Page 25 of The City of Stardust

“I wish I’d seen her in action.” Despite his hand on Violet’s shoulder, his attention is focused on the woman. “She used to run rings around the other scholars, I heard.”

Another man wearing a cape sidles up to them. “No one could craft like her. Remember those exquisite timepieces she used to make for the engineers? And she’d do it easy as breathing.”

“I was so envious,” the woman says. “She was everyone’s darling.”

“What a waste. To throw it all away.”

Mr. Velvet Jacket looks down at Violet, as though he’s just noticed her there. “I can see great talents in your future, though. And we certainly won’t squander those, hmm?”

Violet’s heart starts to beat rabbit-quick. The guests have her pinned into a corner, and the man’s hand weighs down heavily on her shoulder.

Suddenly, the weight lifts, and Mr. Velvet Jacket’s arm is wrenched into the air by Caspian’s tight grip.

He smiles pleasantly. “Roy, you know how much our grandmother hates it when you bother the guests.”

Mr. Velvet Jacket shoots him a poisonous glare. “As if I need your permission—”

“Grandmother needs you upstairs.” The smile becomes steely. “Or I could let her know you’re too busy?”

Mr. Velvet Jacket—Roy—looks like he’s about to argue again, but with an audible huff, he stomps out of the room, towards the stairs. Caspian looks pointedly at the other guests; one by one they mutter their excuses and leave.

“I apologise profusely for my cousin,” he says. “Let’s just say he doesn’t get out much.” He peers at her. “Are you okay?”

She tries to take a deep breath, but it feels like the oxygen has been sucked from the air around her. She needs to sit down. She needs to leave.

“A glass of water,” she says. “Please.”

Caspian’s smile returns. “Of course—I’ll be back momentarily. And don’t worry about the others.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “I think she’ll scare them off.”

As he leaves, he gestures to a blonde woman admiring the bookshelf nearest the doorway, and Violet realises it’s Penelope. Her dress sparkles underneath the warm lamps of the reading room.

Violet waits a few minutes—long enough for Caspian’s footsteps to fade down the hallway—before she approaches the doorway. She has no intention of waiting around for Caspian to return, so she can be reminded over and over again how little she knows.

But Penelope stands in the middle, blocking her way. “You know, you really do look like your mother.”

Normally Violet enjoys the comparison, but she’s heard that one too many times tonight to find it flattering. She waits for her to move out of the way, but Penelope tilts her head to the side, with an expression that’s not quite curiosity. Even though the room was bright moments ago, the lights seem to dim, and shadows throw spidery tendrils across the floor.

“I suppose you wouldn’t know where Marianne’s gone, after all these years.”

Violet knows better than to say glibly,Oh, she’s on an adventure. But there is something in Penelope’s gaze that makes her hesitate to say anything at all.

“Not even an inkling. How curious.”

“Whatever you’ve entangled my uncles in, that’s between you and them,” Violet says.

She won’t give this woman—this stranger—the satisfaction of knowing that she’s pressed a sore spot. Yet her mind wanders back to that stormy evening, the warm cedar scent of the wardrobe, Gabriel saying,Violet is no longer a secret.

Penelope smiles, as though she knows exactly what Violet’s thinking. “I wonder if that’s what Marianne thought. You should ask your uncles, Violet Everly.”

The second time she’s been told that tonight. But there’s an anticipatory hunger about the way Penelope says it. Her eyes burn cold, and for a second, the shadows darken across the floorboards, fanning around her feet like wings.

Despite herself, Violet shivers. “About Marianne?”

Penelope’s smile widens; a flash of teeth. “All of it.”

CHAPTER

Thirteen

---