The Season (Season Series #1)

Chapter 14.3: Permission to Participate

Anne was true to her word, allowing me to clean myself up and borrow a blue paisley dress. It was terribly ill-fitting thanks to my extra height and the blue was much more flattering for her brown hair and blue eyes, but it was better than my sodden riding dress.

I didn't dally in the royal quarters and neither did Anne, rushing off with Miss Claridge to meet her mother for tea. I didn't dare attend for fear that my hemline in the too-short dress would further spark the queen's ire, so I made my way back to Ella's suite, bypassing as many main corridors as I dared. When I found the rooms empty, I was sorely tempted to sneak down to the library, settling instead for changing into one of my own properly tailored dresses and reading one of the few books I'd brought with me from Hargrove. A maid stopped in while I was reading, dropping off a few letters addressed to Ella. When she'd left, I'd inspected them, but they were all sealed and I didn't dare break them open. I had a dreadful feeling that my leaving with the princess would not sit well with my cousin.

The return of the debutantes from tea was heralded by the echoes of conversation and laughter down the hallway. I'd nearly fallen asleep from boredom, shaking myself awake as the suite door opened.

"...off to, for you know she-" Emily was saying, holding the door open for Ella, only to cut herself off as she spotted me.

"You're back," Ella said, looking me over. I'd had the forethought to change back into the dress I'd worn to the queen's salon in an effort to dissuade too much questioning about my morning.

"I do hope I didn't offend by leaving, but the princess was adamant," I said, standing. Ella looked at me thoughtfully.

"Of course not," she said finally, Emily waiting with bated breath only to huff in disappointment.

"If anything, Libby's being friendly with Anne will only help our cause," Rosanna said, leading Ella into her room, "But we mustn't waste any time preparing for dinner. I'll go check the dresses,"

Rosanna had made it a habit of checking Ella's closet every time she returned to the room, especially following the rumors of Ashley's ruined wardrobe.

"Letters have arrived," Emily said, sifting through them before she brought them to Ella. She barely looked at me, clearly annoyed that my cousin had so easily let me off the hook. I swallowed, wondering if this reprieve from disappointing my cousin would last.

"Oh excellent," Ella said, as Emily set the letters down in front of her. She made quick work of them, breaking open their seals and devouring their contents as Emily brushed out her hair. Rosanna was fretting over which dress to put Ella in for dinner.

"It seems that your brothers will be attending tomorrow's ball," Ella said, looking up at me in the mirror. Emily paused in brushing her hair, reading over Ella's shoulder. Her face soured when she'd read it, resuming her brushing with more gusto.

"I haven't seen them in months," I said, hope bubbling in my chest at the chance to see Xavier again so soon. His last visit had been for Christmas the year before at the house in Highcastle, his studies at Oxford keeping him away from us for most of the year. I missed him, especially since our correspondence hadn't picked up since I'd left Hargrove. No doubt there was a pile of letters there waiting for me, if Miss Halpern hadn't already burned them out of spite.

Xavier was the middle child in my family, a bookish, studious boy. He hadn't taken to court life the way my elder brother Edward had. Edward had spent no more than a few months last summer finding and marrying a suitably rich young woman by the name of Vile Edith. The vile part, of course, was my own addition, simply because her face seemed to be stuck in a perpetual sneer. Edith was an American heiress and the only daughter of a steel tycoon, having been shipped to Highcastle to catch a husband.