Star Cursed

I pull away. “I am not! Maybe to you, but—”

Tess swats my knee. “No, you really are. You think you’re convincing, but you aren’t. It would never work. We’ll have to keep thinking.”

More thinking, not doing. It nettles at me now; everything seems to come back to needing time, but that’s in scarce supply.

“Don’t look like that. We’ll figure it out.” Tess smiles up at me. “Together, I think we can manage just about anything.”

• • •

I’m meant to be leaving for Sachi’s trial, but I can’t find Tess. I wanted to tell her I’ve secured Sister Sophia’s permission for her to come to Harwood on Monday. But she’s not in her bedroom or the library or the kitchen. I dart into the sitting room, where Mei and Pearl are playing a game of chess.

“Have either of you seen Tess?”

Mei’s hair falls in a straight, shining black curtain to her waist. “She popped in half an hour ago and asked whether there’d been any word of my sisters. Seemed worried about ’em, with the snow coming.”

I glance out the windows. “It isn’t snowing now.”

“Looks like it could any minute,” Pearl says, huddling into her soft lavender shawl.

“It must be bitter cold down there. I gave Yang blankets to take to them. Families are allowed to visit twice a day, to bring them food, so Baba goes in the morning and Yang goes in the afternoon.” Mei slides her queen across the board, and Pearl groans. “I wish there were more I could do, but it’s not safe to go down there by myself. I was just telling Tess, it’s a bad neighborhood down by the docks. Pickpockets and all sorts of rough people.”

A sudden suspicion prickles my spine. “Tess was asking about that neighborhood?”

“Sure. Where the warehouse is, and what it’s like down there.” Mei captures another of Pearl’s knights. “She’s a right curious little thing. I guess she hasn’t seen much of New London yet, has she?”

“No.” I suspect she’s out remedying that right now. I excuse myself and run into the front parlor, where Sister Sophia and Rory are waiting for me. Blast. I promised Rory I would go to the trial with her, but this is an emergency. “I can’t—I’m sorry, something else has come up—will you go, and tell me what happens?”

Rory gapes at me. “It’s Sachi’s trial, Cate. What could be more important than this?”

“I’ll tell you when we get back. Trust me, Rory, please. You know I wouldn’t miss it unless I had to.” I wrestle on my cloak and am out the front door and heading down the steps when a familiar laugh catches my attention. It’s Maura, jumping down from a black phaeton, and for a moment, my heart lifts, hoping Tess is with her and my suspicions are unfounded.

“Thank you!” Maura giggles, and as the man sets her gently on the carriage block, I recognize my childhood best friend. I feel a pang of homesickness as I look at Paul. He seems just the same: square jaw, strong shoulders, sun-streaked blond hair that flops over his tanned forehead.

“Maura!” I shout, hurrying toward them. My heart drops when I see it’s Alice sitting in the back of the carriage, not Tess.

“Cate!” Maura’s radiant despite her plain black cloak—and not the studied gaiety she’s adopted since she’s been at the convent; she’s really beaming. “We’ve had such an exciting morning. Paul was kind enough to take us shopping and treat us to lunch at a little café. It was just how I imagined life in the city would be—like something from a novel!”

“Hello, Cate,” Paul says. “Or am I to call you Sister Catherine now?”

He moves to take my hand and then stops, as if uncertain whether such liberties are permitted with members of the Sisterhood. Or perhaps it’s just me he’s uncertain of. The last time I spoke to him, I told him I’d consider his proposal of marriage. I let him kiss me. I kissed him back. I lied.

“You can still call me Cate,” I say, offering an awkward smile. “It’s good to see you again. I trust you’re well?”

“Yes, indeed.” Paul turns to catch Alice. “The Harwood addition is an important job for us, you know, a contract with the National Council. If they like our work, they may turn to us when they need an addition to Richmond Cathedral or a new National Archives. Jones made me the overseer on-site to ensure things go smoothly.”

“I bet you’re marvelous at that,” Maura coos. She’s standing very close to Paul, her head cocked up at him as though she hangs on every word. “You’ve become so—authoritative.”

“That’s grand,” I say flatly. I hate to be rude, but I haven’t time for this; I’ve got to go find Tess, and every minute we stand here chatting, she’s getting farther ahead of me.

“How have you been, Cate?” The black horse fidgets in its harness, its hot breath fogging the air, and Paul reaches up to pat its neck.

“Fine. Glad to have Maura and Tess here now. Thank you for escorting them; it was very neighborly of you.” I hate the way my voice stresses it. I have no right to feel uncomfortable about his attentions toward Maura. “If you’ll all excuse me, I was just on my way out; I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“You can’t go out alone,” Alice reminds me.

“I’m catching up with Tess,” I explain, praying she’ll leave it at that.

“I’ll come with you and tell you all about our day,” Maura suggests. She turns to Paul, her hand toying with one earring in a way that somehow makes her look nervous and shy. Where did she learn these charming tricks? “Thank you again for a lovely lunch, Paul. I hope you’ll call on us again soon.”

I don’t wait for him to make a reply, just rush off down the gray, blustery street. Maura has to practically trot to catch up with me. “That was rude. Why are you in such a rush? Are we really having a secret rendezvous with our spy?”

“He’s not your anything,” I snap. I want to order her back to the convent, but if Tess is in trouble, I might need Maura’s help.

“Are you sure I can’t give you a lift in the carriage?” Paul shouts.

“No, thank you! The wind is very—bracing!” I shout back.

“It’s freezing,” Maura complains, stuffing her hands into her black fur muff, snuggling her face into the warm lining of her cloak. “He’s sweet to offer, isn’t he? You should have seen the café he took us to for lunch. It was so elegant. Business must be booming for him to afford that plus his phaeton. Those little gigs are all the rage now, Alice says. Ugh, would you slow down? I can’t keep up. Where are we going, anyhow?”

I whirl on her. “I am going down to the docks to stop Tess from liberating the Richmond Square prisoners. I’d welcome your help, if you can stop throwing Paul in my face for two minutes.”

Maura stops in front of a neighbor’s brick mansion. There are yellow roses climbing over the wrought-iron fence. “What? Why would she try to do that?”

A combination of my inspirational speech and her vision, I suspect.

But I can’t tell Maura that.

I grab Maura’s arm and pull her along. “I don’t know, but I hope we can stop her if we hurry.”