I turn just in time to see a hawkish, haughty-looking woman glide to a stop beside us. Her chin is so high in the air, when she nods I can still see up her nostrils.
“Your Majesty.”
“Baroness Nye.”
“So very good to see you again. It’s been a long while. We were starting to wonder whether all was well at Waterford Palace.” Her brows furrow, a faint line of displeasure appearing on her Botoxed forehead. “It was unfortunate you did not attend our gala in Jaarlsburg last month. We had quite the turnout.”
The smile on my lips grows strained. “Unfortunately, I can’t attend every event to which I receive an invitation.”
“I understand, Your Majesty. I merely hope next time you’ll consider working us into your busy schedule. I would like nothing more than to introduce you to my son, Charleston Nye — perhaps you’ve heard the name?”
I shake my head. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Ah. Well, you haven’t been around all that long, I suppose.”
I arch a brow. “Oh?”
“No offense implied, of course. I simply meant you haven’t been a member of Germania’s more…elite… circles, until quite recently. It’s understandable you wouldn’t know Charleston’s name, despite his status.” She smiles without teeth. “He’s recently returned from a few years in Australia, managing our conglomerates in the southern hemisphere. He spent his formative years here, of course, amongst the pinnacle members of society.”
I take a slow sip of champagne. “How lovely for him.”
“It may be forward of me, but… I believe you two would be a remarkable match, Your Majesty. Had I known you were coming tonight, I would’ve dragged him along to make an introduction.”
I take another sip, wishing suddenly my glass was full of something far stronger than champagne.
The Baroness titters stiffly, perhaps realizing she’s overplayed her hand. “Oh, I do wish I’d brought him along. He’s simply a marvel with a bidding paddle, my son!”
Chloe snorts, stepping up beside me. “I didn’t realize spending obscene amounts of money took actualskill. Let me guess — it’s all in the wrist?”
The Baroness’ eyes narrow a shade as they slide to my sister. “Ah. Lady Thorne. Naturally you’d be here. Where the royals go, your family is never far behind, it seems. I did always admire that about your mother — how little she regarded the rules of polite society in her pursuit of power. It seems you’ve inherited that rather… untoward quality.”
“I wasn’t aware there was anything at all to admire about my mother.” Chloe’s smile is more grimace than grin. “In the off chance we ever speak again, I’ll be sure not to tell her. I wouldn’t want her ego to get as big as yours,Cornelia. We Thornes may be social-climbing opportunists, but you Nyes are condescending, self-important nitwits, the lot of you. Your precious Charleston most of all, if my memory serves correctly. Tell me — can he tie his own ties yet, or do the maids still do it for him every morning?”
The Baroness, whose face has gone stark white, places a hand over her heart and gasps. “In all my life I have never been thus insulted. How dare you insinuate—”
“If you’ll excuse us,” I interject. “Please enjoy the auction, Baroness.” Smiling weakly, I grab Chloe by the arm and drag her away before she can further scandalize the woman.
“I thought you were going to behave,” I hiss under my breath.
“Thatwasme behaving.”
“Chloe.”
“That hag is trying to buy her way into the Lancaster family! Did you hear her going on andonabout her son?”
“You mean my future fiancé, Charleston — bidding-paddle marvel of the world?”
Chloe blows out an exasperated puff of air. “She must be out of her mind.”
“I don’t know, he sounds like a real catch. And who wouldn’t want such a lovely woman as their mother-in-law…”
Giggling, we round a corner and find ourselves on an open-air terrace strung with lights. It’s sparsely populated — only a handful of people have braved the cold, smoking cigarettes and sipping steaming hot toddies under the stars. The steady blast of heat lamps isn’t enough to ward off the chill entirely, but we head out anyway, eager for a momentary reprieve from the crowds. If I catch one more miffed Minister of Parliament glaring at me from the shadows, I’ll scream.
Leaning against the stone railing, we look out over the sprawling museum gardens. They’re beautiful in the summer when everything is in bloom; now, in the dark, they look like a hedge-maze in a haunted tale. Only the faint light of a crescent moon and a few wrought-iron gas lampposts illuminate the winding paths and meticulously-pruned topiary.
Chloe glances over at me. “All jokes aside, E… Don’t go out with Charleston Nye. He’s dull as a box of rocks and his eyes are set just ever-so-slightly too far apart. Like a trout.”
I gasp, faux-outraged. “He is apinnaclemember ofpolite society, Chloe. Don’t you realize how rich his family is? Don’t you know money is the second-most important quality I look for in a partner?!”