Chapter Six
Kensington Park has been transformed into an enchanted garden. Dotting the lawn are floral displays as big as people, and baskets artfully arranged and overflowing with blooms. Gardeners have been hard at work on the eaves of the palace, giving the illusion that flowers are spilling from the roof and windows. Sparkling chandeliers hang from the branches of ancient trees, their crystals jingling in the gentle breeze.
Below the stone steps of the palace, in the middle of the festivities, is a maypole, a thin post about as tall as a streetlamp, topped with a rainbow of ribbons trailing down the side and fluttering in the wind.
Lords and ladies of London high society mingle in their tails and silks, draped in diamonds and wearing hats piled high with organza flowers. It’s a Pact Parade tradition, this garden party. The ton gather to drink champagne and wait for the girls of the season to emerge and show off their new bargains. It marks the official start of the season, the gunshot that signifies the beginning of the marriage hunt.
The crowd goes still and silent as we step outside. We shouldn’t all be appearing at once like this. There’s a ripple of shocked gasps as people spot the two dozen girls with blood smeared across the skirts of their white Pact Parade gowns.
“Welcome, on this most joyous day.” The queen’s voice carries unnaturally through the crowd. “I’m pleased to announce that my son, Bram, Prince of Wales, intends to find a wife this season. Twenty-four girls have put themselves forward for consideration and, in their devotion, have vowed to never marry should they not be selected.”
The crowd gasps. Bram stands still beside Queen Mor, his face unreadable.
“As a mother, it is my dearest wish that my son end up with his perfect match, and I’m sure we can all agree that twenty-four girls is simply too many to become properly acquainted with over twelve weeks. Therefore, we will be whittling down our accomplished group of twenty-four to six.” She
lets the announcement settle, as if relishing our fear. Panicked glances go through the girls. Only six?
“Determination and grit are two vital qualities that any girl who marries my son will need to possess, and so, as is tradition in my homeland, the debutantes will compete in a maypole dance to prove their mettle. The final six left standing will be invited to move onto palace grounds and compete for Prince Bram’s hand. The rest will return home, your season ended.”
“You didn’t tell us that!” Sara Middlebrook exclaims, her face screwedn. Dotting the up in panic and anger.arranged and Queen Mor levels her with a glance. “Why would I need to?”the eaves of She turns back to the crowd, her serene smile back in place. “In the spiritthe roof and of sportsmanship, the winning girl will be gifted the May Queen tiara I wontrees, their on my very own betrothal day.”
A footman steps forward holding an intricate floral tiara, set in a rainbowstivities, is a of gems, on a red velvet pillow.a rainbow of “Shall we?” The queen gestures for us to join her as she steps down onto the lawn and over to the maypole.ils and silks, The crowd gathers around us in a wide circle. There’s a full bandstand offlowers. It’s a to one side, covered in white roses.k champagne The queen turns to us with a final, sickly sweet smile. “Cheaters will beff their new disqualified.”that signifies The band kicks up an overly cheery tune, and I take a violet ribbon in my hand, Lydia’s favorite color. The pretty, dark-haired girl is directly in front ofall be me, and Emmy Ito is at my heels.s people spot We start skipping around the maypole, but the problem with the ground isir white Pact evident almost immediately: a wet English winter has left the great lawn of Kensington Palace too soft.voice carries The other girls’ silk slippers sink right into the sodden grass, and aftery son, Bram, only one rotation the maypole field has been turned to slick, wet mud.ur girls have Deidre falls first, only four turns in. One of her shoes gets stuck in thehave vowed muck, and she turns around to fetch it, falling right into Greer, who hops over her deftly.or, his face Deidre screams and pounds her fists until the footmen haul her away.
All I can do is watch, horrified, as the weight of what we’ve all agreed toth his perfect settles over me. By sunset, eighteen girls will have lost everything they evers simply too planned for. I can’t let myself be among them.Therefore, we On and on we turn while the band plays. To keep from getting dizzy, Ito six.” She
d glances gokeep my eyes trained on the gables of the palace.
