my chin. “Cécile de Troyes,” she murmured, her voice thoughtful. “I’ve seen you perform before, and I confess, you seem much taller onstage.” Her smile was gone. “But you’re only a little doll, aren’t you?”
She wasn’t the first to say so, but it was still difficult to keep my dislike of the comparison off my face. Dolls had no minds – they were pretty things to be played with, and I’d had quite enough of that in my life. “Appearances can be deceiving, my lady,” I replied, meeting her gaze. “The heels I wear onstage are quite high.”
One of her eyebrows rose, and for a moment, I feared I had overstepped. But then she chuckled. “Indeed they can be.”
Our conversation ended with the arrival of the masque composer, Monsieur Johnson, who amused the ladies with his foreign accent and dress as he herded them down the hall. Julian and I were left to trail after everyone as we went to where the stage was under construction. Other hangers-on swelled their ranks, and my eyes flicked over their faces, searching, searching for that sly gaze.
And found nothing. Finding her here on display had been a foolish hope.
Leaning against a wall, I watched the ladies swarm around, their questions – about the costumes, music, and dance steps – filling the air. Even though the set was only in the beginning stages, I could tell it would be magnificent. Both of them, for Monsieur Johnson was explaining that there would be a change during the break between acts. The darkness of Vice – my mother’s role – was what they were constructing now, and I watched her move amongst the giggling ladies as she explained their parts. Julian walked with her, his face more relaxed as he adopted the persona of the devil meant to tempt them.
“You watch them as I do.”
I jumped, Lady Marie’s sudden appearance at my elbow startling me out of my thoughts. “Pardon?”
She chuckled, and to my astonishment, leaned her own shoulders against the papered walls. “You’re watching the girls like you’re looking for something within them, but you’re uncertain what. I often find myself doing the same.”
It was her I was watching now. Was I so obvious, or did she know more about me than she was letting on? “I’m curious to see how they will perform,” I said, watching her face for any sort of reaction. “I hope my scrutiny has not upset any of them – it is merely habit.”
The corner of her mouth turned up, but she kept her eyes on the scene in front of us. “I doubt it. They are all used to scrutiny. More so, I think, than you are.” Her eyes went to mine and away again. She knew I was lying.
I swallowed. “Why do you watch them, my lady? What is it you are looking for?”
“I’m not sure.” Her smile fell away, and she shook her head once. “That’s a lie. I do know what I’m looking for, or, rather, whom.”
Though I desperately wanted to press her, I knew it was not my place.
“My son, Aiden,” she eventually said. “It is near time he was wed, but he stubbornly refuses to consider any option put to him.” She sighed. “One day, he will be the ruler of all the Isle, and he will need a strong and intelligent woman by his side in order to do it. That is the purpose of this masque – to put all his options on display for him. He needs to choose well, for the woman will carry a greater burden than anyone realizes.”
It sounded so crass when said that way – as though all these young women were animals on an auction block. Although in fairness, it was certainly no worse than how I’d been selected. At least they were willing.
“My brother is under his command,” I offered timidly, uncertain why she was revealing this information to me. “He speaks very highly of Lord Aiden.”
“He would.” There was heat in her voice. “His command is all that he attends to now – it is as though he has no time for anything other than military pursuits.” As abruptly as her anger arrived, it vanished. “Though that was not always the case. At one time, it seemed his entertainments would consume him. But this last year he’s changed – become melancholy and brooding, prone to disappearing for days at time. I hardly know him.” She huffed out a breath, and waved her hand as