*Ines*
I have never known my father to host elaborate parties. He is not one to smile upon any sort of unnecessary expense on fun … but apparently he is happy to spend money on other things, which is why I am in this peril. So it is with some suspicion that I approach the lavish fête being thrown in my honor following the wedding ceremony.
No doubt my stepmother has insisted upon it, to show off. My father would have been content to serve tea cakes on the lawn and be done with it.
But no, the wedding must be an event, in the most extravagant sense of the word, and so as soon as the ceremony is over, I am whisked to my soon-to-be-former rooms and given just enough time in my soon-to-be-former bedchamber to splash some cool water on my face before I am summoned to greet my guests below
