I press my lips together. “She’s friendly and easy going.”
“Friendly and easy going? My dear boy, she’s absolutely extraordinary. I’d marry her in a flash, before she gets away, if I were you.”
I blink at Lady Letizia like I’m some sort of owl. Is she the one person in the country who doesn’t know that Astrid and I are engaged?
“It’s all arranged, Lady Letizia. Princess Astrid and I are to be married,” I explain.
“Oh, of course I know that,” she says with a flick of her wrist. She throws me a satisfied smile. “The marble is showing cracks, my boy.”
“The marble?”
“You,” she says plainly. “I’ve had many dinners with you here at the palace, and I’ve never once seen you so taken with a young woman.” She leans in closer and speaks in hushed tones. “I know why you’re marrying. I know this isn’t a love match.”
“Lady Letizia?—"
She cuts me off with a raise of her hand. “The referendum, Elkevik’s energy deal fiasco. It’s obvious to me what your family is trying to do here.”
I worry my lip. Of course she’s absolutely right, but the last thing I want is for anyone to think this is an arranged marriage, yet another way in which my family has made major life decisions for me.
She pats my hand. “Your secret’s safe with me, my boy. Besides, you’re quite clearly enamoured with your northern Princess. I imagine you’ll be in love before the month is out.”
I almost choke on my mouthful. Is she drunk? Or senile? Orboth? It’s already June 12th. By my calculation, that leaves a mere eighteen days for me to supposedly fall in love with Astrid.
How utterly preposterous.
“Lady Letizia, with all due respect, she just arrived in the palace this morning, and?—”
“And?”
“And people don’t fall in love in just two weeks. That’s not how it works.”
Lady Letizia gives me a knowing smile. “I fell in love with my late husband in approximately twenty-two seconds. Of course, I didn’t tell him for weeks, but the falling? Well, that was instantaneous.”
I open my mouth to respond, but I have no idea what to say.
This is becoming a habit.
Instead, I turn to look at Astrid once more. She’s laughing at something my father is saying, and her whole face is lit up with genuine joy.
Right on cue, my chest does that odd thing it does around her once more.
Another new habit, it would seem.
She catches my eye and gives me a smile, and I find myself smiling back at her.
“See?” Lady Letizia murmurs.
“I’m simply observing my future wife.”
All Lady Letizia does is shoot me a knowing smile once more.
After dinner, as the guests mingle in the Blue Drawing Room I find Astrid.
“Surviving?” I ask.
Her face lights up in a way that does absolutely nothing for my composure. “Everyone is so lovely, Fred, although I think I’ve accidentally promised to visit Lady Letizia’s horses this week. I hope that’s okay?”
“We’ll see if you can fit it into the schedule. We have wedding planning to attend to and engagement photographs, as well as meet and greets with various dignitaries.”
