was poured.
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Eleanor commented.
“No, I’ve never seen the point,” the older woman said with a shrug.
Eleanor smiled, thinking that Olivia definitely took after her aunt. “Dante came to see how Olivia was doing, we met, spent some time together and when it was time to come back to London, he asked me to join him,” Eleanor answered, thinking how simple it sounded when she put it that way.
Alessandra looked at her appraisingly. “You must have made quite the impression because my son isn’t normally one for romantic gestures. So you live here? Am I to assume that means you are in a relationship with my son and not just a freeloader sleeping on his couch.”
“Dante and I are together, yes,” Eleanor said calmly, sipping her wine. They hadn’t really defined their relationship, but she had moved out of the guest room into his room the night they had become lovers and their lives had easily blended together with no end in sight. But at the same time, there were things that hadn’t been said yet. Like exactly how they felt about one another or where their relationship was heading.
“Good,” Alessandra commented, “my son needed someone in his life and if he’s finally acting romantic and impulsive, I’m guessing you are exactly what he needs. Besides, my niece speaks fondly of you, which makes you one of less than a dozen people on the planet that can be said about, so that is also a big point in your favor.”
“So you’re not going to warn me off of your son?” Eleanor asked curiously. “Or throw my scandal back in my face?”
Alessandra laughed. “Oh, honey, I’m the last person to judge someone else for being scandalous. I practically wrote the book on how to scandalize the Cordonian court.”
Eleanor supposed that was true, given the little she knew about Lady Alessandra.
“And if I’d had to participate in a social season, I’m sure I would have ended up embroiled in a much bigger scandal.”
“You never participated in a social season?” Eleanor asked curiously.
“No, I was only 16 when Constantine chose his first wife,” Alessandra answered, “and then by the time he was in need of another wife, I had already caused a scandal by having a baby out of wedlock and wasn’t considered eligible. The House Nevrakis sponsored a childhood friend of my sister-in-law’s instead, which worked out because she became Queen, and let’s face it, I would never have, no matter how powerful my house was.”
“Liam’s mother was sponsored by the House Nevrakis?” Eleanor asked curiously, wondering why that had never come up, but then Liam rarely spoke of his mother.
“Yes,” Alessandra answered and then her eyes narrowed, “and you’ve given me a good opening to voice my only concern about your apparent relationship with my son.”
“And what’s that?” Eleanor asked warily, sipping at her wine.
“I might not fit into Cordonia society, but I keep up with the gossip,” Alessandra told her, pouring herself another glass of wine, “and I know that, despite what those pictures might make it seem, that you were said to be very much in love with King Liam and he with you. So, I am a little wary that you are suddenly involved with my son, right around the time that the King married someone else.”
Eleanor paused, considering Alessandra’s words and how to respond. “I loved Liam,” she said finally, it still felt weird to use the past tense, “but… Love isn’t always enough. It wasn’t just the scandal, I’d come to realize I couldn’t handle life in Cordonia, but I didn’t realize how much things had changed until Dante showed up.”
“Do you love him?” Alessandra asked her bluntly. “Are you in love with my son?”
Eleanor paused, considering the words. She and Dante had never said the words yet, but did she feel them? She pictured Dante, the way she’d been drawn to him from the first moment she’d met him and how he made her feel, the life they were building together and suddenly it seemed obvious.
“Yes,” Eleanor said quietly, “I am. I’m in love with your son.”
Alessandra smiled. “Good. That’s all I need to hear. Now, I want to hear all the gossip about Cordonia. How’s Adelaide? She used to be my favorite drinking buddy. She and I spent many a function hiding out with a bottle of wine gossiping about everyone else.”
Eleanor laughed because she could picture that very easily. She began to fill Alessandra in on some of the stories from the social season and the engagement tour and by the time the apartment door opened again, both bottles of wine were nearly empty and the two women were chatting like old friends.
Dante stepped inside and then froze, taking in the scene. “Mother, what are you doing here?”
“I happened to be in London and decided I should come see my only son,” Alessandra said easily, “to my surprise, I got to meet this lovely woman as well.” She stood up and crossed the room, grinning up at Dante. “No hug for your mother?”
Dante smiled and hugged her. “It’s good to see you, Mother, but a little warning would be nice.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Alessandra asked with a laugh. “We are going out for dinner tonight, somewhere fabulous, and I’m going to enjoy getting to know Eleanor better. I’m going to get ready and suggest the two of you do the same.”
With that, she swept out of the room.
“She’s….” Eleanor began with a smile.
“Yeah,” Dante finished for her, crossing the room and taking a seat next to her on the couch. “Sorry about that, she just tends to appear when it suits her.”
“I gathered as much,” Eleanor said, leaning against him. “But that’s ok… She’s entertaining.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Dante said dryly, “I take it she wasn’t too hard on you.”
“She’s got nothing on Olivia,” Eleanor said with a laugh, “mostly she wanted to know all the current gossip.”
Dante nodded and kissed her head. “I’m glad. I guess we should get ready for dinner.”
“In a moment,” Eleanor told him, turning to gaze into his face. “Dante?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” It felt good to say the words.
He paused and she wondered if it was too soon, if he wasn’t there yet and then he covered her mouth with his kissing her deeply. “I love you,” he told her when he finally broke the kiss, staring into her eyes. They stayed for a moment, just gazing at each other, taking in every detail.
Finally, though, Eleanor sighed. “We should get up.”
“We should,” Dante agreed, getting to his feet and then helping her to hers. “We’ll have dinner with my mother and then later, I’ll show you just how much I love and adore you.”
“I can’t wait,” Eleanor assured him as they walked hand in hand to their bedroom, feeling happier than she had in a long time.
“Though first we have to survive dinner with my mother,” Dante reminded her with a wry grin.
Eleanor laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, besides I’ll just keep my eyes on the prize and what’ll I get after dinner.” She paused and leaned up and kissed Dante one more time, “and I know you’ll make it worth my while.”
“Baby, you can count on it,” Dante told her, holding her close before lifting her off the feet and carrying her into their bedroom. “And you know what, I think we have time for me to give you a preview…”
End
