drank in the fresh air greedily, as if she were parched and it was purest water. Everything was still and silent, the chanting of the Maien in her ears fading into an elusive memory. Gradually, her heart slowed a little—that is, until she saw the police wagon in the street below.
It was a Black Maria, the kind she’d seen the wrongdoers pushed into that morning. Two heavy dray horses stamped impatiently in front of it, one giving a shake under its bulky harness. The clatter of its steel trappings echoed through the still street.
There was a noise behind her. Emily spun. But it was only Dinah, her small form looking even smaller as she stood huddled by the door.
“Are you all right, miss?”
Emily gestured her to the window and pointed down into the street at the Black Maria.
“Is there any reason for that to be there?”
“A police wagon? In a nice neighborhood? No, miss!”
Emily’s heart was beating hard again as she took Dinah by both shoulders and turned the girl to face her.
“Listen, Dinah, I need your help. Tell Mr. Stanton I need him, but without all sorts of fuss. Just calm-like. Can you do that?”
Dinah said nothing. She was staring at Emily, openmouthed. Emily gave her a little shake.
“Dinah, do you hear me? Can you do that?”
“Of … of course, miss.” Dinah turned on her heel and ran from the room.
A few minutes later, Stanton made a dignified entrance, as if he were coming to retrieve a book on mathematics.
“Took your time, didn’t you?” she snapped.
“It’s just like with the Aberrancy,” Stanton said. “Never invite unpleasant things to chase you. Now let me have a look.” He took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him. She pulled back.
“What are you doing?”
“You gave that girl quite a turn,” Stanton said. “But she’s right. Your eyes have gone all black again.”
“I … I saw something. Had a Cassandra.” The words tumbled out of her mouth too quickly. “Mr. Cruikshank … she called him Captain. And his name isn’t Cruikshank, it’s Caul … and he was looking at me …”
“Slow down,” Stanton said.
“… And look outside!” she said. Stanton went to the window, looked down into the street. “He wants us both, he said. Mrs. Quincy arranged it all! To pay off her gambling debts—”
“Listen, it’s all true, and there isn’t much time.” She waved a desperate hand, trying to remember what else Mrs. Quincy and Caul had talked about. She snapped her fingers and pointed at Stanton. “Mrs. Quincy doesn’t want him to take you because your father’s a senator and she doesn’t want any scandal.”
He looked at her through narrowed eyes, brow knit.
“Who told you that?”
“Nobody told me. Mrs. Quincy told Cruikshank … Caul. I saw it … I just started to feel sick, and I heard chanting … I heard Komé chanting. She was there with me, I think.”
Stanton stood for a moment. Then he went to the window at the opposite corner of the room and threw up the sill. He grabbed the braided satin rope that held back the massively draped curtains. It was looped multiple times, creating attractive swags, and when unhooked it represented quite a length. He made one end fast and threw the rest out the window.
“I can’t climb down a rope one-handed!” Emily held up her right hand, wiggling her fingers slightly to remind Stanton of its near-immobility.
“I’ll go first and break your fall,” he offered, without apparent irony. He swung out of the window and disappeared into the darkness outside.
Emily leaned out over the windowsill, watching him clamber down the wall. It was a good thirty feet to the ground.
“I can’t, Mr. Stanton. I just can’t!” she whispered furiously.
“Miss Edwards, I have complete faith in your ability to do anything in a pinch.” Stanton called up urgently. “Hurry, now!”
Emily took a deep breath. Sitting on the windowsill, she swung her legs out, then turned awkwardly onto her belly. She was just beginning to let herself down when the parlor door opened and Caul walked in.
Startled, Emily slid. Scrabbling with her feet, she managed to catch herself against the house’s ornate clapboard siding, halfway down.
Caul thrust his head out of the window above her. He fumbled at his collar, pulling out a two-chambered glass pendant on a silver chain. Holding it in a clenched fist, he thrust it toward Emily with a booming cry. There was a smell of