Ariadne raised her chin. She was wearing her newest dress—a midnight-blue confection with matching ribbon strung through her hair. The color of Anna’s eyes. She knew Anna would take note. “Would you honor me with this dance?”

Anna sighed and gestured to her cohort: they scattered just enough distance to give Anna and Ariadne some space. “Once more unto the breach, eh?” Matthew said in a low voice as he passed Ariadne, and dropped a wink.

“Ariadne,” Anna said. “Do you really mean to dance with me? Here, in front of all these people?”

Ariadne hesitated for a moment. She’d waited until her parents had gone into the withdrawing room, but still, plenty of her family’s friends were here and watching. The Rosewains, the Wentworths, Lilian Highsmith with her sharp old eyes…

It didn’t matter. She firmed up her jaw. All that mattered was Anna.

But Anna was already looking at her skeptically, having noticed her hesitation. “Of course not,” Anna said. “Nothing’s really changed with you, Ari, has it? How many times are you going to ask me to dance when you know there’s no point?”

Ariadne crossed her arms over her chest. “A thousand times,” she said. “Infinity times.”

Anna set her glass of champagne down on a windowsill. “This is ridiculous,” she said, and Ariadne saw with surprise that her eyes were blazing. “Come on, then.”

Picking up her heavy skirts, Ariadne followed Anna through a pair of sliding pocket doors into a deserted dining room. White cloths covered the furniture. Anna continued confidently down the length of the room, opening a narrow door and disappearing through it.

Ariadne slipped through after her, only to discover that they were not in another room at all, but in a small space—a pantry, she thought, just as Anna closed the door behind them, plunging them into near darkness.

Ariadne yelped. She heard Anna chuckle as witchlight began to glow, illuminating their little space. It was coming from the scarlet pendant around Anna’s throat. Ariadne hadn’t known it could do that.

She glanced around: they were indeed in a pantry. The shelves were mostly empty save for a few scattered items, rags that had probably once been used for polishing furniture. The floor was bare and clean. There was little enough room for movement that one of Ariadne’s slippered feet was resting on Anna’s left boot; she had to lean back to avoid bumping directly into her.

She was sure her cheeks were dark red. Hopefully Anna couldn’t see her properly. Ariadne took a deep breath.