Apollo

Chapter Five

A/N Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. Please comment and vote – it really keeps a writer going ;) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"I THOROUGHLY DISLIKE THE GIRL," EMMELINE SAID WHEN HER MAID-IN-waiting asked her opinion of the Westchester lass she was about to dine privately with. "She is more snobbish than my Aunt Bethany and not as wise as she fancies herself. This will be my final test for her – but I am already quite certain that I will never allow her to marry my brother."

"Well," Penelope sighed as she pulled her mistress's hair into a braid, "if you dislike her so, my lady, His Grace is unlikely to favour her either...His Lordship even less so. You shall not have to see her for much longer."

"I suppose you are right." She fiddled with her gloves. "Perhaps I only wish I did not have to sit down for this wretched meal with her tonight – alone! God give me strength not to lose control and wring her neck halfway through dinner!"

The younger girl giggled, making the finishing touches to the braid by pinning golden flowers with blue petals into her hair. "From the way you have described her to me, my lady, I imagine I would hardly fault you if you did wrangle her to death."

"She thinks so highly of herself – and she is by no means nearly as wise as how she perceives herself to be," she complained. "Duke Westchester is a very nice man, and I comprehend fully why Father is fond of him...what I do not understand his how he could have birthed such a wretched child. Perhaps Georgeanne Arden is the reason for Victoria's horrid nature – as Duke Westchester told my father, she claimed to fall terribly sick just this morning. It sounds an awful lot like an excuse not to go to Wellington House, if you ask me."

Penny winced. "Perhaps. Bear with it, my lady, it shall be over soon."

"Thank you for your consolation, Penelope," Emmeline sighed, smoothing out imaginary creases on the skirt of her royal blue gown. "May the Lord give me strength."

"I'm certain He will," she replied with a laugh.

The princess walked, shoulders back and left hand in her right resting on her abdomen, to one of the drawing rooms, where she found Lady Victoria scrutinising a painting with her back to the door. She noticed that it was an oil painting of the King and Queen. What were Victoria's motives? Did she lust after money? Fame? Or did she want a closer connection to the crown?

Regardless of what they were, Emmeline would find out tonight.

She cleared her throat. At the sound, Victoria turned around and curtsied, looking respectful enough even though she did not sink very low. "Good evening, Your Royal Highness."

"Lady Victoria," she greeted icily.

The Westchester drew herself back into a standing position.

"Has the palace staff been satisfactory?" Emmeline did not motion for her to sit, and both women remained standing stiffly on opposite sides of the small room.

"Of course," she replied courteously. After Emmeline's sharp questioning at lunch, it was clear that she had finally elected to show some humility – and it pleased her prospective sister-in-law to know it. The chit had shown such blatant disregard for Emmeline's father, been rude to her aunt, and had even suggested that she, a member of the royal family, had a duty to greet her in the middle of winter. She needed to be taught a lesson in respect – or many.

"Good," Emmeline responded, but her hospitality held no sign of warmth. "Sit, Lady Victoria. The appetisers are ready."

She cast her eyes over her shoulder so that they almost met the manservant behind her, and with what seemed like telepathy he instantly stepped forward to pull out her chair. She seated herself, and without a word about how her chair should also be pulled out for her her guest did the same, sliding into her seat opposite Emmeline.