"I've found her nothing but honest," Rhys said, and though his tone remained perfectly courteous, there was a coolness beneath it that made her stepmother's smile falter for the first time all evening. "A rare quality, in my experience, among the company I usually keep."
"Of course," her stepmother said quickly. "Of course. She's a good girl, truly. We only worry, given her circumstances."
"Her circumstances," Rhys said, "were largely shaped by decisions made on her behalf rather than by her. I find that distinction matters a great deal, Mrs. Marchetti. I'd encourage you to consider it as well."
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut. Clarissa and Ophelia exchanged a glance that mixed satisfaction at their mother's discomfort with genuine alarm at what it might mean for their own prospects tonight. Her stepmother, for her part, seemed to be searching for a response that wouldn't further damage whatever standing she still hoped to salvage, and finding none, settled for a stiff curtsy and a hurried retreat toward the refreshment table, her daughters trailing in her wake like ships pulled along by a sinking anchor.
"You didn't need to do that," Avalene said quietly once they were gone.
"I wanted to," Rhys said. "I find I have little patience left for people who mistake cruelty for discipline."
They didn't discuss her stepmother again that night. Instead, Rhys led her from the ballroom floor toward the quieter edges of the gathering, out through a set of doors onto a wide stone terrace overlooking gardens lit by lanterns strung between the trees, where the noise of the party softened into something more bearable, more human.
"May I ask you something?" Avalene said as they stood at the balustrade, the cool night air a welcome relief after the crowded warmth inside.
"Anything."
"Why did you truly come to my door yourself? A man in your position could have sent a servant, could have simply assumed the invitation had gone astray through some ordinary mistake and let the matter rest."
Rhys was quiet for a long moment, his gaze fixed on the dark garden below rather than on her.