Chapter 13

Leah knew far more about noble culture and the ducal family than I expected. She shared many stories with me, all of them helpful. One was about the courtship of Ivan and Katherine. It was a story that never appeared in the novel. Their romance, apparently, had been a massive scandal at the time. After losing his parents and becoming the Duke at a young age, Ivan had been so consumed with managing the family’s affairs that he remained unmarried until he was twenty-eight.