She hadn’t meant to say those last words, but there they were.

Teddy took a sudden step closer. “That’s unfair, coming from you.”

“What?”

“Come on, Beatrice,” he insisted, in a tone she’d never heard him use before. “You’re the one who’s in love with someone else.”

The words fell like heavy stones into the space between them. She blinked. “How did you…”

“Samantha told me, the night of our engagement party. She said that you were calling off the wedding because you loved someone else.”

Beatrice’s mouth had gone dry. There was something surreal about hearing Teddy mention Connor, as if she’d stepped into the distorted reality of her dreams.

Every instinct in her screamed to deny it—to shrink from revealing anything personal, the way she’d always been taught.

But Teddy had told her the truth about his secrets. Didn’t she owe him the same?

“The guy I was talking about—he’s gone,” she confessed. “He left court. He was…” She trailed off before giving any more details, but Teddy didn’t press her. Instead he asked a question she hadn’t expected.

“Do you still love him?”

Beatrice blinked. “That isn’t…”

“I think I have a right to know.” Teddy’s voice scraped over the words. “I deserve a little warning if you’re going to spend the rest of our lives hating me.”

“Why would I hate you?” she repeated, startled.

“Because I’m not him!”

An uneasy silence followed his words. Beatrice sucked in a breath, feeling disarmed. She forced herself to meet Teddy’s impossibly blue eyes.

“I did love him,” she said at last. “But now…”

Now when she thought of Connor, he seemed out of reach, as if she were trying to snatch at a shadow that rippled on the surface of water. As if all she had left were memories of memories.

“I don’t know anymore,” she whispered. “And really, it doesn’t matter; I’m never going to see him again.” She hesitated—but here they were, laying all their ugly truths on the table, and she was surprised at how urgently she wanted to say this. To acknowledge the silent obstacle that kept looming between them.

“Unlike you and Samantha,” she added.

Neither of them had mentioned Sam until now, as if they both knew it would be easier to pretend Teddy had never been involved with her.

“Look, Bee, I’d be lying if I said I never had feelings for your sister,” he said uncomfortably. “But that was before, okay?”

“Before what?”

He held out a hand, then lowered it, as if he’d thought better of the gesture. “I just…I guess I thought it was you and me now.”

The simplicity of that statement made her fall still.

Again Beatrice had the sense that there was something archaic and fine about Teddy, something that belonged in another century. Surrounded by all the other people of court—who made promises they never intended to keep, who operated out of pure self-interest—he shone like real gold in a sea of cheap imitation metal.

Beatrice reached for Teddy’s hand, tugging him toward her. He looked surprised, but didn’t pull away.

“You’re right. From now on, it’s you and me.”

As she spoke the words, she felt them becoming true.

“Nina!” Sam exclaimed, realizing they’d hardly seen each other all night. She pushed her way through the center of the tent, where she’d been dancing with Jeff and his friends—which was probably why Nina had kept her distance.

When she’d caught up to her best friend, Sam flashed a bright, exuberant grin. “I need some air. Come with me?”

“What about Marshall?” Nina asked.

Sam glanced to where Marshall stood near the bar, recounting some anecdote amid gales of laughter. Everyone looked distinctly sloppier than they’d been when they first arrived, their hair disheveled and their smiles too wide.

All night, Marshall had been playing the role of her boyfriend with robust enthusiasm—spinning her on and off the dance floor, charming her friends with his outrageous stories, calling her a series of increasingly obnoxious names like schmoopy and pumpkin bear.

Everything he did, Sam realized, was larger than life. It wasn’t just his sheer physical size, though that might be part of it. But Marshall seemed to inhabit every moment to the fullest. He even laughed more deeply than anyone Sam had ever known, the type of hearty belly laugh that people joined in simply for the sake of hearing it.

“He’ll be fine on his own,” Sam decided.

