Page 31 of The Prince Falls First
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 doubtthat. 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 ‘Lady’s maid’ is an outdated term—we’re in the 1970s afterall!—but it essentially means that you’re part of my core staff.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 nosugar. 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.
