Hyacinth and Madeline blinked at each other before their gaze traveled to their sister's departing back.
"Has your sister gone mad? Is she now friends with Madeline?" Mrs. Sophia asked, her eyes scanning her two daughters.
"Or perhaps she has caught a fine man at the castle," Georgina blurted, causing Hyacinth to nudge her.
"Speak," Mrs. Sophia commanded.
Hyacinth sighed, glaring at Georgina before facing their mother. "She was with a distinctly handsome man at the wedding ball, and they seemed engrossed in a deep conversation."
"Laughing and perhaps flirting?"
"Now!, is that not fascinating?," Mrs. Sophia said, her gaze traveling towards where her daughter had just walked out from.
....
"It is the queen."
"Oh! Look, it is Madeline."
"Her skin is now finer."
