“Aunt Ketty,” Leelo said, her blood turning to ice. “What are you doing up so early?”

Ketty didn’t say a word. She was waiting for Leelo to come back down. Reluctantly, Leelo descended the stairs, her still-racing heart stuttering for a different reason now. “I’m sorry. I was just—”

“Don’t lie to me, girl.” Ketty was in her nightgown and robe, her long auburn braid hanging over her shoulder. But she looked like she’d been awake for hours, waiting in the dark for Leelo to return.

Leelo’s eyes dropped to the floor. She bit her lip to keep from attempting another excuse. There was too great a chance she’d inadvertently give something away. Better to wait for her punishment in silence.

“Who were you with?” Ketty asked. “I know it wasn’t Matias, so choose your words carefully.”

Who could she name without implicating someone innocent? There was no one, and she would sooner die than give up Jaren.

Ketty waited with growing impatience, her nostrils flaring. “You’re not going to answer me?”

Leelo gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “No.”

Ketty released her breath through her nose. “Very well. Don’t tell me. But until you do, you are not to leave this house for any reason other than Watcher duty, and you won’t go anywhere without Sage. Do you understand me? We have rules for a reason, Leelo. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but if you end up pregnant before you’re even married—”

Leelo’s eyes shot up to her aunt’s. “That is none of your concern.”

“Oh, isn’t it? Who do you think would care for a baby? You’re certainly not capable. You can’t even take care of yourself.”

“I’m not your responsibility,” Leelo ground out.

Ketty laughed dryly. “No? Whose, then? Don’t forget that without me, there would be no food on the table. Without your cousin’s marriage prospects and with no men around to help out, we could all be starving by next winter.”

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep that made Leelo reckless. “There would be men around here if it weren’t for you.”

“I know you aren’t referring to Tate. Even you aren’t so foolish as to blame me for that.”

Leelo wasn’t sure who she meant. Hugo and Kellan had died in an accident. But Leelo couldn’t help remembering what her mother had said, how Ketty had sacrificed everything for the family. And then Isola, with her strange reaction about the cottage. There were secrets in this house, all right. But they weren’t all hers.