Chapter 7
seven
The women in his life rarely leave him alone. Usually he doesn’t mind it, but today… ~ from the journal of Prince Gabriel
GENEVIEVE
Gen had seen fancy buildings before, been inside fancy houses, and had been part of ‘high society’—whatever that meant—her whole life. Yet, nothing prepared her for the palace.
She’d never had a chance to visit while her father was a council member, but now she wished she had.
The marble and gold wouldn’t have made her feel underdressed—even though she was wearing her best ‘professional’ dress—and she wouldn’t have felt so small.
The ceilings were taller than she expected and the hallways so wide and the building so massive.
It must take ages to walk from one place to the other.
And Gabriel somehow thought she could manage all this? The man was clearly delusional.
Lady Louise, one of Princess Agnes’s lady’s maids and who worked in her office, escorted her to the princess.
They had been walking for at least five minutes, and the woman was completely silent.
Gen had tried to engage her in conversation, but she was having none of it.
Had Gen offended her somehow? Was she wearing the wrong thing or did she greet her incorrectly?
The sharp sting of anxiety was settling in her chest. She’d only been in the palace for a few minutes and she was already stressed. There was no way she could manage living in the palace long-term.
Not that she wanted to, of course.
“Miss Ruffin is here, Your Highness.”
The princess was unperturbed by Lady Louise’s annoyed attitude. In fact, she seemed amused by it more than anything. “Thank you, Louise. Genevieve, it is so lovely to see you again.”
Gen curtsied. “Thank you for inviting me, Your Highness.”
“Oh, you must call me Agnes.”
Lady Louise let out an indignant squeak. The princess ignored it but smiled a bit broader.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly, Your Highness.”
“Disobeying a direct request from the princess of your country?”
“Er, yes, actually?”
The princess laughed. “Louise, do get us some tea, won’t you?”
Through a fake smile, Lady Louise curtsied. “Of course, Ma’am.”
Once she disappeared, the princess looped an arm through Gen’s and escorted her towards the seating area in her office. “Louise is quite upset at the moment about your arrival. Pay no attention to her.”
They took a seat on the antique loveseat, which was much more comfortable than Gen had expected it to be. “But why? Have I done something to offend her?”
“No, I have. You see, you’ll be taking her place.”
Gen blinked several times, sure she had misheard. “I-what?”
“Oh, dear. I suppose Gabriel didn’t tell you that, did he?”
Damn you, Gabriel! “No, Your Highness. He mentioned you might invite me to the palace, but nothing about working here.”
“Unfortunately, that is typical of the men in my family. They’re so used to keeping things ‘close to the chest’ as it were, that they’ll leave out relevant details at times. You’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t believe I’ll have a need for that. I doubt I’ll see His Highness much.”
“And I doubt that. He’s smitten with you, and I approve.”
Gen shook her head. “Respectfully, Your Highness, he doesn’t know me, and neither do you.”
To Gen’s surprise, the princess sighed. “I know you better than you think, and I, better than even my dear eldest brother, know what you’ll face coming into this family and this life.” She gestured around her, and Gen was faced with more opulence as she fully took in the office for the first time.
Plush, gilded chairs, an antique, ornate desk, a small circular table and four chairs in one corner, and, as Lady Louise entered again with a full tray, staff at your beck and call.
Gen could tell Lady Louise wanted to slam the tray down from the tightness in her hands and her forced smile, but she managed to be civil. She poured them each tea, set a tiered stand of small sandwiches and desserts between them, and left again.
“Was Lady Louise, er, unsatisfactory in some way?”
The princess took a sip, then shook her head.
“No, she’s getting married and was planning on leaving anyway, just not so soon.
‘Lady’s maid’ is an outdated term—we’re in the 1970s after all!
—but it essentially means that you’re part of my core staff.
I do have men working here as well, but for appearance’s sake, since I’m unmarried, they are not considered part of my inner circle. ”
So that’s why Louise hated Gen. She was below her in societal rank, and she was taking over a coveted position in the palace. Gen imagined Louise would lose some of her standing once she left as well.
“Perhaps Lady Louise should stay in the position until she marries. She would be much better suited to the position than I would be.”
“I think not,” a voice called from just inside the doorway.
Gen jerked on the sofa, not realizing that Gabriel had entered the room. From her vantage point, she hadn’t been able to see the door. She quickly stood up and curtsied, then sat down at his insistence.
