The Ambassador's Daughter

Chapter 29

Meanwhile, Louise was busy in the Mansion. More or less unaware that her father was now spying on her using one of the people she trusted. If she'd known she would have been furious. And terribly disappointed in both her father and in Gordon. But she did not know, and so she continued with her plans.

Bucky had told her that he wanted to take her for dinner. But he didn't know when or how or where he could take her out, so he had suggested that the next time she came to the palace, the two of them would take a picnic to the garden and eat under "their" tree. She had to smile. Their tree had once been whole and healthy. But then Bucky had punched it and now it was somehow alive, but had a fist-sized hole in the trunk and was splintered and cracked up and down the trunk. Like Bucky, Louise thought, he had once been whole and healthy. Now he had a deep wound that left him cracked and splintered to his core. But Louise was sure that with time both Bucky and the tree would heal.

To prepare, Louise was picking out her outfit. She wanted to be comfortable, but also classy. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt wouldn't do. No, she needed something that would stand out in Bucky's mind. For the nights when sleep wouldn't come because of the bad memories, for the nights she couldn't be there, she wanted him to have something he could hold on to until morning.

Louise looked at her wardrobe. She pulled out the dress she had worn the first day in Wakanda. She held it up against her body and looked at herself in the mirror, tipping her head from side to side. She finally decided against it. She knew Bucky had liked her hair and makeup at the ball, but she didn't want to be too heavy-handed with the references to his past. She wanted him to look forward to the future. So, she tossed the dress aside and pulled something else out of the closet.

As she looked through her wardrobe, there came a knock on her door. "Come in!" She called, tossing aside a pair of jeans. Her mother came in and raised her eyebrow at the pile of clothes strewn across her bed and floor.

"What are you doing, child?" Elise asked, picking up a pair of pants and folding them.

"Looking for an outfit," Louise answered, pulling a blouse out of the closet and holding it against her body. "What do you think?" She turned to show her mother.

"Why are you looking for an outfit? What are you going to be doing?"

"Oh, Marguerite and I are going on a picnic in a couple of days." Louise lied smoothly.

"You are going to wear that on a picnic with a girlfriend?" Elise asked skeptically.

Louise turned back to the mirror, "We're ambassadors' daughters, Mamma. We must always look our best, so as not to disgrace our countries."

"Do you not have that blouse in blue? You look lovely in blue." Elise responded. Louise folded the blouse over her arm and reached into the closet and pulled out a sky blue blouse that was identical to the white one on her arm. She held both up for her mother's approval. "Yes, definitely the blue one."

Louise hung up the white one and set the blue on aside. "Is there something you need, Mamma?" Louise asked as she started sorting through her pants and skirts.

"I wanted to ask you, again, what happened at the palace the other day." Louise looked at her mother and shrugged.

"Nothing much, just a little personal crisis." Louise replied nonchalantly, returning to her closet.

"Whose person was in crisis?" Elise asked, probing a bit.

"Just a friend," Louise responded evasively. She pulled out a black pencil skirt and a pair of black skinny dress pants. She studied her reflection critically.

"If you are going on a picnic, I suggest the trousers, child. Trying to sit on the ground in a pencil skirt, not easy or dignified. Since you are concerned about not disgracing your countries." Louise could tell her mother had serious doubts about her story, but she didn't care.

"Thanks, Mamma, the blue top will look better with these pants anyway." She returned the skirt to its spot and then began tidying her clothes. Her mother didn't move. "Anything else, Mamma?"

"No," Elise said, standing. "I just wish you'd tell me the truth. The whole truth." She swept out of Louise's room, leaving Louise feeling defensive and guilty.

Louise sighed and shook her head, "Like you've never kept a secret from anyone." She mumbled as she began tidying her room.