Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“You never know. It may hasten these gentlemen’s resolve to marry, for doom is a very good motivator.”
I glanced at her, and she glanced back, then together, we giggled as we entered the hall, decorated with the finest of our roses and glasses upon glasses of port piled together into a tower. A painstaking endeavor that had gone unnoticed as the women whispered amongst themselves…however, their conversation was not at all about the war.
“Hathor, is it true?” Lady Amity, a blur of red hair, appeared right before Clementina and me like a wall, not allowing either of us to step by, with several other ladies behind her.
“Is what true? The war? I do not know—”
“Of course not the war! The prince!” Amity snapped at me.
“Prince? What prince?” Clementina questioned, looking to me.
Right. For the briefest of seconds, I had forgotten.
“My mama has heard that the queen is coming with her nephew, a prince, to find him a wife,” Amity pressed, stepping forward. “Hathor, is it true? Why have you not said anything? Did you mean to hide it from us?”
I could see their eyes slowly readying to shun me as they had poor Lady Ellen, who was also here. Despite the fact they had only arrived minutes ago and I had not had a chance to say a word. But that would not save me from them. I glanced around as though I were wary of anyone hearing us.
“It is not yet confirmed but most likely true—” Just like I had, they squealed, forcing me to lift my fingers to my lips to calm them down. “The queen wished to come as a surprise, so I was not at liberty to say anything. When she arrives, you must still act as if you did not hear any word of it…Truly. The last thing we wish to do is upset Her Majesty.”
They nodded but were now around me as hunting dogs to pheasants.
“Do you know anything of him, his name?”
“What country is he from?”
“How old is he?”
“Is he the heir to the throne?” Lady Ellen questioned.
“Do not be ridiculous. If he was to be the next king, he would not be here; young ladies would be sent to his palace,” Amity snipped back and looked at me, waiting. “Well? What do you know, Hathor?”
“You all do know I am competition, right?” I said to them, folding my arms. “Why would I inform my rivals of anything more than I already have?”
“Hathor!” They called my name in chorus.
I sighed. “Very well, his name is Prince Wilhelm Augustus Karl von Edward of Malrovia, he is twenty-four, from what I have gathered. He’s fourth in line for the throne. His elder brother already has two sons. That is all I know. Now am I free to go?”
I did not wait for a reply, and arm in arm with Clementina, I managed to escape.
“Well done on your part for quelling that uprising,” she muttered to me. “Though I wonder how you shall manage when he arrives, and they all block your chance.”
“What makes you think I care at all for some prince?” I replied, trying to act as if I were completely unaffected by the thought.
“Is that why you knew exactly his age and place in the line of succession?” she teased, giving me a knowing look.
“Of course not, you know I have great love of…family lineages.”
“Especially the ones with eligible sons to marry.”
“Exactly.”
We both giggled, accepting the drinks the footmen offered. “You truly know nothing more about this prince?”
“Are you interested in family lineages as well?” I asked her.
“No, thank you, the last person I need to see again is the queen, just for her to ask me if I was stretched.” She frowned and I winced recalling the words the queen said to her at her debut. It had been two years and she still had not let the word go. “A prince is a little much for me. Is it so wrong to want a quiet life in a nice house away from society?”
“Well, Verity managed it so I am sure you can as well.”
“I’m awfully jealous and have sought to discover if there are any other doctors of illegitimate noble birth in society, but alas she found the only one.”
“I believe there is someone for all of us…” My thoughts drifted as I watched all the young ladies, like hive bees around Amity, rushing across the hall to where their mamas were gathering to…plot.
“Mama, I am quite tired. I wish to go rest and refresh myself before the evening,” Amity said.
“Me too!”
“Also me.”
“Ladies, you must wait until the marchioness enters and greets us once more. We cannot rudely retire before that,” Lady Fancot said to her.
“Mama, we do not know when the queen will come, we must make haste if we wish to look presentable for him—her.”