The Heiress Queen (Season Series Prequel)

Chapter 15

The next morning, Isabelle had risen before the sun, twin purple smudges under her eyes after a sleepless night. The rest of the ballet had been uneventful, with Byron reappearing to escort her back to the carriage at the end of the performance. What the unsavoury lout had gotten up to during the second act, Isabelle didn't much care, but his vacant seat beside her had been a source of amusement for Graham when he returned to the box with Cora.

Her friend had studiously ignored her even as they had climbed into the same carriage, conversing in whispers with Graham the entire ride back to the palace. Isabelle had been too lost in thought about Graham's words to care much about that either, the nauseous pit in her stomach growing as she turned his story over in her head. Beside her, Byron had been just as sullen and silent, staring out his own window.

Graham's words had kept her awake nearly all night. Lissa had helped her change out of her evening wear and Isabelle had asked her maid to check again whether there were any letters waiting for her. She'd written another letter to Leo, once again decrying Graham and asking for news of Ardalone, instructing Lissa to send it at first light. She knew that it had only been a day since she had last written, but so much seemed to have happened that she couldn't help but worry that there might be a grain of truth to Graham's words about Eastcliffe.

So she'd lain awake, staring at the canopy of the bed as an owl had hooted outside. She tried to force her mind away from Hendrik and the well, but it seemed bent on betraying her, reminding her instead of Sam and his troubling preoccupation with Cora Neasmith. Turning that notion over in her head, Isabelle asked herself whether it was truly troubling, or troubling only because Violet had expressed an interest in Sam while Cora was clearly not interested in anyone without a crown.

Isabelle couldn't force her friends to pair off according to her own wishes, but she knew that nothing good would come from the whole mess. Cora was easily the most beautiful of the debutantes, with her golden hair and cornflower blue eyes, so it was no wonder that Sam had taken such an instant interest in her. Next to Cora, Violet was rather plain, with her chubby, childish cheeks and her big brown eyes. Unfortunately for Violet, Cora's beauty hid her disagreeable disposition, while Violet's looks had never done much to attract suitors.

Mulling over how she might change Sam's mind, Isabelle couldn't formulate a plan beyond what she'd already tried. She'd already warned Sam about Cora's less-than-ideal temperament, but Sam, like all the Winters men, was stubborn. He wouldn't believe it until he either decided to listen or learned otherwise on his own. If his behaviour at the ballet had been any indication, he was leaning insistently towards the latter.

So much for solving the world's problems with her insomnia, Isabelle thought.

When a robin had started warbling outside her window, his song heralding the coming dawn, she gave up altogether on attempting to sleep. Wrapping herself in a dressing gown, she stoked her own fire and curled up in an armchair to await Lissa's arrival, hoping that she would have at least some news of her betrothed.

Her ladies' maid did not disappoint, appearing with an envelope nestled between the plates on her breakfast tray. Isabelle's greeting was perfunctory as she nearly pounced on the maid, ignoring the food in favour of the message.

"The courier woke me in the middle of the night," Lissa yawned, nodding towards the letter in her mistress' hands. "I hope all is well in Kentshire?"

Isabelle had completely ignored the seal in her haste to break it open, instantly recognizing her father's handwriting with a pang of disappointment. Attempting to reassure herself, she forced herself to be thankful that at least one of her sent letters had gotten through.

Dearest Isabelle,

I am glad that you are well, though I am sending provisions in case they fail to feed you properly. I have also ensured that this message be carried directly into your hands as what I am about to write will not be looked upon kindly by the royal family.