SHE DANCED ALONE IN THE EMPTY BALLROOM AFTER MIDNIGHT-UNAWARE THE DUKE WAS WATCHING

cool glass for a moment and smiling at nothing.

Then she climbed the servant’s stair to her small room, unpinned her hair, and hung her dress on a peg. She was asleep within a minute, and she did not dream.

In the morning, the house began to wake around her. She rose early because lines was when she always rose, washing her face in cold water from the continue reading …