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It does no good to anyone to mope.Her father’s words. He’d said that every moment spent moping was a moment lost to the kingdom’s good. “Quite easy to say it,” Justine muttered. But she lifted her head. He was right—there truly was no point in moping. What was done was done, and it hardly mattered, really, because she had no desire for Aggiani. She’d been caught up in his fine looks, excited that someone handsome and royal might want her. She hadn’t been harmed, and but for the humiliation of once again seeing a gentleman’s interest turn to Amelia, she was glad to be rid of him.
But she would have a word with Lady Aleksander. If that was the sort of gentleman the lady intended to introduce to her, Justine would dismiss her.
She stood up, straightened her skirts, took another deep breath, then turned around, prepared to go back to the hall. But she had a fright, as she saw William leaning against a tree several feet away.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“A moment.”
She looked past him, expecting to see others.
“If you’re looking for your guards, they’ve been called away.”
“I don’t believe you.” They were always nearby. “Why?”
“Because your sister has chosen the moment to confront her accuser.”
“Oh.” She winced, imagining how that might unfold. Amelia could be volatile. “Was it very bad?”
“If you consider a lot of shouting and tears to be bad, then, aye.”
She sighed. “I’m not sorry to have missed it.”
William pushed away from the tree. “How are you, Princess?”
“I should askyou. You look far less puffy than you did earlier. But still a bit red.”
“How kind of you to notice. And you?”
“I’m fine.” She absently rubbed her earlobe. Maybe not perfectly well, but well enough.
He tilted his head to one side. “A wee bit angry, perhaps?”
“What could have possibly given you that idea?” she drawled.
“Oh, I donna know—I suppose the way you sprinted away from Prescott Hall. You’re faster than I would have guessed.”
“Wouldn’tyoube angry?”
“Angry? No.” He strolled toward her. “I’d be murderous. It must be maddening for you.”
“What must be?”
He paused a couple of feet from her and shrugged. “All of it, I’d reckon.”
How strange—it was almost as if William was in her head.
He took a step closer. “Meaning, the responsibility of your birth and what will come when you assume the throne. The pressing need for a husband that will be followed by a more urgent need for an heir. This process seems...unnatural to the true course of marital felicity. But perhaps necessary, given your birth.”
She could not think of another time someone had commiserated or understood her position in this life. Everyone seemed to believe she was incredibly lucky to have been born into it. “Do you really believe that? Or are you saying it only to appease me?”
He laughed. “Have I yet said anything to appease you?”
“No.”
He reached up and removed something from her hair. He held it out—a fragile petal of a flower bloom. “I’m no’ unfamiliar with this sort of courtship—my sister suffered similarly to you.”
Justine winced. “A matchmaker?”
