Isn’t that what the Good Book said? Hell was exactly the place Juliana felt she entered as she mounted the stairs to the Munthrope home, her goose-brained brother by her side. She’d long since berated him for his invitation to Mr. Kinder. He’d long since apologized. Yet now she must face the consequences of her lying heart. As she greeted friends on either side of her, she breathed a silent prayer for a merciful punishment for her deceit, not one that revealed the true condition of her father and tossed all of them onto the streets. But how was she to trick the pernicious Mr. Kinder into believing her father was an invisible guest at this soiree? How was she to detain him from storming back to their home to seek her father out for himself? All while she played the doting fiancée to a bloated fool. It was too much. A headache formed between her eyes, and she squeezed the bridge of her nose. She had no time for pain or fear or exhaustion or despondency—all four of which battled for dominance within her.
