Chapter 5

"Oh, you should have been there, Geoffrey. The twins were wonderful." Annalise's aunt, Lady Helen, said to her husband's brother as they were all seated at dinner later that evening.

"And so were the girls." She added, referring to her other nieces.

"Of course they were. Annalise, Josie, Sophie and Elizabeth are Beacroft girls, after all." Sir Geoffrey laughed heartily, and his brothers concurred. Their entire family talked about how all four of them were now grown women and officially pronounced eligible by the queen but Annalise sat quietly, taking small bites from her meal while the others happily chatted away.

"You have been awfully quiet tonight." Edward, who sat beside her, noticed. His voice was low, soft and full of concern.

"I thought it was only I who noticed." John, his brother who sat by her left, whispered. "You must be the only girl in town who is not excited about getting picked. You are just sitting here, sulking."

"I am not sulking." She stated, stabbing a piece of beef that lay on her plate.

"Right…" He teased.

"Let her be John." Emmett, the twin's eldest brother, joined their conversation.

"Can we not talk about this?" Annalise dropped her fork, giving up on finishing her meal.

"Not talk about what?" Alice, who overheard their conversation, piped in.

"How Annalise keeps questioning her life choices which as of this moment leads up to womanhood," John interjected with a broad grin.

"Oh, Good Lord!" Edward exclaimed, and Emmett choked on his drink.

"Is anything the matter, dear?" Antoinette and the other adults halted their conversation and turned to see what was happening.

Edward cleared his throat. "Oh, nothing, aunt Antoinette. John is just quite the jester." He chuckled nervously.

On the other hand, Alice was finding it hard to contain her amusement. While Elizabeth and the twins gave them a questioning look.

Antoinette merely smiled, then returned her attention to where it once was. As their hostess, she signalled for dessert to be brought in. Immediately, the servers cleared their dishes, replacing them with slices of apple Charlotte Russe Cake.

"This cake is delicious, Antoinette." Lady Alexandra exclaimed, taking her second bite. You must share this recipe with me."

"Only if you share your famous fluffy scone recipe with me." She winked, and both women laughed.

Shortly after, dinner was over. Annalise hugged her cousins good night and kissed her aunts and uncles before she bade them goodbye, and they all went their separate ways.