“Love, sit yerself down,” Adelaide commanded, authority rising from her graceful frame. “How I came by it must remain my secret, but I will tell you it is a very special piece. Been in me care for, well, quite a time. Please, sit. It will look lovely atop your dark hair.”
Shaking, Corina refused, hands clasped at her waist. “I cannotwear a tiara. I’m going to a movie premier with aprince. What will people think?”
“That you are a princess.” Adelaide perched the tiara delicately on her fingertips.
Corina jumped to her feet, backing away from Adelaide. “I demand to know what you know.”
“I know what you know.” Adelaide gently grasped Corina’s hand, drawing her back to the edge of the bed.
“About me and Stephen?”
Adelaide nodded. “’Tis me job.”
“I don’t know how or why you know, but if you do, all the more reason you cannot ask me to wear a tiara tonight. And if you know royal history, then you must know royal protocol. ‘A woman in the company of the prince cannot wear a crown or tiara unless she has her own peerage, or has been given such by the House of Stratton.’ Adelaide, I do not haveanypeerage.” How she remembered this protocol, Corina would never know. The words just came rushing out as a valid and perfect argument.
Adelaide examined the tiara, then settled it on Corina’s head. “Brighton Kingdom is not the only kingdom to hand out peerages. A princess should wear her crown.”
“Someone in the King’s Office told you, right? Or the archbishop?” Corina said, wincing as Adelaide settled the crown on her head. She’d worn diamond tiaras before—for her sixteenth birthday party, for her debut. But never in the company of a true prince. “Are you from theMadeline & Hyacinth Live!show?”
Adelaide sighed. “Will you stop? I’m neither with a movie nor television show. Mercy, you’ve stories as if from fairyland. Why not ask if I’m your guardian angel? There . . .” Adelaide stepped back, smiling, looking pleased. “This was fashioned for Queen Magdalena by King Stephen I.”
Corina leaned to see in the mirror. “Adelaide, how did you get this? It belongs to the royal family. I cannot possibly wear it.” All of the Del Rey wealth could not replace such a priceless heirloom.
“The crown belongs to the Manor.”
“What? H–how is that possible?”
“Because I am the keeper of the Manor.” Her eyes twinkled. “When you entered the land, so did we. Therefore, the tiara.”
“We? Who’s we?” Corina’s spirit churned as if on fire.
“Well, Brill and me.” Adelaide adjusted the tiara one last time with careful precision, her pink tongue tucked against the side of her mouth. “There now . . . Beautiful. A true princess crown. As beautiful as Magdalena, I say.”
Corina’s eyes met Adelaide’s, the moment sublime but ever so real. “How many have worn this tiara?” The light beaming through the diamonds nearly mesmerized Corina. In this moment, she was a princess.
“One.” Adelaide brushed her hand over Corina’s skirt, then gazed into her eyes. “And now you. Do you have your pouch, or whatever you young women call it today?”
“Pouch?” Corina laughed, feeling free, rather regal under the tiara. “Do you mean clutch?” Corina held up the beaded purse.
“Clutch, yes.” Adelaide pressed her hand to her forehead. “I can never remember.” Leading the way down the stairs, the proprietress waved Corina out the door along with Brill, who stood stiff and formal, chin tucked to his chest, all the while smiling.
“Have a good time, miss.”
“I will. Thank you for everything.” Corina paused at the door and pointed at her crown. “Are you sure this tiara works?”
“Love, indeed. The tiara works.”
Stephen stepped out of the limousine, gazing over the rough-hewn inn tucked between the iconic, legendary department stores.
The Manor.
Last night when he rode in the car with Corina back to the Manor, she’d been proven right.
There was an establishment tucked between the twin department stores. There was no missing it. Though the royal chauffeur drove right past, three times, claiming he saw nothing but an alleyway. Stephen recommended he see an eye physician at once.
But he had no more time to ponder. Corina came through the door into the evening light. Stephen drew up straight, gobsmacked by her beauty. A force he’d never deny she possessed.
All day he debated this outing. Even after he texted her. His intent was not to draw near to her but to end their relationship. Yet whenever she was around, she chipped away at his resolve. He became weak and double-minded.
