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“What are you doing?” Amelia asked.
“A little something special.” He proceeded to expertly braid the long streak of white hair with the filigree. When he’d finished, he’d handed the end of the braid to Lordonna, who wove it into the curls at Amelia’s crown. Amelia had thought it all very amusing, but in truth, the effect was striking. No one would have noticed the white had he not woven it with the gold.
“How is it, Mr. Donovan, that you know how to dress a lady’s hair?”
“I suppose you might say I’ve had the pleasure of knowing many ladies. What do you think?”
He was the most mysterious man she had ever known, a man of many talents. “I love it.”
He leaned against the vanity, his back to the mirror, facing her as Lordonna continued with her hair. “What a night for you, Highness. Tonight, you will show yourself to hundreds of guests, all of them eager to make you acquaintance. But I wonder, is there one who has caught your eye? Someone Lady Aleksander has made you eager to meet?”
“Allgentlemen catch my eye, sir. But I’ve not encountered one yet who possesses what I want.”
One of Donovan’s brows arched. “And what, pray tell, do you want?”
Unfortunately, Amelia wasn’t entirely sure. “The same as everyone, I suppose.” She might not know exactly what she was looking for, but she was crystal clear on what she didn’t want.
“A marriage of fortune and standing?”
Definitely not. She shook her head. “Too conventional.”
“Ah. A royal princess has a right to want something more,” he said.
“I hardly thinkthat’strue. We all want...something.”
“And what is that? Kinship? Stature?”
Amelia couldn’t help but laugh. “Kinship and stature? No! I can hardly explain it, but what I want is the sort of compatibility that has thus far escaped me. The sort of compatibility that Justine has with William if you want to know the truth. They are very clear-eyed with each other. I want that, too. But all my life, I’ve been told that I’m too forward, too exuberant, too irrepressible...” She could think of half a dozen other things about her people would find to dislike. “Isn’t that so, Lordonna?”
“Je, sund na regn.”
“She said ‘it’s true as rain.’ Lordonna has known me a very long time.”
“I see,” Donovan mused. “You seek someone who shares your exuberance for life.”
“Of course I do. Doesn’t everyone? Like Beck and Blythe,” she said. “They are compatible with each other, but I should think neither of them particularly compatible to anyone else.”
Donovan laughed outright.
“I should at the very least prefer a companion who doesn’t mind my exuberance and would take me as I am.” That was the sort of thing Justine had warned her against saying. “People instantly wonder what it is they must take, darling,” Amelia could imagine her saying.
“I’m sure I’m not making myself clear,” she said to Donovan.
“On the contrary, Highness, I think you are making yourself exceedingly clear. You would like a companion who is not daunted by a woman who speaks her mind and enjoys her life and does not need to be told what to do. Someone who will stand by her even when others are disapproving. Who respects her likes and dislikes and doesn’t care if they align perfectly with his. Someone who sees her spirit and matches it, perhaps even someone who likes fast horses and big dogs and long winter nights before a fire when a blizzard is roaring outside. Someone who will allow her to press her cold feet to his warm legs beneath the bed linens on bitterly cold mornings and who will think nothing of dancing past dawn. Someone who understands how you think, who you love, and how important Wesloria is to you.”
Amelia blinked up at him in amazement. Lordonna stopped curling her hair to stare at him. “That’sexactlywhat I mean, Donovan. But how could you possibly know?”
He smiled. “I’m rather good at guessing. And, as I said, I’ve been a companion and confidant to a few ladies in my life. You all want the same in the end. I wish you all the luck, Your Royal Highness. It is my experience that men are not hard to find. But good men certainly are.” He winked at her. “I look forward to your entrance. And judging by the clock on the mantle, you’ve got a little more than an hour. The guests have already begun to arrive.”
He made his way across the room. But when he reached the door, he turned back to Amelia. “For what it’s worth? You deserve what you want and more. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” He bowed his head and went out, closing the door behind him.
Amelia looked at Lordonna in the mirror of her vanity. “Vanredan,” Lordonna said.
Amelia agreed: Remarkable.
BYTHETIMELila came for her, Amelia had forgotten all about Donovan. She’d made the mistake of looking out the window and had seen the carriages that lined the drive and the road. There were somany.
Lila paused in her advance across the room when Amelia turned from the window.
