Evangeline glanced at her pocket watch, tracking the slow, agonizing sweep of the hands. Leaning back against the plush velvet cushions, she felt the walls of her chamber closing in. Ever since the sun rose, she had remained a captive within her own quarters—a self-imposed isolation that was far more merciful than stepping outside to endure the insufferable, whispering stares of the servants. Had she ventured out, she knew her patience would have dissolved entirely, ending only with her severing someone's head and being locked away for a much longer sentence.
Now, twilight was bleeding into night.
A heavy, lingering irritation settled over her. Since yesterday's dramatic adjournment of the imperial court, that insufferable jester had not come to see her at all. What could possibly possess him? It was entirely unlike him to nurse a grudge for this long, no matter how possessive or jealous he had been. Had he truly decided to abandon her over a meaningless embrace with Julian?
