Chapter 8When I glanced around again, Mrs. Knowles had floated away, sitting among some ladies as though our brief and disturbing exchange had not occurred. I felt shaken to the core, not only by her unexpected vulnerability, but how much her conflicting emotions echoed my own.
As I scanned the room, I caught Jem’s attention, his eyebrows raised in a query. I tried to smile convincingly, but once he had been distracted by another guest, I had an intense desire to be alone, the harmless noise of people at play suddenly unbearable.
Escaping from the room, I refilled my glass from the table in the great hall, where my father was quietly conversing with a few older men. Without calling any attention to my presence, I quietly left the hall in search of solitude.
As I hoped, I found the libra
