The Plain Sister Was Sent to Apologise for Her Sister’s Scandal — The Duke Married Her Instead

Chapter 2

She found Julian Warrick near the cardroom entrance, speaking in low tones to two men she did not recognize. He was thinner than she remembered, with a careful blankness in his face that she understood immediately — the expression of a man who had learned to keep everything still so that nothing could be read. Six weeks had passed since Rosalind had shattered his engagement in front of half of London, and six weeks of contained fury had hardened the lines around his mouth.

Clara waited at the edge of his periphery until courtesy required him to acknowledge her. He turned. Something moved through his eyes, quickly suppressed.

“Miss Ashworth.” His voice was flat, but the flatness was a wall, and she could hear the bricks.