Extended Epilogue
The cry split the night. Margaret’s scream echoed through the corridors and struck Sebastian like a blade through the ribs. He flinched as if it were his own pain, his hand going to the wall for steadiness.
He had been pacing for what felt like hours, the carpet worn thin beneath his boots. His cravat was discarded, his hair disheveled from restless hands, his coat abandoned somewhere down the hall when the first pangs had seized her. Nothing mattered now but the sound of her voice behind the closed door.