The Last Princess Read Online Free PDF

letter, following the creases that were already there. “Polly has always had a wild imagination,”hesaid dismissively. “Remember how she used to get you to spend hours in the woods waiting for goblins and flower fairies? Now come, the soup is getting cold.”
    I reached for his hand, grabbing his sleeve to stop him. “You didn’t answer my question. Is there any truth to what Polly wrote?”
    “Eliza,” he began, his voice low and measured. He glanced over my shoulder at Jamie and Mary at the otherend of the dining room, too far away to overhear. “Let’s not talk about this now. Let’s enjoy being together again as a family.”
    “Dad! Please. I want to know.”
    “There have been a few reported sightings of Cornelius Hollister, yes. But there is nothing to fear.” He placed his hand reassuringly on my shoulder. “We are well protected. There is no way he will ever touch our family again.”
    “But—”
    “Enough of this!”
    I stepped quickly out of the way as he stormed by. Mary and Jamie looked up from the other side of the room. “Now, come and join us for lunch,” he ordered, pulling my chair out from beneath the table.
    I stared down at the floor. A mixture of shame and anger caused my chin to quiver.
    I lifted my gaze from the rug. “I’m not hungry,” Iannounced, turning away. I felt my eyesfill with tears as I ran down the hallway, too proud to turn back now. I ran and ran until I reached my bedroom, where I pulled the curtains closed and curled up on my bed. Only then did I finally let myself cry. I cried for the summer without our father, for the awful note Jamie had left in his diary, for Polly’s family, for my family, for all the suffering and destruction. I cried until I finallyfell asleep from exhaustion.
    A knocking sound awoke me. “Eliza?” Mary came and sat next to me on the bed. “I brought you this.” She placed a plate of food on my lap. “The ball is in an hour. You need to eat something and get dressed.”
    Mary was ready, in her deep red gown with the antique lace on the hem. Her hair was pulled back in a high braided bun, a diamond tiara set atop it. She truly lookedlike a princess.
    “Is Jamie okay?”
    She shook her head slowly. “He can’t come to the ball. His fever is high again and his coughing is too severe.”
    I felt so bad for Jamie; he would miss out on another piece of his life, alone in his room while the party went on below him.
    “I know you’re angry with Dad. But please try to makethis a nice event. I left your dress hanging in your closet.” Maryturned to go.
    “Wait—” I asked, and she stopped in the doorway. “Will you help me get ready?”

6
    THE ORCHESTRA PLAYED A WALTZ AS THE PROCESSION OF guests made their way through the west gallery. The state ballroom was once the largest room in all of London; even now, entering the enormous space made me feel as though I were shrinking, like Alice in Wonderland.
    Mary and I descended the grand staircase to personally welcome our guests. As tradition dictated, we stood in the main hallunder the gilded ceiling, greeting each guest with a smile and a polite curtsy.
    Finally it was time for the Scottish reels, a tradition of the Roses Ball dating back to Queen Elizabeth I. Men were supposed to ask their secret loves to dance, like a valentine.
    I sank gratefully onto the white damask settee next to the very old Lady Eleanor Blume, who had nodded off with her head on her walkingstick, and watched as a handsome young man approached Mary to dance. She expertly put a hand into his open palm, and they glided off into the center of the room.
    I touched the intricate embroidery on the hem of my peach-colored dress, imagining the night my parents met and thinking of their true and enduring love. I looked out at all the boys and men in the room, but I couldn’t imagine fallingin love with any of them.
    “Now why would such a pretty girl be sitting all alone at the ball?” My father stood before me, freshly