Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Author:Jessica Day George
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical
ISBN: 9781599907727
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Published: 2008-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

First night

Rose had been certain that her sisters would behave in a most embarrassing fashion at dinner, but she needn’t have worried. While several of them thought it desperately romantic that Galen was risking his life to save them, Anne’s arrest and their own impending investigation weighed too heavily on their hearts for them to do any teasing. And there was also the presence of Bishop Angier, the archbishop’s emissary, to add to the seriousness of the situation.

Even though this was supposed to be a private family dinner, Angier had included himself, sitting at the foot of the table like a dark cloud. Galen did not try to make conversation, but ate calmly and didn’t seem to notice Angier’s presence. Rose was relieved to see that Galen had excellent table manners: she hadn’t wanted him to embarrass himself in front of Jonquil and Daisy, who were both very critical of such things.

Finally the silence got to the bishop.

“Do you risk your immortal soul, young man?” Angier had a rasping voice, and a look of malevolent glee contorted his face. He appeared delighted at the thought that Galen might be facing down damnation.

“No, Your Excellency,” Galen said. “I don’t believe so.”

“You have come into a house where sorcery is practiced. Does that not frighten you?” The bishop pursed his thick lips. He was a large man without a single hair on his head. Rose thought he looked like uncooked dough. “It should frighten any God-fearing man.”

“I believe that the princesses are innocent,” Galen said calmly. “And I am merely here to discover what ill fortune is plaguing them.”

Rose marveled at his self-control. She was shredding a roll into tiny bits and doing her best not to shout something rude at Bishop Angier.

Across the table from her, Galen went on. “And with Your Excellency’s watchful presence here, I didn’t think that my soul could be endangered.”

Galen caught Rose’s eye and smiled.

“Do you smile, sir?” Angier was indignant. “Smile in the face of the horrors that have gone on here?”

This wiped the amused expressions off everyone’s faces. Pansy started to cry, and Petunia dropped her glass and spilled lemonade all over the white tablecloth.

“Your Excellency!” King Gregor flushed red. “There is no need for such talk in front of my daughters! They are too young to understand—”

“They are not too young to perpetrate these atrocities,” the bishop interrupted. Then he corrected himself quickly. “I mean, they are not too young to have been influenced by that governess’s terrible ways.”

Rose stiffened. She knew that poor Anne was being used as a scapegoat in this, but Angier made it obvious that his goal was to defame her family. She wished that he would leave Anne alone and confront her father like a man.

“With all respect, Your Excellency,” Galen said in a mild voice, “the only thing you can prove the princesses are guilty of is wearing out their shoes too often. None of the princes who have died in recent months met their fate on Westfalian soil.

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