thick with tension. The clinking of s

nus, servants, guests, and household accounts with the certainty of a woman who believed power became hers simply because she had held it long enough. Princess Victoria might hav

one's eye. Across from them, a younger woman, Lady Cordelia, th

er voice loud enough for the entire room to hear. "It is

manor hours, coming from the co

teacup down with a decisive click. The sound cut off any furthe

, Seraphina ma

her hair glittered, drawing every eye. She was not the timid country gir

and executed a flawless curtsy to

ologies for my tardiness." Her voice

pology is insufficient. Your lack of co

look ill-bred, selfish, and unfit for command on her first morning, then the new Duchess would begin her reign alr

t Philippa. Instead, she turned to Princess Victoria, her

Highness. I lost track of time. I rose

fted instantly. Every ea

g. "I sat with him for a while. I bathed his face and hands.

improper for His Grace to wake, however briefly, and find only servants at his

ntly, "Especially in a house where gentlemen have l

d, caring wife. Philippa's accusation o

ion softened. "And how is he, chi

l, hopeful, yet uncertai

perhaps it was only my imagination... but when I held his hand to c

tronger than one might expect from a man some me

to the silent room like

A sign of life.

or Alistair, it was the first g

scraping against the marble floor. "Truly

o physician, my lord. It may have been nothing more than

ss Victoria's face. She reached out and patted

f you are tired from caring for my son, you may sleep unt

of favor. It was a shield for Serap

us click. She had tried to brand Seraphina as lazy, disrespectful, and unfit for the household; instead, the girl had turned tardiness into devotion, country igno

sound like an attack on a devoted wife caring for a wounded husband. She

ly accepting a cup of tea from a servant. She ignored

she had won. She had successfully tied herself not ju