Rosamund.
I found him in the gallery facing the gardens.
The corridor was long and lamplit, lined with tall windows on one side and oil portraits of former chancellors on the other. Julian stood at the far end, leaning against the stone balustrade beside one of the windows, speaking in low tones with a younger man I recognised from the dinner table as Lord Tinker's secretary. Their conversation looked serious, their heads tilted toward each other, and I stopped a good distance away, pressing my back against the wall behind one of the portrait frames to wait.
My heart was beating too fast. I smoothed my skirts, tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and tried not to look desperate.
I would be calm and explain. I would tell him about the incident that had happened that day and had stopped me from getting the book from Nevan's and giving it to him. He would understand. Julian was reasonable and fair.
And most of all, he was my partner.
