Minnie smiled as her eyes moved over the familiar script of the letter she held. It was another letter from Mickey, telling her the state of things in Pomona and the latest mischievous exploits of his seven nieces and nephews. They certainly sounded like a handful, but the fondness in Mickey's descriptions of them was unmistakable.
"Excuse me, my Lady?"
Looking up from the letter, Minnie saw Clarabelle enter the room, looking a little flustered. The Princess frowned as she stood from the sofa where she was seated.
"Clarabelle, is something wrong?"
The maid managed a smile, but it fell somewhat flat.
"Well, that depends on what kind of bad you mean."
A sinking feeling came to Minnie's stomach.
"I suppose this concerns you know who?"
Clarabelle gave her another weak smile.
"However did you guess?"
Minnie sighed.
"What does he want now?"
Clarabelle held out another folded piece of parchment.
"I don't know what it says," she said. "Apparently he doesn't think I'm important enough to be trusted with it."
That made Minnie clench her teeth; the way Mortimer treated the servants was well known by now, and what infuriated her even more was that some of the nobles agreed with it. Only the most indifferent ones, but still. With an irritated huff, she unfolded the message and scanned it. As she suspected, it was another flowery invitation to the next court event, which happened to be Donald and Daisy's wedding. Without hesitation, she moved to her desk and sat down. Dipping her quill in the ink bottle, she wrote a return message thanking him, but unfortunately, she had agreed to attend with another suitor.
"Telling him off?"
Minnie looked at Clarabelle, returning her sly smile.
"With utmost politeness, of course," she replied. "I can ask someone else to deliver it, if you don't want to…"
"Nonsense!" Clarabelle said with a wide smile. "Seeing his face would be well worth it!"
Giggling at that, Minnie stood and folded her message before handing it to Clarabelle.
"Thank you. And if you don't mind, tell Lord Byron I accept his invitation."
The maid's eyebrows lifted.
"Lands sakes, you really must be desperate to avoid going with Mortimer," she said. "That boy's as dull as the day is long."
Minnie smiled and shrugged.
"He may be dull, but at least he's decent."
"Excellent point," Clarabelle said with a nod. "Well, I'll be off then."
As she turned to leave, she noticed the letter left on the sofa. Moving over, she squinted down at it, then turned back to Minnie with another sly smile.
"Well, well, well… another letter from your friend in Pomona?"
Momentarily confused by the maid's expression, Minnie nodded.
"Yes… he's saying everything is fine there. He wants to know if everything is all right here, and…"
Her confusion increased when Clarabelle continued to look at her with that sly expression, and she cocked her head.
"What?"
"Why, isn't it obvious, my Lady?" Clarabelle said. "He likes you!"
Minnie immediately felt her face heat, which only made Clarabelle's smile even wider.
"W-why… he is a dear friend, but…"
"Oh, of course," Clarabelle said. "Then please forgive my presumption, Your Highness."
She gave a practiced curtsy and headed for the door, then glanced back again.
"Though if I may," she said with a wink. "I do declare you would be eager to attend with him."
Her smile widened as Minnie's blush deepened and swept out the door, humming a little tune. After a few moments, the Princess turned toward the nearby window and gazed out as she ran Clarabelle's words through her mind. She couldn't deny, going to this event with Mickey would certainly make her anticipate it more. When he had visited with his parents, she had enjoyed attending court the most she ever had. He had made it so enjoyable, exchanging amusing whispers of particularly stuffy courtiers and stories of his family and life in the country.
Truthfully, Minnie had envied Mickey's simpler life. She didn't resent him for it, of course… she didn't think she could resent him for anything. The only possibility of that would be if he ever did anything like Mortimer did, but she knew he was too good a person for that.
Suddenly, Minnie realized that she was wearing an almost dreamy smile. She couldn't keep from blushing again as she turned from the window and rose from her desk. Walking back to her sofa, she picked up Mickey's letter again and sat to read the rest.
The remainder of the letter talked about how the rest of his family was doing. Minnie often wished she could meet them all. She had an idea of what Oswald was like but had only Mickey's descriptions of Ortensia and the children, and they sounded wonderful. Minnie knew that Oswald had been in a dark place after his and Mickey's parents died, and his family was a major reason that he had been able to return to his old self.
If only he could be that way around me.
Minnie had been unable to keep from expressing that thought to Mickey, but he had reassured her that he would eventually… it would just take time. Despite herself, she did feel a little irritated that he seemed to be taking out his personal misfortunes on her just because of who she was, but she felt sorry for him too. It must have been so hard to have his own father willingly leave like he meant nothing to him. After her mother had died, Minnie got an idea of what that was like. Her father hadn't exactly left her, but she felt like he had in all the ways that mattered.
Minnie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She looked up, wondering if Clarabelle was back already.
"Come in."
Instead of her maid, Daisy stepped inside and curtsied.
"Your Highness."
"Please, no need for that," Minnie said, smiling as she rose. "Well, your wedding is only in a few days. No nerves, I hope."
Daisy returned her smile while she crossed the room.
"Of course not. I could never feel insecure with Donald, even with all those stuffy people watching us."
That made Minnie giggle, though she couldn't suppress a twinge of concern. Many of the nobility rarely took personal feelings into account in gossiping, and she hated to think of any of them spoiling the happiest day of her friend's life. Of course, Daisy rarely let anything like that get her down, but Minnie still worried. Apparently reading her look, the duck reached out and took Minnie's hands with a reassuring smile.
"You don't have to worry about me, I promise," she said gently. "I'll have everyone who matters most to me there, and that's all I need."
Minnie's smile widened at that. Daisy had always been a strong, independent person, and the Princess often wished she could be more like her. She knew Daisy still admired her just as much, and that often cheered her considerably.
Before either of them could speak again, there was another knock. Knowing who it likely was, Minnie called for the person to enter. Sure enough, Clarabelle entered, and from her wide grin Minnie knew the likely result of her rejection to Mortimer's invitation. The maid curtsied with a respectful salutation, though clearly desperate to talk about it. Minnie couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry about protocol, Clarabelle… go on and tell us before you burst."
Daisy looked between the two with a curious expression, but before she could ask any questions Clarabelle launched into her story.
"Oh, lands sakes, it was a riot! He managed to keep himself together enough to answer, but I hung around at the door after I left, and he started griping and ranting like you wouldn't believe! It was like he didn't care who heard him or figured no one who did hear would talk about it."
Minnie raised a brow.
"And I suppose you plan to tell everyone you meet about it?"
Clarabelle gave her an exaggeratingly offended look.
"Me? Why, Your Highness, why would I ever do that?"
Minnie burst into more laughter, followed by Daisy and Clarabelle. Honestly, it reassured her that Mortimer was behaving so poorly… if he kept it up, it certainly wouldn't take long for even her father to see he was a poor match and send him packing. And she couldn't deny, that sight would more satisfying than she was willing to admit.