Before She Ruled (Before Series, Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Addie found the piano at Buckingham the third day she had been there. Now, she walked into the music room on the forty-third day of her marriage hoping to fall into the notes and let them take her away.

The room was gilded in ornate features. The windows arched high over Addie, letting the light seep into her otherwise bleak mood. Huge columns reached up from the floor of the room to meet the decorated ceiling, delicate gold features intertwining with bold ones. Such opulence she had never seen, even at Bushy House.

Bushy House. She longed for Bushy House, with its brick red facade and understated elegance. She longed for her family. Addie looked around the room and pictured it as if it were her old home, the faces of her mother, father and brother swirling through her vision. Addie's thoughts narrowed in on her mother. Queen Adelaide would be sitting primly amidst many cushions, reviewing notes from one of her many charities, her face the picture of calm.

Addie laughed darkly. Her mother certainly would not be pregnant with a baby that belonged to anyone other than her father. She would not be the topic of gossip columns. She would never antagonize the king.

But her mother, Addie reminded herself, was dead.

Addie approached the piano, her skirts softly rustling around her. She pressed an F sharp firmly beneath her fingers. The finely tuned note echoed around her.

Growing up, music had always been her strength when she felt she had none. Her brother had been so carefree, so strong and confident in a way that wasn't natural to most. At least not to her.

But when she learned to play, the music taught her something back: it was through music that she learned that grace and poise and passion could also be strong and powerful. After all, a song can be both. And so could she.

The reminder reverberated through her, and she abruptly took leave of the room to instead look for her husband and father-in-law, who she knew to be meeting today with the prime minister, Lord Melbourne.

A meeting that she hadn't been invited to, but she would be attending nonetheless. Sometimes women needed to create their own invitations. Her mother would also not have invited herself to meetings with the prime minister. But Addie was realizing she was nothing like Queen Adelaide.

She practically floated through the palace, having been reminded of why she was here in the first place. As she approached the door to the chambers, she could hear muffled voices within. She didn't knock or say 'pardon me.' Addie walked into the room where the men were sitting and sat as well. It was her right, not just because of who she was born, but because she had earned a place at this table.

She spent her childhood learning of the fine arts, of diplomacy, of charity, of grace. She spent her young adult life in the throes of grief but worked through it. Her body and mind grew in the strength that only despair could culture. And today, she had come back from the dead, and she would not let those across the table forget it. Addie could not cower and hide just because Theo and Andrew were not here to help her.

She was uncomfortable and energized all at once, and instantly knew that this was where she was meant to be.

"Your Highness." King Ernest cleared his throat and gave her a curious once over.

To his credit, Lord Melbourne seemed surprised, but pleasantly so.

She thought about smiling at him, as would be polite, but stopped herself. A man in her position would not worry about endearing himself to his company in order to be approved of, so why should she.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." She bowed her head in deference and then did the same towards George. "Your Highness." Lastly, she acknowledged Lord Melbourne. "My lord."