Page 59 of Her Royal Houseguest

She smiled as she took his arm and gently lowered it. ‘You offer a lady your arm this way,’ she said. ‘Not like you’re about to bruise my cheek.’

Oh. ‘My apologies.’

‘No need to apologise. You didn’t know before. Now you do.’

‘Thank you for teaching me.’

They began to walk together, he measuring his steps to hers. This was a bizarre thing for him, adjusting his movements to a woman’s. Though he’d had to do that often as a boy, once he became a full prince of Siam, the women—even the most powerful ones—always adjusted to him.

‘You are well, then?’ he abruptly asked. ‘The difference is good?’

She squeezed his arm. ‘Oh yes. Very good.’

‘Excellent. Now tell me about your curse. We lost track of it yesterday.’

She took a moment before speaking. ‘Yes, we did.’

‘On purpose?’

She shrugged. ‘Maybe. Yes.’

‘I will not think less of you. On this I swear. But I will have the details.’

‘There are no details,’ she said. ‘I’m clumsy. I’m awkward. Misfortune follows me.’

‘I have not seen evidence of this.’

‘That’s because I’ve spent my entire life hiding it.’

Then she paused along the path to look at him directly. He could see anxiety in her eyes.

‘I prefer using my left hand. If I had my choice, I would write with my left hand, step with my left foot. Which means I am backwards.’ She shuddered as she repeated it. ‘I’m backwards. And I always have been so.’

Chapter Nineteen

Anna felt her insides twist with shame. She hid her backwardness as much as possible. She never spoke of it. And yet, after what they had shared yesterday, she wanted to tell him the truth of herself. Especially since her odd nature was likely the reason she had enjoyed what they’d done yesterday.

She knew little of sex beyond the basics, learned mostly from living in the country. She could not imagine that other women enjoyed the backwards nature of what they’d done. Procreation could not occur from that. Indeed, she was still a virgin!

But she had enjoyed it. Indeed, she ached to do it again. So she was backwards and he deserved to know that. But it was hard to look him in the eye and confess her shame.

She saw his eyes widen. Most people looked at her left hand when told, as if the limb was deformed in some way. It wasn’t but it didn’t change the truth.

She looked away from him as she explained. ‘Most people correct it when a child is young but our nurse didn’t know about such things. The new nurse began teaching me to hide it. She said if it had been caught early, I could have turned myself around.’

She felt his hand on her cheek, caressing gently downward until he tugged her chin up.

‘My country has many beliefs that an educated man would disdain. Ghosts, evil fairies, eyes that can curse.’

She swallowed. She had heard of all of them.

‘But this curse of yours is no curse.’

‘What?’

‘Is the right hand of Buddha more blessed than the left? No, it is not.’

Gratitude welled up in her. It was kind of him to be so gentle about this. ‘I don’t believe it’s a curse like you think. That someone cast an evil spell on me as a baby. But some people are born with handicaps. Some are misshapen, some cannot talk or think.’ She shrugged. ‘I am backwards. And what’s worse, my children may be equally cursed.’