Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Are you truly so aggrieved at the prospect?”
I lifted my head to see my father had now stepped from my mother’s side to my own while she sought to help Hathor.
“Tristian is a very good man. You shall live a good life. And I doubt he shall worry you much. Must you reject him?”
“Yes, Papa,” I whispered, and I took his arm to hold on tightly. “I do not feel for him in any manner.”
He sighed and patted my hand. “Sometimes I fear your mother and I set the wrong standard and focused far too heavily on feelings instead of practicality.”
“And what is practical?”
“Knowing when it is one’s time and realizing that time is brief. For a while, you may be the most handsome and sought after. But your competition rises with your age. Do you not see all the fine young ladies here?” he questioned and nodded to the women already dancing with gentlemen. “They are younger and, dare I say, slightly more…amiable.”
At that precise moment, a young lady pretended to trip to be caught by her partner. It was very obvious, but the gentleman looked altogether pleased with himself. I could not help but giggle.
“Yes, very amiable indeed,” I replied.
“Which is why, should you reject Tristian, I fear you will reach a height you cannot descend from.”
“Which is?”
“Unattainable.” He pointed up to the sky. “Beauty like the sun, you exist and illuminate the world but are a distant sphere, hard to look upon fully, thus noticed but ignored. Is that what you wish?”
“Do you wish me to enter a loveless marriage merely out of fear of being unattainable or left behind?”
“I do not.” He frowned and shook his head. “But I do not wish you to miss your chance—overlooking fertile ground where love may grow for a desolate country that has never supported a blossom. I merely enjoyed your mother’s company when I first met her.”
“Were you not besotted during your match?” I looked at him somewhat confused, for that was the story they had told us.
“No.” He grinned and looked down. “Do not tell your mother that, for she is convinced she had me wrapped around her finger like ribbon.”
I was convinced that was still the case. “So, what did you feel?”
“Comfort and ease.” He nodded assuredly. “Comfortable with the knowledge she would make a fine wife, as she came from a fine family. Ease in conversation with her, for as you know, I tend to ramble on.”
“Just a tad.”
He smiled. “Yes, and always of the most boring things such as books and history. And yet your mother listened, even though she did not have the same passions. And she did not just pretend but truly listened and never once faulted me if I bored her. In turn, I learned to ramble less, and to seek out subjects that she might enjoy. For marriage is accommodating of each other.”
“I hear you, Papa. Truly. But I cannot accept him.”
“Well, the hour is now upon you to tell him,” he said as we caught sight of Tristian and his family, a smile appearing on his face.
It left me feeling quite ill. “I wish Mama had let me stay home.”
“And disappoint your other admirers? The world would come to an end first.”
“What other admirers?”
He nodded to the right of me, where I saw the queen sitting upon her throne with her ladies and dogs, watching me rather intensely.
I glanced away quickly. “I am always at a loss as to why she stares at me so.”
“Is it not admiration?”
“For what reason would a queen admire me? I have done not a thing and have said only a few words before her.”
“Who can know the mind of the monarchy,” he said, letting go of my hand. “Our duty is to be respectful and loyal. Thus, we shall greet her, and you will go to your fate.”
I did not wish to let go of him, but he had to go stand beside Mama as we followed the line to greet the queen.
“She will surely comment on me today,” Hathor whispered, fixing her gloves. “I have worn her favorite color and refined my curtsy. Mama said it was the most splendid she had ever seen.”
“Let it please happen as you wish,” I whispered back, for I would have much preferred her to have the attention.
“Lady Monthermer,” the queen stated when we rose from our curtsies. “I have asked all the young ladies here a question. I wish to ask your daughters as well.”
“It would be their honor.” My mother smiled and then glanced at us with a look of pure warning.
“My question is simple. How do you like my garden?”
The simplicity of the question startled me.
“It is the most splendid, Your Majesty,” Hathor spoke up first. “A beauty only you can maintain, for not only does it house the most glorious flowers but birds and swans and other creatures of the earth in perfect harmony.”