Chapter Twenty-One
The drawing room table was filled with cakes, pastries, and pretty crockery. But despite the delights on display, Selina was sick with nerves. The women gathered around the table were as delicate and elegant as the sweet treats laid out for them. It was a pity they did not like her.
Selina had not been looking forward to this soirée, not since her wedding ball when she’d realised that Lady Nora, the woman who’d invited her to tea, had later mocked her openly to her friends.
But whose fault was that?
Certainly they were to blame for being cruel. But wasn’t Selina also to blame?
She’d been equally unkind about Magnus when she’d first met him, and she hadn’t really meant anything by it, not really. Perhaps the ladies were the same. Shouldn’t she give them a second chance?
However, when she sat down in her new coral dress and smiled at the women gathered, she wasn’t quite sure what to say.
The introductions were swift and formal, with Lady Nora warm and welcoming as she had been at the ball—as if nothing had happened between them.
Selina would have at least acknowledged her mistake and said she was sorry.
But like most high society ladies, it seemed that Lady Nora believed herself above an apology.
‘Your Serene Highness,’ Lady Nora said prettily with a crisp English accent that must have taken years to perfect.
It reminded Selina of Countess Rosenborg, which made the hair on the back of her neck bristle with warning.
‘I am afraid this is only a simple soirée. You see we are all such close, dear friends, and our island is so small. We meet like sisters, not friends… You might find us far too informal after the palace,’ she said and giggled, and the women around her tittered as well.
Selina who would dearly love to have any friends was quick to reassure them. ‘Oh no, I adore informality and would dearly love for us to be close friends.’
Nora reached across to clasp her hand, the grip almost painful.
‘Wonderful! What a lovely dress you are wearing! Coral is such an unusual colour, but you wear it so well. Indeed, I am sure I had a similar dress last summer when the colour was first popular, but I wore it rarely, as I did not have your exotic colouring.’
Selina smiled, but she was a little stung by the back-handed compliment. Was Nora saying her dress was an odd colour as well as last year’s fashion? And what did she mean by exotic? That had also sounded like an insult, even though she couldn’t call it out as such.
She was more than a little surprised by Nora’s cheek, considering she was now a princess.
But hadn’t an English gentleman once pretended not to recognise the prince regent?
All so that he could deliver the cutting blow of Who’s your fat friend, My Lord?
So she shouldn’t be surprised that the rich and well-connected families of Thrudheim would still ridicule and condemn her despite her royal title.
‘How was your journey from the palace, Your Serene Highness? I do hope you weren’t caught in the rain,’ asked Sonja sweetly, and Selina was grateful for the distraction.
‘We were worried you might not be able to come…which, of course, we would have understood,’ said Lady Nora.
‘There was only a light drizzle when I left.’ The battering sound of the wind and rain against the windows suggested otherwise, and so she added, ‘Besides, I was looking forward to meeting you. I rarely leave the palace, and a little rain is no bother.’
‘Thrudheim is very rainy,’ said Miss Sonja. ‘It is well known for its autumn and winter storms.’
Selina glanced towards the windows miserably. ‘But it’s…summer.’
‘Sometimes we have storms in the summer too.’
‘Oh.’ Selina was a little depressed to hear that. She forced herself to brighten. ‘Well, sometimes it’s good to clear the air with a good storm, do you not think?’
The ladies all gave her simpering smiles and murmurs of agreement, and she realised the day was going to be unbelievably dull.
‘Please, do tell us about your courtship with His Serene Highness. We would love to hear about it,’ said Lady Nora cheerfully, and some of the ladies smirked behind the rims of their tea cups. ‘We were surprised to have our Sovereign Prince return to us so…quickly with a bride.’
‘His Serene Highness is a decisive man,’ Selina answered defensively, not liking the wicked gleam in some of the young women’s eyes. They could smell blood like any other predator.
‘I believe you know of a Lady Anne Kesgrave, Your Serene Highness?’ asked Lady Nora with a sharp smile.
Selina flinched. ‘I do.’ Normally she would have replied excitedly that Lady Anne was her dearest friend…but she wasn’t. Not anymore.
Lady Nora stirred her tea thoughtfully. ‘She is a cousin of mine. The House of Solberg is related to several royal courts all over Europe… Anyway, she wrote to me recently, explaining in great detail about your whirlwind courtship with His Serene Highness.’ The silver teaspoon was tapped lightly and set on the saucer.
