her piano lesson. Her lush, passionate music perfectly suited my mood. I couldn’t hold back a wistful sigh as I remembered the feeling of Alec’s arms around me, the lightning bolt that had struck when I looked into his eyes. I jumped guiltily when I sensed someone behind me and turned just in time to step out of the way before Lord Henry stumbled into me. He was intent on the net he held with a large, vividly colored butterfly caught in it and didn’t seem to see me. He also didn’t seem to see the statue in his path.
With some trepidation about being so forward with my employer, I grabbed his arm and gave him a sharp pull, just before he fell into the arms of a naked marble woman. He blinked at me over the tops of his glasses, then pushed them up his nose with his forearm. “Oh dear, you seem to have rescued me from a rather improper embrace, Miss Newton,” he said with a rueful smile. “I’m afraid my glasses slipped, and I’m quite blind without them.” I thought that if he’d been the one with me in the park, he’d have fallen headlong into the carriage’s path and we’d both have been killed. “And now I’d better take care of this specimen.” He started for the stairs, paused, then turned back to me. “Once you get Rollo this afternoon, you’ll be free until dinner. I’ll be teaching the children their magic lessons.”
After I had Rollo safely home and in no danger of being seduced by a nonmagical girl or—more likely—running away to join the Rebel Mechanics, I went to my room. I hardly knew what to do with myself in all this spare time. I supposed it was the perfect opportunity to read my novel.
I settled onto my bed with my book, but I couldn’t concentrate on the story. My mind kept returning to that afternoon in the park. I took Alec’s handkerchief out of my pocket and held it to my nose to see if I could detect any trace of his scent, since that was an element missing from my memory. Unfortunately, it didn’t smell like anything that reminded me of him, but I hid it in the drawer of my nightstand anyway. Even if I never saw him again, I’d have that memento of my adventure.
I tried to return to my book, but my thoughts still strayed. I finally gave up and closed my eyes to relive the moment—his arms around me, his eyes meeting mine, then later him smiling at me and his eyes flashing with passion when he discussed his cause.
I was jolted out of my thoughts when a wave of power washed over me, heightening every one of my senses and setting my nerves on fire. If I hadn’t been lying down, I might have fallen. I shivered and burned as if with fever, and the sensation came in intense waves.
The magic lessons must have begun. I had never been around anyone else who could use magic, so I’d never known what it felt like. But the sensation was familiar, and I realized I’d felt something similar during the train robbery, only I’d attributed my reaction to the excitement of the situation and dismissed the idea that magisters would rob trains. If this was the way I reacted to magic being used nearby, then keeping my secret in a magical household would be impossible.
IN WHICH I RECEIVE MULTIPLE INVITATIONS
The sense of magic gradually became less shocking and painful as I became accustomed to it, but I doubted I could avoid reacting visibly when it was used. Surely magisters could control or block the sensations, or else they’d go mad. I knew very little about my magical heritage, but how was I to learn? I couldn’t ask to observe Lord Henry’s lessons with the children if I couldn’t mask my reaction, and a commoner like me couldn’t ask for instruction from a magister without revealing that I had forbidden powers.
When I entered the dining room later that evening, Olive and Rollo were in high spirits, while Flora made a great effort to appear bored. No one commented that I was pale or looked ill, even though I felt like I’d been put through a clothes wringer.
After grace, Lord Henry started the conversation by saying, “Olive, would you like to tell Miss Newton what you learned?”
“I lit a candle, all by myself!” she said, beaming.
“We have lights,” Flora sighed wearily.