The Debutante (Season Series #2)

Chapter 12: Card Game Confessions

If there had been any doubt in my mind as to who the queen's top debutante choices were, it was unmistakably confirmed when I arrived at her salon. Seated closest to Andrew's mother in the spots of honour were Dulciana, Adelaide, and Ashley, the two blondes looking far more pleased than the foreign princess. Dulciana had a sour look on her face as she surveyed the assembled debutantes, her perfect Ardalonian face twisted into a scowl.

I'd taken a seat near the bay window with Princess Anne and Georgina, trying my best not to shoot sullen looks at the way the queen was smiling at her trio of chosen ones. Ashley was all smiles, not displaying a hint of the bitter vanity that I knew to be her true nature. Adelaide was her usual refined self, seated next to one of the queen's own ladies-in-waiting, a striking resemblance between the two willowy blondes despite their age difference.

"That's the real Lady Winters," Anne whispered to me, the reading in both our laps forgotten as we surveyed the queen's circle.

"So it's true then," Georgina whispered from my other side, "That Adelaide's mother is one of the queen's closest friends?"

Anne nodded, dropping her eyes back to her book as the power of our trio of gazes drew the elder Lady Winters' eyes.

"It's a wonder Addie turned out so kind, her mother is an incredible snob," Anne continued, pretending to read. I snorted despite myself, earning startled looks from where Sarah Thornbury and Mary Marquette were playing backgammon next to us.

"I'd say the apple didn't fall too far from the tree," I said, watching how Adelaide's graceful mannerisms mirrored those of her mother. The older Lady Winters had the same lovely features as her daughter, her pale blonde hair shot through with grey, but there was something pinched about her face as if she spent most of her time with pursed lips.

"You can't still think Addie's that bad?" Anne asked.

"She's too perfect, it's unnerving," I shrugged. What I'd really intended to say was that as long as Adelaide was chasing my prince, she would always be 'that bad' in my eyes. For once, however, my brain was able to school my mouth not to let slip about myself and Andrew while I was surrounded by other eavesdropping debutantes.

"Well you two are sharing a carriage tonight," Anne said, "You should give her a chance, I'm sure she'd love to become friends with you."

"I don't think she's after friends," I grumbled, turning my eyes back down to my book. It seemed like I'd been re-reading the same page all afternoon, my thoughts consistently turning back to the stable-master's words about Juniper and the fact that Andrew would be taking Adelaide to the opera tonight. Neither thought was comforting and both had me fidgeting in my seat like a squirming toddler.

"Why don't you and I play some cards," Georgina said finally, setting down her needlepoint when my knee had gotten to jiggling impatiently yet again.

"Oh yes please," I said, abandoning my own book as I rose. I crossed to the farthest edge of the room away from the queen, choosing a games table in a quiet corner with a view of the gardens below. I didn't wait for Georgina before I took the chair facing the window. I don't think I could have handled watching the queen's eyes soften one more time as she looked at Adelaide or Ashley.

"Why are you so on edge?" Georgina asked as she dug around the games table drawer and pulled out a cribbage board and deck of cards.

"My horse arrived today and that horrid stable-master threatened to whip her into shape," I said, placing the pegs on the board as she cut and shuffled the cards, "It's all I can do to stay here when I know that she needs a good trail ride to calm her nerves."

"Her nerves or yours?" Georgina asked, dealing out our six cards.

"Both of ours," I admitted, examining my hand.