Agnes once again had that amused face, as if there was a joke that Gen wasn’t in on. Or maybe she was the joke.
She slumped ever so slightly, tired of it all. Tired of never being good enough at anything and having it rubbed in her face. So she was useless? So what? Plenty of useless people got by in the world. In fact many of them were the rich high society assholes she’d met.
Agnes gestured to a chair near their sofa. “I’ll ask Louise to bring another cup, Gabriel.”
Gen wasn’t sure if the elegant yet weak-looking chair could hold all of him, but he sat down so gracefully. Then again, she supposed the palace was full of chairs like this, so he’d had years of practice.
After Louise brought in another cup—with much less annoyance for the future king—and left, Agnes poured him a cup. He seemed to like his tea dark, with just a bit of milk and no sugar. Did he drink his coffee the same way? Maybe he preferred it black? Maybe—
“Genevieve,” he said, startling her out of her thoughts. “Why don’t you feel you could work for Agnes? We both feel that you would do a fine job.”
She filtered through several more political responses before deciding brutal honesty was probably best. She needed him to understand what a terrible idea this was. “To be frank, I do not believe I would do the job well. And while I am grateful for the opportunity, I have no desire to do it either.”
They both stared at her and she didn’t enjoy the appraisal. She wanted to reach for her teacup but worried that it might rattle in her slightly shaky hands, so she demurely held her hands in her lap instead.
“I like her. You’ve done well, brother.”
Gen blinked and looked at the princess. “Pardon?”
Gabriel chuckled and her head whipped to his and caught his smirking face.
Were they laughing at her? Suddenly she couldn’t bear the thought of being there a second longer.
She abruptly stood, and Gabriel scrambled to stand as well. “Apologies, Your Highnesses, but I’ve got a terrible headache and would like to leave. Excuse me.”
“Genevieve—”
She ignored him, curtsied, and walked towards the door. Gabriel caught her arm and pulled her back.
Her only options at this point were to cause a scene by either running or screaming, but she would look the fool at the end of it. Or even more of one.
“Could we have the room for a few minutes?”
“Of course.” Agnes rose and walked towards them, patted her brother’s arm, gave Gen a wink, and walked out.
Gabriel nodded towards the sofa again, and led them over to it, not letting go of her arm even after they sat down. He simply shifted his hand to hold her hand instead.
“What’s wrong?”
She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand back, and was slightly surprised he let go.
“Are you really so dense? You maneuver me into the palace, into a position I don’t want, and you’re wondering why I want to leave?
I don’t want any of this. I don’t want this kind of life, and I don’t want this job, and I don’t appreciate being forced into yet one more thing I don’t want simply because of the whims of others. ”
Did she sound whiny or ungrateful? Maybe, but if a man had said those things, their opinion would just be respected.
“I’m sorry.”
She was so busy fuming she wasn’t sure she heard him. “Pardon?”
“I’m sorry. I apologize. You’re completely right. However, I had only good intentions.”
“My mother also has good intentions. ‘Good’ is a subjective term and your definition does not match my definition.”
“That’s a fair point.”
She huffed a laugh. “Gee, thanks. May I leave now?”
“No, please. I thought we’d made progress the other day, in your bedroom.”
Her eyes widened and flitted to the door, then back to him. “Why are you bringing that up? If someone overheard…”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to start anything or put you in an awkward position. I simply meant that I thought we were on the same page. Otherwise, why else did you come today?”
“Are you serious? You think my mother would have let me decline an invitation for tea with Princess Agnes? I didn’t have a choice. As usual.”
He sighed and, in a move very uncharacteristic of a prince, leaned back against the sofa, ruining his perfect posture, his head tilted up to stare at the ceiling. “I just keep fucking up with you, don’t I?”
She blinked. Had she just heard him curse? “Yes, you do.”
He barked a laugh, which turned into a full-throated belly laugh. He put a hand to his stomach and, in the midst of the laugh, bent at the waist, his body shifted, and his head ended up in her lap.
“Would you get off of me?” She glanced at the door again.
“In a minute.” He was staring at her now from what must be a very unflattering angle. Had she plucked all her chin hairs this morning? She couldn’t recall, but so what if he saw them?
She sighed and leaned back against the sofa, crossing her arms in the process. Would that make her boobs less visible from his angle? Probably not.