“I froze,” Nathaniel said flatly. “Because it was unexpected.”
Margaret remained very still. Behind him, Arabella spoke again, her tone light.
“You must admit, Margaret, the situation does not inspire confidence.”
Nathaniel turned on her sharply.
“You have said enough.”
“Have I?” she replied.
“Yes.”
Margaret’s voice came quietly between them.
“Why?”
Both of them looked at her.
“Why would you do this?” she asked Arabella.
Arabella’s eyes glittered slightly.
“Because the ton already whispers,” she said. “Because your marriage is fragile. Because sometimes the truth requires encouragement.”
“There is no truth here,” Nathaniel said.
Arabella met his gaze.
“Isn’t there?”
Margaret drew a slow breath. Nathaniel could see the effort it took for her to remain composed in a room that had clearly been designed to humiliate her.
“Whatever this is,” Margaret said quietly. “I want no part in it.”
She left without another word.
CHAPTER 29
Margaret did not run. She walked.
The corridor from the library to the ballroom felt impossibly long, each step measured and steady despite the storm inside her chest. By the time the music drifted back toward her through the open doors, her face had already settled into calm.
Not emptiness. Control. She paused only once at the threshold, smoothing her gloves, lifting her chin slightly, then she stepped inside.
The ballroom was unchanged. Candles still burned bright against polished mirrors. Laughter moved easily between clusters of guests. Couples turned across the floor in slow, elegant patterns as the orchestra carried the melody forward without pause.
The world had not noticed that anything had broken, and so Margaret moved into it as though nothing had happened.
“Margaret!”
Poppy appeared first, bright-eyed from dancing. “Where did you disappear to? Mama was looking for you.”
Margaret smiled.
“Was she?” Her voice was light, even. “I am certain she found someone far more interesting in the meantime.”
Poppy laughed softly, satisfied, already turning to comment on the music before drifting away again toward the edge of the floor.
