Despite Irene's eyes filling with tears, she managed to keep her composure otherwise, with straight posture and perfect manners that didn't point to what she was truly feeling whatsoever.
In response to the clear mental turmoil, Rochelle reached forward and held one of her daughter's calloused hands, resisting the urge to comment on how needlessly rough they had gotten. Even with hands like that, she had caught the attention of one of the most powerful men in the entire kingdom.
"Normally, when someone is told that someone is in love with them, their first reaction isn't to cry," Rochelle explained in a soft voice.
As Irene's mother, she couldn't help wondering if there was more to the story than what she had witnessed. Perhaps there was already the beginning, middle, and end of a romance, but she and Irene had grown so distant in their letter writing that she never knew about it.
