Page 17 of A Royal Obligation
“This is magnificent. I always forget how beautiful your ballroom is.” Charlotte’s light-brown eyes grew in wonder as they scanned every inch of the room.
Jules stepped back and smiled at Barrett. “This room is honestly a little bit intimidating.” She bit her lower lip, and he tried his hardest to not drop his gaze there—emphasis on the wordtried.
“Has anyone ever fallen down the stairs before?”
“Plenty of times.” Barrett chuckled. “My favorite was a time when a gentleman tripped over the gown of the lady he was accompanying down the stairs. When he tripped on the train of her dress, he tried to catch himself by grabbing onto her.”
“Oh no.” Jules let out a gasp mixed with a giggle.
“Oh yes.” Barrett lightly chuckled. “I’m sure you can imagine what happened next. With his momentum, he ripped the bottom of her dress right off. Luckily, it didn’t tear all the way, but it ended up looking more like a dress you would wear to a club than a ball. I never saw either of them again, come to think of it. I think they must have been too mortified from that unfortunate situation.”
Their conversation was cut off by Charlotte letting out a loud gasp.
“What did you do?” Barrett asked Liam, shooting him an accusatory look.
“I told her there was a ball being thrown tonight in her honor. I wasn’t aware she didn’t know about it.” Liam shrugged nonchalantly.
Barrett let his face fall into his palm. “I knew I was forgetting to tell Jules something when I spoke with her. I should’ve waited and let the secretary handle it,” he muttered to himself under his breath. Looking up, he said, “I will show you a few more rooms and then we can take you both to your rooms to prepare for the festivities.”
Charlotte nodded quickly.
He took them to the library next. “This is probably my favorite place inside the palace. We will do a lot of our renovation plan meetings for Brookside Primary School here.”
“You don’t take your meetings in your study?” Charlotte asked.
“I don’t work from my study often. I prefer the space and windows here. I can show you my room if you would be more comfortable there.”
Charlotte raised her eyebrows at him again. He slapped his forehead as Liam covered his laugh with a cough and then mumbled something unintelligible. Barrett glared at him.
“I meant my study.Thatroom.” Barrett added with a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m a fumbling fool today.”
Charlotte suppressed a smile while Jules let out a small laugh. “It’s all right, Your Highness. Men are allowed to forget what to say sometimes in the presence of a beautiful woman,” Jules said motioning to Charlotte.
Jules had no idea how true that was.
He showed them the western wing on the second floor where their rooms would be and then took them up to the third floor. He quickly pointed out the corridor his, Liam’s, and the king’s rooms were down and showed them the hallway that housed their offices.
“Further down that hall at the end is where the medical wing is located. I think that’s about it though. I can have Gloria, the head maid, take you all on a tour of the grounds if you would like, but I know women need more time to get ready than men. Are you ready to head to your rooms to prepare for the ball?” Barrett asked.
“That would be lovely,” Charlotte breathed out with a sense of urgency.
“Let me escort you, Lady Charlotte,” Liam said, smiling suavely.
She glanced at Barrett before accepting Liam’s offer. He promptly whisked her away, saying something that made her laughter echo in the hall.
Barrett escorted Jules to her room, thinking as he walked. It was an answered prayer that he had managed to get mostly coherent sentences out during the rest of the tour, but he was still nervous about how the rest of their stay would go. He paused once they reached Jules’s door.
“I’ll be back to check on you and Charlotte before the ball.”
“I don’t know if I will be attending,” she whispered.
“Isn’t it every girl’s dream to go to a ball?”
“I’m sure it is. I’m not prepared though. I didn’t bring any dresses worthy of a ball.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I can solve that problem easily. I will have some dresses brought to your room to choose from.”
“That’s really not necessary. Charlotte is your honored guest.” She shook her head.