Violet Bridgerton stood eyeing a table of refreshments in the drawing room, a small frown on her face. “Do you think we shall need more biscuits?” she finally asked.

“I, for one, think you can never have too many of a good thing!” Gale answered. He reached over to sneak a bisquit off the tray, but his hadn stopped the moment he saw the glower on Violet’s face.

“I should think you could,” Eloise said, looking at the tray with a bit of concern. “Did you invite the whole of the ton to call this morning?”

“We want to make sure we have enough,” her mother answered, dutifully rearranging the biscuits so there would be room for more. “After all, it would be horribly rude for us not to provide refreshments for your multitude of callers.” Violet waved a servant over, gesturing to the now-empty spot. With a quick nod, he headed off, no instruction needed.

“Yes, clearly we cannot be rude to our myriad of callers,” Eloise said, gesturing to the empty room. “Mother, I know your intentions are meaningful, but I danced with one man the entire night! And, if you’ll remember, it was under duress!”

“And I’m so sorry to have to put you through that,” Violet answered with a twinkle in her eye that signified that she was anything but sorry. “However, you must consider that it would be unfavorably rude to refuse a dance on your debut. And while you may not have danced with many men, that does not mean that they did not take notice. Consider your sister, dear. After the first night, she danced with Simon, we could hardly fit all the flowers she received into the room!”

Eloise slumped onto the couch, seeming to tire of the exchange. Gale could hardly blame her. He’d only been here a few days, and already he could tell that neither Violet or Eloise tended to be the sort of person who lost arguments. He, of course, had already lost an argument with them both. “Yes, but Simon is a Duke. Lord Spalding is hardly more than a ‘Mister.’ I don’t think people are going to be envious of him in the same manner.”

The servant returned with an additional tray of biscuits and Violet took them from him, dutifully placing them individually on the large serving platter. “I’m glad your one year of watching the marriage market from the sidelines has turned you into quite the expert,” she quipped.

“And reading Lady Whistledown,” Eloise reminded her. “Reading her work is exactly like being an omnipotent observer of the ball. And she didn’t even mention me!”

“Only because the princess is in town, dear. Even Lady Whistledown knows that she can’t upstage her, isn’t that right, Miss Featherington?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Gale stopped looking at the mildly precarious tray of biscuits and turned to the entrance to the drawing room. In the doorway stood Penelope. She was again in a yellow dress that paled out her features far too much, but her face flushed when Violet caught her lurking. He felt his lips pulling into an automatic smile as her eyes met his momentarily, then flipped to Violet’s before she gave a little curtsey. “My apologies, ma’am. I did not mean to eavesdrop.”

“Nonsense,” Violet said, gesturing for Penelope to take a seat on one of the daybeds. “You know you’re as welcome in this house as my children.” Her eyes flicked between Penelope and Gale, as though calculating each other’s reaction. “I see you two have met?” she asked after a moment.

Penelope nodded vigorously. “We met at the ball.”

“I was around the snack table when she happened to arrive, and we struck up a conversation.”

“Ahh, I see,” Violet said quietly, although Gale wasn’t sure exactly what it was she saw.

Regardless, Gale turned back to Penelope and gave her a small bow. “It’s nice to see you again. I was unaware that you were so close with my sister.”

“Lady Bridgerton has been quite kind to me for several years,” she explained. “Plus, the short distance to their house allowed for Eloise and I to become fast friends.”

“Yes, and they’ve been inseparable since the Featheringtons moved in across the street,” Violet explained. “Penelope, would you like a biscuit?”

Gale opened his mouth to ask why she was offered a biscuit when he had specifically been told that he couldn’t have one when he was interrupted by another servant entering the room. This one had a nearly windswept appearance to him, as though he had sprinted to the room. “Ma’am, there’s been a caller.”

Violet nodded, her eyebrows raised in question. “Well, good. Please send him back.”

“It’s not a gentleman caller, it’s -”

“I’m perfectly capable of introducing myself,” Shadowheat said, sweeping into the room. “Besides, I’ve always been a fan of seeing how people react to my arrival.”

Gale turned to Violet, hoping that the sudden appearance of Shadowheart in her house didn’t cause too much stress. But while he could see some mild concern in her eyes, Violet was the pinnacle of grace, and the smile plastered on her face never left. “Your Highness,” she said, sweeping into a low curtsey. “Welcome to my home.”

She nodded her head toward Violet in thanks, then floated into the room. “Good to see you, Gale. I’m glad you managed to pull yourself away from the refreshments table at the ball.”

Violet seemed to visibly relax when Shadowheart spoke to Gale first, so he just chuckled. “It was fairly difficult. You know, after such a long while of only having basic rations, there is something simple about having a sweet. It makes me miss the days in my tower, although it is admittedly much less lonely around here.”

Shadowheart nodded. “I can only imagine. That’s mostly why I’m here as well. Miss Bridgerton,” she said, turning her focus on Eloise, “and I had a lovely conversation at the ball, and I was hoping to continue it.”

“Your Highness,” Eloise said, with a slight incline of her head. “Surely I don’t have anything to say that you have not already read in Lady Whistledown?”

Gale could have sworn that he saw Penelope’s eyes widen at that, but then he blinked and they were back to normal. Maybe she was just concerned about her friend contradicting the princess is all, he thought. “That may be true,” Shadowheart said, “but I am not planning to read every back issue of a gossip column to learn more about this ton. At least, I won’t if I have a better option. So,” she said, sitting gracefully on another couch, “tell me everything you know.”