“Ariadne! Mercedes!” she called, rushing across to give each of them a long, warm hug. “Where did you come from? How did you get here? I’m… I’m speechless.”
“Of course you are not, since you seem to be speaking just fine,” Ariadne said on a teasing laugh. “As for the where and how, the answers are Scotland and by coach. Are you surprised?”
“Very!” Emma exclaimed.
“And glad, I hope,” Mercedes said.
“Very, very,” Emma responded, her lower lip wobbling a little as she realized exactly how glad she was that her two best friends were with her again. Until that moment, she hadn’t known just how much she’d missed them.
“Have tea sent in, Baroness, and see that rooms are prepared for the princesses,” she told her lady-in-waiting. “In my wing. The yellow and rose suites, I think.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” With a respectful bow, the older woman withdrew.
The three of them waited until she had gone before continuing their conversation.
“You must be tired from your journey,” Emma said, gesturing with a hand toward the long sofa opposite before resuming her own seat. “I ought to have asked first if you would rather rest and refresh yourselves before the tea arrives. I know just how long a trip it is from Scotland and how weary I felt afterward.”
Ariadne and Mercedes exchanged looks. “We are quite well. The final portion of the journey was a brief one this morning, since it was too long to push through last night.”
“The inn where we stayed was quite comfortable,” Mercedes offered. “Much more so than one might have expected. And before that we enjoyed the hospitality of various lords and ladies at their country estates. We had to be quite firm about our need to leave each day and not tarry, since we were coming to see you.”
Emma studied each of them this time. “Happy as I am to see you both—and believe me, I truly am—why are you here? Isn’t term still going on at school?”
“It is,” Ariadne said. “But we spoke with Countess Hortensia and she agreed that we could conclude our autumn lessons early so that we might spend time with you. We asked Prince Rupert not to say anything about our plans in case we were delayed. I am pleased to see he kept his word.”
“You wrote to Rupert?”
“Indeed,” Ariadne stated.
“He arranged our travel and saw to our comfort each step of the way.” Mercedes smiled. “It was most considerate of him.”
“It was no more than anyone else would have done,” Ariadne countered. “But his preparations were adequate, I agree.”
Emma made no comment, aware that nothing Rupert did ever seemed to please her friend.
Getting abruptly to her feet, Ariadne crossed the room and closed the door. Just as quickly, she was back and in her place on the sofa. She leaned forward, lines of concern on her forehead. “After we had your letter, Mercedes and I agreed that it was imperative for us to come.”
Mercedes nodded. “We could tell something was greatly amiss.”
“So tell us everything and don’t leave out a single detail,” Ariadne urged. “We can’t have you being blue-deviled, you know. After all, you’re closer to us than a sister.”
Emma stared at the two girls, then entirely without warning, she burst into tears.
Mercedes raised a hand to her throat, looking stricken, while Ariadne silently extended a handkerchief.
Emma took the silk square and buried her face in the material, letting all the pent-up misery and sorrow of the past weeks wash over her.
A few moments later, Mercedes got up and hurried around to sit at her side. Soothingly, she curved an arm around Emma’s back and rubbed her shoulder. “There now, everything will be all right.”
But Emma knew nothing would ever be right again. Leaning against the other girl’s shoulder, she cried harder.
Ariadne saw to it that the tea arrived without any interruption from the servants or Baroness Zimmer. With the door closed tightly behind her once again, Ariadne set the tray down on the small table between the two sofas.
She poured three cups with a neat, confident hand before purposefully sliding one toward Emma. “Drink that,” she told her. “When you’re ready, we’ll be here to listen.”
Emma tried valiantly to stop, but it took another couple of minutes before her sobs finally quieted enough that she thought she could speak. She blotted her wet, tearstained eyes, then gave her nose a good blow in spite of the indelicacy of the act. After all, she was among friends who had already seen her at her very worst over the years.
“Tea,” Ariadne reminded in a gentle voice, then gave the cup another tiny push forward. “It’ll do you more good if it’s hot.”