Thirteen

THE GRAY-HATTED WOMAN UNDER THE BATTERED umbrella cannot seem to understand what I am asking.

I repeat myself. “The park, madam. What is it called? What area are we in?”

She looks nervously from side to side, as though unsure whether to call for a constable to deal with me. I am a sight, in my man’s dressing robe, bare feet, single glove, and undone hair, but one cannot be expected to be fashionable under such circumstances.

I wait as calmly as I can manage. Finn will check on me soon, and I’d prefer to be far removed. But if she calls for a constable, I’ll have to run. No telling where they would take me if I answered their questions honestly. Yes, sir, I am hiding from two mad magicians, one of whom tortured me, and the other of whom wishes to set me up in a beautiful estate with servants and anything I require.

“The park?” I repeat.

“Greenhaven. Greenhaven Park. In the southern neighborhood of Kingston. Can I . . . do you need . . . would you like my umbrella?” She holds it out. The handle is worn but sturdy.

For some reason this small gesture from a woman I don’t know, whom I assumed was judging me, puts me on the verge of tears. “Thank you. You are so kind.” I take the umbrella, because I do not have it in me to pass up such a simple generosity.

She pats my hand and smiles. “You’re young yet. These troubles are never as serious as we make them out to be.”

I sniffle, nodding and holding back a laugh. “I’m certain you are right.”

“Well, then.” She seems to stand a bit straighter—in spite of the drizzle now hitting her hat—and walks away.

Kingston. It’s on the opposite end of the city from where I live, but something feels familiar. I laugh. I do have other places I can go. A few minutes later, I stand on the front steps of a beautiful dark stone town house in a stylish Kingston neighborhood, my umbrella dripping a halo of water around me. The butler, a stout man with polished glasses and hair brutally combed into submission, blocks the door with a perplexed frown.

“And you know Miss Eleanor how?”

“She gave me her card and told me to call on her.”

“Do you . . . have the card with you?”

“I am afraid my purse was stolen. Along with my shoes.”

I can tell he thinks me mad—with good reason. He would sooner set me out with the rubbish bins than allow me into the parlor of Eleanor’s fine town house, but if my story is true, he might earn the ire of his mistress by being rude and dismissing me.

I have a feeling I will be standing on this porch for a long time.

A man’s voice comes from behind me. “What in the queen’s name is going on here, Mr. Carlisle?”

I turn to find Ernest trying to figure out who exactly I am. When he finally connects me to his dance partner at the gala, the realization is written in humorous clarity across his face. He immediately looks to either side as though caught doing something wrong.

“I . . . erm . . . what are you doing here?”

I silently thank the spirits when Eleanor, dressed in a tailored burgundy day gown with an art piece of a hat, climbs out of the black carriage and joins her brother. She frowns, clearly stumped, until recognition lights up her face. Instead of guilty, she looks delighted. “Jessamin? Is that you?”

I give her a wry smile, hoping I didn’t misjudge her friendliness last night. “I have had a series of misfortunes since we met and wondered if I might trouble you with some questions.”

She laughs, hands her umbrella to Mr. Carlisle, and then wraps her hand through my elbow. “Oh, I knew I was right to make you my friend. Finally, someone interesting in this whole sleeping town. Let’s get you off the porch before you’re attached to Ernest in some vicious gossip he is no doubt already fearing will ruin his political aspirations.”

“I—of course not, I—” he stammers, his face as red as his hair.

Eleanor ignores him. “Mr. Carlisle, we will be in the parlor. Have Mrs. Jenkins bring dry clothes for my friend, and we’ll take some tea—” She notices my expression change, and narrows her eyes. “No tea then. We’ll have some chocolate. You do like chocolate?”

Relieved, I squeeze her hand with my own. “Nothing could sound better at the moment.”

After my umbrella is taken, my clothes are changed, and the chocolate is delivered, we settle near a cozy fireplace in Eleanor’s parlor. It is decorated in stripes and cream colors, far less ornate than I would have expected.

Ernest walks in to join us, but Eleanor cuts him a look and shakes her head. “I think this is a ladies’ talk.” Again his skin tone matches his hair and he bows out. She leans in, her eyes gleaming. “I must warn you. I am the biggest gossip in all of Avebury.”

I take a sip of the thick, bittersweet drink. “Well, at least you’re honest about it. And if you are a gossip, then I hope you know something of the people I’m avoiding.”

“Oh, dear,” she says, but her smile grows bigger.

“Do you know anything about Lord Downpike? The minister of defense?”

Her smile vanishes, replaced with genuine concern. “What has he done? Are you all right? I’m so sorry, I tried to protect you last night. That’s why I pulled you away when he tried to cut in on the dance floor. It had nothing to do with Ernest. You were probably the highlight of my brother’s entire year. But Lord Downpike had been watching you so closely and I simply couldn’t stand idle. I would not wish that man on my worst enemy. Dark rumors. Besides, Uncle and he don’t get on at all. They had a dreadful falling-out a couple of years ago.”

I find I am stroking the smooth surface of my glove. “Yes, he . . . well, let’s just say I find your enmity with him greatly comforting.”

“What did he do?”

