Finn loosens his grasp on my waist, and I allow myself to breathe more fully. Lord Downpike must be gone.

“How does one say no to Lord Downpike?” Eleanor answers. “Please, I would very much like to know.”

“It’s a good thing I had already fetched Uncle,” Ernest says. “But where did Jessamin go? He wasn’t here about her, was he?”

Eleanor giggles. “Spirits below, what would a man like Lord Downpike want with a colony rat? She left right after you. Lord Downpike just wanted to . . . recruit me for his anti-Continent cause. Apparently, word of my excellent connections has gotten around.” I have to hand it to Eleanor—she can spin lies faster than anyone I know.

“Stay out of this,” Lord Rupert says. “You haven’t the power or the intelligence to deal with a man like him.”

“Of course,” she answers, and I want to shake both of them. “He asked me to let him know of any interesting news I hear. Should I? What are you going to do about him?”

There is a long silence, and then Lord Rupert sounds more tired than angry. “If Lord Ackerly cannot hold out defending the Hallin lines, I fear there is nothing to be done. And sometimes I wonder if perhaps Downpike isn’t right, after all. If we are not moving forward, we will perish. For all our history and might, we’re not a large country. The resources Iveria offers . . . Well, there’s a good girl. Keep a low profile. Alert me at once if Downpike comes around again, but I cannot see him taking any further interest in you.”

“Spirits’ blessings,” she says, and then their voices trail away, Ernest bringing up some new motion in Parliament.

In the silence they leave in their wake, I become very aware of Finn’s body against mine. I have the overwhelming impulse to lean back, let myself rest against him, and tuck my head again into the hollow of his neck. I imagine the release of letting go, letting myself be held by him simply because I want to, not because we are hiding or fleeing.

“Stop it!” I hiss.

“Stop what?”

“Stop doing that magic where you make me think I want to do things that I don’t actually want to do!”

“I did no such thing!” He pauses. “What did you want to do?”

The armoire door opens, and I nearly scream until I realize it’s only Eleanor. She looks tired and frayed around the edges, all her happy energy gone. “I think,” she says, “that I am not quite so excited to be in on secrets as I was a few minutes ago.”

Finn and I step out. He puts an arm around Eleanor’s slight shoulders and steers her to the couch. “Let me see your burn.”

I hurry to a side table where a decanter is filled with rich, dark wine and pour a glass. “Here,” I say, handing it to her. She drinks it in one long draft. Finn holds her hand in his, palm up, gently rolling the silver top of his cane back and forth along the angry red slash there. With each pass the line gets lighter and the tightness around Eleanor’s eyes loosens.

“Thank you,” I say, kneeling on the floor next to her legs and resting my head against them. She puts her hand on my hair, and I wonder which of us is providing more comfort to the other. “You kept me safe.”

“It was nothing. If I had a frock for every time I had to hide someone in that armoire, I would need another house just to hold them all.”

“They’re wrong, you know. About you. Your uncle and Lord Downpike. You are smart and brave and terribly important.”

She laughs. “Oh, I know that, silly. But it’s easier not to let them realize it, because then they’d stop ignoring me, and they’d realize how much mischief I really get up to. Now, Lord Ackerly, I will have to ask you to stop stroking my hand, or my own shadow might replace your missing one.”

He clears his throat awkwardly, and I laugh. I shift from the floor to the couch and pull Eleanor into a hug. She sighs with her head against my shoulder. “You cannot stay here. It’s not safe, though I would love to keep you.”

Finn stands, shoulders straight and confident. “It’s settled then. Eleanor, if you feel threatened, you are welcome to join Jessamin at my country estate.”

I shake my head. “That will be difficult, as I am not going to your country estate.”

“But—you heard—if even Eleanor’s uncle won’t come to your defense, how can you hope to hide from Lord Downpike?”

A pair of bright yellow eyes blinks at me from beneath the couch, and I smile with relief that Sir Bird is alive and well and on my side. It gives me an idea. I hold out my arm, and Sir Bird hops out, flapping a few times to land there.

I stroke his feathers and smile. “I think I will not have to hide at all.”

Sixteen

Dear Sir,

I am writing to inform you of the whereabouts of a certain book which frequently doubles as a bird. I understand you are concerned about it, and no wonder! Such a large volume containing so much knowledge. In fact, I believe it is actually several volumes in one, due to the rather impressive appetite of said bird in devouring many of its comrades.

Perhaps you will recall that I left your home without a word of good-bye, and for this you must pardon my poor manners. I find myself averse to being trapped in doorless rooms, to say nothing of being methodically tortured. It is a character defect owing to my savage ancestry.

To atone, I have entrusted the book into the care of your friend Lord Ackerly. He assures me that he will keep the volume perfectly safe, so long as I myself remain unmolested and left entirely to my own devices. To this end, he has worked a magical connection that will destroy the book should I meet harm at your lordship’s hands, or anyone working on behalf of your lordship, as your lordship’s time is precious and sometimes these things must be delegated.