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“Another time,” she said curtly, and with her tiara tightly in hand, she began to walk from the room as a butler and one of the cats hurried ahead of her. She stepped out into the hallway without looking back, and could only hope the Bardalines were behind her. She wanted nothing more than to quit this place, to hie herself to Prescott Hall and burrow herself under her covers.
She’d had hopes for Jonathan Ashley, but he had dashed them all to pieces with his drunken antics.
As the coach pulled away, she glanced out the window, almost fearing that Mr. Ashley would come running after them. But it wasn’t Mr. Ashley who was silhouetted in the open door of the Grafton House. It was William.
Her heart pattered anxiously in her chest, and she forced her attention to the Bardalines, both of them complaining of Mr. Ashley’s drink.
It wasn’t until they had reached Prescott Hall that Justine realized the bracelet her father had given her was gone from her wrist.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
LILAFOUNDTHEcrown princess in the garden the next day, wearing a large straw hat and carrying a wicker basket on her arm. Her little dog, Dodi, was chasing butterflies around her. The princess was snipping dahlias in full bloom and tossing them haphazardly into her basket, then leaning down and grabbing handfuls of candytuft to toss in, too.
“Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness! I didn’t expect to see you up and about so early today.” She didn’t expect to see her cutting her own flowers, either. There were scores of Weslorians about to do that sort of thing.
“It’s hardly early. It’s half past three.” The princess did not look at her, but continued on with her study of the blooms, choosing those she wanted. One bush was all but bare.
The princess’s hair hung in one long tail down her back, which suggested to Lila that she’d not had Seviana attend her today. It suggested to Lila she’d come out here to be alone.
“Well, yes, but I heard you and the Bardalines return from the opera at nearly two o’clock in the morning. How did you find it?”
“The opera? It was astonishingly good.” She snipped a bloom and tossed it into her basket.
“Wonderful!” She paused a moment to pet the dog, who had scampered away from a butterfly to greet Lila.
“Is it, really, Lila?” The princess glanced at Lila from beneath the broad brim of her hat. “You don’t care what I thought of the opera. You want to know what I thought of Mr. Ashley.”
The princess was in a foul mood. Lila could hardly blame her, having heard all the details of last night from Lady Bardaline. She shooed the dog away, and Dodi raced back to the hedge and began to dig. “I do care what you thought about the opera, as I have always found it to be such a lovely experience. But if you’d like to talk about Mr. Ashley, I’d be delighted to hear what you have to say. Did he enjoy the opera? Is that an interest the two of you share?”
Princess Justine dropped her shears. She shoved the basket aside and slowly rose to her full height. She faced Lila, hands on hips in a manner that reminded Lila of the stance her mother used to take before scolding her. She knew then that the evening with Mr. Ashley had gone worse than she’d expected.
She was unhappy that the gentleman had turned out to be a drunkard. How could she have possibly known it? Sometimes these things revealed themselves after she’d done her best to uncover the worst about a person. And still, she was a teeny bit thrilled, especially since only a few days ago she’d fretted that perhaps she had chosen unwisely, and that Mr. Ashley was far more appealing to the princess than Lila wanted.
“I don’t know if Mr. Ashley enjoyed the opera,” the princess said coolly. “I did. Lord Douglas did. But I don’t know if Mr. Ashley did. Would you like to know why?”
“Yes.”
“He was absent from Lord and Lady Grafton’s box for half of it. And he crooked his elbow so many times that I am certain his arm is in a sling today.”
“Pardon?”
“He showed himself to be a tosspot.”
“Oh dear.” Lila wrinkled her nose to show that she was distressed by this news.
“Lord Douglas warned me. He said that Ashley was a horrible person and I didn’t believe him. But he was right.”
“Lord Douglas warned you?”
“He did! He’s been right about both of your matches, Lila. Andyouhave been woefully wrong about both of them.”
Lila shrugged.“Balloon d’essai.”
Princess Justine stared at her. “Did you just say...balloon test?”
“I did! Have you heard of them? They send balloons up to test the direction of the wind, and that’s what I am doing with you. Testing which way the wind is blowing, so to speak.” She smiled, pretending that the princess would understand and accept this immediately. “It’s a process.”
The princess gaped at her. “It’s a flawed process! I never want to see Mr. Ashley again. He was unkind to Lord Douglas, he was so careless in his dancing that apricelesstiara came off my head and I lost the bracelet my father gave me!”
