Two women stood in front of them with the watchful cold eyes of a merchant about to pursue a particularly risky endeavour, every detail being taken into account. To be held under such scrutiny should be enough to shake her more sensitive sisters (the third and fourth one respectively) but after nine days of exposure, Gabe was both proud and sad to see they could hold their own grounds sufficiently well during the trial.

Their mother was beautiful as always, this time in a muted olive gown that accentuated her skin tone. Madame Genoir, on the other hand, was in a deep grey dress that contrasted greatly her sharp, bright blue eyes – Quick eyes that, in turn, betrayed her collected and restrained demeanour. The old woman slowly judged their newly crafted outfits and how they all fit in their body — as perfectly as their posture — until she stopped at Gabriel.

They stared at each other pleasantly, and Gabe knew, just as much as she knew the skies were blue, that the old Madame acknowledged way more of her in those nine days than their Mother in her nineteen years of life.

“You look handsome, Miss,” she complimented.

“I thank you,” she curtsied in the pale blue dress that flowed in angelical waves from the chest down, “For your help guiding us through our choices.”

“I only further enhanced the beauty already there,” she smiled candidly.

They truly were pretty, all of them, and properly dressed for the occasion. Alani was in a salmon silky dress that was sharp in just the correct amount and made her goddess-like, while Samir was in a long skirt and a corset that merged soft reds and browns. It looked gorgeous… For those who did not know of them.

Thankfully, the two others were allowed a more childlike garment: bright silky aquamarine for Lulu and white with colourful bows for Manny. It seemed that, so far, only the three first daughters would have the privilege of truly being considered one of the Prince’s Brides.

“We shall go then,” Mother declared.

“Perhaps we could wait half an hour more, Missus? The girls would be less taxed to greet all the guests at once instead of one by one as they come in,” Madame Genoir sensibly requested.

“Nonsense. It would be terribly rude of us to be late to our first party,” she rebuked. It seemed that her daughters’ hardheadedness did come from somewhere after all, because they crossed the street hastily after that.

There was silence from the girls as they went. Were they using their might to stick to their newly learned lessons? Did they just have nothing to say? Gabe could only ponder… But from Lulu’s boiling yellow stare to Samir’s little movements of unrest and Manny’s twisting mouth, the second sister had a very good guess as to what was truly happening.

She called Alani’s with her eyes, and they traded messages only they could understand. Alani had previously told her what she could from their brief encounter with Lady Elliot three days earlier (mostly about how pleasant she was), but Gabe made up a conjecture from the crumbs she managed to take from their new Teacher the most.

From those, there were some indisputable facts: Lady Elliot was a troublemaker, known for ignoring formalities such as respecting the Royals' right to choose when to showcase their new setpieces. Her excuse, it seemed, was that the event was already informally scheduled before the Prince’s bride’s news got spread and it would be wasteful to discard all the perishable products already purchased for such a big event.

What Gabe could make of the facts, though, was that this Lady was to be treated with extreme care. If one was powerful enough to just… Disregarding the Royals’ wishes, meant they had nothing to lose or strong enough backing to just not care. Either option was to be considered dangerous in equal measure.

The guards promptly opened the doors of the adequately grand mansion at the sight of them and swiftly, a butler greeted them with ease. They merely nodded, as was appropriate of their status, and in return as they were led to the courtyard.

Big rectangular tables of lavish decorations and shiny cutlery displayed undisputed wealth that would certainly reflect the guest's standing… After they got there. It seemed they were the first ones to arrive.

Gabe quickly stared up at Madame Genoir and then her Mother, catching all the glimpses of the untold show of who was right and wrong. She could not help a small sigh, but soon enough all sights were set on a woman that beamed in their direction, welcoming them.

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“Ah, The Tatchers are here! Welcome, come, come!” she got up from her chair, at the first table right at the centre, and gestured for them to approach.

Lady Elliot was on the plumper side, small and fair. Dots were sprinkled all over her face and matched the dark blond wavy hair that, contrary to what she learned was the norm, was roaming free in her back. It made a nice contrast to the bright purple dress that cascaded straight over her legs to a pair of – and she double-checked it once she caught it – riding boots.

Gabe blinked as they got close and the Lady gently pulled Alani for a kiss on the cheek. She supposed they had met before but were they this close already?