Onlookers gasp and cheer as we twirl, but I can’t help but feel that they’re just waiting to watch us fall like toy soldiers.who marries This is blood sport.omeland, the The rest of us last for the better part of an hour, but then one girl trips,tle. The final and it’s chaos before anyone can register what’s happening. The debutanted compete for behind her topples, then another and another and another. The girl in front of me does a clever little spin out of the way, her arms out for flourish. Theface screwed crowd explodes in applause.
But I’m coming up right behind her, Emmy at my heels, and she’s not slowing down. The blonde who’s just fallen can’t get up off the ground fast“In the spirit enough, and she stumbles again in the muck, right at my feet.n tiara I won I dig the sturdy heels of my boots into the mud and stop on a dime, able to sidestep, then skip over her. I sigh in relief.in a rainbow Another half hour, and my back is wet with sweat, my lungs screaming for air. On my insistence Mrs. Tuttle tied my corset loosely this morning, butps down onto no matter how I try, I can’t quite catch my breath.
With six girls down, there’s still eighteen of us, and all the bodies circlingbandstand off around me are stifling. With few exceptions, everyone else looks as tired as I feel. Our hair, once perfectly dressed, hangs in sweaty tendrils down oureaters will be faces and necks.
One of the white roses Mrs. Tuttle pinned to my chignon this morningribbon in my falls and is trampled to a sticky mess of petals in the dirt.tly in front of One of the girls I don’t know faints, and another falls on top of her.
Three more go not long after.the ground is The crowd has regrouped around us; it’s getting rowdier, with fewer girlsgreat lawn of and more champagne. They’re shouting and passing money around. Most seem to be placing their bets on Sara Middlebrook and Marion Thorne.ass, and after I finally catch sight of my parents in the crowd. They’re off to the side, alone, ignored as usual. The sight sends a stab of anger through me, and mystuck in the resolve is renewed.ho hops over I offer them a smile, but in my moment of distraction, another girl falls, splattering mud all over my dress.
I only have to outlast six more.all agreed to From the other side of the maypole Sara Middlebrook shouts over theing they ever band, “He’s never going to pick you, Ivy. A girl with your reputation, a princess? Spare us all the embarrassment and give up now.”tting dizzy, I
I offer her a fake smile. “I’ll take my chances.” el that they’re“I’ll let any girl who drops out right now be my lady-in-waiting when I win,” she says to the group.
“Done.” A redhead I don’t know drops her ribbon and walks off. A cry one girl trips,goes up from the crowd, her parents I assume. he debutanteBram stands at the front of the crowd, his face sketched with concern. Did irl in front ofhe know this is what his mother was planning? flourish. TheTwo more girls fall, one right on top of the other. The world is spinning so terribly, my focus going in and out, and for a moment I’m terrified I might and she’s notgo down with them, but the footmen pick them up in the nick of time. e ground fastWe’re only nine now. I’m so close.
But my legs are shaking, my feet numb, even with the boots. There’s a a dime, ablestitch in my side, and it’s been ages since I fully caught my breath.
A tall brunette mutters something under her breath; I catch the word gs screamingwhore on the breeze. The girl behind her shoves her and they both go down morning, butscreaming, the crowd screaming with them.
The party is a spinning blur, but in a single focused point is my mother, odies circlingpale with worry. My father’s hand is protectively laid on her shoulder. I s as tired as Iresent her sometimes for coddling Lydia and me. She was the kind of parent ils down ourwho could never stand to see either of us in discomfort, and although it made for a golden, happy childhood, I worry that it hasn’t prepared me for the this morningworld very well at all.
I only need to outlast one more girl, and I could save them from social alienation, from financial ruin, from all the pain I’ve borne witness to over the past three months. th fewer girlsI dig my heels deep into the mud as a shriek pierces through the crowd, around. Mostand I look just in time to see Sara Middlebrook’s delicate slipper get caught in one of the fresh divots from my boots. She falls forward, the mud f to the side,splashing all over her face. h me, and my“No!” she screams. “No! It isn’t fair!”
She rushes to Bram and falls at his feet. “Please, Your Highness, pick me, her girl falls,pick me. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Bram helps her stand. “Mother?” He looks over his shoulder to where the queen stands, her face expressionless. She nods her sharp chin at a footman, outs over thewho carries Sara away, kicking and screaming. reputation, aI don’t like Sara, but I do feel pity for her. I wouldn’t wish her fate on anyone.
