Chapter 11
Rose’s anger insisted she march straight off in search of Leo.
But while she wasn’t officially Princess Rose, her royal training still screamed at her.
If she was going to accuse another royal of running their own palace poorly and failing in their duty to their servants, then she needed a strong case.
A single incident could be easily dismissed.
Rose couldn’t let the matter go, but neither did she want to be the one causing an international incident instead of Natalie.
So she waited, and she watched. For the next several days, she lurked around the areas of the palace most frequented by the servants, even lingering near the guard barracks and the gardeners’ headquarters.
The problem wasn’t as widespread as she had initially feared, but neither was it isolated.
She witnessed a footman harassing a young errand boy, three guards threatening a groom, a washerwoman hitting her subordinate, and a number of people yelling at those below them in the hierarchy.
And if she had witnessed that much happening in the open, there had to be more happening in places she couldn’t see. It was enough to make her case.
She reached the decision outside the gardeners’ building and hurried back toward the palace, considering where she was most likely to find Leo so late in the day. Her route took her past the remains of a court event, where a team of gardeners were busy packing away several archery targets.
She slowed her pace on instinct, trying to listen in without being noticed as she had been doing for days.
One of the men was talking loudly enough to be overheard, grumbling to his companion about having so many extra tasks.
He seemed particularly irritated by the lanterns he had already set up in the greenery outside the windows of the main reception room.
“Bad enough we have to do it whenever there’s a ball,” he said. “Now they want it for evening receptions as well! And that’s on top of packing up this lot.” He nodded toward the targets.
His companion grunted. “You’re paid for your time, ain’t you? If you ask me, you wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t have something to complain about. So maybe the steward is trying to do you a favor with all these orders.”
His companion protested loudly as Rose’s steps took her out of earshot. She had forgotten about the evening reception. Leo would be in attendance which meant he would already be in his rooms, preparing for the event. And she could hardly accost him in his bedchamber.
She hurried back to her own room. “I need to get dressed for an evening reception,” she announced as soon as she stepped inside.
Joanne jumped to her feet, eager. “You’re swapping back?”
“What? No.” Rose began to strip off her daytime gown. “I’m just attending the evening reception tonight.”
Joanne sighed. “Well at least that’s something, I suppose. The court has been putting on all these events for your entertainment, and you’ve hardly attended a one!” She gave her princess a reproving stare, and Rose wondered what her maid had heard.
Had there been talk about the strange visitor from the mountain kingdom who had started lurking all over the palace where she didn’t belong?
If there was, it was too bad. What Rose had been doing was important.
And if the Lanoverians thought Natalie odd, it was no more than the girl deserved.
They’d be even more offended if they knew her real motivations in traveling to Lanover.
Rose entered the reception room in a rush, on the lookout for Leo. But she hadn’t been wading through the crowd long when musicians appeared and struck up the lively strains of a dance tune. Rose paused, distracted. There was going to be dancing? There hadn’t been at the last reception.
“Will you dance, My Lady?” a smooth voice asked from beside her.
She blinked at the good-looking young courtier holding out his hand toward her, her brain faltering as she tried to remember his name. She was almost certain they had been introduced before.
“Ahh…” she said intelligently.
She didn’t want to dance, but neither could she think of a reason to say no.
And while her mind whirled, her body reacted instinctively, accepting the outstretched hand.
At home, as Princess Rose, she always tried to accept as many dance requests as possible and to give a polite explanation for any she turned down.
When you were royalty, it was important not to create unfounded rumors about royal disfavor—and even more important not to create enemies for the crown.
Thankfully, her unnamed partner danced well, and Rose’s feet moved to the familiar patterns without much conscious thought on her part. It left her free to continue her visual search for Leo.
He swung past her, a Lanoverian noblewoman in his arms. Rose frowned. Where was Natalie? If there was dancing, Leo should have opened it with the princess. Rose knew Natalie was in the crowd somewhere because she had caught a brief glimpse of her when she arrived.
She relaxed into her own dance as well as she could, knowing she would have no hope of talking to Leo until the dance ended. But she couldn’t stop herself from continuing to keep an eye out for both Leo and Natalie as the steps took her around the dance floor.
When the song finally wound to a close, releasing Rose, she lost no time in hurrying toward Leo. If she didn’t catch him quickly, he would already be dancing with Natalie, and she would have to wait again.
But when she caught sight of Leo’s tall frame, he was alone and moving toward her.
“I’m glad to see you’re here, Posey.” His smile made her insides glow. No wonder the people of Lanover loved their royal family—if Leo alone had so much power, she could only imagine the combined effect of so much beauty.
She shook herself. “I need to talk to you.”
“Perfect.” He held out his hand. “Dance with me. It’s the only way we can ensure we won’t be interrupted.”
She opened her mouth to suggest they step outside the reception room instead, but her rebellious hand once again moved on its own. She looked down at it, already enclosed in his fingers, and back up into his smile.
He glanced once toward the musicians, and they began a new tune—this one a waltz. Leo’s arm circled her, pulling her closer to him as his hand tightened around hers.
Her feet skimmed over the floor, barely needing to touch the ground as she floated into the dance. Leo maneuvered them expertly around the floor, bringing out the best in her. Had she ever danced so well before?
“I was beginning to worry,” he said lightly as their bodies moved in perfect, synchronized harmony. “I’ve barely seen any sign of you for the last few days.”
Reality crashed back around Rose, bringing her feet firmly to the ground.