“Are you well, Alani dear? I have been thinking greatly of our little talk that day and I can not wait for us to continue,” Lady Elliot said warmly.

Gabe and her other sisters made sure to make an appropriate expression of surprise that matched the older women's.

“Oh? I did not know you’ve met before.” Madame Genoir had that look again. Sharp and calculating.

“A lucky encounter,” Alani explained with a look of humble embarrassment on her face, “It was that day I requested to go out with Manny, yes? I remember she was feeling stuffed from staying too much inside. Well, Lady Elliot happened to be having a walk at the same time and we ended up exchanging greetings.”

Gabe surveilled the older women’s expressions closely. Would they be suspicious of something?

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Mother seemed a little scandalized at the thought of their golden goose being spotted less than perfect, an expression of regret soon building up her furrowed brows.

“It was very brief. I thought it did not matter much since we were to be here soon after,” she whispered as if afraid of doing something wrong.

“Oh, pay it no mind, Missus Thatcher,” the Lady laughed, “And your daughters were perfectly respectful, I can tell you did a great job bringing them up. I can see no better fit for our Prince.”

Their Mother smiled at that, proud. Madame Genoir too, seemed to relax at last. Soon after that, she pulled Manny for a kiss, too, this time with giggles and a pinch on the other cheek.

A good start, Gabe calculated. Better than what she expected.

“So, let us sit and wait. The others might take a little to come, late as they always are,” she sighed, “And where is Mister Thatcher? Is he not well?”

“He’s currently spending some days catching up to a friend of his, Baron’s Phillips. Do you know him? He has been a supporter of our business for a couple of years now and insisted on my husband spending some time furthering their ties,” Her Mother said, in a sickening sweet tone.

Her irritation regarding Father’s lack of communication had been rather obvious in the last few days and Gabe could only imagine what he had been up to so far. Their Patriarch was great in opening discussions, yes, but not so great in maintaining them, as usually that was Mother’s role in their partnership. With her now occupied with their upbringing they could only guess how much of a fool he was making of himself.

“Hm,” the Lady gave her a knowing look, “Well, the Baron was invited as well, so I hope they can make up time to meet us later on.”

“Likewise, Lady Elliot,” Mother complied, but before she could open her mouth to continue, the Lady changed the subject.

“And you, Nanny Genoir,” she smiled at the Madame, “How you’ve been doing? How did you end up taking care of the Thatcher girls? I thought you usually stick to those below twelve.”

Nanny? Gabe’s brows furrowed.

“I spend some time taking care of Lady Elliot’s education, in her late childhood. I am proud to say I took care of many young ladies of the court,” she explained, appearing to be genuinely proud of herself at that, “And well, regarding these girls, Her Majesty herself requested me to give them some tips, so who am I to deny it?”

“I see,” her eyes flicked in a light Gabe was very used to seeing in her younger siblings. Of mischief, she realised, “And how are they fairing so far?”

“After only a few days of effort, they are now perfectly grounded and reasonably set,” she smiled at her work, and that finally seemed to push her sisters over the edge.

“Well, not without some sweat,” Samir complained under their breath.

“More like a lot of sweat,” Lulu didn’t even raise her eyes to complete.

A moment of silence followed… Before the Lady’s laugh filled up their surroundings in pleasant ripples of genuine joy.

“Oh you shush, your old hag,” she stopped Madame Genoir before she could chastise the younglings, “I see she is trying to teach you how to be quiet too. Well, don’t worry much, as soon as she leaves you’ll be free to talk as much as you want. Look at me now!”

“Louise, don’t you dare fill their heads with nonsense. You know as well as me they need to be better than that,” the old woman shook her head, seeming to decide to chastise the Lady instead.

That seemed to cause a shift in her expression. Lady Elliot’s smiling expression turned just a tiny bit icier.

“Indeed. But this is not the time or place for them to do so,” she resumed smiling, “We are at a party, and so we should play! I, as the host, humbly request that my guests humour me with a game. Is that not fair, nanny Genoir?”

The old woman had conflicted emotions showing up in her eyes before she sighed and nodded.

“It is set then,” she clapped, “We will all speak now! All of us. I request to hear your voices. I will make questions and if you would not like to answer you will make questions instead and we will all have our turns to be as loud as we wish!”

Lady Elliot beamed as the sun, and shone at them with the grace of a long-needed warm embrace.