Non, he needed a scheme of his own.
"-oui, well the weather should not concern our-"
Prince did not wait to hear more. He had his own designs to administer, and time appeared more critical than he'd anticipated.
*****
"Is there not something I can do to slow this stampede of wild horses threatening to trounce my very living breath?" Essie's bemoan was most theatrical. Cinderella was tempted to grin but for the fact her future happiness was too entwined in the outcome.
All three girls had managed to avoid Stepmama by hiding in Cinderella's out-of-the-way chamber. 'Twas not completely secure, but Maman had no reason to suspect Essie and Pricilla's forged friendship. Cinderella sat cross-legged on the bed while Essie lay stretched on her stomach, chin resting on her fists.
Pricilla, primly situated in the overstuffed chair, tapped a thoughtful finger against her cheek. The chair was strategically set before the door in the event someone, and by someone, meaning Stepmama, barging in unannounced. It wasn't a perfect plan but would allow sufficient time to react. A precautionary measure Cinderella was more than happy to accommodate.
"We just need a contingent strategy," Pricilla said.
"'Twill to be too late," Essie wailed.
Cinderella's head spun with their constant bantering. Another hazard of the sister-ship, she decided. A sudden smile soared through her.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Essie. Your constant whining does not facilitate the progress of pre-planning."
Cinderella agreed, silently. Her relationship with her sisters felt too fragile to risk to just blurt things out as they did.
"But what if it goes too far?" Essie was in full whining mode.
Dejection seeped all the way to Cinderella's bones. "They are already in full preparation as we speak," she said glumly. "Just yesterday I saw footmen dispatching satchels burdened with invitations."
"Burdened is an interesting choice of words, Cinde," Pricilla said. Cinderella looked up quickly to find Pricilla's eyes boring into her. "What have you against Essie marrying the prince?"
Cinderella peeked at Essie who had flipped to her back and was studying the celling of the canopy bed.
"Oh, why should she care?" Essie cried. "I just know I'm not ready for marriage. I know we are considered of marriageable age, but I do not want…uh… anyone. I do not wish to be queen. I do not wish to live in a gilded cage." She gave a delicate shudder. "I prefer the study of meteorology."
"Of course you do. And it is surely an appropriate subject matter for your natural curiosity and affliction," Pricilla smirked.
Essie shot her a lethal glance.
"And, I can certainly understand your sentiment on marriage," she said under her breath, which Cinderella found odd, considering Pricilla's reaction to the shoe fitting Essie.