Jest convinces the King that he should court the girl he plans to marry before proposing to her.Ĭatherine plays croquet with the King, Margaret, and Jack. The King asks Jest to entertain Catherine. Jest comes over and tells Catherine the King wants to see her.Ĭatherine walks around the gardens with the King and they talk about the upcoming Turtle Days Festival that is hosted by Catherine’s parents. Margaret is there and speaks ill of the Duke, but still seems jealous when another guest flirts with him. She has rose macarons in her pocket to give to the King as a gift. The Duke says he will allow it only if Catherine helps him to win Margaret Mearle’s heart.Ĭatherine goes to the palace for a tea party. Then, they go to the Duke’s estate to talk to him about renting the space from him.

They go to his shop to see if it would work for their bakery. Catherine’s mother, the Marchioness, is upset that Catherine is not engaged to the King.Ĭatherine and Mary Ann find out the cobbler is closing his store. They are relieved to find her at home because a Jabberwock had attacked at the ball. Jest calls a carriage to take Catherine home.Ĭatherine goes to bed and wakes when she hears her parents’ carriage arrive. Catherine faints and Jest wakes her with a white rose. She meets Jest, the joker, and his friend Raven in the King’s garden. Peter is a new member of the gentry, having been knighted after his wife won a pumpkin eating contest.Ĭheshire appears at the ball and tells Catherine the King is planning to propose to someone. Afterward, Catherine stands by the banquet table where she meets Peter Peter and his wife. The King’s new joker arrives at the ball and entertains the crowd. The King asks Catherine to dance, then goes to try the lemon tarts she brought for the banquet table. Her mother made her wear red so the King would notice her.

Mary Ann’s mother forces her to wear a red dress.Ĭatherine arrives at the ball to find that it is a black and white ball. They talk about their dream while Mary Ann helps Catherine dress for the ball. She and her maid Mary Ann plan to open a bakery together one day, but both know that Catherine’s parents will not approve. She loves to bake and is so caught up in it that she nearly forgets to get ready for the ball. The story begins with Catherine baking lemon tarts to take with her to the King’s ball. The story follows Catherine as a young woman who falls in love with the King’s new joker only to discover that he has been sent to Hearts for the purpose of stealing her heart. Heartless, by Marissa Meyer, is the imagined back story of Lewis Carroll’s character the Queen of Hearts from his novel Alice in Wonderland. The following version of the book was used to create this guide: Meyer, Marissa.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer