American Royals

Daphne spends hours on the mountain in Telluride in hopes of running into Jefferson. Finally, she sees him and pretends to be surprised by their “chance” encounter. Daphne and Jefferson end up on the ski lift together, and she remembers all of the years they spent together in Telluride when Daphne was invited to spend New Year’s with the Washingtons as his guest. Daphne thinks about how “Jefferson first told [her] that he loved her” (162) in Telluride and how the little mountain town means so much to the Washington family. Daphne spent her holidays constantly attending high-profile parties, feeling like “the bait at the end of a fishing hook, being tossed over and over into the water, waiting powerlessly for the prince to bite” (164).

Daphne and Jefferson join the rest of the group at the end of the ski lift, and Ethan corners Daphne and tells her that her attempts to get to Jefferson are desperate and futile. He admits that he thinks Jeff is seeing Nina because “they’ve been staring at each other all weekend” (166). Daphne is disgusted at the thought, and as she chases Jefferson down the slopes, she decides that she will get Jefferson back one way or another, “no matter what she [has] to do to poor