A Royal Kiss and Tell

“Well. Don’t take any of my maids,” Pennybacker said, and laughed heartily. Leo forced himself to laugh, too.

After he’d greeted a decidedly standoffish Lady Pennybacker, and they’d been announced into the ballroom, Caroline was pulled away by three ladies, all wanting to admire her gown. Leo stood alone in that crowded room, marveling at how studiously everyone avoided him. Before the royal wedding, he’d been swarmed with people wanting introductions at events like this. Tonight, he received several curious looks, but no one approached him. He was a pariah.

Soon the dancing was in full swing and Leo caught up to Caroline and asked her to dance.

“I should be delighted,” she said. “Everyone is looking at us, so don’t look around to see if they are.”

“I won’t,” he said with a fond smile for her. He wanted to ask her what she meant about finding another Weslorian, but he wanted to dance with her more, to experience the feel of her in his arms with music sweeping them and their mutual esteem along. He bowed to her before taking her hand and stepping into a waltz. As they moved, he looked into her eyes. He didn’t care who looked at them.

“You are a fine dancer, Prince Leopold,” she said. “I suspected you would be.”

“So are you, madam.”

“You really shouldn’t look at me like that.”

“I shouldn’t look at you with adoration?”

Her eyes sparkled more. “Is that what it is? No, you really mustn’t. Tongues will wag and ladies will smolder with resentment. We can’t have them smoldering.”

“Let them, I don’t care.”

She laughed. “They will all wonder if you’ve seduced me. If I have been taken in by your princely charms and spurned all others for you. They will wonder if you are seducing me even now, with your eyes.”

“I’m trying,” he said. “How do I fare?”

“Very well, indeed.” Her smile suddenly dulled. “Oh, Leopold. You may think me mad for saying it, but I will miss you so when you...when it’s over.”

He twirled her around, pulling her a little closer into his body. “I will miss you, too, Caroline. Words fail me to convey just how much.”

“I’ve never known anyone like you, really. Well, your brother, of course. And Eliza is a bit like you, sort of careless and carefree. But really, no one like you, and I’m certain I never will again. That makes me unpardonably sad.”

He sighed and squeezed her hand. “And I have never known anyone like you. You’re rather incomparable, madam.”

Her smile returned. “That is exactly the sort of flattery I adore.”

“That is exactly what I love about you.” Her eyes were locked on his, and she tried to keep her smile, but as they twirled around that dance floor, it was as if all the unspoken words and promises between them were swirling, too. It felt like they were on a tiny planet of two, spinning around and around on their own special axis.

But as the dance drew to a close, Caroline’s eyes glistened in a darker way. “We’re star-crossed, aren’t we? Why couldn’t it have been us?”

He didn’t ask what she meant; he understood. Why could it not have been the two of them to meet and perhaps marry?

“More than anything, I wish it could have been us,” he admitted.

The song ended. She stepped back and curtsied, then walked away from him. She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Lord Ainsley intercepted her, and after a brief exchange, she returned to the dance floor and disappeared into the crowd of dancers.

Leo needed air. But as he was walking out of the ballroom, Hollis caught him.

“There you are!” she said brightly. She linked her arm through his, and when he looked down at her hand on his arm, she said, “We are practically brother and sister. I’ve said so to nearly everyone, so they won’t think the least about us strolling along. Now, then, Highness, everyone is watching you and Caroline—she’s terribly good at drawing attention, isn’t she? She’s drawing attention right now, as it happens, dancing with Viscount Ainsley, and drawing the ire of the Peacock, who thinks his offer for her is imminent. It will keep everyone’s attention for a time. In the meantime, I have found your friend.”

“My friend?” he asked, momentarily confused, thinking she meant Beck.

“Your friend,” she said again, looking up at him. “She’s running about with towels for the retiring room and I know precisely where to find her, so if you will come with me?”

“Hollis... I don’t want you to get involved,” he said as she led him down the hallway before turning into another hallway.

“I am involved. Do you think I haven’t talked to my guests? Smile, Your Highness! You look far too serious. People will suspect you’re up to something or have received terrible news.”

Leo forced a smile for her.