They mocked the disgraced sister at the Duke’s wedding—then he stopped the ceremony after learning why she had vanished eight years ago

Chapter 2

The journey to Vale Court took the better part of a day. Emmeline sat very still in the hired carriage, gloved hands folded in her lap, watching the green fields and stone villages slide past the window while her chest grew heavier with every mile. Three times she nearly knocked on the roof and told the driver to turn around. Three times the memory of a small girl chasing her through the rose garden held her still.

The estate appeared at last, perched on a rise above acres of trimmed lawn and ancient woodland. Hundreds of servants moved across the grounds like an army of ants. White tents crowded the rose garden. Wagons of fresh flowers rolled up the drive. Stable boys dashed between coaches as guests from every corner of the kingdom arrived in a glittering stream.

Emmeline stepped down from her hired carriage and felt the difference in her bones before anyone spoke a word. Ladies in silk traveling gowns trimmed with lace and seed pearls descended from their carriages. Gentlemen in tailored coats, polished boots, gold watch chains swinging from their waistcoats. And here she stood in her mended dress, neat and respectable and entirely wrong.