“Why’s Faoril slamming doors?”“What did she do in the palace last night?”“I don’t know. She was summoned away from the party before we w...re attacked. She didn’t want to talk about it after she returned. We were all reeling at how it went wrong.” Sophia sighed. “Still am reeling. I’m a fugitive now. The daughter of a Duchess. My mother will be furious at the scandal this causes. And poor Angela ... She sees herself as something good and positive, and robbing a Doge and taking him hostage,. From our other branches, on the last day of the show Chuck had an early flight out leaving Ted and I to tear down the booth at the show. We got it all done since we were not leaving till the next day Ted and I went to dinner, we had a great seafood dinner with cocktales & wine, It was about 8:30 when we made our way back to the hotel, our rooms were on the same floor we talked in the elevator the doors opened, we walked to our rooms Ted said well I'm going to have a drink then hit the bed, I. She was a ravishing and sensual beauty."What's going on?" he asked suspiciously."Nothing," she smiled, "I just wanted to welcome home the man of the house. I fixed T-bones."He allowed her to lead him to the dining area where she had set the table with a single candle in the middle. The other lights were low and strains of romantic mood music wafted in the background."What is this?" he asked again."It's the start of a new relationship, for you and me," she smiled.He seemed almost speechless so. In this case, me.” He smiled. “If we go there, that is.”I collapsed back in the chair. I was already spent and deflated. I came into this meeting to see what he had to offer and use my mask to impress him with that person. In moments, he had stripped that completely away and I was left with … nothing, actually. My mask was everything.“Stand up.” Mr. Franklin’s voice was different. Gone was the welcoming and open voice of earlier, or even the more professional but still understanding.