I will not take more from you than you wish to give. You are safe with me, even from me.
He lingered for the smallest heartbeat, just long enough that she felt the sincerity behind the gesture, and then he withdrew. When he pulled back, Hazel’s eyes were wide, stunned… but not frightened. Her cheeks glowed faintly beneath her veil, and her lips parted as though she meant to speak, but applause drowned out whatever words she might have found.
Greyson straightened, and a mask of composure returned to his face, but his heart felt strangely unbalanced. Because in givingher safety, he felt he was taking something away from himself, something he didn’t even own and didn’t even know if he needed.
Chapter Ten
“Hazel, dear, will you stop craning your neck like a startled goose?”
Hazel jerked her gaze away from the far corner of the ballroom and forced a tight smile for Matilda. “I amnotcraning my neck.”
Evelyn arched a brow. “You are absolutely craning your neck.”
“I am simply…” Hazel adjusted her gloves. “Looking.”
Cordelia snorted. “Looking? Darling, you’re plotting a military rescue mission.”
Hazel lifted her chin with dignity she absolutely did not feel. “I am assessing the area.”
“For what?” Cordelia asked, already grinning.
Hazel’s eyes went through the entire ballroom again. There were dozens of guests, while the orchestra played something far too cheerful, and still no sign of her sisters.
“For Chastity and Patience,” Hazel muttered. “Where else do you think they’d be? I have not seen them in nearly twenty minutes. Twenty minutes!”
Matilda exchanged a weary look with Evelyn. “Hazel, it is your wedding ball.”
“Yes,” Evelyn added, gently squeezing Hazel’s arm, “and you ought to be enjoying it.”
“Iamenjoying it,” Hazel lied.
Cordelia laughed outright. “Your eye is twitching.”
Hazel slapped a hand to her cheek. “It isnottwitching.”
“Oh, it is,” Cordelia assured her. “I would swear an oath on it.”
Hazel huffed and tried to accept another round of congratulations from the passing guests. All the words blurred into an endless sentence of smiles, curtsies, well wishes, comments on how radiant she looked, how handsome the duke was, how charming the ball appeared. It was a vicious cycle, yet all Hazel could wonder waswhere are they?
“I could look for them,” Cordelia offered cheerfully.
Hazel grabbed her arm. “Absolutely not. They will spot you coming and flee. They view you as an accomplice.”
Cordelia grinned wider. “That is because Iaman accomplice.”
Matilda sighed. “Hazel, relax. They are two young ladies at a perfectly respectable wedding ball. What could they possibly be doing?”
Hazel stared flatly at her.
Matilda blinked. “Right. They could be doing… anything.”
“Exactly,” Hazel said as another wave of anxiety tightened her spine. “Anything and everything. All of it terrible.”
Evelyn took her hands, squeezing them warmly. “Hazel, this is your moment. You married a duke today. You look beautiful. The ceremony was lovely. The ball is elegant. At least for tonight, let someone else worry.”
Hazel let out a hollow laugh. “If someone elsewouldworry, I would gladly hand it over. But you do not understand. Chastity and Patience are…” She gestured helplessly, “uncontainable.”
Cordelia hummed thoughtfully. “That’s correct.”
