Chapter 28

Lyra’s POV

We stepped into the garden just as a wooden support beam swung out of place and clipped Sienna as she hurried past. She paused, gave the startled girl a reassuring nod, and accepted the apology offered with trembling lips. Fortunately, Sienna wasn’t carrying anything fragile or liquid—her pale blue dress emerged unsoiled—but she still felt the need to slip away and check herself in the restroom. I rose to follow.

“I’ll come with you,” I said, but Sienna shook her head and hurried on before I could protest.

“No, you can’t,” she replied, matching strides with those hovering on the edge of the lawn. “Not when your mother-in-law is dying to present her new daughter-in-law to her friends.” Smiling, she drifted away toward the cluster of well-dressed women, leaving me to stand awkwardly in the sunlight.

“Ladies,” Mrs. DeWitt’s voice rang out like a bell. I turned to see her standing beneath an arbor draped in wisteria, her posture proud. “I’d like