A black carriage stops outside a bakery on a street corner, and the gold crest on its door catches the morning light without shining. Inside it the Linden heir sits straight-backed, watching the shop through the window. [So this is where the girl works.] (his elder brother) Thomas gave them the address under questioning yesterday. … Continue reading Chapter 29 — To the Bakery →

An hour, perhaps. To Thomas, tied on the floor of a windowless room, it might have been a week. Then footsteps, and the door dragging open. [Sorry to keep you, Thomas.] (his elder brother) Leonardo's brother comes in with an attendant of his own, and the attendant is carrying a cudgel. Thomas has never in … Continue reading Chapter 28 — Realisation and Regret →

[You sent for me, madam……?] (Thomas) The butler told him the mistress wanted him, and Leonardo's attendant Thomas went to the room he was given. Inside, the Duchess and the heir are sitting with hard faces and a cold air about them. Both pairs of eyes go through him. The air is drawn so tight … Continue reading Chapter 27 — Leonardo’s Attendant →

After the Duke of Calendula has gone, the Duchess of Linden sinks into the sofa with a silk handkerchief crushed in her hand, and cannot hold the sobbing down. The thin shawl over her shaking shoulders takes the tears as they fall. Sunlight comes through the gap in the heavy curtains in a thin thread. … Continue reading Chapter 26 – A Mother and a Brother Grieve Over What Leonardo Has Become →

The Duke of Calendula held the thinking and the values of a nobleman, exactly as one would expect of him. He had been taught not to be carried along by his own appetites, and to hold to the responsibilities and the duties that come with privilege from birth. Take pride in your work, and do … Continue reading Chapter 25 — The Duke’s Values →

A heavy carriage creaks to a halt, and the door swings open. Chloe's father steps down in a deep navy cloak. The sun catches his silver-white hair. He is not a man anyone walks up to without being asked. An attendant takes him up to the doors of House Linden, where his daughter's betrothed lives. … Continue reading Chapter 24 — The Duke’s Visit →

The drawing room of House Calendula carries a heavier air than usual today. This is the day Leonardo comes to make his amends over the hairpin. Chloe has been sinking since morning at the thought of receiving a man she has no wish to see, and the shadow of it sits on her face. There … Continue reading Chapter 23 — Leonardo’s Apology, and Chloe’s Anger →

[……What I'm about to tell you, I've never told anyone.] (Chloe) [You may well think I've lost my mind. Do you still want to hear it?] She watches him over the rim of her cup, testing. Erich's face sets, and the answer comes back serious. [Whatever it is, I could never think less of you, … Continue reading Chapter 22 – Something I’ve Never Told Anyone →

Chloe gives her father perhaps a quarter of an hour — their first meeting in longer than anyone in the house cares to count — and then she is in a carriage, going somewhere else. The carriage rocks gently along. Outside the window the afternoon lies pale and bright across the rooftops of the city. … Continue reading Chapter 21 – Coffee, Bitter and Sweet →

[……Would it be all right if I took my leave now? There is somewhere I need to be.] (Chloe) — It has been so long since the two of them were last in the same room, and his daughter has not thawed by so much as a word — and now, rather than stay, she … Continue reading Chapter 20 – The Duke’s Regret →