She led Nina out of the tent, past the laughter and music bursting from its edges. The palace loomed up to their right, its glass windows catching the moonlight, so that the massive building seemed to be winking.

Past an avenue of drooping locust trees, on the other side of a gated stone wall, was the Washingtons’ pool house—originally built by King John as a home for his mistress, though everyone pretended to forget that. Now the ornate pillars and carved stone balcony looked out over an Olympic-sized pool.

Sam kicked off her shoes and sat along the edge, letting her bare feet trail in the water. It felt pleasantly warm; someone must have turned on the heater, knowing that the twins were having a party tonight. Wind rippled over the surface, creating a thousand shadows that chased each other over the water.

“Okay,” Sam began as Nina sat down next to her. “What’s up with you?”

Nina shifted guiltily. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve got that look. Like there’s something you want to talk about, but you don’t know how to bring it up.” Sam tugged halfheartedly at the hem of her white dress, which was shorter than she remembered, then gave up and looked over at her friend.

“There is a guy,” Nina admitted. “But it’s complicated.”

Sam nodded. “Good! You were overdue for a rebound.”

“Actually…it’s Ethan.”

“Wait. Ethan Beckett?”

She listened as Nina explained that she and Ethan had started hanging out after they did a project together for journalism class. Then, last weekend, he’d walked her home and kissed her in her dorm room.

“Have you seen him since?” Sam asked, and Nina winced.

“He didn’t come to journalism yesterday. I don’t…What if he’s trying to ghost me?”

“He’s probably freaking out,” Sam said patiently. “You’re his best friend’s ex, and he likes you.”

Nina looked up, hopeful. “You think he likes me?”

“If he didn’t like you, he would have showed up to class and acted like nothing happened. Instead he’s hiding, hoping you’ll be the one to make the next move. Ugh, men.” Sam flicked a hand dismissively. “Now you’re the one who has to decide—was it a one-time thing, or do you like him?”

The answer was immediate. “I like him.”

Sam leaned back on her palms on the flagstone terrace. “You do realize that things would have been so much cleaner if you’d moved on to someone new. I mean, someone outside our group of friends.”

“No one else would get it!” Nina exclaimed. “Ethan understands what it’s like being an outsider within the royal family.”

“You aren’t an outsider!”

“Sam, you know I love being your best friend. But no one ever appreciates what it means. They either judge me for it, or envy me for it,” Nina explained. “All I’m saying is that Ethan gets it because he’s been through the same experience.”

Sam hated how complicated she made things for her friend. Growing up alongside Sam had put Nina in a constrained and bizarre situation, one foot in each world without really belonging to either.

“Okay,” she breathed.

“So you approve?”

“First of all, you don’t need anyone’s approval for your romantic relationships. Even mine,” Sam said emphatically. “But for the record, I’m fine with you and Ethan. Besides,” she added, “I’m not exactly in a position to judge.”

Nina let out a strangled laugh. “We make quite the pair. You’re faking a relationship, and I’m hiding from my ex-boyfriend, plus his best friend, who I kissed last weekend.”

“These are massive problems,” Sam agreed. “Clearly, the only solution is to sneak into the kitchens and eat Chef Greg’s raw cookie dough.”

Nina smiled. “You know, that does sound like a solution.”

They started to clamber up from the ground, but before they could move, Sam heard the soft creak of the gate being opened.

“There you are, snickerdoodle! Hey, Nina,” Marshall added. “You ladies look comfortable. Should I bring the party to you?”

“Actually, I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Nina stood. “There’s something I need to do.”

Sam would have argued, but she had a feeling that Nina was going to look for Ethan, so she just nodded. “See you later.”

When Nina had left, Marshall turned to Sam with a lifted eyebrow. “Did I scare her off?”

“She doesn’t like you,” Sam said blithely, and Marshall snorted. “I mean, she doesn’t like what we’re doing. She thinks it’s a bad idea, faking a relationship.”

His eyes widened. “Seriously? You told her?”