“Can we get her autograph, Papa, please?” they whined, jumping from foot to foot.
Too stunned to speak, I grabbed a fountain pen and scrawled my name on their programs.
“You looked just like a princess up there,” the little one whispered to me.
I couldn’t answer. My eyes burned with tears, and I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, all that would come out would be a sob.
“We’ll meet you in the lobby,” the woman said to my father, and she herded the two little girls out behind her.
“Your sisters,” he said tightly once they were gone.
“I gathered.” My voice cracked. “What does your wife think you’re doing back here with me?”
“I don’t keep secrets from my wife. She knows who you are, as does half of town, it seems.” I was surprised to hear him say it. I’d only been vaguely aware of the rumors. “Your status as a particular favorite of Prince Emmett’s has gotten people talking, and because of your clumsy affair, tongues are wagging all over town about your parentage. We lived in peace before your selfish scandal.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“No, but it is your problem.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“You’re going to quit the ballet; you’re going to stop seeing Prince Emmett, and you’re going to enter the season as a respectable debutante and make a suitable match.”
The air left my lungs. I couldn’t stop dancing. The idea of it feltlike dying. “You can’t make me do that.”
“As it happens, I can. You’re looking at the newest patron of the Royal Ballet. As your employer, I’m sorry to inform you that your contract is terminated. My mother will pose as your godmother and sponsor your coming-out in society this spring. I am sorry. It gives me no pleasure to do this.”
Tears had begun to fall at this point and I loathed myself for it. I vowed I’d never let him see me weak. I felt ten years old again, wanting to burn his fancy house to the ground. I felt selfish bitterness toward those sweet girls in the hall who had the same face as me, who got to be children in the way I was never allowed.
“You can’t make me participate. I’ll smash glasses at dinner. I’ll be a wallflower at balls.”
“That is your choice, but know that if you don’t cooperate, you will never see those girls again. Your sisters will want a relationship with you, Faith.”
I’d had no family since Mother died.
“I’ll consider it,” I said.
“I’ll be in touch.” He strode out of my dressing room, leaving me in pieces in his wake, just as he always did.
I took a carriage directly to Kensington Palace and screamed at the guards until they let me in to see Emmett.
As I told him all that my father had said, he paced on his long legs, making big figure eights, Pig nipping at his heels.
“I’m so sorry, Faith,” he said.
I stood and crossed the room to him. “Marry me.”
It was a little satisfying to see Emmett shocked. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to me. “What?”
“Marry me, please, Emmett.”
“Why?”
“Because I know you. I like you. Please don’t leave me to the horrible men of the ton. I can’t bear the thought of being the second wife to some half-alive duke, shuttled off to a country house so my new husband can keep his mistresses in London. Please, Emmett, I can’t bear it.”
I nearly collapsed in his arms, crying, but kept my dignity.
“I can’t.”
