American Royals

Sam has spent days trying to get in touch with Nina to no avail. Although Sam felt an “initial twinge of weirdness” (243) at the thought of her best friend dating her twin brother, she is more unsettled by the fact that Nina didn’t tell her. However, Sam feels compelled to protect Nina from the vicious attacks by the press. One day Sam runs into Teddy, who tells her the news: He and Beatrice are engaged and will announce the news to the press soon. Sam is furious, and she warns Teddy that this marriage won’t give him power. Instead, he’ll be “forced to set aside [his] own desires,” and Beatrice will be “in the limelight and in the driver’s seat” (246). Teddy leaves, and Sam storms into Beatrice’s room and announces that she likes Teddy and spent the Queen’s Ball making out with him. She asks why Beatrice is doing this and getting married so quickly, but Beatrice remains stony-faced and says that she would “trade [places] with [Sam] in a heartbeat” (248). Sam notices that Beatrice seems “utterly broken” (249), and she can’t make sense of it. Sam declares that Beatrice and Teddy deserve each other, then storms out of Beatrice’s room.