Chapter 12: The Party

Harrow House had been strung with a thousand white lights, and every one of them was pointed at me.

I came down the front steps on Rhys's arm in the green silk gown, with his mother's ring on my hand.

Pippa came behind me in her own green dress, hissing instructions.

"Chin up. Smile. Do not eat the crab puffs, they're a trap."

"Why are they a trap?"

"Because Dorian's cook made them."

Inside, two hundred people turned to look.

The ballroom glittered.

Odile sat in a carved chair at the far end, and she raised one hand an inch in greeting.

Rhys steered me through the crowd.

People kissed my cheek, shook my hand and said congratulations, and I answered every one with a smile that grew tighter by the minute.

"You're doing great," Rhys murmured.

"I'm doing nothing."

"You're doing it beautifully."

Across the room I saw Dorian by the bar with Sybil at his elbow.

His eyes found mine and glittered.

He looked like a man holding a winning ticket.

Sybil did not look at me at all.

At nine o'clock a string quartet stopped playing, and Dorian tapped a glass.

"If I may," he said. "A toast."

The room turned toward him.

"To my cousin Rhys," Dorian said warmly. "Who surprised us all. And to his lovely fiancee, who surprised us even more."

Polite laughter.

"I have been privileged to learn a great deal about Ms. Marwick this month," he said.

"I think the family deserves to hear it, too."

My stomach clenched.

Rhys's hand found mine.

"He's got something," I whispered.

"I know."

"What do we do?"

"Whatever you decide," he said.

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