Lady Delphine kept her head bent as her husband's son spouted foul words at her. She stood completely rooted to the spot; her mind was surprisingly clear, which only made it clearer how terrible she felt. His presence knocked the wine out of her system and she was no longer feeling the drowsiness of being drunk.
She had noticed him sitting with the rest of the important lords and had done her best to make sure her eyes didn't drift there again. Lord Elrod was only a marquis, but he was highly respected in the castle and the council because he was distantly related to the royal family.
Her late husband, Hendrix, didn't like to talk much about their family history, and Delphine was never one to poke her head where she wasn't supposed to—it was the reason she had survived this long. She could take a hint.
