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Lila almost laughed. “I don’t suppose I would, either, if I were to be bartered to the highest bidder like a broodmare.”
That certainly brought the young woman’s head up. She looked positively horrified, those lovely gold eyes round as crowns. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh dear, I’ve shocked you. My husband tells me I am too open with people I’ve only just met. I suppose I ought to pretty things up, but you’re an intelligent young woman and I suspect you appreciate honesty. If I may be so bold... I suggest that we dispense with the nonsense of pretending and acknowledge that you will be matched to someone who can bring the right sort of connections to Wesloria, and for whom you can provide something to their circumstance in return. Do you agree?”
The princess’s face was pinkening. “I, ah... I—”
“And that is hardly the stuff of marital dreams, is it?” Lila pressed on. “My guess is that you think the best you can hope for is a match that might develop into love, while at the same time fervently hoping whoever he may be is at least pleasing to the eye and isn’t cruel.”
Princess Justine stared at Lila as if she’d just suggested they overthrow the throne—a mix of horror and fascination and acute curiosity. She cleared her throat. “That’s hardly the most encouraging thing anyone has ever said about my marrying.”
“I’ve no doubt that’s true,” Lila said breezily. “You must think that when they called me to assist, all was lost. But I am here to tell you that the Lord shined His countenance on you the day your mother decided to retain my services.”
The princess smiled wryly. “DidHe?”
“Yes, ma’am. Because I will make certain that you are matched to someone who is as compatible to you, the woman, as he is to your future throne. No one else will do that for you.”
The princess regarded Lila coolly. “Are you saying these things to make me agreeable?”
Intelligentandcynical. How delightful! Lila rather liked the challenge this young woman represented. “Not in the least. I don’t expect you to agree or disagree with anything I might say. But whatever I say will be the truth.”
The princess looked down, but she made a sound that Lila was fairly certain was a snort of dubiousness.
“It may surprise you to know that I was once like you,” Lila said. “Not likeyou,precisely—heaven knows that I should never have endured the weight of a crown. But I narrowly avoided being forced into a loveless marriage when my father fell from grace.”
Princess Justine looked up, interested again.
“My father was a shipbuilder. An important one, too. He built the sort of big ships that nations purchase for war and merchant fleets.”
The princess said nothing, but kept her gaze fixed on Lila.
“My prospects were very bright,” she continued. “We had wealth, and so many British aristocrats need wealth to maintain estates that have been entailed for generations. My father fancied himself the future father-in-law to a titled man. Someone who would give him entry to the highest reaches of society. You understand the sort of man I mean, I suspect.”
The princess gave a barely perceptible nod.
“He put together a list of gentlemen who would make him proud. He never once asked for my opinion in the matter and I think truly didn’t care if I found any of the gentlemen compatible or not. The connection was the thing. He said that you married for advantage, and love came later. Although, quite honestly, I can’t say that he ever really came to love my mother. Or she him.” She paused a moment, remembering her parents’ separate lives. She supposed there were worse things. “Anyway,” she said, pushing away the memory, “what my father wanted was access. Power.”
“My father is not like that,” Princess Justine said defensively. “Myparentsare not like that.”
“Oh, I suspect not. Your father seems very kind and devoted to your mother.”
“He is.”
“Nevertheless, my situation was somewhat similar to yours now, wouldn’t you say?”
She appeared to mull over the question. “Somewhat,” she admitted stiffly. “Did you marry one of them?”
Lila shook her head. She was so happy with Valentin that she rarely thought about those years. “They were not all terrible matches. Some were agreeable. But my father was corrupt, may God rest his soul. It was revealed that he’d been bribing members of Parliament to put forward his name for ship-building engagements to the exclusion of other shipbuilders. He was charged with it and absolutely ruined. And then, so were my prospects.”
“Oh.” The princess’s dubious expression softened. “How terrible for you and your family.”
“Ghastly,” Lila agreed.
“So ghastly that now you exact your revenge on people like me?”
Lila laughed, and the princess actually smiled a little. “Ihelppeople like you, Your Royal Highness. Just like I helped myself.”
“What do you mean?”
