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)
“Are you—are you in love with her? As in, truly? You did not give in merely for your aunt?”
“Yes. I am in love with her. I am marrying her because I wish to. And I know it is…laughable, considering all I told you about how I felt about the subject before.” I paused and looked her in the eye. Her smile was gone, confusion on her face. “I also know that you were not joking when you asked me to marry you all those weeks ago. You said it in earnest, because you are earnestly in love with me.”
Her eyes widened, and she stood frozen. She opened her mouth to deny it, but the words didn’t come out. “How— You are— That is silly.”
“No, it was silly of me, cruel of me, to continue pretending as if I did not notice. I think part of me was hoping that you’d give up on me, or I’d come to find some real companionship with you, too. But the truth is I do not love you, Vivienne.”
“Please stop,” she whispered, hanging her head.
“I cannot. Forgive me, I must say this. You are a good person who deserves to be loved. But being someone’s mistress is not love, it is greed.”
She shook her head. “How has she changed you so much, in such a short period of time? I do not understand.”
“Neither do I, so I’ve stopped bothering to try.” I chuckled for a moment before becoming serious. “I merely wish to be with her, and I do not wish to do anything that will ruin that. I am, in this moment, begging you to simply let me go. Insult me if you must, but let me go as a faint memory of foolishness. And leave her out of it.”
“You believe me to be so petty?” She huffed, stepping away from me and turning her head as she took a deep breath, staring out the window. “What do you think? I will go claw her eyes out, or plot some menacing trick to tear you both apart like some cruel witch? Do not think so highly of yourself.”
I nodded. “Of course not.”
“You should go now, Your Highness. The queen can often be a lot to handle on one’s own, and you would not wish for anything to scare your precious Lady Hathor.”
“Thank you, Lady Millchester, for your care all this time. Truly, I am grateful.” I nodded to her before walking back toward the doors. When I entered this time, a few of the ladies, along with the queen, shot me quick glances. However, Hathor was still focused, now on her knees, reading from some book. I wanted to go save her, but I had the feeling she did not at all mind.
So instead, I nodded for one of the footmen to come over.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“I wish to draw as I wait. Have someone bring me a fresh sketchbook and pencils.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He nodded to me.
Moving to the corner of the room, I took a seat and watched over her. I had a feeling this would be a regular occurrence.
And I did not mind.
I merely needed patience.
The sight of her gave me that.
Hathor
“Whatever have you done to leave him so besotted?” Lady Eleanor, the queen’s fifth lady-in-waiting, whispered to me while the queen was distracted by the menu for my wedding. The him she was referring to was Wilhelm, who sat by a window in the corner of the room, which was colored blue top to bottom, sketching quietly. “He normally despises spending any more time than he needs to in our company.”
“That’s because he much prefers a different type of female company,” Lady Scarlet, the queen’s seventh lady-in-waiting, stated. She’d been giving me glances of dissatisfaction and perturbed interest since I entered. With a smug look upon her face, she said, “Men such as him are often enthralled for a moment, then taken away the next. You shall have to stay on your toes, Lady Hathor.”
“Why? Do you seek to be next, Lady Scarlet?” I asked her calmly, and she nearly tripped, making me smile. “That would explain why you keep glancing in his direction.”
“You—”
“Please excuse me. I must go stay on my toes,” I replied to her, before finally getting up from my position and walking over to where he was sitting. A cooling cup of tea was beside him, as he had not looked up from his work since he began. It was only when I bent over to see, blocking his source of light, that he raised his head. Realizing it was me, a smile spread across his lips, and he placed his sketchbook down.
“Has she finally released you?”
“Only for a moment, while she decides whether or not to have oysters and lobster at this wedding,” I said, taking the book from his hands.