“That we ran into each other on campus and had a brief conversation.”

“It took twenty minutes to come up with that?” the queen asks. I’m surprised to hear her laugh. I’m on a real roll with phlegmatic women at the moment.

“I’m a slow learner, I guess.”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” the queen replies, which I think is a compliment, but I’m too taken aback to respond right away, and she continues speaking before I have the chance to say anything. “Vivienne said you two decided to…end your relationship before she left. Do you mind me asking why?”

“Uh…” I stall. “That’s all she said?”

“Yes.” Vivienne’s mother looks at me expectantly.

“We realized we had some…irreconcilable differences,” I hedge. I’m guessing the queen already suspects the truth, but I’m not going to rat out Vivienne directly.

“She told you the truth,” Evelyn surmises.

I nod once.

“I was less than enthused about our trip to South Carolina over the summer. Robert and Charles insisted returning to the States was what Vivienne needed. That she was missing it there. We landed, and she acted just the opposite. The only part of the trip I was looking forward to was seeing the Vanderbilts’ beach estate. Margaret—Duchess Vanderbilt—has been going on about it for years.”

I frown, unclear on what her point is and unenthused it involves the Vanderbilts.

“The moment Vivienne found out we would be staying at their beach house? She threatened to climb back on the plane and fly home if we didn’t find other accommodations. She’s always been obstinate, but I’d never seen her put her foot down like that before.” She pauses. “Your loyalty seems contagious. I would hardly characterize Vivienne as the sentimental type.”

“Why would you tell me that?” I can’t help but ask. Vivienne’s mother is the last person I expected to share anecdotes of Viv’s feelings with me.

“Vivienne’s always struggled with being royal. I expected your relationship with her—her feelings toward you—to be an extension of the freedoms she enjoyed during her time in the States. A reminder of happier times for her that would become tarnished by reality. Instead? You arrive here at the palace, where she’s a princess again, and she dresses up for dinner! She laughs at dinner! She invited Robert and me sailing! Do you know the last time the three of us went on an outing that wasn’t part of an official engagement? I’m not sure if we ever have. And even if we did? The only reason Vivienne was laughing and smiling today was because you were there with us.”

I take a deep breath. “I think Vivienne believes she can never meet your expectations. And so she’s given up on trying to. Maybe try talking to her more like her mother, and less like a queen. She’s funny. Ask her to tell you about the treehouse she built in the woods. Or ask her to go shopping. She loves to shop, mainly to buy gifts for other people. She went shopping with my mom and sister, and a sweater my mom liked showed up at the farm a week later. She’s thoughtful. And Katie got her hooked on some reality television show. I forget the name of it. She’ll go on about it for hours, mostly about how terrible she pretends she thinks it is. You could watch it together.”