Marie saw her father beckon her out of the corner of her eye and knew exactly what he wanted to talk about.

“You would think if he truly wanted me to find a suitable match, he would let me talk to people without interruption. After all, it's not like I am the one who is going to be shackled to one of these people forever.”

She shook her head slightly, in awe at the thought of her father actually caring about how she felt.

“Thank you for the dance Castiel,” she said walking over to her father reluctantly.

She stood beside her father, waiting for him to say the words that she was dreading.

“You showed quite a bit of interest in the Ravensport boy, Castiel tonight, Marie,” he said.

Marie fought not to roll her eyes, aware that doing so would only antagonize her father, and said,

“Two dances are hardly what I would call quite a bit of interest Father.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, his brown eyes seeming especially dull in comparison to the emerald-green hue of Marie's.

“We will continue this conversation later Daughter, at the moment you must tell the herald the names of the two suitors who will not be invited back next month so that he can announce them.”

She clenched her jaw, biting her tongue to prevent any words she might regret from coming out. Walking stiffly, she went over to the herald and whispered two names into his ear. The whole room grew still, each hoping it was their neighbor picked and not them. The herald cleared his throat,

“The two people who have been eliminated this month are Lord Carson from Rockshire and the young Earl of Oakfield!”

The herald announced. “As for the 20 of you who remain, you are invited to return here 18 days from now.”

After the announcement most of the families left. Seeing the disappointed slump of Lord Carson and the Earl of Oakfeild’s shoulders, Marie felt a twinge of guilt. Then she shook it off,

"It's better to let them down now rather than get their hopes up. I hope they all find a good match but most if not all of the attendants here are just not the right fit for me."

She frowned thinking of the limited choices she had when it came to finding a partner. Then Marie realized that a few families had stayed behind, hoping to speak to herself and her father.

The two families that remained were the two richest families in the kingdom, second only to Marie’s own, and of course the royal family. Marie’s shoulders wanted to slump at the thought of dealing with her suitors again, but she kept them back through sheer force of will. Harder still, however, was repressing her shudder of disgust as the Duke of the Northeast Isles and his son Herald approached. They were wearing dark green vests and formal sky-blue coats, the primary colors of the Northeast Isles.

“How lovely to see you again my dear Lady Marie,” Herald said slipping quickly into her space.”

“Yes, it is nice to see you again as well Herald.”

Marie replied, taking a subtle step away from him. Her face paled ever so slightly when her father announced to the two families,

“Marie and I have decided that busy as the Galas are, she will meet up to two suitors in a supervised one on one session, every other day for 15 minutes each, starting tonight!”

He nodded to Baine, an elderly eunuch with stringy, yellow-white hair who had been Marie’s shadow since she was a little girl. Baine stepped over to Marie’s side and motioned them over to a dark cherry wood door. Inside was a private sitting room with an elegant cyan and silver couch and a matching set of chairs. Marie was quick to take one of the chairs. Herald shot her a hurt look which she pretended to ignore and Baine, knowing Marie's feelings about the boy sat on the couch. Having been left with only one option, Herald pulled up the other chair, careful to keep a respectable distance between them.

Marie sat silently, knowing that Herald would want to break the silence quickly. Sure, enough after about thirty seconds he spoke, his voice oily with charm,

" I am so very honored to be the first to have a private audience with you my lady, and I already I can tell that I will be waiting eagerly for our next talk.”

Not the least bit charmed by his flattering Marie replied softly as though she were, not quite making eye contact as she said

“Even if I should fail to match your expectations?”

Herald quickly reassured her while Baine looked on in amusement. The old man could tell that Marie was only playing the part of a nervous lady talking to a suitor for the first time, with no parents around. Suddenly a clear chime sounded marking the short audience over and Herald rose and kissed the back of Marie’s hand as he said goodbye. The second he left Marie shuddered and whipped the back of her hand on the chair and turned to Baine her gaze challenging him to confront her about her acting, well played though it had been.

Baine merely smiled at her with an amused shake of his head, before he went out and came back with Lance, son of the Earl of Pinevalley. Marie gave him a genuine smile as he sat down and spoke

“What do you wish to talk about Lady Marie?”

Marie smiled to herself, she adored talking to Lance who was an old childhood friend. Then she shook her head,

" Lance, we have known each other since we were babes, how many times must I insist you call me Marie in private!” she replied, her voice full of good-natured exasperation.

Lance grinned replying the same as he always did when she asked the question,

" I will call you that when you agree to marry me and not one second sooner Lady Marie!”

Marie shook her head ruefully,

"I suppose I walked right into that one,”

she said, her tone full of amusement.

“Yes, yes you did Lady Marie” Lance replied a wide grin still on his face.

The two talked for a few more minutes and then the chime sounded again signaling an end to their pleasant talk.

" Goodbye Lance,” Marie said giving him a quick hug.

Goodbye Lady Marie” Lance said and then walked out the door.