I entered the dining room only once I was ready to face the other debutantes, prepared for an onslaught like last night. I wasn't to be disappointed, as both Sarah and Penelope both leaped up from their seats to rush towards me the moment the footman opened the doors for me. Thankfully, at the opposite end of the room, Xavier had risen, waving me over. I skirted the tables, putting as many obstacles between me and the approaching debutantes as I could.

"You look as white as a ghost," Xavier whispered as he helped me into my chair.

"You have no idea," I whispered back, before turning a forced smile to the rest of the table. Georgina and Annabelle were sitting with us, the rest of the seats vacant.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Sarah said, already pulling out a chair for herself before Annabelle leaned over and rested a hand on it.

"As a matter of fact, we do," she said sweetly, "These seats are spoken for."

"Well I don't see anyone," Penelope sniffed, casting a look around. Only about half of the debutantes and inductees had arrived, the rest trickling in slowly, yawning.

"You wouldn't, would you? What with being so busy trying to befriend my cousin. Do you even remember how you treated her last Season?" Annabelle asked. Sarah and Penelope exchanged a glance before they looked to me beseechingly, but unfortunately I was unable to reply, caught in the middle of a yawn.

"We're trying to be nice!" Sarah protested, but Annabelle rolled her eyes.

"Run along and pretend to be nice somewhere else. We have no need for false friends here," Annabelle said. Penelope turned her nose up and marched away, but Sarah hesitated a moment before following. I felt a stab of pity as they resumed their old seats, stuck at the table where Adelaide was holding court. The willowy blonde was going on about something she clearly thought to be enrapturing while Mary Marquette's eyes were drooping closed.

"I really hate those two," Annabelle said through gritted teeth, before turning her attention to me, "Are you finally going to tell us all about your day yesterday? Because I missed whatever you said at dinner, I was stuck at the table of misery last night."

"I'm sorry for that," I said, but an incredibly chipper Annabelle cut me off.

"Don't worry, it's the princess who's to blame. She organized the tables and shoved me in with Ashley like an afterthought," Annabelle said, "Now stop stalling and tell me!"

So I told her all about the day, glossing over some of the more intimate details. Annabelle didn't need to know that Andrew had fed me from his own fork or had stolen a few kisses with me and she most certainly didn't have to know that I'd crafted my very own nail.

"Ugh, a blacksmith's? How very boring," she said, her face twisting into an expression of disgust, "Perhaps next time you can convince him to take you to a jeweller. Just imagine all the gorgeous necklaces and earbobs he could lavish on you!"

Thankfully I was spared from answering her as the coronets blared to announce the royal family. We stood as one and my hungry eyes turned to seek out Andrew. When he emerged behind his parents, I felt my stomach drop. He looked nearly as sleep-deprived as I had been, a weary look on his face as he took his place at the table.

Unbidden, my mind raced to dozens of different conclusions, ranging from "he had a late night at the embassy" all the way to "he was forced to sign a marriage treaty, just like you'd dreaded." When the rest of the room resumed their seats, I nearly sat down into empty space, my eyes riveted on my prince and not on the chair I'd been aiming for.

"Easy there," Xavier said, catching my elbow and settling me back into place.

"Thank you," I mumbled, unable to look away from Andrew. I willed him to look my way, to give me any sign that things were still all right. Instead, he stared down at the table as he unfolded his napkin, a servant placing his plate of breakfast before him. Not even the food that was deposited on our own table was enough for me to tear my gaze away.

As if the food had reminded him, his head snapped up and his eyes cast around the room, stopping the moment they landed on me. His tense expression melted into a muted version of special smile as he nodded to me. I exhaled a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding, finally able to turn my gaze back towards my own table. I caught cousin Annabelle's eyes first and she waggled her eyebrows at me as she helped herself to some porridge.

"You'll have to learn to control that," she teased, "It's a dead giveaway."

"I think it's wonderful," Georgina put in and I offered her a small smile of thanks. Annabelle shrugged, digging in to her breakfast.

"Have you both picked out your dresses for tonight yet?" Annabelle asked, cutting through the silence that had settled over the table. The two vacant seats hadn't been filled before the royal family had entered, leaving us as a rather quiet trio with chatty Annabelle carrying the conversation.

"Not yet, no," Georgina said, "Although I'm not entirely certain I'll be attending. Father's mentioned something about a naval cotillion he's attending at the fort."

