Chapter 43. Announcement

Proserpina

I moved away. A man in a formal black suit, obviously a manager, entered and informed Lucien that the guests had arrived.

I turned to Lucien in some confusion," Are you giving a party? Why?"

But he was already sweeping me out into the main banquet hall: despite his bad leg, trying to keep pace with him while I was in my revealing gown and unfamiliar stilettos, took an effort that effectively silenced me.

When we entered the hall, I recoiled, only Lucien's firm hand tugging me forward stopped me from bolting. It was a crowded place, full of people, the sound of loud conversations, music, the fragrance of mixed perfumes, cigars, alcohol...I felt sick.

I noticed a few familiar faces as I hung behind Lucien Delano. Daniella Eton, the woman who had probably chosen this gown too, looking at me in a mixture of scorn and condescending sympathy; Thomas Harding was there, a fleshy, dazed-looking caricature of the handsome young man I r