princess georgiana, the granddaughter of queen charlotte, makes her third annual trip to london for the season since her unhappy marriage to a future european king. they despise each other yet everyone wants their marriage to work except the husband...
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that afternoon, preparations were being finalised for queen charlotte's informal tea with georgiana before the night's festivities.
it had been arranged for the queen to take the princess to the opera tonight and word had quickly spread around the ton about the potential of seeing the dauphine at the premiere of la traviata; the tragic tale of a parisian courtsean and her lover.
georgiana braced herself for the rare and daunting opportunity to speak with her formidable grandmother about the state of her crumbling marriage. tea had always been something she had enjoyed with her grandmama since a young girl and yet the same teas as a wife filled her with dread.
pacing around her old rooms briefly with a mix of nervousness and trepidation, the dauphine could not help but ponder on which parts of her latest terrible year of marriage her grandmother would scrutinise first.
perhaps their disastrous autumn european tour through spain and austria was of note to her grandmama. a winter hunt at one of their lodges north of versailles had gone awry with the dauphine leaving at the unexpected company of her husband's favourite mistress, madame louise de foix near the saint germain forest.
discovered in a paris soiree, sneaking out of the hunting lodge without permission, was the dauphine that winter, merry and on her seventh glass of champagne. to no surprise she was found accompanied by infanta isabel luisa, who had found herself at versailles as the dowager duchess d'orleans, the widow of the dauphin's younger brother and the future queen of france's favourite.
georgiana wished her sister-in-law could accompany her as only isabel truly knew how terrible the marriage was as a first-hand witness.
as in the nature of royalty, georgiana knew queen charlotte held high expectations, prioritising duty and the importance of maintaining the union that had been carefully arranged for her, despite her protests.
as she stood before the mirror, adjusting her gown and twirling the rings on her fingers, an anxious habit developed at versailles, she pursed her lips and steeled herself for the forthcoming conversation. the weight of upholding her family's reputation at a foreign court, the pressure to produce an heir and being surrounded by a lack of love overwhelmed georgiana and at tines suffocated her.
knowing her desires for freedom and a different life would always clash with her duty as a future queen consort of france, she hesitantly prepared to step down to her grandmother's morning room, exhaustedly knowing that she had nothing left to give.
before georgiana could depart her chambers, there was a sudden knock the door which was then opened. georgiana stepped towards the door to find a servant standing on the other side, next to the doormen.
"your highness, i bring word from queen charlotte," the servant said bowing before the dauphine, "she regrets to inform you that she has had to cancel your tea this afternoon due to an unexpected matter requiring her attention."
