Chapter 62
The rumors reached Callie's mother nine days before the ceremony, delivered carefully by one of her own trusted confidantes among the household staff, who had overheard enough whispered gossip among the visiting guests to feel compelled to report it directly.
"What exactly are people saying?" her mother demanded, seated rigidly in her private sitting room, her expression tightening with each detail the nervous maid provided.
"That Callie has been spending considerable time alone with General Silverthorn," the maid said carefully. "That some of the guests believe she's manipulating him somehow, taking advantage of his position, perhaps even..." She hesitated, clearly reluctant to voice the more scandalous implications directly.
"Perhaps even what," her mother pressed sharply.
