She kissed him in front of everyone to save him,not knowing that she had just saved the richest duke

Chapter 2

Morning broke over London with a dull gray apathy, as though the sky itself had lost interest in the affairs of those beneath it. Clara sat at the scarred dining table of her Bloomsbury townhouse, staring at a cup of tea that had grown a cold skin on its surface. The half-eaten toast on her plate looked like a stone.

Her older sister, Helen, paced the length of the narrow parlor. Helen was a widow — practical, sharp-tongued, and currently vibrating with a rage so contained it was terrifying.

“A kiss,” Helen said for the fourth time. She stopped, pressing her fingers to her temples. “In the middle of the Danbury Ballroom. In front of the patronesses. Clara, tell me I am having a nightmare.”

“It wasn’t,” Clara said softly.