♦YOU MUST HAVE READ THE PREQUEL, THE GOLDEN DUCHESS, TO READ THIS BOOK!♦
BEWARE--spoilers in this blurb, for those who have not read previous books! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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The world is upside down, and those you thought you knew... you no longer...
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Céleste struggled to put on a naïve face as she sipped her tea the next day, in the Reading Room, with Charlotte. She'd insisted they meet, and of course, Céleste had no choice but to accept.
"The Queen's ladies were shocked to see you there," said Charlotte, half-lounging, half-sitting on the sofa across from the fireplace. The ruffles on her pale pink gown fluttered as she fidgeted in her seat. "Or so they told me, later in the day. Oh, how I wish I could have been there!"
Céleste sneered; Charlotte's only motive for inviting her to tea was to spill said tea, she had no doubt. She brought her cup to her lips, slightly proud that she had all the juicy gossip, for once.
"It was quite an event, for certain."
"Tell me all about it." Charlotte's massive jeweled necklace sparkled in the firelight as she leaned forward and pressed her hand on Céleste's knee. "Give me all the details. Oh, I love a good scandal!"
"Scandal?" Céleste jerked her leg away. "The only scandal was that the rest of court was not invited to witness this themselves!"
Charlotte deposited her mug and slid one leg over the other. Her heaps of petticoats took up so much space on the sofa, Céleste had to sit in a chair next to her—not that she'd complain.
"Indeed. That vile woman is gone, at last. Thank the heavens! It pleases me that she is no longer at court."
"Ah?" Céleste's eyebrows lifted. "I thought you and she got along?" She recalled Clémentine's reluctance at their first contender gathering, with Julia and Frances. But since then, it had appeared the Dowager had warmed up to Charlotte. They bickered—via sly insults disguised as courtesies—but it was a front, right?
Charlotte smacked a hand to her nearly bare chest. "No, we did not. We disagreed on everything, especially with how she manipulated my dear Jules. Trying to turn him against the King? How distasteful for a woman of her status."
Céleste nodded, but stopped herself, unwilling to reveal her true thoughts on the matter. She wished to remain neutral, to never side with anyone or show her allegiances, lest Charlotte tell everyone at court and blow her cover—her work for Sébastien.
Her nod didn't go unnoticed—Charlotte smirked as she batted her lashes. "So you agree, then? The Dowager was distasteful?"
Céleste bit her lip. "I... well... I will say I did not appreciate how she played her sons. And what she did to Marg—to Princess Prudence... was rather cruel. But it is not my place to call her distasteful—"
"—but she is. You are right, that poor Princess. A Giromian, hiding amongst us for twenty-one years? It horrified me to find out." Charlotte's smirk faded, replaced with a curl of her rosy lips.
Céleste sipped from her mug and let the scorching tea burn down her throat, forcing her into silence.
I must quit talking before I divulge something forbidden.
