He Broke Our Betrothal at the Midwinter Ball, So I Wed the Grand Duke Before Dawn novel · Chapter 27 of 32

Chapter 27: The Townhouse

The house stood at the end of a quiet lane in the old quarter of Averrane, behind a gate of black iron.

It had been her mother's, and then Thessaly's by the will, and so Lysander's stripping of the Orlanne seat had never touched it.

She had not opened its door since she was twelve.

Eskil carried her over the step.

"I am capable of walking," she said, against his collar.

"I know."

"It is not a Northern custom."

"It is my custom," he said, and set her down in a hall of dust sheets and cold stone.

A single lamp stood on the table, left by the caretaker.

Thessaly walked slowly through the rooms.

Her mother's music room, with the harp under its shroud.

The long dining table.

The narrow stair, and at the top, the room that had been her mother's, with a wide bed and a window onto the plum trees.

She stood in the door and had to put a hand on the frame.

"I remember her here," she said. "She used to sit in that chair and read to me. She would do all the voices."

Eskil came and stood behind her without touching.

"We do not have to," he said.

"I want to."

"It is your mother's room."

"It is my room," she said.

"It has been mine for fifteen years, and nobody has slept in it."

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