I nod."It would be a bit cold to enjoy it in the winter."
"I've heard that cold water can be invigorating for the system," she responds."So perhaps it wouldn't be so bad."
"I'm not in a rush to try."I look out of the window, trying to gauge how much time there is left in this failed attempt at courtship.I'm sure other people would find Lady Elizabeth charming, and from the way this is going, I'm sure she feels the same about me.I can't say that I'm providing a huge amount of entertaining conversation either.
All in all, I'm relieved when the entire thing comes to an end, and Lady Elizabeth leaves the mountain solar with her mother.It's not over for me, but at least I can now be awkward with my own family instead of with a guest.
"So, how was it?"Mama asks."Do you think Lady Elizabeth has potential?"
"She doesn't like cake," I respond.
Veronica smothers a laugh, while Mama lets out a deep sigh.
"There's more to a partner than whether she likes cake or not," Mama responds."Her family is incredibly wealthy, and her father is a decorated admiral in Falhaven's navy..."
"Those are reasons you want me to marry her, not reasons for me to find her interesting," I point out."She wanted to talk about birds and doesn't like cake."
Veronica clears her throat."Perhaps it's best if Lady Elizabeth finds another match," she says to Mama.
I flash her a grateful smile, though I know this is far from over.
Mama pinches the bridge of her nose."Very well.You can go."She waves me away.
Veronica slips her arm through mine and pulls me out of the room."She really didn't like cake?"she asks as we leave the room.
"She said that she didn't like sweet things at all.I offered to get some cheese scones from the kitchens sent up, and she didn't want those either."
"Even I'm surprised by that.Chef Matthews' cheese scones are delicious," Veronica says.
"She said she doesn't eat between meals."
"Ah.So it's not that she doesn't like them, it's that she doesn't want to eat them."My sister nods as if it all makes sense to her, while it makes no sense to me at all.
"Why would she not eat them if she likes them?"I ask.
"Perhaps her parents have made a lot of comments about her weight," Veronica says.
I frown."She looked nice."
"I know.But some people don't have a good relationship with food, usually because someone close to them has said things that have made them uncomfortable about their eating or how they look," Veronica explains.
"That's sad."
"It is," she agrees."And I'm glad that Mama isn't like that.Now, if you offered Lady Elizabeth cheese scones, does that mean there are some in the kitchens?"
I nod."Nate said he was making some today."
"Then perhaps we might send one of the servants for some tea and scones.I could definitely use something before dinner."She smiles at me in a way that I think is meant to reassure me, and it actually does.If there's one thing I can count on, it's that Veronica will help me through this situation.I'm lucky to have her as my sister, even if it would be better if life just made more sense.
Chapter16
If there's one thing that's worse than being at a masquerade ball, it's having a dress fitting for a masquerade ball.Especially when I'm supposedly the host or the guest of honour.I'm not really sure which it is, nobody has really explained it to me, and it's not like I've had any input into any of it despite the organising of things like this being one of my jobs in the castle.
The only saving grace is that Nate, Chef Martina, and the rest of the kitchen staff know me well enough that I'm certain they would never create a menu I wouldn't like.
It's the rest of the ball that I'm less certain about.
"Would you step onto the pedestal, Your Highness?"one of the seamstresses asks.
