Admitting it out loud somehow drove home how true the words were. The thought of Persephone disappearing the way Mother had made his stomach knot. The thought of hundreds of people prowling around Falstone Castle—be it a ball, a dinner, or a neighborhood invasion—made him feel ill.
“Blast it!” Adam crossed to the fireplace, throwing himself into a chair. Being married wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.
A wolf howled outside. Howling during the day wasn’t entirely unheard of. The noises of the household generally drowned out their cries. But that howl had been uncommonly close to the castle.
Persephone! She would be insane with fear. Adam jumped to his feet again and crossed back to the French doors. He didn’t see her in her garden. A second howl sounded.
Adam spotted her running back toward the castle. Shewashysterical, he realized.
He moved swiftly across the room and out into the corridor. A moment later he reached the first-floor landing and watched as Persephone flew through the front door. Barton stood in obvious confusion, but Persephone didn’t seem to notice.
Adam met her halfway up the stairs. Persephone nearly knocked him over. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face into his lapel. She was trembling. So was he, but probably for entirely different reasons.
“I heard them, Adam!” Her words cracked with fear. “The wolves are inside Falstone!”
“No, Persephone.” Adam held her a little closer. She was cold, he told himself.
“I don’t know how, but they must be inside.” Her voice rose in alarm. “They were so loud.”
“They aren’t inside the castle walls, Persephone.”
“Are you certain?” She buried her head more deeply against him.
“Positive.” Adam spotted Barton near the door watching the exchange rather too closely for Adam’s tastes. “Barton, will you send tea up to my book room?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” That took care of the butler.
Adam kept one arm around Persephone and led her up the stairs.
“The wolves sounded so close,” she whispered.
“I will have my steward check on the pack,” Adam assured her. “They always give the castle a wide berth.”
Adam walked her directly to the book room’s most comfortable chair, grateful it sat so near the fire. She’d been out in the cold too long. “Tea should come soon.”
“Thank you, Adam.” Persephone smiled up at him as she sat, but she still looked worried.
“Persephone?”
“Yes, Adam?”
“I think . . . I think we should have a ball.”
“A ball?” She couldn’t possibly have sounded more shocked. Adam was a little surprised, too.
“Unless you don’t want to.” Adam shot a look at Father’s portrait. He should have known the ball wasn’t a good idea.
“I assumedyouwouldn’t want to,” Persephone said. “It would mean a lot of people in the castle.”
“Every bride should have a ball,” Adam muttered.
“We are still in mourning.” She spoke uncertainly.
“I think a wedding ball would be permissible.” Anything he did was considered permissible by society. No one dared contradict him.
“Really?” The hint of hope in her voice tugged a smile from Adam’s lips.
“Really.” He allowed the smile to remain, small as it was.
