Her father patted her awkwardly on the back in consolation, suppressed terror in his eyes that she might start crying. She quivered her lower lip and his cringe became more pronounced.
"But Daddy, everyone knows that...that...that I was presented and he ignored me! How am I going to show my face at the dance next week? They're going to laugh at me, like they laughed at Lady Sophia! I wish I were dead! I wish I never met the emperor!" Her lip was now at full quiver, her eyes wet. She gave a ladylike sniffle and he blanched.
"How--how about that trip off world you were talking about last month?" he blurted, panic barely averted. "I'm sure this will have all blown over by the time you get home!"
A week later she was comfortably ensconced in an engineering class on Beta, where no one expected her to marry anyone.
A Flower of Vor Maidenhood
"But Daddy, everyone knows that...that...that I was presented and he ignored me! How am I going to show my face at the dance next week? They're going to laugh at me, like they laughed at Lady Sophia! I wish I were dead! I wish I never met the emperor!" Her lip was now at full quiver, her eyes wet. She gave a ladylike sniffle and he blanched.
"How--how about that trip off world you were talking about last month?" he blurted, panic barely averted. "I'm sure this will have all blown over by the time you get home!"
A week later she was comfortably ensconced in an engineering class on Beta, where no one expected her to marry anyone.