Duke Ascelin Thorn was a loner all his life but after fire in his family estate 15 years ago he withdrew from social life. For those years people hadn't seen him at any social event, and now he was only at ball because etiquette demanded it. Ascelin had been fooling his publisher for too long, and now he had to show himself a little as introverted writer. And at that moment he felt like a complete weirdo who didn't know how to behave around people. Although his manners were impeccable and he was still handsome, his tailcoat was out of fashion and his movements were rather stiff. He was already 38 years old but never been married.

His gaze moved only with gentle curiosity over the elegant people gathered. Sometimes he recognized in the features of a middle-aged woman, a former beauty. And then his tired brown eyes rested on a young girl. Oh, far too young for an old man (as he thought of himself) to court, and yet there was something about this young lady that drew him despite his own aversion to people. That sad look in the eyes, in which he seemed to read discomfort and longing for something... She didn't have great time here too, despite that she was pretty and young. She should dance and be surrounded by a wreath of gentlemen. And yet she stood like a lonely, slender palm tree, completely lost in her thoughts and inner world. This view captured him.

Maybe she is also a lonely soul to the core, just like me.