Chapter 20

“This is absurd,” Marien declared. “You can’t go out in this. Let it subside—”

“It hasn’t stopped yet,” Eduard pointed out. As Reza started toward him, he slipped out of the drawing room, Marien on his heels. “We should see what the town is doing about it.”

His wife laughed as she followed him down the hall. “What canthey do? Nothing. Eduard…”

The topcoat he’d worn earlier lay folded neatly on a chair by the veranda door, where he’d left it. As he shrugged into it, he felt Marien’s hands flutter around his back, smoothing down the collar, straightening his lapels. He shook her off, turning to face her as he buttoned the coat. They were alone for the moment, the corridor close with shadows. The ash falling beyond the door’s window turned the light that found its way into the hall a sordid shade of gray.