My Sweet Daisy

Chaper 5 - A Scheme to Make Her Jealous

"You intend to make Lady Juliet jealous?" Elisandra couldn't hide her surprise.

"Why not? It worked on my sister, who hardly thinks about men."

"Then I suppose you would need a lady for this charade!" she suggested brightly.

"That's a given."

She put down her cup and sat up even straighter, beaming at her brother. "You need to be urgently introduced to as many ladies as possible, ladies as beautiful as Juliet, of course, so you can select the most appropriate one."

"Mhm." he nodded cautiously.

"This is perfect timing." Elisandra snapped her fingers. "You're in luck, brother. There's a wonderful opportunity to meet very beautiful ladies at our Cousin Linda's dinner party five days from now."

"I'm not going to that party, " Richard stated flatly.

His attendance at the ball was an argument that had dragged on for a week since the invitations came in and had finally come to rest with him firmly establishing he was not attending it. Resurrecting it from the ashes would only be another headache for him.

"But you should. It's only a party which will be over within six hours. Certainly, you can endure it for the prize of obtaining the perfect actress for your little drama."

"That is if I don't choke to death first." Richard grimaced. ". If they want me there, they will at least invite half the gentlemen as they do the debutantes."

Elisandra slapped a hand on his mouth at once. "These statements you make feed the foolish rumour that you're one of them."

"One of whom?" he muttered behind her palm.

"Men among men."

He brushed his hand away. "Hasn't it ever occurred to you that I have not once denied the accusations and neither has Pierre."

"Pierre is your best friend who shares your quarters on your insistence when he is in Berlin. He is just a friend as odd as your closeness may seem." She levelled a stern look at him.

"I'm still not going to the party."

"Why not? Look on the bright side, I won't be bored at the party if the graceful Prince Richard does attend. It'll be entertaining watching you dodge the clutches of those young women. With all those match-making mothers knowing you're under pressure to choose your bride, they would be descending on you like a hungry lionesses on a poor-cornered calf. This season is their last chance after all."

"Why will I want to go then if my head is sitting well on my neck?"

"Your precious sister would be lonely without you, isn't that reason enough? All Linda ever does is to retell the tale how Grand Duke of Brookshire made it possible for father to become the crown prince, and then king. It's sickening hearing the same tale repeatedly as if reading the chronicles for a bedtime story every night. She has once even suggested I call her aunt, since she's legally so to us. When you're around though, it's different. At least, the tale changes."

"Yes, I absolutely love to laugh at her crooked harem jokes."

"You have to admit the part about the sultan falling in love with you at first sight until his first night with you is rather hilarious." Elisandra laughed. Richard scowled.

Their cousin, Linda, fancied herself a novelist, and since it was not proper for a lady to publish the absurdities seen in novels, her guests were frequently turned into her audience. The most agonising part of sitting around listening to her folktales was when Linda decided to make you a character in her story.

"Richard, if you promise to come, I'll introduce you to the best candidate you can use as bait. Aside, I've already answered the invitation for us both. I did so before breakfast. If you don't go, you know our dear Linda will tattle on you to the Grand Duchess. She'd turn your ears red, then take you before mother. You don't want to be forced to attend all the balls thrown this season like a dutiful prince, do you?" With a look of triumph, she stood up from the table, swirled and left her brother gaping after her.

"Give me a sword, and I'll chop that brat into two," Richard whispered savagely.

"That is if you have any breath in you after Friday, Your Highness." Raphael rose to his feet as well and bowed stoically. "I would go and ring for your bath. Do you have anything special lined up for today after your meeting with the minister? Go to all lengths to do all you desire. You may have only five days to enjoy them all. And um, please go and see the queen. It's most urgent you do so, considering a lot can happen on Friday night."

As Raphael exited through the double leafed doors, he allowed the satisfied smirk to spread across his face. The iron glint left in the prince's blue eyes was all the satisfaction he needed to compensate for the disappointment of not being able to take a clipper to his wings.