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“A bit of one, anyway,” she amended with a shrug. “There are days.”
“Archery?” Iddesleigh asked. He rose from the table and shouted for his daughters to come along, they were going to shoot at prime ministers.
“Don’t encourage them, darling,” Lady Iddesleigh complained.
People began to rise from the table to follow. Everyone but Joshua. He was wondering how he might escape and ride back to Hollyfield. It felt like time to chop more wood. Cords of it. Stacks as tall as the house itself.
The princess stood and paused to pick up her bonnet. Joshua couldn’t help but notice the white streak in her hair, a tress that had no color. It was hardly noticeable against her golden blond locks, except when it drifted over her temple as it did now.
Unfortunately, he pondered it too long—she noticed. And when she did, she smiled like a cat who’d just had a bowl of warm milk, sated and full of smug happiness. “Won’t you join us, Your Grace?”
“I rather think not. I’d not want to risk your death. Or mine.”
Her smile widened.
He rose from the table. “Regrettably, I must return to Hollyfield.”
“Oh dear,” the princess said. “You must beterribleat archery if you need to hurry back to Hollyfield.”
He bristled, because she was right.
“Do you really live there?”
What sort of question was that? “Pardon? That is my home, so yes.”
“I thought it was closed. Or possibly even abandoned. There’s never more than a single light, never more than one smoking chimney. Doesn’t it take every hearth to warm such a massive structure?”
He bristled again, because he knew very well it looked abandoned—Butler subtly reminded him every day when he asked if he might remove some furniture coverings or take down the window blinds and let in some air. “It’s very much lived in.” He sounded a wee bit defensive.
She studied him a little more closely, that smile returning to her lips. “May I ask a question, Your Grace?”
No.“Of course.”
“Why have you not come around to Iddesleigh House? I understand you’ve declined every invitation.”
That was the last question he expected. Was it a Weslorian custom to ask questions so directly? A bit of warmth crept up Joshua’s neck again. He picked up his coat and slung it over his shoulder and tried very hard not to look into the dancing sparkle in the eyes of the princess. “I’ve been occupied.”
“Everytime?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness, every time I’ve been invited, I’ve been occupied. My sincere apologies.”
“None necessary. I only ask in that it is highly unusual. You’d not believe how eager people are to make the acquaintance of a princess. In Wesloria, it’s almost as if they crawl out from rocks and roll down from mountaintops for it.”
“One can’t help but wonder how you were able to escape your home country at all.”
“By the dead of night, under a heavy canvas in the back of a cart.”
Joshua stared at her.
She laughed. “That was a jest, too. To be fair, noteveryoneis eager to make my acquaintance. Some are actually afraid. I suppose royalty can be a bit intimidating.”
She surely didn’t think for a moment that he wasintimidatedby her. “I am most decidedlynot—”
“Ma’am?” Miles had appeared. “Will you join us in the archer’s field?”
“Je!” she said brightly. “I would like thatverymuch.” Her gaze flitted over Joshua. “Good day, Your Grace.” She put her hand on Miles’s arm and presented her back to Joshua.
Miles shot him a look. Joshua shot one back. “Good day, Your Royal Highness. I’ll be on my way to open some doors and light some hearths so that Hollyfield doesn’t appear abandoned to you on your walks.”
