I never told Monty what I told Edwina.
Somehow he already knew.
“Is my presence not a significant difference as well?” asks the human woman beside me. Monty’s sister smiles wide over the teacup she holds in her hand, her gaze volleying between us. “I’d love to hear about the tour you managed together. I only read about it from that interview you did in theGazetteall those months ago.”
Monty chokes on his own sip of tea, his cheeks going crimson. “You read that?”
“Of course I did. It sounds like the tour was rather lively.” Angela Phillips gives a proud nod, not an ounce of teasing on her face. Then she angles herself toward me. “I hope he wasn’t too much of a pest. He can be a lot to deal with.”
My pulse spikes as it always does when I’m getting used to conversing with someone I don’t yet know. Especially someone like Angela, who is as well-dressed as she is well-spoken. She’s outfitted in a gown of navy taffeta and a matching hat, her light-brown curls styled expertly beneath it. Meanwhile, I’m dressed in my usual work attire—trousers, blouse, waistcoat—and hardly bothered to do more with my hair than tuck the ends behind my ears.
But the sight of Monty across the table steadies my nerves. He’s dressed as casually as I am, not a hint of his aristocratic upbringing on display.
My lips curl into a taunting smirk. “Pest is certainly a word for Monty, though I can think of several more apt terms.”
His nostrils flare and he gives my foot a playful kick under the table.
Before Angela joined us at the station today, he asked me not to bring up any inappropriate topics in front of his sister that involve him. “She knows I’m a careless rake,” he said, “but she doesn’t need to know to what extent. Particularly about myAsk Gladyscolumn.”
While I’m bound to keep my promise and am charmed by how protective he is of her, I can still make him squirm a little.
“Will you be able to see your friends while we’re in the Star Court?” Angela asks. “The author and the actor? They live in Lumenas, don’t they?”
I beam at Monty, eagerly anticipating his answer. Edwina and William recently purchased an apartment in downtown Lumenas, which is in the same court we’ll be in. However, their city is in the far north while we’ll be in the south, so the chances that we can meet with them over the busy weekend are slim.
“Unfortunately,” Monty says, crushing my hopes at once, “neither is home. William is currently touring the isle in support of his new stage play and Edwina is traveling with him while she pens her newest book. I sent them a telegram just to be sure.”
My shoulders sink. “The four of us should make plans to reunite. We haven’t been together in the same room even once since you were an—” I clear my throat before I can sayasshole. “Since you were apestto me.”
Angela’s mouth falls open. “Did the two of you have a falling-out? I swear, my brother cannot maintain friendships for the life of him. Did you know Thorne Blackwood is the only person who’s been able to tolerate Monty long-term? Aside from me, of course. Thorne and Monty have been friends since they were children. Father was always encouraging Monty to make friends, but my brother didn’t give anyone the time of day until he met Thorne. Good thing Papa went into business with Thorne’s father or the boys never would have met.”
I train my expression into a look of casual interest, though I’m more curious about the complete lack of vitriol in her voice when she mentions their father. Monty has made his disdain clear, but Angela doesn’t seem to share his feelings.
She continues. “But even Thorne kept his distance from Monty for a time. They seem much closer now, but my brother went through this moody phase where he lost all his friends. Even Cosette?—”
“Please, do not bring up Cosette.” Monty’s tone is firm. It’s the first time I’ve heard him use such a voice with Angela thus far.
She lowers her teacup, her posture dejected. “You never told me what happened with her.”
“She hasn’t tried to correspond with you, has she?”
“No,” Angela says with a pout.
“Good. You have better friends than her now. Pay her no heed, even in memory.”
Tension radiates off Monty, and I can’t help wondering if Cosette is the first love he told me about. He never mentioned she was once friends with his sister, only that he had known her a long time.
Angela heaves a sigh. “Very well. I won’t speak ofher, but I am glad you at least made up with Thorne. Who would have guessed you’d become better friends after he fell in love with your fiancée?”
“Fiancée,” I echo. “We’re going to the wedding of your former fiancée?” My mind reels over this information. If this woman named Cosette isn’t his first love, then could the bride be? He told me she left him for someone else. Could she have left him for hisbest friend? Anger and annoyance writhe within me, though I’m not sure who I’m angrier at—Monty for not explaining this beforehand or the bride I’m going to meet.
“Did he not tell you?” Angela asks. “It was quite a big deal. His engagement to the princess was supposed to make the Phillipses part of the royal family. That’s why Father was so angry when Monty refused to marry her and she ended up falling in love with Thorne instead.”
“A princess?” I blink at her, trying to paint more comprehension onto an already messy canvas. I cut a glare across the table. “You’re taking me to a royal wedding? What the fuck, Monty? Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
Several pairs of eyes shoot our way from nearby tables, but I’m too flustered to care.
Monty holds out his hands in a placating gesture. “She’s not a princess anymore. She left her royal family—who are no longer royals, by the way—as did Thorne.”
