Her steps came to a halt by the doorway, however, when she saw a stranger in Mr. Booth’s place.
The gentleman rose to his feet in a movement of lithe elegance. He was tall and attractive-looking, albeit in a rather piratical sort of way, and with piercing gray eyes.
“Lady Rhapsody, is it not?” The stranger’s voice was gentle but strangely icy at the same time. “I know it is improper to call on you without being properly introduced, but your guardian, Sir Isaac Booth, says this was a most urgent matter.”
Rhapsody was still wary. Mr. Booth’s guardianship wasn’t exactly a secret, so this could be a mere ploy to gain her trust.
“Your guardian came searching for me.” He took a letter out of her coat pocket and handed it to her.
She glanced down and recognized her guardian’s seal. Her fingers shook as she broke the seal open, and they shook even harder as she read the first line.
Dear Rhapsody,
It is with much regret that I write this, and because I know you are not for drivel that is only meant to soften the truth, I shall go straight to the point. I received a letter some weeks ago from the Marquis of Sangre. He wishes me to find you another heartkeeper—-
She quickly refolded the letter, unable to bear reading the rest. I am a coward, Rhapsody thought, but somehow she couldn’t make herself regret this. Glancing up at the stranger, she said carefully, “The letter speaks of another heartkeeper.”
“And that would be me.”
Her heart leapt as soon as the words were uttered, but she couldn’t even tell whether it was because it hurt or shocked her to hear the words. It was just…odd, the way she suddenly seemed unable to decide what to even think, much less feel, about the matter.
“Your guardian had in his possession a vial with a drop of your blood,” the gentleman went on to explain. “It was enough to confirm the most essential facts.”
“How remarkably cost-efficient.” She saw the stranger smile and realized she might have been misunderstood. “It wasn’t a joke,” Rhapsody felt obliged to explain. “I am incapable of making jokes—-” She paused, realizing only at that moment she had yet to learn how to address him. Was he a plain mister, a sir, or a lord?
“I apologize,” the stranger said right away, apparently sensing her predicament. “I am William Domnescu—-”
“The Earl of Impietri,” Rhapsody realized, having recognized the name. He was a half-demon from an ancient line of lions and one with vast properties in both Lunare and Brimstone.
The earl’s gray eyes glinted. “You know me then?”
“Only what I’ve read from The Chalysian Peerage.” Rhapsody hesitated. “However, there is also another matter…”
“The Marquis of Sangre?”
She was about to nod when she noticed the way the earl’s features had suddenly turned stoic.
“You know something,” Rhapsody guessed.
“I know only of what your guardian told me,” William said finally.
“Tell me what it is.”
“I cannot vouch for its veracity—-”
“Please.” And when she saw that he was still about to refuse, she said again, “Please, William.” And in this, the power of names still held true, for after a moment, the earl began to speak, his voice tight as his words proceeded to break the last pieces of her heart.
“I was told that I have the Marquis of Sangre’s blessing in meeting you.”
“You do.” And how oddly painful it was to admit this. So very…odd.
“You appear in shock.”
“I think so.”
The earl stepped towards her but ceased his advance at the shake of her head.
“I would like to speak with you more about this, but…not here.”
“I am a guest at The Regent,” the earl said after a moment. “Perhaps we can have supper there…”
“Yes.” A strange, rare sense of cluelessness had stolen her ability to think or feel, and it was as if she were speaking on automaton as well. “If you would be so kind to wait, I’ll only need a moment to change…”
“Of course.”
She remembered to curtsy to the earl even as her mind wavered between blankness and chaos.
Odd. So, so very odd.
She headed up to her rooms.
The marquis must have come to realize she was inadequate, Rhapsody thought. And that was fine…was it not? Had she not been prepared to break their arrangement herself for that same reason? Granted, at that time she had imagined a different sort of inadequacy, but that was far beside the point.
It’s probably because I am Not Normal, Rhapsody thought. The marquis had assumed it was something he could live with but eventually realized otherwise. That was all there was to it, Rhapsody concluded, and when she entered her room and saw Emily of all persons waiting for her…
Her lips pursed.
Did this mean she was right about Emily, too?
Could the other girl be the reason why the marquis had wished to be done with her?