Evangeline

Chapter 6

"Evangeline!"

Stopping, I cringed. There was exactly one person who would use that tone with me - my mother.

Hoping not to be asked about the princes until after they fled, I'd successfully avoided getting anywhere near my parents up until now. Lily and I had discretely snuck out of the ballroom once Matthew left and I'd assumed I was free for the night.

Lily and I exchanged a guilty and nervous glance before we turned to see Mother, striding down the deserted hall toward us, looking very unhappy.

"And where were you for the last hour of the ball?" Mother asked, when she reached me.

"I...was there." It wasn't technically a lie.

She raised an eyebrow, not buying it. "I heard some fascinating things about you tonight."

"You did?" I asked nervously. I'd forgotten the one major flaw in my plan - my parents finding out about it.

"Oh yes. Apparently the princes all met a very interesting princess. In fact, they all seemed to meet three different princesses."

"They did?" I glanced away, biting my lip.

"Yes, Prince Sebastian and Prince Julian are under the impression that you are quite delicate. Prince Sebastian wondered how you were able to tolerate dancing at all since you are apparently so fragile. Prince Julian, on the other hand, thought you were quite courageous as to dance so willingly, since it seemed to be such a difficult task for you. And he said how marvelously sensitive you are as to care so deeply for all creatures. Prince Henry remarked what a wonderfully animated conversationalist you are. They were all very polite about it, of course, but I got the impression that they have some very unique ideas about who you are. Interestingly enough, their negative impressions seem to coincide nicely with things that specifically might repel each of them."

"I was just...um..." I tried, unable to think of a decent excuse.

"Yes, I know exactly what you were doing," she said harshly.

Unsure how to defend myself, I watched her pathetically.

"When we were unable to locate you, Prince Julian seemed quite concerned that you might have fainted."

Lily snorted a laugh. When Mother frowned at her, she attempted to cover it by coughing.

"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Mother said to her.

Lily glanced away, avoiding my mother's eye and seemed suddenly as nervous as I felt.

Mother shook her head. "You certainly do take after Aunt Charlotte."

I wanted to laugh and I knew Lily did too.

"You'd better head back to the ballroom," she added, surprising us. "Papa is waiting for you."

Since my grandfather was at the castle so often for business, it wasn't uncommon for Lily to stay with me after events and then go home with him the next day. Usually we liked to commiserate over our awful experiences during whatever event we'd been forced into. Tonight, I was looking forward to exchanging our details and hearing how awful she might have been to her dance partners.

It seemed as if there wouldn't be any exchange of details tonight however. I suppose this was to be the beginning of our punishment. I wondered if Lily was going to be scolded the way I was. By the way she seemed nervous again, I knew she was thinking the same thing.

Not looking too thrilled, Lily nodded and left. Once she was gone, Mother smiled. "I wish I'd thought of that when I was your age."

"Not with Papa!" I said, surprised but relieved that she wasn't truly upset with me.