Character Analysis
The third eldest sister, Clover, is beautiful and kind but has a speech impediment. The way Azalea thinks about it, "She always had difficulty speaking, as though every word took her entire effort" (3.26). She claims that this is one of the reasons she's good at dancing with fans, saying: "I'm only good… because—because I'm shy" (9.51). She blushes while saying this, and she blushes a lot in general—so when she speaks up to the King to defend their dancing, saying it reminds them of Mother, Azalea thinks of this as "uncharacteristically brave" (12.61).
Clover's "so tenderhearted" that she cries upon learning that Minister Fairweller has been wounded in the war (10.20). But she's also quite determined sometimes, like when she thrusts ginger tea at Fairweller when he returns, "flaring pink with indignation" (10.25). Of course, we later learn that she's had a thing for Fairweller for a while, based on how good-hearted a man he is.
Clover is really beautiful too—and as Azalea notices, "She even looked pretty with a dribbling wet face" (14.135). With her golden hair and beautiful smile, who could resist her? Certainly not Viscount Duquette, who basically tries to abduct her and force her to marry him (ick).
At times, though, Clover is full of surprises. She confesses to destroying the magic tea set, which no one would've thought her capable of because she's so sweet. Heck, it even surprises the King, who "was just staring at her with his mouth slightly open" (19.95) while she narrates the story.
The surprise of her falling for Fairweller does kinda make sense though, given what a good person she is. Once she noticed how good he is too, she was bound to fall for him: "He was too good and noble […] And I realized I was in love with him! And I would marry him! Fairweller was mine!" (22.31), she says. Even more impressive than Clover's bizarre sense of possessiveness is the fact that her stuttering gets better when she talks about Fairweller. Azalea notices this, and it almost helps her approve of the match. Almost.
While the King isn't happy to hear that Fairweller and Clover have a thing, Clover is just so sweet that she convinces the King to let her have a choice of who she marries when she turns seventeen. If that someone happens to be Fairweller, hey, at least the two of them get to be happy about it.