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Jo glanced at the clouds. Her chest was rising and falling with frantic breaths. She suddenly felt panicked.

Somehow she thought if they left, they would never come back. And not just to this roof. But to that moment between them, which had bloomed on this roof. Meanwhile, Richard scrambled to his feet and extended his hands to her.

She placed her hands in his, and he tugged her up.

“Here you are. That wasn’t so frightening, now was it?” he joked as if nothing had happened, as if her world hadn’t just turned upside down.

Was she being overly dramatic? Artists were always criticized for being overly emotional. And perhaps it was just that. Perhaps her courses had to do with her panicked thoughts. Or perhaps it was something else entirely.

She smiled and shook her head.

Richard stepped closer and enveloped her in a hug. He ran a hand over her arms in an attempt to warm her. But his touch didn’t have the same effect on her anymore. His motions were mechanical, and his gaze held no warmth.

And that was the difference.

When they’d gazed into each other’s eyes earlier, she’d thought she could see through to his soul. And it had warmed her.

But he’d quickly shut himself off from her. Because as he gazed into her soul, he felt it, too.

She was falling in love with him.

And he’d immediately detached himself from her.

Because he didn’t love her back.

Because he couldn’t.

* * *

Jo rushed into her room after Richard had escorted her from the roof. She closed the door and leaned her back against it. She looked at her hands, only to notice that they were shaking.

What in the world was going on?

The last time something like this had happened was when she had to make her debut as a lead in a play and she shook like a leaf, feeling cold and feverish at the same time before the theater manager pushed her onto the stage and she was forced to perform in front of thousands of people.

Anxious.

Afraid.

“Are you unwell?” Selena’s voice startled her out of her skin.

Jo jumped and looked at the bed, where her friend raised her head from the pillow to peer at her.

“Yes, I…” Her voice was breathless. Jo pushed herself off the door and stumbled toward the bed on legs that felt like wool. “Selena, I’m in trouble.”

Selena shot up to a seating position, her brows furrowed. “What’s the matter?”

Jo grimaced. “I think… I think I fell in love with the viscount.”

Selena raised her brow, then pursed her lips. She scooted toward Jo and took her cold, shaking hands into her steady and warm ones. “And why is that trouble?”

Jo raised her eyes to hers. “You know why. You know what happened the last time that happened.”

Selena smiled and squeezed Jo’s hands. “You were young then. You are an experienced woman now. You know how to protect yourself. Why hide from love? It is one of the joys of life. Without it, who are we?”

Jo let out a chuckle. “You are quite the romantic, Selena.” And after her sordid affair with Mick, that was surprising indeed.

“We have an advantage over these aristocratic young ladies. They have to choose a person to marry and settle for that person for the rest of their lives. We get to fall in love with as many people as we want. And we can happily embrace affairs with them. So take advantage of this freedom.”