Despite it all, relief courses through my body. I’ve made it. I’m one of the aiting when Ifinal six. Marion Thorne falls next, though it happens a little too slowly and carefully to be an accident. ks off. A cryOlive gets tangled up in her ribbon and falls shortly after, immediately bursting into tears. concern. DidEmmy doesn’t last much longer.
With only three of us left—me, the dark-haired girl, and Greer—the d is spinningcrowd is in an absolute frenzy. rified I mightGreer’s face is wet with sweat, her eyes furious as they bore into mine.
Greer and I worked well as best friends because she always knew I was never going to be a threat to her. For years, it was always the same ts. There’s acomments: Ivy doesn’t worry about being pretty, mustn’t that be nice? or It’s lovely that Ivy and I will come out the same season. She can help me manage ch the wordmy full dance card. oth go downShe’s staring at me now like I might actually give her a run for her money. For the first time in our lives, Greer Trummer is having to take me mother,seriously. r shoulder. I“Thanks for lying for me at the atelier yesterday,” I pant. “I’ll let you be ind of parentone of my ladies-in-waiting.” ough it made“Shut up,” she hisses through gritted teeth. But in her distraction, her foot d me for thelands wrong and she falls, sputtering in the mud.
She curses, pounding her fist in the puddle before being dragged off. m from socialI give myself only one turn around the pole to laugh. tness to overThe band slows as the musicians tire. We must have been dancing for over two hours. h the crowd,The crowd is shouting, but I can hardly make it out over the pounding in er get caughtmy ears. “Ivy!” That’s my father’s voice. “Go, Ivy!” rd, the mudThere’s another name being shouted. “Faith!” That must be the name of the girl in front of me.
Faith’s cheeks are red with exertion, sweat dripping from her hairline ess, pick me,down into the collar of her white dress.
But her face is stony, giving nothing away. I respect her for it. to where theI’m so tired. It would be easy to stop. But the sun catches the jewels in at a footman,the May Queen tiara, and I picture giving it to my parents. They could sell it for more money than we’ve seen my entire life. It might save our house. It h her fate onmight even be enough for Lydia and me to live on without husbands.
I turn with renewed energy, my feet pounding into the mud.
’m one of theTwo little girls burst through to the front of crowd. “Faith!” they shout. o slowly and“Go, Faith!”
She spots them and smiles, her perfect face finally cracking. immediatelyIn her distraction, her left foot lands a little sideways in a crater of mud and she trips. She tries to hold on to her ribbon, but it rips. The crowd gasps, and Faith falls to the ground, splattered in mud. d Greer—theThere is stunned silence, and then comes a burst of riotous applause.
The crowd parts, and the queen and Bram walk toward us. Ever the gentleman, Bram helps Faith to her feet, but his eyes are on me. s knew I wasThe May Queen crown glints in the sun as the queen raises it high, so that ys the sameeveryone gathered can see it, then lowers it onto my head.
It’sThe crowd is cheering, there’s a shower of flower petals raining down on p me manageme like snow, but my gaze lands on a single figure in the crowd.
His eyebrows are furrowed, his mouth screwed up in a scowl, his hands run for herballed into white-knuckled fists. Standing completely still, staring at me like g to take mehe absolutely loathes me, is Prince Emmett De Vere.
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Two little girls burst through to the front of crowd. “Faith!” they shout.
“Go, Faith!”
She spots them and smiles, her perfect face finally cracking.
In her distraction, her left foot lands a little sideways in a crater of mud and she trips. She tries to hold on to her ribbon, but it rips. The crowd gasps, and Faith falls to the ground, splattered in mud.
There is stunned silence, and then comes a burst of riotous applause.
The crowd parts, and the queen and Bram walk toward us. Ever the gentleman, Bram helps Faith to her feet, but his eyes are on me.
The May Queen crown glints in the sun as the queen raises it high, so that everyone gathered can see it, then lowers it onto my head.
The crowd is cheering, there’s a shower of flower petals raining down on me like snow, but my gaze lands on a single figure in the crowd.
His eyebrows are furrowed, his mouth screwed up in a scowl, his hands balled into white-knuckled fists. Standing completely still, staring at me like he absolutely loathes me, is Prince Emmett De Vere.
