The Last Princess Read Online Free Page B

she had heard him correctly. “Did you ask me why not?”
    Coldly he enunciated, “I did, indeed.”
    In less than a second, Lily was again the terrified eleven-year-old Charles had sent away. Gone entirely was the confident woman.
    “Because I don’t love him,” she stammered.
    “Lily, darling,” said her mother warningly, “love comes with marriage and children.”
    Lily stared blindly at her plate. How could she have been so foolish? It was obvious her parents didn’t care about her feelings. But even so, why were they rushing her? There were plenty of young men, and she was just twenty-one….
    “Your mother is quite right, Lily,” said Charles. “There is plenty of time for you to learn to love after the wedding. The point is, he will be an excellent husband. His family is as wealthy as ours, and he would be a careful steward of the fortune you will inherit.”
    In a voice that brooked no argument, Violet added, “Be sensible, Lily dear. You may be very pretty, but looks can fade fast. If you are to marry and have children you must do it soon, and men as eligible as Roger do not grow on trees.”
    “But I’m not in love with him!” Lily cried. “Not the least bit!”
    Violet was becoming exasperated. “You’re being ridiculous! Is there anyone else you fancy yourself in love with?”
    “No, but perhaps that’s because Roger has been by my side ever since I’ve returned. We seem to have become an ‘item’ without my even realizing it.”
    “Look, Lily,” said Violet. “Roger will be an ideal husband. You should take it as a compliment that he wishes to take you as his wife.”
    Devastated, Lily tried to hold back her tears. Why Roger Humphreys? Of all the men she had met, why him? He was wealthy, but there were other wealthy men. Suddenly, a startling thought came to her: Her parents had planned this all along. That was why they had called her back from Europe, to arrange this marriage. It seemed incredible, but she couldn’t shake the suspicion.
    Lily went through the day feeling once again a stranger in her own home. The thought of saying yes to Roger was unthinkable but as the days passed she knew she could not live with her parents’ cold disapproval either. Charles totally ignored her, while Violet bombarded her with ceaseless arguments.
    It didn’t occur to Lily to leave home. No young woman from her social circle took her own apartment, and she wasn’t trained for a career. As the weeks since Roger’s proposal became a month, she began to feel she had no choice but to marry him. He was attractive and devoted and he would be a reliable husband and a good father. In the end she couldn’t bear her parents’ anger any longer. All the time she had been in Europe she had built defenses against this lack of affection. Now at home she found their cruelty had once again reduced her to a timid child. The more she thought about it, she decided that an early marriage was the only solution. It would give her a home of her own, and above all, children. So without really analyzing her feelings, she made her commitment.
    Perhaps Violet was right, she would develop a deeper affection for Roger after they were married, and perhaps love was not the integral ingredient in marriage anyway. After all, Europeans usually married for practical reasons, and their marriages appeared eminently satisfactory. But the main reason behind her decision was the deep-seated feeling that because of what had happened to little Charles, she owed it to her parents. It was with these thoughts that Lily finally accepted Roger’s proposal and, ironically, from that moment on she became happy with her decision. She began to fall in love, if not with Roger, with the idea of getting married. She became so caught up in the excitement of buying her trousseau and planning the wedding that she ignored the reality of what she was doing until the day of her engagement party. It was then that she walked out into the garden to have a