Page 79 of Her Royal Houseguest

Well, there it was. Odd how she felt both warmed and insulted at the same time. After all, her mother had never called her useful before. Everything but useful! So that was heartwarming to finally hear it.

But then came the standard reframe about not embarrassing them. About acting correctly. About performing to everyone else’s expectations.

‘What about not embarrassing Prince Deva when he asks me to dance?’

‘You must make sure he does not ask. Or pretend you misheard. Anything but accept.’

Anna almost dropped her head and agreed. It was second nature to her to be obedient. It had been ingrained since birth to be meek. But her neck would not bend. And the conciliatory words would not come.

‘No.’ The word came out cold and hard. In fact, Anna felt as startled by the word as her mother was.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ her mother snapped. ‘You will—’

‘Not,’ Anna interrupted. ‘I will not obey you, Mother. It turns out that useful Anna has her own opinions. Useful Anna will dance if the prince asks her. And if you are embarrassed by that, then I suggest you don’t watch.’

Her mother’s mouth gaped open and then the woman stiffened. ‘You have changed,’ she said as if she were accusing Anna of murder. ‘And I do not like it!’

‘I have changed,’ Anna said, her voice growing stronger as happiness surged inside her. ‘And I do like it.’

‘I should turn this carriage around right now. I should send you home. Better you miss this than you humiliate us all.’

That was a threat that Anna was all too familiar with. She’d had so many of her Seasons cut short, been sent home so many times that she would usually balk at the threat of being sent away. But it didn’t work this time. Indeed, it would never work again. She’d become happy with herself. Thanks to Prince Deva, she’d begun to value the skills she did have and not mourn the ones she didn’t.

‘You already intend to send me away, Mama. That’s not a threat. As for tonight, you can’t turn back now. You’d miss everything.’

‘You are getting impertinent, miss!’

Oh my. Her mother was very upset now. Was it awful of her to be a little bit pleased by that? ‘It’s been years since I was a “miss”. Isn’t that what you’ve been reminding me these last years?’

‘Well, I never!’ Mama snapped.

And wasn’t that the whole problem? Her mother would never see Anna as a full-grown adult. One who wasn’t cursed or backwards. But that didn’t mean Anna had to view herself in the same way.

‘Well, I have,’ she said, more to herself than her mother.

‘Those foreigners have corrupted you. I should have expected that. All of you are backwards.’

Or maybe Mama could only see in one direction. So to her, everything else was backwards. Anna wanted to push her mother, make the woman see her daughter clearly. But if having two Siamese princes and a monk living in her house hadn’t broadened her horizons, then maybe nothing could. Certainly, Anna had failed at showing her mother she was anything but a rebellious, backwards girl.

In the end, she patted her mother’s knee just like she would a frightened octogenarian. ‘It’s all right, Mama. You’ve done your best with me. No one will fault you for my mistakes.’

‘I suppose that’s true,’ the duchess finally admitted.

‘I’m a woman grown,’ Anna said, her voice triumphant. ‘And I’ll dance with a prince tonight.’

She could hardly wait.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Most men grew tired of protocol. During Siam’s important events, the rituals could go on for days. Enough for the most egotistical man to become bored. But Deva knew the purpose of rituals and in this cold, foreign land, he would take what respect he could get.

He only wished he could wear a shirt. No wonder the English buried themselves in fabric. The weather here was like an old damp cloth. He missed the tropical scents of home.

But England held other advantages, the foremost being surprising women. It was a travesty that he had to travel across the world to find a woman who interested him as no other. He was a man who could bed females whenever he wanted. But he rarely wanted. Beyond his youthful exploration, he had not wanted at all.

Political life had captured his interest. The movement of power and nations. Then he’d come to England and met the confounding Lady Anna. The woman would lose the nose on her face if it wasn’t attached, and yet she had a full-throated love of life despite her lack of focus. She had blossomed into a capable manager of the household now that she was no longer undermined. And that had given her time to become the joyous woman she was.

And, damn it, her joy fascinated him.