She wasn’t supposed to have her head in the chandeliers, floating around the room because Leo was holding her close.
She was supposed to be having a difficult conversation—one that was likely to become awkward, if not downright hostile.
She drew a deep breath. “It’s true that I’ve been distracted, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness?” Leo’s brows rose. “What’s this?”
“I’ve noticed a situation of concern, and I’ve been gathering information before approaching you about it. So I’m not speaking to you as Leo, but as crown prince of Lanover. So I should address you as such.”
His brows lowered, but he didn’t look angry yet—only wary and concerned.
“That’s perceptive of you to understand the difference,” he said. “Not everyone understands what it’s like to be a royal.”
Rose flushed, having once again misstepped without realizing it. But she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted from her purpose.
“It has come to my attention,” she began, “that an unhealthy culture has taken root in some parts of the palace community.”
Leo’s brows shot back up, his arm around her tightening. “Have the courtiers done something to offend you?”
She shook her head. “It’s not me that has been—is being—mistreated.”
“I would like to think no one under the palace roof is being mistreated.” His voice was light, although his expression was not.
Rose nodded eagerly, relieved at the words she had been expecting—hoping—to hear from him.
“Yes, I thought surely you would feel that way!” Her words came more quickly, and she had to struggle to keep her volume down.
“The issue is among the servants. I’ve witnessed some appalling behavior between them. ”
“Fights, do you mean?” he asked cautiously.
She shook her head. “No. Not fair ones anyway. I mean mistreatment from senior servants toward those subordinate to them.” She quickly outlined the instances she had witnessed. “Those are all incidents I witnessed myself, just by looking, so there must be more going on out of sight.”
He cursed softly under his breath, and the harsh words had the unexpected effect of making her relax. Leo was clearly taking this as seriously as she had hoped he would.
“What is that man doing?” he growled.
“Do you mean the steward?” she asked carefully.
“I was wondering about the housekeeper myself. I suggested a mistreated maid speak to her, and the girl couldn’t fathom doing so.
At home, our housekeeper meets every new recruit personally and makes sure they know her name and face and that she is the one with primary authority over the servants.
So they all know they can go to her if someone is mistreating them. ”
Leo sighed. “Our housekeeper is a very experienced woman, and she would certainly not condone the behavior you’ve described.
But Mrs. Frost has been suffering from a protracted illness and has been out of commission for at least a couple of months now.
She’s still bed-bound as we speak, unfortunately. ”
“Oh! That explains it, then,” Rose murmured, reconsidering the girls’ words.
But the housekeeper’s illness only explained why the maid couldn’t go to her. It didn’t explain how such a terrible culture had grown up in such a short frame of time. Had it already been lurking under the housekeeper’s eye without the royal family noticing?
They reached the end of the dance floor, and Leo spun them around without faltering, smoothing out his expression for the watching eyes. Rose tried to do the same.
“The problem will have come from the steward,” Leo said grimly. “Unlike Mrs. Frost, he’s new. He came highly recommended, but if this is the culture he builds…” Leo shook his head.
The picture finally came into focus in Rose’s mind.
It had been an unfortunate convergence. The king and queen had stepped down, handing the throne to their oldest son, Leo’s father.
The change of ruler would have initiated a huge change in the workings of the palace, and in the midst of that, the established housekeeper fell ill.
“Did the old steward retire alongside your grandparents?” she asked.
Leo nodded, appearing pleased at her quick understanding. “He’s even older than they are, so he was past due for retirement.”
The decision was understandable from the old steward’s perspective, although it had turned out to be unfortunate timing for the palace. The new steward had brought in a harmful new culture just as the new king and queen were most distracted.
King Frederic and Queen Evangeline’s decision to undertake such a large tour suggested their attention had been focused outside the palace, on the rest of the kingdom.
They must have assumed the palace would continue to function as it always had until they settled into their new roles and could attend to it.
Not that the new steward could be personally and directly responsible for all the poor behavior. But there would always be a few bullies ready to exploit any opportunity given. And the new steward had created that opportunity.
“My parents were excessively busy in the short time between their coronation and leaving on the tour,” Leo said, still spinning them around the dance floor. “But they left me in charge, and I should have noticed.” His face was lined with self-recrimination.
“But you can’t be everywhere at once,” she said quickly, unable to help responding to the suffering on his face. “And I’m sure none of the servants would have behaved that way in your presence.”
She faltered. She certainly didn’t blame him for not seeing it himself, but…
“Is there really no one who would report the situation to you?” she asked hesitantly. “Someone in a position to notice what you cannot?”
Leo grimaced. “The pile of reports on my desk is worryingly high.” He glanced at her and then quickly looked away. “Several urgent matters came up, and I’ve been more distracted than I should have been. It’s quite possible there’s a report on the matter that I haven’t read yet.”
“It sounds like an unfortunate convergence of factors,” Rose said. “And it’s by no means all your fault.”
“But I’m the one who ultimately has authority,” he said. “So, at the end of the day, it is my responsibility.”
Rose pressed her lips together, unhappy. She couldn’t deny the truth of his words, but she hated having caused him so much distress.
When she looked up at him, he was looking down at her, a new light in his eyes. “I didn’t notice, but you did. You’re not even from Lanover, and yet you not only noticed but brought it to my attention. That took courage.”
Rose flushed. “Once I’d seen it, I couldn’t do nothing.”
“No. I can see that,” he murmured, pulling her a little closer than the dance demanded. “And I promise that I’ll do my part now. You can trust me with this.”