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Chapter 32: The Heiress Reappears
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2026-11-05 23:11:05She reappeared into the world during the spring of her twenty-second year. Everyone was overjoyed.
They had missed her. They had never forgotten her. For five years she had been a rumour. An occasional sighting at a temple festival. A shadowy figure in the DeNova carriage. A name on the bottom of a long list of politely declined invites. The ladies of court had whispered that the Duke’s daughter had never fully recovered from the fire. That she had become a recluse. That she was fragile. Some had hinted at much worse.
However, on the first week of April she appeared at the Spring Ball of the Duchess of Hale.
Her dress was a deep forest colour. It was tight around the waist and flowed in a long, soft train behind her. Her auburn hair was longer and heavier. The deep copper colour caught the candlelight as if it was a bank of flames. It was pulled back into a simple chignon at the nape of her neck. She wore no jewellery except a fine gold chain. She was tall, slim and poised. She glided through the sparkling crowd as if she knew that nothing in the room could hurt her.
Silence fell.
“Lady Evangeline!” The Duchess of Hale said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She had almost drowned in a fountain once and had never forgiven the DeNovas. “It’s lovely to see you! We were beginning to think you’d never return.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.” Evangeline dipped her head. Her voice was low, smooth and slightly cool. “I have been very busy with the estate. As you know my father is very busy.”
“Of course, of course.” The Duchess gave her a calculating look. “And you’re feeling better now? After your... ordeal?”
“Yes.”
“How brave.”
Evangeline smiled. It was a small, perfect smile. It didn’t touch her eyes. The Duchess, although not a fool, shivered slightly at the back of her neck.
Later Isolde found her in the gallery. She stood by a tall window holding a glass of untouched wine. Her eyes were fixed on the gardens below.
“You were amazing.” Isolde said softly. She was also twenty-two. Her copper hair had been plaited into a neat crown. She had filled out nicely and moved through the world with a quiet confidence. She knew where all the bodies were buried and had read the plaques. “Lord Tavish has already proposed to three women. Rafe Pembry looked like he had swallowed his tongue.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s what made you amazing.” Isolde linked her arm with Evangeline’s. “How many men tonight?”
“Eleven. Although the useful one was the under-secretary of the Treasury. He said three times that the Ninth Office have quarterly payments he cannot audit. He looked terrified when he realised what he had said!”
“And your father?”
“No, he didn’t see me talk to him. He thinks I’ve come back to find a husband.”
“Have you?”
She turned to face her oldest friend. Her eyes were cool, calm and a clear green.
“I have come back to listen.”
It wasn’t nothing. She had spent the last five years trying to be what her father wanted. A decoration. A shining pillar of the Duke’s home. She attended his dinners. Smiled at his guests. She had learnt how to read the atmosphere of a room. The little vices of powerful men who would tell a beautiful, quiet girl secrets they wouldn’t tell a spy. However, she had copied.
She had copied her father’s accounts. His letters when he left them lying around. She had copied names mentioned during supper. When they were first mentioned and where they led. It started off as a punishment but became a map.
On the inside of her left wrist, hidden by her gown, were two words written in ink. They had been rewritten many times. Now there was only a faint shadow.
Mara Albrecht.
“Dorrie says,” Isolde whispered. “The midwife has agreed to see you.”
Evangeline froze.
“When?”
“Thursday. After dark. In the lower city.”
Music began to play downstairs. It was upbeat and fast. Laughter erupted. Something broke and a women screamed with joy. The sweet smell of hothouse lilies rose through the stairs.
Evangeline placed her untouched wine on the windowsill. “I have plans for Thursday,” She said softly. “Plans my father won’t know about.”
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