Apollo

Chapter Twenty-One

HE SAW HER AFTER THAT, ALWAYS AT DIFFERENT PLACES ON CAMPUS, ON different days and times, but always reading. She read in the library in the morning; in the quieter hallways in the afternoon; in the gardens in the evening. Every time he saw her she would have a different book in hand; more and more she seemed to tolerate him, and she grew less anxious in his presence. Nonetheless, every time they parted, she would request that he did not speak of their meetings to his sister.

   "I fear that she will misunderstand," she had explained to him, wringing her hands. "I'm afraid she thinks I still hope to marry you. Back when I did hope for such a thing, she made it very clear that she would not have me as a sister."

    And he understood, for he knew that Emmeline had never been very kind to the Arden girl. For his undying loyalty toward his twin sister, he knew just how bitingly cold and shockingly vicious she could be if she saw someone as a threat to her loved ones. Therefore he knew how Emmeline might react, despite the apology she had already offered, if she found out that he was seeing her.

    So the days passed with the princess never knowing of their encounters, and Lady Victoria would let him sit with her longer, and talk to her longer, and he came to learn about her for who she was—he learned of the beauty of her mind, he learned of her passions (none of which, it turned out, involved in the slightest socialising, drawing, painting, or playing the pianoforte), and he learned of her family. Her father she loved dearly; her sisters she felt the need to be a good example for; and her mother she sometimes felt threatened by.

    She confessed this last detail quietly to him, and only on their tenth meeting. She said it thusly, with hands, he noticed, that were slightly trembling:

    "Mother, she...she has great plans for me. I am her oldest daughter, and there, naturally, are expectations that she would hold for me. I do love her dearly, and I want more than anything to do her proud, but sometimes—sometimes she says things...things to frighten me, force me into submission, and it...it can be difficult."

    "I understand," he replied, gentle. "I... My sister and I heard some things she said to you the other day. By accident, of course, we were only passing by." He swallowed, searching for the right words to say. "Her Grace—she was harsh on you, my lady, you must not let it upset you too greatly."

    "I know," she said sombrely. "Your sister, Her Royal Highness...she mentioned it that day. When I saw the you in the hallway."

    "I remember that occasion." He hesitated briefly.

    Then, "How do you feel about my sister, Lady Victoria?"

    She shrugged with a resigned smile. "I will admit that I have no credible opinion of her, my lord; I only know of her what my mother has told me, and the little I have seen of her." She stopped there, but Emmett's expectant gaze prompted her to reveal more. "Mother... My mother says she is black-hearted and power-hungry. And she was unkind to me before, but she has apologised for it, quite sincerely if I read her correctly; and thinking on it, anyway, she has never made any attack on my character, nor did she ever say anything particularly unreasonable or cruel. She only warned me away from you after I, indirectly, confessed that I did not love you as she expected me to."

    She paused. "I suppose that only makes her a dutiful sister."

    "Do you dislike her?"

    "I have no reason to, my lord."

    "Sometimes one does not require a reason to dislike someone else."

    She thought this over, carefully, and it was quite some time before she said anything at all. "No," she answered slowly, "no, I do not believe I do."