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

the two neighbors occupied chairs by the window. Her aunt sat on the small chair by the piano and waved a thin hand at the keys. “My niece plays tolerably well. Do sit, dear. Something light.”

Vivien sat and lifted the lid of the piano, placing her hands on the cold keys. The room smelled of the woodfire, the tallow candles by the door, and the overly continue reading …