I debate lying, but if she’s nobility, she should know about the magic. And if she doesn’t, she is not much use to me in avoiding this mess. “He spied on me with his familiars, kidnapped me, trapped me in a room without a door, and then proceeded to smash each of the fingers on this hand with a hammer.”

She leans back as though I have struck a blow, and then pulls out a snuffbox. Pinching some between her fingers, she whispers and, to my surprise, blows it straight into my face.

I sneeze.

She clicks the snuffbox shut emphatically. “Well, I’m confused. Whatever would he want with you? You’re lovely, but you haven’t a drop of magical blood in you. He never concerns himself with commoners. Oh, sorry. Here.” She holds out an embroidered handkerchief, and I take it to dab my nose, glaring at her.

“I could have told you I have nothing to do with the secret magical societies apparently flourishing in Albion.”

“Uncle will want to hear about this. Oh, he will be simply livid when he finds that Lord Downpike has revealed himself to you! It’s not done, you see.”

“You’ve just done it. I had no idea whether you were capable of magic.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “I am barely fit to fill a teacup with the amount of power I have. No one cares about me.”

“So it’s true then, that all the gentry can do these things?”

“More or less. Some of us barely bother, we can do so little. We’re all required to learn the basics, is all. But some, like Uncle and Downpike, could move mountains. I think Uncle has, now that I am on the topic. Ernest studies as hard as he can, hoping to join their ranks among the powerful someday. However, I aspire only to join the ranks of the well-dressed and fashionably late.”

I frown, stirring my chocolate. “But if I recall my lessons correctly, wasn’t there a period in Alben history where accused witches were hunted and burned at the stake? How did you all become gentry, then?” I had thought the accusations of witchcraft and magic were entirely false, but apparently not.

“Oh, that. It was a nasty business. You know how men can . . . sow seeds where seeds ought not be sown? Well, we had just come through the Lily War, and the royal line was finally settled. The king thought magical power ought to be consolidated to loyal families, and that the security of the crown depended on keeping power with the wealthy and educated. So, those who had been born outside of the approved family lines . . .”

“Were exterminated.” I set down my cup, no longer thirsty. “That is horrible.”

“Worse things have been done in the name of crown and country. But yes. I think we can both agree it was.” She frowns and then shakes her head as though shaking away bad associations and thoughts. “Back to you! This is very exciting. We haven’t had a real shake-up in the hierarchy since Lord Ackerly showed up two years ago, all dashing and aloof and powerful. Ever since then it’s been the most dreary sort of political posturing without any action. I loathe politics. But if Downpike is misbehaving, things are bound to get interesting! Whatever did you do to catch his eye?”

The door to the parlor opens. We look up to see Finn, cane in hand and none too pleased. Mr. Carlisle is next to him. “Lord Ackerly here to see you, milady. He said it was urgent.” Carlisle bows and backs away, closing the door.

“Lord Ackerly!” Eleanor stands, dropping a slight curtsy. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Spying again, were you?” I glare at him.

Eleanor follows my scowl to where it meets Finn’s, and then back, as though watching a game of tennis. The silence is a heavy thing, as electric as the overhead chandelier. She frowns, clearly puzzled, then looks down at the floor at my feet and bursts out with a sharp laugh. “Oh, dear spirits below, this is the best thing that I have ever been privy to. Lord Ackerly shadowed a commoner from the colonies!”

“That’s enough,” Finn snaps.

She leans in to me conspiratorially. “You must tell me your secret. There isn’t a girl out in society who hasn’t tried to catch his eye, and here you are with the greatest prize of them all.”

He is not amused. “You will kindly bite your tongue, Eleanor.”

“Or you will bite it for me?”

He taps his cane once on the tiles, and Eleanor sits as though her legs have been knocked out from beneath her.

“I may well at that,” he says.

She smiles, delight undampened. “This explains Lord Downpike’s interest in Jessamin. You know, he’s been trying to get you on his side for so long. It would be such a coup for his anti-Iverian cause. Everyone’s been too afraid of you to really support him. I am beside myself with nerves! This changes everything. Lord Ackerly is no longer untouchable in the infernal machinations and subtleties of political blackmail and extortion. How will it all play out?”

“Without your aid,” Finn says, tone dismissive. “Now.” He sits near me on the couch, takes off his hat, and leans in, carrying with him a whiff of clove and something richer, darker, something that reminds me of heady velvet nights of a year ago, when I would sneak out of my house at night and run like a wild thing through the trees with my friends. I am pulled to his eyes. They seem to be larger than before, depthless, with flecks of gold dancing in them, and I have never seen anything so beautiful.

My hand is in his before I realize it. “We’ll be going then,” he says, and I nod. Of course I will go with him. He’s pretty, so very, very pretty, and I would be a fool to say no to anything he asks of me.

I blink. No, I think. And then I manage to say it out loud. “No.”

He sits back with an angry huff, now exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. It’s as though a fog has been lifted from my brain. Magic! He tried to use magic on me! And I realize it is not the first time. “If you ever try that again,” I say, taking a sip of chocolate to wet my suddenly parched throat, “I will beat you silly with your own cane.”

“This is the best day of my life,” Eleanor says.

I cannot agree with her.