Lady's Wager Read Free Page B

the ladies.
    “Lady Treadwell, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” The
Prince bowed as Mr. Brummell stepped up behind him, bowing and mumbling his
greeting.
    “Your Highness, Mr. Brummell,” Lady Treadwell dipped
quickly. “May I introduce Miss Knight and Miss Stuart?”
    Mr. Brummell met their curtseys with a shallow nod and a
practiced look of ennui.
    “I’ve seen Miss Knight before,” the Prince drawled in his
Devonshire lisp, “but not you Miss Stuart. I’d have remembered beauty such as
yours.”
    Charlotte forced her lips into a smile, hoping it was
gracious enough to hide her distaste for these gentlemen who reminded her of
the lecherous old aristocrats she’d worked to avoid in Paris. “I’m only
recently returned from Paris where I’ve been these past few years.”
    “Paris,” the Prince mused, “ c’est magnifique . The
best food, the most magnificent architecture, truly the pinnacle of taste.”
    “You’ve been to Paris Your Highness?” she asked, finally
finding some joy in the royal attention. It was short lived as the Prince
dismissed her question with a flick of his fingers.
    “Where I’ve been is none of your concern. What concerns me
is a wager I’ve accepted from Mr. Brummell. You’ve arrived in time to help us
settle it.”
    “Your Highness, I’m afraid we don’t gamble.”
    The Prince laughed, his large belly shaking beneath his
tight jacket, the gold buttons straining to hold it closed across his girth.
    “We’d be honored to help you settle your wager,” Lady
Treadwell quickly interjected, smiling broadly at the Prince.
    “Excellent. Mr. Brummell recalls it was Cassiopeia who was
punished for her pride in her daughter’s beauty. I say it was Cassandra. Who do
you think it was Miss Knight?”
    Elizabeth wilted beneath their attention, her words and
her wits appearing to have deserted her in the Prince’s presence.
    “Come now Miss Knight, you must have an opinion,” the
Prince urged. Nearby, the gentlemen watched, seemingly eager to hear her
answer.
    Lady Treadwell lightly nudged Elizabeth who at last
stammered out an answer. “I’m sure Your Highness is right in his assumption of
Cassandra.”
    Charlotte’s anger rose over the indignity Elizabeth
suffered at the hands of these pompous men. Before she could think further on
the subject the Prince’s eyes were on her.
    “And you Miss Stuart, what do you say?”
    Charlotte met the Prince’s bold look, her pride not
allowing her to play coy. “It was most surely Cassiopeia.”
    “And why do you say Cassiopeia?” Mr. Brummell pressed. The
other gentlemen elbowed each other as though part of some shared joke.
Charlotte watched the Prince’s eyes narrow at the dandy, revealing he no longer
shared Mr. Brummell’s amusement.
    “Cassandra could tell the future but was cursed because no
one would listen. Cassiopeia brought down the wrath of the serpent on Ethiopia
by boasting of Andromeda’s beauty. The gods banished her to the stars, forcing
her constellation to hang upside down as punishment for her pride.”
    The gentleman sniggered and Mr. Brummell’s small eyes
danced with glee. The Prince remained silent and Charlotte realized Mr.
Brummell and the other gentlemen were laughing at the Prince. He deserved it.
    “See, Prinny,” Mr. Brummell said, “there are ladies who
aren’t afraid to express themselves.”
    The Prince stared down his nose at Charlotte. “Young
ladies should defer to a gentleman’s superior opinion.”
    Better sense told her to turn away and act suitably
humbled but instead she kept her gaze rigidly fixed on his.
    “A lesson well learned, Your Highness,” Lady Treadwell
offered in an attempt to mollify the Prince. “Don’t you agree, Charlotte?”
    Charlotte was momentarily caught off guard but quickly
recovered, offering the most humble smile and submissive look she could manage.
Lady Treadwell obviously wished to keep the Prince’s good opinion and
Charlotte, despite her