The Princess and the Peer by Warren Tracy Anne

Author:Warren, Tracy Anne [Warren, Tracy Anne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical
ISBN: 9781101580202
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2012-04-03T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“Emma has written again!” Ariadne declared three weeks later from where she sat near a window in her bedchamber.

Subdued afternoon sunlight shone through the narrow Gothic-style glass panes, additional illumination provided by the lighted candles she had placed in strategic locations throughout the room. A fire burned at a healthy pace inside the wide stone grate, the flames driving some of the early-November chill from the room. A woven wool rug and draperies in shades of starry blue and forest green helped to warm the room as well, lessening the austerity of the stone chamber.

“Oh good, what does she have to say?” Mercedes closed the door behind her and hurried across the room, lowering herself into a nearby chair. “Is she still in London?”

Ariadne pushed her spectacles more securely upward along her nose, then bent her head over the missive. She scanned the contents, deciphering Emma’s narrow flowing script without difficulty.

“Yes, she’s still there.” She continued reading. “But she’s not staying where she was when last she wrote. No! She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t, couldn’t what?” Mercedes asked, leaning forward with her elbows bent atop her knees in a most unregal manner.

“Gone back.” A sense of deflation ripped through Ariadne as if she were a balloon that had just received a good sharp stab with a pin. “Emma’s returned to the estate. Apparently her brother has arrived at long last.”

A moment of silence fell as Mercedes mulled over the news. “Well, that’s good, is it not?” she ventured tentatively. “Being at odds with one’s family is never easy.”

Another silence ensued; a light wind took the opportunity to fill the void by rattling the window frame.

“Was the prince very displeased that Emma left without permission?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ariadne leaped to her feet, unable to contain her hiss of disapproval. “She escaped. She ought to have at least used her defection to some advantage before turning tail and slinking back. Here, you take this.” She thrust out the letter. “I cannot bear to read further.”

Mercedes regarded her with the wide-eyed, forbearing expression she adopted whenever Ariadne was in one of her so-called tempers before accepting the missive.

Ariadne strode to the fireplace, her pale lavender skirts swinging with each step. Silently, she drew to a halt and gazed at the red-tongued flames licking the stone sides of the blackened grate.

“Shall I read on?” Mercedes inquired.

Ariadne waved a hand without turning.

Mercedes apparently took the gesture as one of agreement. “She returned almost a month ago. Prince Rupert huffed and puffed and threatened to punish her at first, but he has since forgiven her. She says she was staying with Mrs. Brown-Jones the entire time.” She paused and looked up. “We ought to have thought of her immediately, now that I think on it.”

Mercedes raised a fingertip to her mouth and chewed the edge of her nail for a few seconds. “But if that were the case, why did Emma not just tell us where she was? Why all the secrecy?”

“Because she wasn’t staying with our old teacher, if I don’t miss my guess.

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