Even as curious as it was, she left the tent humored and looked around for her sister—only to be approached by a woman, dressed in what she could only say were colorful rags and a headscarf. Her piercing blue eyes pinned Alice to her place.
“You—” the woman said, lifting a spidery finger to her. “You ‘ave ‘de hand of fate around ye… and ‘de murk of death and ‘de grave. The shadows twist and turn around ye, showing light one moment and darkness ‘de next.”
Alice blinked. And blinked again. “Beg your pardon?”
“The fates wind their strings around you,” the crone continued. “One path takes ye into the deep, another takes ye into the silver night, as ye hold yer bleeding heart in yer left hand. Beware the deep, gal, that is where fate snips the cord.”
With that, the woman wandered off, and flabbergasted, Alice stood rooted in place, unsure if she had just been given a blessing or a warning.
Shaking her head, she went off to find Penelope and Benedict, only to find them by the booths of stalls selling oysters and sausages.The two were sharing a hot pie and the tender expression on Benedict’s face as he gazed at a happily chattering Penelope warmed Alice’s heart.
A small twist of regret that she would never get that emotion from Edward did tighten her chest, but she pushed it away by pure force of will.
If and buts…
“Where did you wander off to?” Penelope asked, her eyes brimming with happiness.
“Just looking around,” Alice replied, not willing to bore them with tedium. “I apologize for leaving you. I am your chaperone, after all.”
“No worries,” Benedict grinned, “we hardly noticed.”
Of course not. You two are so in love.
“Shall we explore the rest of this fair?” She asked, as a juggler on stilts passed by them.
After the two finished eating, they roamed through the fair, trying the various games and booths, spending the tickets Benedict purchased for them at the ring toss and dice.
She linked arms with Penelope, watching Benedict attempt to test his strength by hitting a platform with a mallet to ring a bell. On his second try, the pendulum hit the bell so hard, the ring echoed in Alice’s ear for long after they left that booth.
An indigo evening was drawing down on them by the time they headed back to London proper—only, Benedict wanted to take Penelope for a stroll through his extensive gardens before they returned to the townhouse. Alice, having no desire to return to her aunt’s house just yet, gave her consent.
“Will you walk with us?” Penelope asked.
“Not this time,” Alice replied quietly. “I think I’ll find a quiet place to rest my feet. I am a touch fatigued.”
“Not a worry, I’ll have a maid chaperone us,” Benedict swept a courteous bow. “Ah, and Ramsay can show you to the library in the meantime.”
“Thank you,” Alice replied.
While the two went off, she turned in place, admiring the art on the walls until the butler strode to her and bowed. “Welcome, Miss Alice. I hope you’re doing well this evening. Please follow me.”
She allowed her mind to wander and simply followed Ramsay’s steady pace—until he halted before a door that was familiar… a littletoofamiliar. She slowed her steps. “This is not the library—” She looked to the manservant. “This is His Grace’s study.”
“It is indeed,” Ramsay nodded rather matter-of-factly. “Forgive this old man for taking a liberty, but he has been a bit… unmoored of late.”
“There is nothing I can do about that,” Alice whispered chidingly. “There is nothing I can do for him.”
Ramsay’s shoulders slumped and the silver at his temples glinted in the lamplight around them. “Well, you cannot fault aman for trying, Miss,” he said, a touch softer now. “Especially when I’ve been instructed to burn no fewer than three dozen unfinished letters addressed to you.”
Alice’s head snapped to him while her lips parted. “Pardon?”
“I suppose I should not be disclosing my master’s personal affairs,” he grimaced.
“No, you undoubtedly should not,” Alice nodded but those words—not happenstance in any way—didturn her thinking. “Is he… inside?”
“Yes,” Ramsay nodded. “Staring into nothingness again I might wager.”
“Twist my arm, will you?” She muttered while she turned the knob on the door.
