prinxessleonora:
“ There will be a banquet in danish quarters in few days; I’d like you to play there, as joyfully as you just did. “ Leonora was charming to those she spoke with for the first time. She didn’t spare the young musician compliments about his skills he just presented to her, her laughter was magnetizing; once their conversation was over, she realized she was being watched by someone from the court. She welcomed them with a curtsy and said : “ It’s not very polite to eavesdrop - however, since you already know about the party, we may discuss your invitation. “
Sophia curtseyed to her sister in return, neat and compact, and spoke in Danish, looking at her with a slightly wicked glint in her eye. “Flirting again, sister?” she said, in an undertone -- though no one at the English court spoke their language, there were always their own ladies. “A musician is a step down, I suppose, but at least you wouldn’t be expected to stay long in mourning.”
The cruelty came easily to her, and it was only occasionally that she regretted it. The rivalry between them had only been exacerbated by Leonora’s two marriages, and Sophia’s eternal singledom -- after her sister had failed the first time, Sophia had assumed it would be her turn, and to wave Leonora off at the coast again, to go to another husband, had been difficult enough to bear. That Leonora was now twice a widow, and their younger sister Catherine was to be married before Sophia, only increased her sharp-tongue, urged on by jealousy.
