“I don’t know, ma’am,” she replied truthfully.
“Don’t know?”
“I have never served a duchess before.”
“You don’t say,” said the king’s sister with a scoff. “You had better learn quickly. Otherwise, you will not be staying past lunch.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Unless I address you, you are a statue,” continued the duchess, taking on an instructional tone. “All servants of the palace are to be invisible. Not to be seen, heard, or even noticed. Hear me—I do not intend on being made an embarrassment of in my brother’s court.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” The duchess harrumphed again, then strode into her bedchamber to retrieve the fur stole draped over the chair. “What do you think of this?”
“That?” Cinderella stared at the stole and tried not to wrinkle her nose. She might not be knowledgeable about the latest fashions at court, but it didn’t take much of an eye to tell it was the most hideous thing she’d ever seen.
“Out with it, girl.”
“If I may be honest, Your Highness... it is not very flattering on you. I would suggest a simple cape—perhaps an emerald green to match the trimming on your gown—instead.”
Duchess Genevieve’s thin lips curved in surprise. “It isn’t, is it? Funny that Lady Alarna should say it suits me perfectly. Yet that’s the thing with my brother’s court. Everyone says what you want to hear.”
She tossed the stole onto her bed and cast a glance at the clock. “We’ll need an entirely new ensemble, then. If that makes me late for lunch, so be it. My brother can wait. Women are always waiting on men—let it be the other way around for a change.”
Cinderella tilted her head, surprised that the duchess should act so impertinent toward the king. But she didn’t question it. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I should have at least three girls waiting on me,” the duchess said testily as Cinderella helped her select a new outfit. “Short on staff, indeed.” She fluttered her handkerchief at the swarms of maids outside the window skittering across the royal lawn. “What do you thinkthey’reall doing?”
Cinderella wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to answer. “They’re on their way inside, ma’am. To do the dusting, and polishing, and sweeping, and—”
“Heaven knows what else,” the duchess interrupted. “The chandeliers don’t need to be cleaned twice a day, and the windows certainly don’t need to be wiped every hour.” Her gaze swept across her chambers and she crossed her arms. “My deskcoulduse a better dusting, though. You missed a button, girl.”
Cinderella bit her lower lip. It wasn’t like her to be so careless. After years of working under her stepmother’s careful scrutiny, she had learned to be quick yet efficient. Her nerves were failing her.
“Enough,” the duchess said. “I can finish the rest myself. Go away.”
Cinderella blinked. “Pardon?”
“What don’t you understand, girl?” the king’s sister huffed. “I’m off to lunch and I do not want some grubby young girl I’ve barely met scrounging around my chambers, so be off. And I don’t mean wandering off for the rest of the day. I can barely stand longer than an hour’s lunch with George, and I have a perfect internal clock. If you are not back before I’m finished, I will have no choice but to send you back for good.”
Relief flooded Cinderella’s chest. “I see. Yes, ma’am.”
“And if anyone asks whose attendant you are, you are not mine.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
Cinderella had no idea where to go. An hour wasn’t long enough to explore the castle with its maze of hallways, anterooms, and courts.
Deciding it was best not to wander too far, she made her way around the duchess’s wing and stopped before a long hall that housed a gallery of portraits.
To her immediate left was a portrait of the king and duchess as children. Genevieve carried her baby brother in her arms, a half smile perched on her lips as George tugged on her sleeve. In another painting, the two were slightly older, riding the same pony in front of a fountain in the royal gardens. The duchess had a mischievous glint in her eye, and a wide grin Cinderella couldn’t imagine the stern lady wearing now.
Seeing the duchess as a girl of five or six made Cinderella smile.
They looked close, the king and his sister. I wonder what changed.
With a sigh, she progressed down the hall, observing the king growing older with each painting she passed. In the middle of the gallery, a regal young woman appeared by King George’s side.
