“Half charming, half baffling. Fully an adventure.”
His quiet chuckle was nearly lost in the clop of hooves. “Silas enjoys catching people off guard. He’s good conversation, if you can appreciate that he always speaks his true opinion.”
“He mentioned you talked about me.”
“I . . .”
She gave a mischievous smile, hoping she made him blush. “It’s only fair, since we’ve spoken of him as well.”
“Not in the same manner, I assure you.”
She bit her lip. While she considered another way to tease him, he spoke first, with more solemnity than before.
“I wish you could have met my father. That would have been the full measure of my social circle.”
Me too. She stopped herself before speaking; Marcus Reeves had been a part of court. She’d surely interacted with him at some point, if she could only remember it.
Aria cast her mind back, searching for any memory.
They left Sutton behind and entered open country, where the nighttime air rustled with the sounds of hidden animals and an occasional light gust of air through the grass. A memory stirred with the breeze.
“You said your father never wore gloves.”
Baron turned toward her, his expression outlined by the dim light of hope.
She nodded, certain now. “I remember the lord without gloves. He attended my twelfth birthday. There was a receiving line, where I was supposed to talk to every lord and lady, since it was my official entrance to society. He shook my hand, and his was the warmest handshake in all of court.”
It was a simple thing—knowing Aria really had met his father, that sherememberedhim—and it should not have truly mattered.
But it did.
Baron cleared his throat, trying to remove the emotion, but it remained lodged.
“You would have been with him, right?” Aria gave a quiet puff of air that sounded embarrassed. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you.”
“That would have been the year I first went to Fairfax, so no. And I’m sorry to have missed your birthday.”
“Oh, all you missed was a scandal. My most public and humiliating.”
Baron’s eyebrows shot up. “Do tell.”
She groaned. “Your father shook my hand, and he said my name was ‘a wonderful break from tradition.’ I see now he must have meant it earnestly, considering your name, but I’d had a bad morning. My parents had been ... fighting.” She shook her head. “Anyway, the lady behind your father in line leaned forward to add, ‘The princess is as lovely to the eyes as her namesake is to the ears.’ All wonderful things. Truly, everyone treated me wonderfully.”
After an extended pause, Baron prompted, “And then?”
“My mother loves music, you understand, and her talent crosses two countries. The arias she composes are sung both here and in Patriamere.”
Her voice had grown strangled, so even though Baron burned with curiosity, he did the respectable thing and said, “You don’t have to speak of it if—”
“Out loud,veryloudly, I told the entire court, ‘Mother named me after the only thing she’s ever loved.’”
“Ah,” Baron said, wincing on her behalf.
“I never even apologized. We all just stood there awkwardly, and then the line continued, everyone pretending it hadn’t happened. But I heard everyone whispering the rest of the evening.”
Baron gave a sympathetic smile. “If I attempted to count the number of times I’ve regretted words to my father, it would be a quick path to unhappiness. We all have bad days. We all say things we don’t mean, or mean only for the moment it takes to say them.” He waved his hand. “Look at the twins. They would die for each other, but you wouldn’t know it by the insults.”
“That’s understandable,” Aria said. “They’re ...”
