"I'm sorry, you're going to have to say that again," Addie intoned, attempting to wrap her head around what Andrew had just said. Emilia came up beside her and squeezed her hand.

"Why don't you sit, Your Highness," Lord Clemonte was kind enough to offer, pulling up one of Lord Trotten's many exquisitely carved chairs. A chair that Addie would sooner smash into a million pieces than sit in demurely.

But, alas, she remembered her place and sat. For all women must play their role once in a while, even if it lacked sincerity. She sat, and they all sat with her.

Lord Trotten's finely furnished parlor room swirled around her as she tried to search out Theo's face. She couldn't find it. She saw him, but she couldn't find his face, for he was too engaged in staring at his hands. She willed him to look up, but he didn't.

"His Royal Highness has asked for your hand in marriage, Adelaide," Andrew repeated.

"My cousin, George?" Adelaide questioned as if there could be anyone else. As though she should have seen this coming.

She was answered by nods around the room.

"By Jove, you've done it, Your Grace!" Lord Clemonte clapped Andrew on the back with a hearty thwack. Andrew showed little reaction toward the felicitation.

"Yes, surely this is a sign of good faith from the monarchy." Lord Farrington smiled and nodded toward Andrew as well.

"He is rather handsome, you know," Lady Humphries added as if Addie wasn't aware of what her cousin looked like. "Quite the gentleman too, if I remember correctly. Nothing like his father."

"Naturally, we would negotiate certain terms of the marriage, such as what your titles and privileges would be as the newly crowned princess and future queen," Andrew stated, matter-of-fact.

Again, nods were seen around the room.

"Yes," Lord Farrington spoke again, "you should retain all the rights you ought to have right now."

"However, this is certainly irregular for a royal to marry another English royal," Lord Clemonte commented.

"Well, this whole situation is highly irregular," Lord Farrington pointed out with a sardonic flick of his wrist.

Lord Clemonte chuckled. "Indeed it is, Farrington."

While one half of the room was chattering on about her upcoming nuptials, the other half was drowning in silence, and finally, one of those members broke it.

"Can we trust them?" Lord Trotten spoke softly.

Addie regarded him with surprise before catching movement to his left. Theo had finally glanced away from his hands and was eyeing Lord Trotten with something akin to...relief? Gratitude?

When no one responded, Lord Trotten spoke again. "Perhaps I should rephrase." He cleared his throat. "We cannot trust them. Believe me, when I ask this question, that it is sincere. How do we guarantee that Adelaide doesn't meet the same fate as her parents and brother?"

Adelaide sucked in her breath and then let it out in a long stream, thankful that he had said it.

"Will," Emilia hissed at Lord Trotten, and it took Addie a moment to realize that it must be his Christian name. "Do have a care."

"No," Addie interjected, "I want to hear what he has to say."

"I know King Ernest better than any of you, even Adelaide, and I wouldn't trust this proposal for a minute."

"You think he would have George renege on his proposal to marry her?" Lady Humphries asked with a frown.

Lord Trotten shook his head. "No, Her Highness would marry into the family. It is what would happen afterward that worries me."

"It does worry me, as well," Andrew spoke up, but kept his head down, unwilling to meet their eyes. "Naturally, I would select my best men to accompany her in her new station and to protect her. Rising to challenges such as this is not without risk."

And then Addie's chest tightened, for the voice that she had been waiting to hear finally spoke.

"But how—" Theo began, demands in his tone, before Andrew cut him off.

"She has a choice, of course. And it is hers to make." Andrew looked directly at Theo for an uncomfortable minute. Theo stared back, meeting the challenge of Andrew's stare before sweeping his gaze to Addie's. It bore deep into her, in a way that literally took her breath away. Because, when their eyes met, all of her anxieties were lifted. This conversation, filled with plans of the future she wasn't sure she wanted, drifted away beneath the warmth of him.

Andrew began to speak again, but she barely heard him, still trapped by Theo's green eyes.

"At the very least, the royal family would like to meet with you, Adelaide. With the public support of the commentaries, it would seem that King Ernest is willing to make some concessions."

"How very good of him," Lord Clemonte said with a skeptic frown.

"It is a start, Clemonte," Lady Humphries said encouragingly, coming up to place a well-meaning hand on his shoulder. However, it was quickly displaced when he shot out of his seat.

"I say, but if Her Highness married into the family, think of what could be accomplished!" Lord Clemonte exclaimed passionately. "And if she refuses, George will run back to Louisa."

"And I say you do not understand!" Lord Trotten jumped out of his chair to meet Lord Clemonte in the middle of the dimly lit room. "Prince George's offer of marriage is simply a tact to mollify the people, and that includes us. It does not mean they will grant her any power, even if it is her right by law. It does not mean they will let her have a voice, even though it is her right as a human. And it certainly does not mean she will influence her uncle to be anything less than the despicable king he is!"

Addie, stunned as she was by Lord Trotten's speech, was able to collect herself just enough before Lord Clemonte found the words he was clearly struggling to locate. She stood.

"My lords," she stated calmly, "I am grateful for your support and your strong feelings on the matter. Truly I am. What I am hearing is that my aunt and uncle desire to take a step toward peace, even if only in appearances. If we were to grant them that in the form of a betrothal and subsequent marriage, we could make demands in return for my hand. We would not expect any changes to the monarchy by my influence, but instead the act of marriage would serve as a negotiation tool."

Silence greeted her words as they were considered around the room.

"If they want the marriage to mollify the public, then there will be conditions," she stated when no one said a word.

"If we ask for too much, it is possible they will refuse," Lord Clemonte pointed out.

The voice that spoke out next surprised Addie.

"Then they will get no peace. And they will be sorry for it," Emilia said, her strength lending itself to Addie's just when she needed it most.

"Sorry, indeed." Lord Trotten nodded, his gaze full of warmth and pride as he gazed at Addie and Emilia, although Addie was sure that his eyes were entirely for the woman to her left.

Andrew, who had been smiling softly in the corner, stepped forward then. He continued their meeting and discussed which issues they wished to target in the negotiations. After that was decided, Andrew adjourned the conference with a few simple words. He sought Addie out, reaching toward her before dropping his arm at the last minute, stopping the touch from occurring.

"Adelaide. You must know that this is still a choice for you. You can reject the proposal."

"But can I?" she questioned, her eyes flitting around the room to those that depended on her.

"Yes," he said sincerely, "you can." And then he walked away, leaving Addie to dwell in her mixed emotions of despair and hope. She yearned to be brave for her country: to walk straight into the life she had been destined for, to fight for the inequalities, to fight for her place on the throne. Even before her parents and brother had passed, she'd never had hopes of a love match for marriage. She would have been arranged to marry one prince or another.

It made sense that Addie should marry George. It was a logical solution.

But now she loved a man and couldn't imagine marriage to another.

Addie searched the room now for that man. The one who had been quiet throughout the entire night, save for a few words that were abruptly and devastatingly cut off. Devastatingly, because she would never know what he would have said. She scanned for the man that now she knew for sure she loved. Now, when that love became impossible to have.

But Theodore Shepard was nowhere to be found.