13
Charles’s heart began to race as he started walking toward the woman in the midnight-blue dress, like a man lost in a most exquisite dream.
She’d told him her name was Lily, but had that been the truth? He tried to think of all the ladies who might be acquainted with Lord Sanderson, and yet he knew of no woman like her. A haunting vision, a woman built by God just for him. The crowd thinned as he moved through it, ignoring every call of his name as he tried to catch sight of the woman again. When he reached the veranda, she was gone.
Vanished again, as though she had slipped into another realm through a beam of moonlight. Charles opened the veranda door, shivering as he walked out onto the terrace overlooking the gardens. The tall hedges that formed a labyrinth were covered in frost,
