Her Stepmother Sent Her to the Duke as a Joke – He Offered Her a Chair Before He Said a Word

the dining room and tossed it onto the table beside Norah’s plate of eggs.

“Page four,” he said, pouring himself a cup of black coffee.

Norah picked up the paper. Her hands were steady. She turned the crisp, ink-smelling pages. There, tucked between a review of a terrible opera and an advertisement for Macassar oil, was the society column:

*The rumors continue reading …