Madeline

Chapter 13

The months passed and I didn't hear anything from the prince. I saw him at those mandatory gatherings, but that was really it. I didn't exactly mind being ignored as it was far preferable to fulfilling the role of mistress, but I was beginning to wonder if I'd been forgotten about. The prince said I should be thinking about my future, and I assumed that meant that he'd come to me at some point to talk about the options he mentioned. Maybe he still planned to, but he and the princess had been married for over six months now. Wasn't that plenty of time to keep me here? Particularly since the only reason his father required him to find a mistress was as a safety measure before his wedding?

I wanted to ask, but I couldn't do it. He was already so busy with his many responsibilities. On top of that, now everyone was concerned about the heir. Isolated as I was, even I was aware of the considerable pressure the prince was under about that.

Obviously I'd never had to worry about producing an heir, but I knew it was important for newly married couples to have an heir quickly to secure the family's future. If nothing else, my life certainly illustrated an heir's importance. Not to mention the sorts of things people are capable of when one isn't produced. But I never realized quite how terrible people could be about the heir to the throne. It made sense, I suppose, as it wasn't just the future of one family in the balance, but the entire country. Still, I thought everyone was much too obsessed and much too obnoxious about it. The prince and princess were such nice people, I hated watching all the disapproving stares and hearing the whispers. There were even people bold enough to think nothing of voicing inappropriate concerns and suggestions. And considering that I'd heard them, they couldn't have been too worried about being discrete.

I couldn't even enjoy the fact that people didn't really pay attention to me anymore. What they were doing to the prince and princess was too cruel. Especially since something like when an heir was born was completely out of their control. Not everyone had babies right away. Viola still didn't have a baby and she seemed fine about it. The prince and princess hadn't even been married a year. There was plenty of time for an heir to come. I don't know why people didn't seem to understand that.

So with all of that going on, I couldn't bring myself to bother the prince about one more thing. Even if he did forget about me for a little while.

The nice thing about all the time at my disposal was that I no longer required Mr. Butler as my tutor. I could read and write well enough now. I still had to work on my handwriting, and I still struggled with longer words, but I was pretty pleased with my progress. I even began attempting to write. It was a little silly. I was trying to remember some of the stories I'd imagined as a little girl, and put them on paper. I swore I'd never show them to anyone, but I liked seeing them written out. It seemed real somehow. Like it wasn't just silly daydreams floating around my mind, but something tangible.

Another thing I was doing well with was riding. Thankfully when I'd asked Alma, she didn't find riding horses objectionable, so I hadn't needed to go around her and ask the prince. But since then, I had mastered the task, at least in a basic sense, and I was frequently able to ride along the trails on the castle grounds. The trails were just as lovely, if not more so than the gardens, and they were much more enticing than going to the gardens since the guards weren't stationed along the trails. They only patrolled from time to time. And there were some incredibly lovely spots where I'd been inspired to draw.

Overall, it was very pleasant, but I was becoming anxious about my future. Viola visited pretty often, and Jocelyn had managed a few visits as well, but I still hadn't seen my other sisters or any of my nieces or nephews. If I wouldn't be able to leave soon, at least I wanted to know when I could get on with my life.