The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)(51)

Delia Grace gave us a thin smile before doing her next steps. “Not quite good enough,” she mumbled.

Scarlet looked at me with questioning eyes, but I just shook my head. It was far too much to explain, especially considering the role her brother played in it all.

We went through, step by step, making sure everyone knew the moves by heart; all eyes would be on us, so we couldn’t make a mistake.

Luckily for us, Scarlet was a natural. Though we had to go over steps multiple times for her to commit them to memory, when she performed them, there was an easy grace to the movements.

“So beautiful, Scarlet. You made me think you danced so rarely that you might struggle. The way you move your hands is particularly lovely.”

“Thank you,” she said as we moved. “Honestly, I think it may come from using a sword.”

“Your brother didn’t mention your skill with a sword,” I commented, still going through the steps. If he had, I would have remembered. I’d been working hard to banish Silas Eastoffe from my thoughts, but I couldn’t forget all our tiny moments together, all the things he’d said. If pressed, I could recall the entirety of our conversations.

“Practicing moving in a gown with a heavy piece of metal in your hand will make you light on your feet.”

I laughed. “I suppose. Come to think of it, Silas danced with me recently, and he did a wonderful job.” Stop talking about him, Hollis. It isn’t helping. “Perhaps it’s also a family trait.”

“Perhaps.” She spun around. “My family is very important to me. We’re all we have left now.”

There was something slightly accusatory in her tone. “That’s not true. You’re doing so well.”

She shook her head as we went through the moves a final time. “You must realize we are not completely welcome here. Our former king views us as traitors, we have to work now, which is fine but new. . . . No one outside our family truly understands what we’re going through. I wouldn’t want anyone hurting my family . . . even if it came from a place of love.” She looked up at me from under blond lashes, her eyes pleading.

I swallowed. I wondered if he’d told or if she just knew. Scarlet and Delia Grace seemed to have a skill for that, for knowing things. I spoke softly, hoping the violin would mask my words. “Please believe me when I say, I would never intentionally hurt your family.”

“Intent doesn’t matter if it happens anyway.”

I inhaled sharply, looking around to make sure no one was within earshot. “You have nothing to worry about. Besides, I’ve learned that Jameson plans to propose at the celebration for Crowning Day.”

She sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good. And we’ll be leaving soon after, anyway.”

I dropped my hands. “What?”

Delia Grace and Nora went through the moves, though their eyes were decidedly fixed on us. Scarlet looked at their curious faces before turning back to me.

“I . . . I told you,” she began quietly. “That was always the plan. We want to live a quiet life, a life that belongs to us. Finally.” She breathed the last word as if she were very tired. “Since we arrived, we’ve been making inquiries for property, and we’ve found a manor with good lands out in the country. We’ve been receiving commissions for work, and it looks like we’d be able to support ourselves, with or without income from the land. We’re leaving.”

I clutched my hands in front of me and worked to pull a smile to my face. “Valentina made me aware of how . . . strenuous court life in Isolte can be. It’s no wonder you long for the peace of the country. How lucky am I to get to show you off at least once before you go? Come, let’s finish our practice.”

I was exhausted, unable to put anything into the dance beyond the basic moves. And once we finished, I wordlessly walked through my apartments to the back rooms. I’d never done anything like that before, and everyone was wise enough to understand that meant I didn’t want to be followed.

Settling in on a seat beneath a window, I looked out over the river, over the sprawling city, to the plains in the distance as far as my eyes would reach. Somewhere past that line, the Eastoffes would make their home. I told myself this was a good thing. If Silas left, it would remove all temptation to speak to him, to ruin the brightest thing in my life. It would make it so much easier to see Jameson anew, to remember how he loved to lavish me with gifts and affection.

This was someone removing my shoe and taking the pebble out; I would walk steadier from here on out.

So it made no sense that I sat there, taking in the best view the palace could offer, crying until my tears ran dry.





Twenty-Four




WHEN I WOKE UP ON Crowning Day, it didn’t feel like it usually did. It was so very average. Plain weather, plain sun, plain me.

“Hollis,” Delia Grace said quietly, pulling back the curtains on my poster bed. “You have a delivery.”

“What?”

“My guess is it’s for tonight. No ordinary old headdress would do for you, would it?” she said, a pang of longing bleeding into her voice. With a sad but resolute smile, she held out a hand to help me from the bed.

“Have you opened the box yet?”

She shook her head. “It’s only just arrived, and we’d never open something for you, my lady.”