#Chapter 204: Insider Information

Knowing this conversation should happen in private, I lead Jason toward one of the sitting rooms attached to the Hall. We leave the door open, so others could peak in if necessary to ensure nothing untoward is happening. “If we keep our voices low, the others will not hear us,” I assure him. Jason nods. I sit on one of the sofas and instruct one of the servants to bring us some tea. When I gesture for Jason to sit on a nearby chair, he gently shakes his head. “I’d prefer to stand.” When the servant has gone, he walks closer to me. “You are different than how I imagined you to be, Harper. When I first learned of you, I thought you’d be another vapid socialite, who had forgotten her beginnings and was growing fat of the wealth and favor of the crown.” That’s quite the picture. Is that how the everyday people thought of me? I am too unnerved to ask, unsure where I would even begin to alter that public perception. “When you spoke the other day… I realized you are not as the