Anew: Book Two: Hunted Read Online Free PDF Page B

though they have ascended
into a world even more rarified and beautiful than the one that surrounds me.
    To the west beyond the park the sun is setting in a blaze of
glory that turns the building’s dome into a prism casting rainbows across every
surface. Music wafts from speakers in the nearby trees--Mozart’s “Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik”. The air is filled with the scents of rare perfumes and the
laughter of beautifully dressed men and women.
    Gravel crunches under the thin soles of my ridiculously high
heels as I walk beside Adele and Edward from where the limo dropped us off. The
smile I’ve pinned on is making my face ache. I can’t stop thinking about the
children I saw. They’ve even managed to push Ian from my thoughts, if only for
the moment.
    My hand is tucked into the crook of Edward’s arm. He places
his own over mine and squeezes gently. “You look lovely, Amelia.”
    I know his intent is to help me relax and I’m grateful for
that. But the truth is that I could be as ugly as sin and I would still be
drawing admiring glances because I’m wearing the McClellan diamonds. Edward
brought them to me in my room as I finished dressing. As my maid stood off to
one side, trying not to gape, he opened one black velvet box after another and
laid them out before me.
    “Susannah rarely wore these,” he said. “She thought they
were a bit ostentatious but they are a family tradition and I think you might
find them…useful.”
    I understood what he was telling me. By wearing the pieces,
I will be distinguishing myself further from Susannah. People would be even
less likely to suspect the connection between us.
    As much as I understand that, my first glimpse of the
diamonds that now collar my throat, dangle from my earlobes, encircle both my
wrists, and nestle in my hair stunned me. The smallest is at least a carat, the
largest many, many times that. Beautifully cut, set in white gold, they glitter
with the fire of the inner earth.
    Among the larger stones, Edward tells me, are fabled gems
smuggled out in the garments of aristocrats fleeing revolutions, pilfered from
the treasure palaces of rajahs, and discovered amid the ruins of ancient
Amazonian temples. Any one of them is worth a king’s ransom. Taken together,
they are a declaration of my family’s power and my own identity as a McClellan.
    Approaching the Crystal Palace, I am vividly aware of the
avid stares directed at me, the quick tilting together of heads, and the
groundswell of whispers. The thought occurs to me that more than any guest, the
McClellan diamonds are the real belle of the ball. For the first time that
evening, my smile is genuine.
    The three of us give no sign of noticing the attention we’re
drawing. My brother has been pre-occupied since we left the residence but my
grandmother is livelier. She leans close to me and says, “Chin up, my dear.
It’s all in a night’s work.”
    A few weeks ago, the notion that attending a ball could be
called ‘work’ would have baffled me. But now I understand that it is in
settings like this that the true business of the city--and the world--is done.
Business of all sorts, as it turns out.
    Adele has let slip that inquiries have been made regarding
the young, previously unknown, and apparently very eligible McClellan who has
suddenly appeared in Society. Discretely, young men--and young women on the
chance that such is my inclination--are being put forward by ambitious
relatives or on their own behalf. It’s the way of such things, my grandmother
assures me. Money is drawn to money. Love, or at least affection, can follow or
not as the case may be. What matters is that there be no disruption to the
established social order. It’s all very pragmatic, she says, even as she
dismisses the thought that I should consider any such marriage for myself.
    I wonder what the ambitious parents and their progeny would
think if they had any idea of the truth beneath the identity that Ian arranged
for me. Would