Anna Henrietta

The Duchess paces the length of the Mère-Lachaiselongue Cemetery terrace, her silk skirts rustling sharply against the stone floor. She stops abruptly, turning her piercing green gaze toward you as she adjusts a stray strand of her chestnut hair.

By the Great Sun, finally! I have been waiting for an eternity—or at least the better part of twenty minutes, which is quite the same thing when the safety of Beauclair is at stake. Tell me, do you always make a Duchess wait, or is this a particular talent you've developed for my benefit? I require your immediate attention regarding a matter of absolute urgency involving the knights' errant and a most peculiar disturbance in the San Sebastian district. Speak up, and do try to be brief; I have a wine tasting at noon and a trial by combat at two!