Page 39 of A Touch of Charm
That made him laugh. “I am from a very large family. We have members scattered throughout Europe.”
“And you miss them.”
“Every single day.”
“I’m from a large family, too. Two branches, even. It’s exhausting to keep the names in mind sometimes.”
Andre chuckled. “I don’t think I even met most of my extended cousins.”
“Parents never forget their children. My mother always followed our lessons and holiday schedules and attended our music recitals.”
“And your father?” Andre asked.
Thea sighed. “He didn’t forget either, but it was different. He always had expectations that we feared to fall short of. None of us wanted to disappoint him.”
“I doubt you could ever disappoint anyone.”
Thea’s smile faltered. “If I don’t marry whom Father chose for me, I’m afraid I’d disappoint him so gravely that he’d never recover.”
“Doesn’t he merely want what’s best for you?” Andre seemed ignorant of the dynastic responsibilities of a princess.
“He wants to use me for what is best for the kingdom. That’s not the same.”
“Isn’t that the same as what Stan is working to achieve?”
“And if he achieves it after I marry—and I am not saying I will marry Prince Ralph—then I sacrificed my happiness for naught.” She balled her fists. “I always do what’s expected. I am satisfied with every element of what the only princess of Transylvania ought to do, and then I do some more. But every time my father looks at me, he grimaces with pain because I fall short in the one way that counts for him—marriage.”
“That’s so difficult,” Andre said with a frown.
“It’s inevitable. That’s why I’m hiding.
“And yet you can’t wait indefinitely or prolong the engagement?”
“No engagement happened. I am promised to him, but I’ve never agreed to any of it. I’ve never even met him since I was three.”
“Don’t you wish to—”
“No! I… there’s someone else I—” She stopped mid-sentence and blinked profusely, even though they were walking along a shadowy path.
“Someone else caught your affection?”
If only you knew…
“Yes, I think he’s caught my heart.” Her eyes locked with his, and he swallowed hard.
“That man is incredibly lucky.”
Chapter Fifteen
When Mary camebetween Thea and Andre, he wandered away in thought. He seemed consumed by something that held him back, needing to cool his mind for some reason Thea couldn’t guess.
“Let’s not go back to conjugating verbs, Thea,” Mary pleaded when their break had ended longer than Thea had planned. “I want to do something exciting!”
“Isn’t it exciting to learn to converse like a lady?” Thea gave a superciliary glance, suspecting Mary felt about the answer just as she had as a child. Few things were more boring to a little girl than Latin grammar.
But Mary’s long and heartfelt groan response made her laugh. It was true, even if Thea would have expressed it differently than Mary. A lady in England was expected to converse about topics ranging from the dull to the mundane when in polite society.
The life of a princess wasn’t like fairy tales made it out; the pomp and luxury had felt more constricting for Thea than a privilege. Her most important duty was to obey her father.
