“Nothing,” April guessed flatly.
“Nothing!” May confirmed, throwing up her hands. “No ruined heiresses, no duels, no gambling debts—not even a whiff of scandal. Society only ever speculates. Everyone who speaks about him claims theyheardfrom someone, yet the source is never found.”
April frowned, unsettled. “A man of his fortune and station—and no gossip at all?”
“None that anyone will speak of,” May confirmed. “It is as if his past simply does not exist.”
June drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Or,” she said softly, “thetonis too afraid to speak.”
The room grew quiet, the notion settling over them. April stared at the wax seal on her letter, her heart tightening.What could frighten Society into silence?
She looked at her sisters—their bright, curious faces—and felt a pang deeper than intrigue. It was not only the Duke’s cold composure she wished to unravel but the reason he had taught himself to feel nothing at all.
April knew that she would not rest until she unraveled everything about him.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, the door burst open for the second time that evening—this time with far less subtlety.
“Were you not ill last night?” her mother demanded, storming into the room like a gale-force wind.
April jumped up so quickly she nearly tripped on her hem. “I—” she began, her mind scrambling desperately for a plausible excuse.
Her mother’s keen gaze swept the room, narrowing first on May then June then settling on April with the ferocity of a general preparing for interrogation.
“Do not attempt to deny it,” her mother continued, planting herself firmly in front of them. “Half of London is whispering that my daughter has been seen—with the Duke of Stone no less!”
April floundered, feeling the walls close in.How did word travel so quickly?
“It—it is not what you think,” April stammered, cheeks burning.
“She only wished to seeIsabella’s Lament, Mama,” June said quickly, stepping in with all the serene grace April had come torely upon. “She thought it too much to trouble you with it, given your worries about Papa.”
“Yes!” May chimed in, scooting off the bed to stand beside her sisters. “She thought it would lift her spirits!”
Their mother’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And she thought sneaking out with a duke—one she feigned illness to avoid the soiree for—was the best method of spirit-lifting?”
April tried to look pitiful and remorseful all at once. “I never intended to be seen,” she said in a small voice.
“And how did you become acquainted with the Duke to begin with?” her mother demanded, crossing her arms.
April fumbled for a moment then straightened her spine. “We met at Lady Emers’ ball a few days ago.”
May bobbed her head enthusiastically. “He even danced with her, Mama!”
“A full waltz,” June added with an impish smile.
Her mother’s hands flew into the air in dramatic disbelief. “And I was not there to witness it! I send you girls with your aunt for one evening—one—and a duke decides to dance with my daughter!”
“It was very sudden,” April said, trying to sound meek.
“Sudden!” her mother repeated. “Such moments must be seized, April! Nurtured!”
Dorothy resumed pacing. “You must make this work, April.”
April blinked.What changed your mind?“Mama?—”
“For yourself!” her mother pressed, flinging her arms wide. “And for your sisters!”
“Mama, truly?—”