"Well that sounds dreadful," Annabelle groaned, "All those stuffy old men talking of war and boats."

"It's not all old men," Georgina said, darting a quick look at Xavier, but my brother was studiously cutting into his sausages, "Father said they need more women so the unmarried officers will have someone to dance with."

"Well then I stand corrected," Annabelle grinned, "Perhaps I should come too! All those dashing men in uniforms..."

"I think you should come to the ball here with us tonight," I said, stomping on Xavier's foot beneath the table. He choked on his piece of sausage, glaring down at me.

"Don't you agree, Vee?" I prompted him, raising my eyebrows. He frowned.

"If Georgina's father is expecting her to accompany him, I can't very well recommend she disobey him," he said. I shook my head at him in disbelief, but he resumed his meal, oblivious. I took an aggressive bite of my toast to muffle my groan as Georgina's once hopeful eyes turned down into her plate, dejected.

"Besides, Libby, I think you'll be far too distracted to be of any company to us," Xavier said, nodding up towards the head table, "He's hardly taken his eyes off you."

I looked up towards the head table again and sure enough, Andrew was still watching me. When our gazes met again he smiled, but his breakfast sat before him untouched. That tug snapped taut between us and I debated how much of a gamble it would be to march up to him and demand to know why he wasn't eating and why he seemed so unhappy.

"If you two get married, you'd better make me into a duchess no matter who I marry," Annabelle said, grinning as she interrupted my inner debate.

"If we get married, I'm naming you as my queenly ambassador so you can go to all the boring balls and soirees in my stead," I said, making a face at my cousin. She giggled.

"Wouldn't that be wonderful?" she sighed, "To be queen and wear all those lovely dresses and glittering jewels and have everyone curtsey to you?"

"Indeed," I said, my eyes wandering to the opposite end of the head table. The queen's eyes were on me once again, that stony, unreadable expression still on her face. I swallowed my bite of toast, wondering how much of my face-making and toast-chomping she'd witnessed.

We finished our breakfast as Annabelle prattled on about the gossip she'd caught up on at Ashley's table last night. Apparently Dorian Fletcher's father was pushing him to choose a wife, but none of the debutantes had seemed overly interested, not with two princes for the taking. Gertie Roxton was turning out to be much more well-liked than her sister, much to Penelope's chagrin. Ashley guessed that Gertie would win herself a proposal by the end of the Season while Penelope would go on to do her third and last go around before being declared a hopeless spinster.

"Oh and Ashley certainly hates that Adelaide," Annabelle said, as our plates were cleared and we all slid out of our chairs to stand as the royal family took their leave, "She seized every opportunity she could to whine about her last night."

"I don't blame her," I said, watching with gritted teeth as Adelaide tossed her blonde locks, trying to catch Andrew's eye as he left.

"But speaking of people who annoy us..." Annabelle said, her voice dropping to a whisper as she leaned in towards me, "I was hoping you would find it in your heart to have a chat with Ella."

"Why?" I asked defensively, my voice harsher than I'd intended it to be.

"Because she's your cousin," Annabelle shot back, her temper flaring just like mine before she remembered that she was asking me for a favour, "She was quite upset that she wasn't invited to dinner last night. I'm hoping you can reassure her, what with you being so close to the prince now."

"It was an event for debutantes, she shouldn't have been upset. And how does my being close to the prince have anything to do with reassuring her?" I asked, as she linked arms with me to follow the tide of debutantes out of the room.

"Well he is James' closest friend...perhaps you could convince him to ask James what his intentions are," Annabelle said, shrugging nonchalantly as if the idea had just occurred to her. I ground my teeth to keep from spewing the acid that I knew was coming. Ella had kicked me out of the palace last Season because she'd suspected that the prince was interested in me. That very same interest was the only reason she'd gotten close enough to James for them to start courting. She had some nerve to be seeking a favour now and I longed to lash out at Annabelle for even asking.

"I'll think about it," I managed finally. Annabelle smiled, giving my arm a squeeze.

"I knew we could count on you," she said. Something in her tone reminded me of the hunger in her eyes when she'd joked about being named a duchess and I hesitated before I returned her smile. I couldn't help but wonder whether this was the beginning of the endless barrage of requests and favours from family and friends now that I was openly one of Andrew's favourites.