The Season (Season Series #1)

Chapter 12.1: Flinging Accusations

The breakfast table was alive with gossip the next morning. Ella had seated us with Sarah Thornbury yet again, the two of them apparently growing friendlier despite the competition for the prince's time. One of Sarah's more talkative ladies-in-waiting was filling Emily in about Mary Marquette's teary faced reappearance last night.

"She was nearly blubbering apparently!" Amelia whispered gleefully, "Or so Maybelle told me,"

"And this was after she left with the prince?" Emily asked, her fork paused on its way to her mouth. I studied my breakfast, determined not to let my guise of having been shut up in my room all night slip.

"Yes! Apparently Mary reappeared without him, in tears, and her ladies had to hide her in the ladies resting room because she wasn't allowed to retire before the royals did!" Amelia continued.

"Well it serves her right for throwing herself at the prince like that," Emily sniffed, daintily chewing her breakfast.

"Indeed! Poor Sarah was beside herself that she didn't even manage to get one dance with him! She was stuck dancing with William Weatherington and his dreadful dentition all night," Amelia shuddered.

"What about Dorian Fletcher? He seemed interested enough in her," Emily prodded. At that Amelia stiffened.

"Sarah hasn't the least interest in men like Dorian Fletcher," she said. I couldn't resist casting a curious glance at Amelia, who had flushed scarlet while she hastily changed the subject.

"Did you hear what happened to Ashley?" she whispered to Emily, dropping her voice even lower. I forced myself to continue cutting my piece of ham, hoping I wasn't blushing myself.

"No, what happened?" Emily said.

"Apparently someone ruined her ball gowns!" Amelia whispered, "Three of them, completely destroyed! It's why she missed breakfast, she threw such a fit she was sobbing with rage this morning!"

"The same thing happened to one of Ella's!" Emily exclaimed, nearly dropping her fork. Rosanna tutted her, a sour look on her face that Emily had just inserted Ella into some of the gossip.

"You don't say!" Amelia said, "I'll have to keep a close eye on Sarah's dresses, or at least make sure the seamstresses don't wreck them too!"

"I don't think it was the seamstresses," I blurted out, unable to bear the thought of someone like Audra having to pay for my sabotage.

"Oh really? Who then?" Emily sneered, "Perhaps the ladies' maids?"

"I'm certain the palace staff will ensure it doesn't happen again," Rosanna said over the rest of us, cutting off the gossip session. Silence fell over our side of the table, Ella and Sarah still eagerly chatting with Sarah's other two ladies in waiting. Not a few seconds later, the king stood and we all followed suit, the breakfast hour over.

"I'll see you in the queen's solar," Amelia said to Emily, "I'll tell you if I hear anything else!"

"You'd do well to stop spreading gossip to her," Rosanna hissed across me to Emily as Amelia hurried around the table to follow Sarah out. Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"At least we know it wasn't an isolated incident. Perhaps someone is targeting all of the prince's favorites," Emily said, following a few steps behind Amelia. Rosanna gnashed her teeth as she made her way towards the door as well. Still standing, I cast a look around before I reached down and popped a few more slices of ham into my mouth, annoyed that the king had hurried off and ended breakfast before I'd eaten my fill.

Still chewing, I was the last to straggle out of the dining hall, grabbing a napkin off the table nearest the door to wipe my hands and mouth before I exited. I closed the door behind me, reaching down to gather my skirts when a cold hand snagged me by the arm, whipping me around. I nearly lost my balance in the tangle of my skirts as Ashley Mayfair seized me around the neck and shoved me into the wall so hard it made the frame next to me rattle.