Beaumo

arted around the room, wide and frantic. She saw no dis

aw on

e. My hair was artfully disheveled, my face a canvas of pure, unadultera

ce shrill with confusion and rag

. He knew me better than anyone. He knew I was stubborn enough to starve myself for three days over a man. He knew I would go to any lengths to get what I w

give him

barely hold me, and threw myself into his

to him. His eyes went red, he started shaking, he wasn't himself anymore - he was like a wild animal. I kept calling his name, kept telling him to stop, but

beloved had turned into a monster before her very eyes. It was

n his body, the complex storm of emotions behind his stoic facade. He was playing along. His hand paused - ju

creeched, pointing a trembling finge

dn't... I heard Aunt Candis shouting for 'Dudley' in the hall, and I thought it was som

dly precision. I had just tied her to her acco

e butler Jenson's eyes. His gaze shift

of thunder. "You brought me here. You said there was a man in Clara's room. Now, you will tell me. What was Dudley Nixon doing in

She was caught. My simple, terrified words had woven a

ways worried about her, always bringing her soup! This has nothing to do with me! I only

y eyes. "Then why did you call his name, Aunt Candis? Before

softened as he looked at me, then turned to i

red, his voice gentle. He then turned to the butler. "J

head. "Yes, sir."

to do anything to prevent what was coming, but a singl

is presence a fortress around me. "Clara

and unrecognizable. I spoke of my fear, of how I tried to call him back to himself, how he lunged at me like a beast, and how I was saved only by the sound of Candis's voic

gun, for one. But I could feel his belief settling around me. He believed I was the

from the garden below. It was followed by a man's

's jaw t

ite as a sheet. She r

r daughte

his face pale and grim. "Sir...

ing whose castle was under siege. He looked at

n his wake, he strode out of

ct was abo