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‘I am?’ She was stunned. She wasn’t even sure Philippe would have mentioned her at all to his mother.
‘Maria Aronaz,’ said the woman, clasping Arissa’s hands in hers. Panic flooded through Arissa. Was she supposed to bow, curtsey? What did you do around royalty these days? How did you even address them?
Her brain focused on the maid’s words. She dipped her head a little. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.’
The woman kept her hands on Arissa’s. Her eyes were warm but Arissa knew that the Queen was inspecting her to see if she was worthy of her son’s attention. ‘You are indeed beautiful,’ the Queen said quietly as she squeezed Arissa’s hands. ‘And I hear that your home is as beautiful as ours.’ She was watching Arissa carefully. ‘Philippe has an enormous job ahead of him. Probably harder than the roles of his brother and sister.’
Arissa gave an uncomfortable gulp. The role of potential King would be hard enough, and being part of a finance committee wouldn’t exactly be easy either. The Queen continued, ‘Things are going to have to change in Corinez, and Philippe will have to weather the storm that comes alongside making changes. It would be good if he could have someone alongside him who shared his vision and understood the tasks he had ahead.’
Silence. Arissa couldn’t even gulp. What exactly did the Queen mean? Her gaze felt so examining. She patted Arissa’s hand. ‘You know, he’s never brought anyone home for this ball before.’
She turned towards her maid. ‘Have you picked something for Arissa yet?’
The maid shook her head. ‘Not yet, Your Majesty. That was our next step.’
The Queen pulled her hands back and gave them a little clap. ‘Good, I haven’t missed the fun part.’ She walked up and down the rows, giving the dresses a critical and appraising look. ‘No, no, no, too dark, too severe. Too out of fashion.’
The Queen picked out a few dresses. ‘This one, this one and, perhaps, this one. Oh, and this one too.’
Arissa was a little stunned and she couldn’t help but smile. Every one of the dresses was by a female designer. The Queen waved away the maid and carried the dresses over herself to the curtained area. Red, blue, green and silver. Each one completely different from the other.
She gave a gentle wave of her hand but had an excited gleam in her eyes as she turned around. ‘Come on, Arissa, what are you waiting for? Let’s try on some dresses.’
* * *
Philippe was nervous. He could hear the murmur of voices downstairs. Guests had been arriving for the ball for the last half-hour. His brother and sister were already greeting people on arrival, and normally he would be doing that too. Instead, he’d spent the last thirty minutes immersed in a conference call to three other countries about their maternity services. He was gathering as much information as he could. He had to, if he wanted to make things a success.
He glanced at his watch as he hurried down the corridor towards Arissa’s rooms. Her door was wide open and she was silhouetted as she stood at the large window, looking out over the gardens.
His breath caught somewhere in his throat as she spun around towards him. She was wearing a dark green gown with a sequined bodice, gauze shoulders and a fluttering straight tulle skirt. It complemented her skin perfectly. Her only jewellery was a gold choker at her throat. She lifted her fingers to it self-consciously as she took a few steps towards him. ‘What do you think? Your mother gave me it to wear.’ She glanced downwards. ‘Isabella Hugo designed it when she was still up and coming. Isn’t it beautiful?’ She gave her head a shake, as if she couldn’t believe things. ‘Your mother was amazing. In fact, she helped me pick this whole outfit.’
She lifted her gaze to meet his. Her hair wasn’t coiffed or styled, it was in the natural curls that she always wore and suited her best. She was wearing a little make-up; he could see the mascara opening out her eyes, and the lipstick on her lips. But even wearing the designer dress and the royal jewellery she still looked entirely like Arissa. She still looked entirely his.
