Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Alice buys death (№ 458479)

She was capricious until the last minute, either agreeing to go to this reception, or refusing. She had long been accustomed to living as a queen: it didn’t matter to her at all whether others liked her or not; queens do not experience this feeling of dependence on other people's opinions. And then she became worried and immediately felt irritated with herself.