Majesty by Katharine McGee

Author:Katharine McGee [McGee, Katharine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

An invitation for Connor, to her wedding with Teddy.

They were two names that didn’t belong in the same sentence. Two very distinct parts of her life, about to collide in a spectacular and fiery crash.

Beatrice’s breath came in short gasps. She didn’t want to think of Connor. She had tried to banish him from her mind ever since that night at Walthorpe, when everything with Teddy had become acutely real. But he was still there, a shadowy figure in the corners of her heart.

She couldn’t help imagining what would happen if she actually sent the invitation. She could almost see the emotions flickering over Connor’s face when he opened it: shock, anger, confusion, and finally a wary uncertainty. He would spend weeks debating whether or not to come, would change his mind a thousand times, and then at the very last minute—right when he’d decided against it—he would race to the airport and make it just in time, wearing his old Guard’s uniform—

And then what? Did she expect him to stand there and watch as she married someone else?

Beatrice stared at her family coat of arms, carved in the heavy stone of the mantelpiece: a pair of horizontal lines surmounted by three stars and a roaring griffin. As everyone knew, the stars and stripes of the Washingtons’ coat of arms had been the original inspiration behind the American flag.

Stamped below the crest were the words of her family motto: FACIMUS QUOD FACIENDUM EST. We do what we must.

Beatrice had always assumed that motto was about the Revolution: that King George I—General George Washington, he’d been then—hadn’t wanted to go to war with Great Britain and lead thousands of men to their deaths, but that independence was worth it. Now, however, the motto seemed to take on a new meaning.

We do what we must, no matter if it means letting go of people we care about. No matter what our choices end up costing.

Beatrice nudged Franklin so that he jumped out of her lap, then leaned down and ran her hand along the bottom of the desk. When she felt a latch, she pulled, and the concealed drawer popped open.

There—in a drawer designed two centuries ago, to hide state secrets—Beatrice now kept a single wedding present, tied with a satin ribbon.

It was from Connor. He’d given it to her the night of her engagement party to Teddy. Beatrice still couldn’t bring herself to open it, yet she couldn’t bear to throw it away, either.

She set the invitation carefully on top of the gift, then shut the drawer with a gentle click.

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