She then lifted the fine bone china to her lips and took a dainty victory sip.
Ah, so that was why Nora disliked her.
Selina wasn’t sure why Lady Nora seemed so pleased with her revelation. She supposed they were hoping to gossip about the scandalous details in her absence. ‘Well, it was in the papers, so fairly common knowledge. Although, not entirely accurate.’
‘Oh really?’ asked Lady Nora innocently, although her eyes narrowed, and Selina suspected the woman was about to take a bite out of her.
‘So… you didn’t marry using a special licence after being found in a compromising position together or tear the clothes of our beloved prince in order to ensnare him? ’
The silence in the drawing room was oppressively heavy, and several young ladies glanced nervously at one another. Lady Nora had been shockingly blunt and rude, even in their eyes.
As if finally aware that she might have overstepped, Lady Nora feigned embarrassment with a light fanning to her alabaster cheeks.
‘Of course, no one would blame you. His Serene Highness is a very handsome man, with a reputation for being uncompromising and demanding in his…tastes. When he was a youth, he was often criticised for being reckless by his father…but, of course, he is no longer a youth.’
Selina opened her mouth to deny the scandal and defend her honour.
But knew that no matter what she said, she would look a fool.
Not only that, but she would make Magnus look a fool too.
Already the wealthy families were cursing him for making a love match, and she refused to make matters worse.
‘I am not sure what you mean… We did marry with a special licence. The sovereign prince was eager to return home to Thrudheim and his duties. His Serene Highness is an honourable man.’ She said the last part coldly, not liking the familiarity of Nora’s words about her husband’s tastes or reckless behaviour.
They didn’t know him! And although Selina could hardly claim to know her husband’s every thought and feeling, she had begun to understand him better and even admired him.
He was deeply pained by his poor relationships with his family members and his past. It was unkind of these women to judge him harshly for their marriage, when he had simply done it to save her.
Support came from an unlikely source. Miss Sonja turned to Lady Nora with a raised chin. ‘We can all agree that His Serene Highness is an honourable man capable of making his own decisions. I am sure he only wants the best for Thrudheim, as does Princess Selina of Thrudheim.’
‘Indeed,’ said Lady Nora, although, she looked unrepentant.
‘We are all looking forward to your coronation,’ declared another young lady who had been introduced as Miss Sarah Turgen, also of the House of Solberg—although, she suspected it was a much thinner and flimsy branch of the aristocratic tree.
Conversation swiftly turned to the lighter topic of the upcoming coronation and celebrations.
However, more than once Lady Nora offered her advice on her speech, dress, and all manner of things to do with the event.
It was as if she wished to highlight the many ways that Selina was unprepared and inappropriate to be the princess of Thrudheim.
Thankfully, she was able to answer many of Lady Nora’s points with the knowledge she had gained on her tours and had even once corrected her.
‘I think you will find the stone thrones were made by the first king for Queen Frigg, not Freydis… Queen Freydis was their third daughter.’
Lady Nora had choked on her lemon slice at that, and it had appeared as if she were about to challenge her when Miss Sonja gave quick agreement, even getting the other ladies to agree as well, firmly silencing Nora.
Selina was beginning to feel as if Lady Nora had imagined herself or her cousin Lady Anne to be princess one day and certainly not someone like Selina.
Exhausted by the performative conversation and false niceties, she wanted nothing more than to go back to the palace and ask Margarite to ban all other functions at Lady Nora’s home.
‘Your Serene Highness, it looks as if the rain has stopped,’ said Sonja, looking out of the window at the dreary-looking sky. At least, the rain was no longer lashing against the windowpane.
‘How right you are!’ declared Selina, grateful for the excuse to leave. ‘I should probably go. Save my coachmen from another soaking! Please call for my carriage. Shall we call for yours as well, Miss Sonja?’ she asked, the footman hesitating awkwardly as he waited for Sonja’s reply.
‘Oh, Miss Sonja hardly ever takes a carriage!’ said Lady Nora with a laugh. ‘She likes to walk everywhere in her sturdy boots!’
‘As do I!’ Selina replied, with a broad smile, ignoring the snide intention behind the hostess’s comment to belittle Sonja. ‘But the weather is changeable today. Let me drive you home.’