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“This isn’t about Viola,” Ruby lied.
“Of course it is,” Theo argued, coming around the desk so he could crouch in front of her. “I’ve read the piece. It more than stands on its own merit, but it’s clear you wrote it for her.”
Ruby lifted her chin, refusing to admit anything. “People should know the truth about the old magic,” she said, her voice trembling more than she would have liked.
Hadn’t Ruby recently discovered that for herself?? Magic hadn’t destroyed her family—that had been her father’s fault, with his careless disregard for anything or anyone but himself. And magic hadn’t destroyed whatever it was that Ruby might have been building with Viola. That had been all her own fault.
Theo took Ruby’s hands in his. His grip was warm and steady, as always, like Theo himself. “Let me take you home,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “You need time for this defeat to settle before you do something you’ll regret. R. A. Reynolds has started to build a name for herself in this city. You can’t throw it all away on the Spectacle. Not even for Viola Vaccarelli.”
Ruby wanted to argue, but Theo was right. “Can we take the long way? I can’t bear to deal with my family quite yet.”
Outside, the heat of early summer was beginning to simmer. Even so, they took a route that meandered through the park, walking until Ruby’s feet ached and the tightness in her chest had almost started to ease.
“Better?” Theo asked as they approached the front steps to her family’s town house.
“A little,” she admitted.
“It will all work out,” Theo assured her.
She looked up at him, handsome as he ever was, and felt a rush of affection. Their whole lives, she’d felt that same affection, but it was nothing compared to the warmth she felt every time she remembered her lips on Viola’s.
Ruby pushed that memory down where it belonged. “Would you like to come in?” she asked, forcing a brightness to her voice she didn’t feel. But when Theo hesitated, she gave herself a shake. “Of course, you have your studies to get back to—”
“I have a few minutes,” he said, his expression filled with something too close to pity for Ruby’s liking. Still, she didn’t send him on his way.
When she opened the door, it was clear that something was happening. Voices were coming from the front parlor, and the chattering of women could only mean that her sisters had assembled—all of her sisters. Ruby glanced at Theo, as if to tell him that he should go before it was too late. Heavens knew that once her mother and sisters started clucking about something, they wouldn’t soon stop. But Theo, the dear, simply offered her his arm.
“Mother?” Ruby asked, stepping away from Theo a little when she saw who was assembled in the parlor. Two of her sisters had brought their husbands, and her uncle Archibald—her father’s brother—was also there. “What is all of this? Has something happened?”
Her mother glanced at Ruby’s older sister, Clara, who was the one to answer. “We’ve called the family to a meeting.”
“Clearly,” Ruby said, her unease growing. “But you seem to have forgotten my invitation.”
“It was rather a last-minute decision,” Clara said primly. “Still, we’ve made quite a lot of progress without you. We have your trip nearly planned.”
Ruby understood the words coming from her sister’s mouth, but they made little sense. She glanced up at Theo, who seemed equally as confused. “What trip?”
“We’ve decided that you will be accompanying Eleanor and Henry to the Continent this summer,” Ruby’s mother said, finally finding her voice.
“I’ve already been to the Continent. Just last spring,” Ruby reminded them. “I’ve no wish to go again so soon.”
“You have a trousseau to complete,” her mother said, dismissing this concern. “You’ve put it off long enough.”
“My trousseau can wait,” Ruby told them. “I have work to do here, important work.”
Clara’s expression went stony, and her tone hardened. “Your work is exactly the problem.”
Ruby blinked. “My work is not a problem.” She knew that her family merely indulged her dreams to be a journalist, but they had never spoken outright against her vocation before.
Eleanor stepped forward, giving Clara a warning look. “You have to admit that what happened at the gala was quite… unsettling.”
“Unsettling?” Clara said with her usual haughty laugh. “It was more than unsettling. It was downright improper. It’s bad enough that you embarrassed the family at the Order’s gala with your indecent display, but it’s quite another thing to continue in your attempt to publicize that embarrassment for the entire world to see.”
“Embarrassed?” Ruby couldn’t make her mouth work to say anything else.
Her mother sighed. “You’re no longer a girl, Ruby. And you cannot continue carrying on with such complete impropriety.”
“I don’t know what you could possibly mean.” Ruby’s head was still spinning when her uncle stepped forward.
