After Holy Eucharist and Communion, some hymns sung by a boys’ choir, and a brief homily from the priest on the importance of showing kindness as Jesus did, everyone filed out of the chapel and headed to the Great Hall, where they would all break their fast.
Lord Thornbeck’s voice came from just behind Avelina and Magdalen. “I hope you found an interesting way to spend your day yesterday during the hunt.”
“Yes, my lord,” Magdalen said. “We talked and read.”
“Talking and reading.” He nodded. “That can certainly be interesting.”
Avelina peeked over her shoulder to see if he was being sarcastic, and he was looking straight at her. Other people were all around them, but they seemed to mostly be having their own conversations.
“Yes, Lady Magdalen read your book and enjoyed it. Did you do well on your hunting trip?”
“We did not do as well as we’d hoped. There seems to be a shortage of deer just now.”
Someone coughed on the other side of Lord Thornbeck. Avelina turned her head and saw his chancellor, Jorgen, and Odette walking beside him. Odette wore a look of chagrin and Jorgen was trying to hide a smile behind his hand.
They walked together—Lord Thornbeck with Magdalen and Avelina—and talked until they reached the Great Hall. Lord Thornbeck indicated that they should sit beside him, but Avelina purposely placed Magdalen by the margrave’s side and she sat on the other side of Magdalen.
During the meal, Lord Thornbeck said to Magdalen, “I was sorry you did not join us for the hunt.”
Avelina’s heart fluttered. That certainly indicated interest in Magdalen.
“Please forgive me, but Odette said it would not be taken amiss if I did not go. I simply do not like the hunt.”
“There is nothing to forgive. You were not obligated to go. But if you do not mind me asking, why do you not like the hunt?”
Magdalen explained that she had cried on the first—and last—hunt she had ever gone on. “I did not want to ruin anyone else’s enjoyment of the hunt yesterday.”
“Lady Dorothea,” he said, looking past Magdalen. “You told me you would not be going on the hunt. Was it because you do not shoot a bow?”
“It was because I do not ride well.” She had told him that her first day in Thornbeck.
“Perhaps it is because you were thrown as a child?” He raised his brows.
“No, I—” She stopped herself before saying it was because she had never owned a horse. “I’ve just never had a liking for horses.”
He stared at her, as if thinking of something else. Then he turned back to Magdalen. “Do you like horses, Lady Magdalen?”
“Oh yes, I like animals of all kinds. I had a pet dog as a child. When he died, I couldn’t bear to get another one.”
Avelina pretended great interest in her food as she listened to their conversation. But when Lord Thornbeck leaned toward Magdalen and said something low in her ear, too low for Avelina to hear, her heart thumped harder.
When the meal was over, Lord Thornbeck bid them a good day. As soon as Avelina and Magdalen stood and left the table, several other ladies, including Fronicka, crowded around Lord Thornbeck. One young lady actually asked his opinion about her dress.
Avelina hurried Magdalen away. As soon as they were in the wide foyer at the junction of the stairs and the grand ballroom, Avelina whispered, “What did Lord Thornbeck say?”
“When?”
“You know! When he leaned and whispered in your ear.”
“He did not exactly whisper. He—” Magdalen leaned over to look past Avelina’s shoulder. That’s when she heard a woman’s footsteps swishing toward them on the marble floor.
Fronicka was coming, alone. “There is something strange about you, Lady Dorothea.” She clasped her hands behind her back, as if to look demure. “You don’t know how to dance, you don’t ride well and therefore could not go on the hunt with us, and your servant said she had never been a lady’s maidservant before she came on this trip with you. Sometimes I wonder if you’re even a lady at all.”
Avelina’s breath seemed to leave her, and her heart pounded as Fronicka looked down at her through half-closed eyes. Her nose pointed high as she turned away and went back into the Great Hall.
“She’s more of a lady than you will ever be,” Magdalen said under her breath, but Fronicka was already too far away to hear.
But Fronicka was right. Did she even know how right she was? Avelina’s heart gradually slowed. Surely Fronicka had not discovered the truth. If she had, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell everyone.