“What a question! Of course I would!”
Her heart was again softening to the Prince. Not since the night they had met and he had asked her to marry him had he been so kind.
“You know that I love you, my darling! I love you more than anything!” he said desperately as tears welled up in her eyes at his sweet words.
“I do now, my love! I do now!”
Princess Tulip was happier than she had dared hope on Solstice Eve. She hadn’t imagined such a turn of character in the Prince, but since that night in the observatory, he’d been nothing but sweet to her.
“Oh, Nanny! I do love him so!” she whispered while sipping her spiced wine.
“How quickly you pivot from one emotion to another, my dear!” said Nanny.
“But, Nanny! His disposition has fluctuated greatly from one moment to the next! But I do feel he’s finally himself again.”
Nanny did not look convinced.
“We shall see, my dear.”
The Prince did look glad, Nanny had to admit, and he seemed to be falling all over himself to make Tulip happy. It was almost comical, actually, quite like a mockery of love. But her Tulip was happy, so she didn’t press the matter or cast an evil eye in his direction. She did notice, however, Pflanze, who was perched on Tulip’s lap, looking at the Prince with hateful eyes. Nanny had to wonder why that cat disliked him so. Perhaps she too saw through this ruse.
The Prince was very pleased with the Solstice Eve gathering. He was a bit exhausted by his attentions to Tulip, but he had decided there was no better way of breaking the curse than marrying Princess Morningstar. It was clear she loved him a great deal, so he was halfway there. All he had to do now was make the sisters believe he loved her, too.
Of course, there were indeed things about her that he loved. He loved her beauty, her coyness, and her keeping her opinions to herself. There was nothing he hated more than a girl with too many opinions of her own.
He liked that she showed no interest in books, and that she didn’t prattle on about her pastimes. In fact, he had no idea how she spent her time when she wasn’t in his company. It was as if she didn’t exist when she wasn’t with him. He imagined her sitting in a little chair in her father’s castle, waiting for him to send for her.
He loved how she never gave him a cross look or scorned him even when he was in the foulest of moods, and how easy she was to manage. Surely that counted for something; surely that was a form of love, was it not? And he figured the sweeter he was to her, the more quickly he would reverse the curse.
So that was the aim of this visit, to show the sisters how much he loved Princess Tulip Morningstar. But how would he get their attention?
Oh yes, they had said the Prince and his beloved had to seal their love with a kiss. Well, that would be easy enough. He would just have to spirit her away to a romantic setting and bam! A kiss! A kiss she would never forget!
He arranged the entire thing with Lumiere, who was best at planning such romantic things.
“Romantic interludes,” he called them. “Oh yes, Prince, she will melt into your arms in utter delight when she sees what we have in store for her, mark my words!”
“Wonderful, Lumiere. And Mrs. Potts—she’s sorted a hamper for the picnic, has she?”
“Everything is taken care of, even the nanny. We invited her to a tea party downstairs so she will be very well occupied and you lovebirds will be able to fly free without worry of her watchful gaze.”
The Prince laughed. Lumiere was always so poetic when he spoke of love, so devoted to the notion of it. The Prince couldn’t go wrong with having him arrange this little escapade, and he was sure Tulip would be very happy.
The following day, in the morning room, Tulip was working at some needlepoint while idly petting Pflanze as the cat pawed at some spools of thread that fell onto her red velvet cushion.
Nanny was talking, presumably to Tulip, about Mrs. Potts’s cobbler and wondering how hard it would be to wrangle the recipe out of her, when Lumiere entered the room.
“Excuse me, lovely ladies, but my dear Tulip, could you possibly spare your nanny for a few moments? Mrs. Potts has arranged a little tea for Nanny downstairs. I think she is eager for your company, Nanny.”
Nanny looked at Lumiere with a sly grin.
“And yes, Nanny, to be sure, she has baked a peach cobbler for the tea. She knows how fond you are of her cobblers.”
Nanny smiled. “Tulip, dear, you wouldn’t mind, would you? You won’t feel too lonely if Nanny slipped away for a spot of tea with old Mrs. Potts?”
Tulip grinned at her nanny and said, “Of course not, I have Pflanze to keep me company.” And then, looking at Pflanze, she added, “Don’t I, sweet girl?”
Pflanze just looked at Tulip with her large black rimmed golden eyes, tinted with tiny flakes of green, and blinked them slowly at her as if to say, “Yes.”