“What justification did they gin up?” Miss Knight demanded.
“That women are exhausted by spellwork—which is true after a day of it, I’m afraid, at least for me,” Miss Harper said. “It gets better with practice, but it’s still very tiring. Oh, and they also said that educating us would take jobs from far more deserving men. They saw no reason to tell anyone unless things got desperate. A major war, say.”
“Too bad we haven’t had one since then,” Miss Knight said dryly.
“Don’t tempt fate,” Miss Dane said.
Miss Harper snorted. “Why, Rosemarie, that sounds like just your thing. A strategic opportunity.”
“Twenty million people were killed during the World War. Thesinglebit of credit I’ll give to wizards is that they kept Europe from launching an encore.”
Miss Knight cleared her throat. “Back to the contract, if you don’t mind. And let’s not forget that he targeted you because of your mother.”
“I didn’t!” he said.
“He didn’t,” Miss Harper agreed. “It turns out he was aware I, ah, sneaked into the magic exam at the end of seventh grade.”
The younger Miss Harper made a sound that was suspiciously close to a swallowed chuckle. “What, dressed as a boy?”
“Named Benedick.”
“Oh, Lord.” Lydia Harper covered her face with her hands and laughed a bit more than the situation would have called for, if the situation hadn’t involved a recent attempt on her life.
“Nevertheless—” Miss Knight put in.
“You’re not wrong that I was upset with Omnimancer Blackwell,” Miss Harper said to her friend. “Extremelyupset. But it’s true that all he wants is for me to assist him.”
He suppressed a sigh. It was all he would ask for, but not all he wanted—not anymore.
“Be that as it may,” Miss Knight said, leveling her gaze at him, “I still want to look at the contracts tonight, so there’s no question I’m seeing the real thing. Weknow what we Vowed, but we only have your word for whatyouVowed—and the word of someone under a Vow to you,” she added, as he started to object. “Sorry, Beatrix. It’s not that I don’t want to believe you.”
Miss Harper winced. “Only fair.”
“Besides, someone needs to stop by the house and get everyone a change of clothes for tomorrow,” Miss Knight said. “So, Omnimancer: Do you intend to uphold your promise?”
He crossed his arms. “Yes. And then you’ll see thatnothingin my Vow required me to lift a finger today.”
“I’m so glad you did,” Lydia Harper said. “But—why?”
He glanced at Miss Harper—hisMiss Harper, who was of course not his—before he could stop himself. He forced his gaze back to her sister, hoping he hadn’t just given himself away.
“I had an inkling that Washington might resort to violence,” he said. “And just for the record, I agree with every word of your speech.”
“You—a wizard—think wizards should be drummed out of public office,” she said, a disbelieving note creeping in.
“Thesewizards. That’s the least of what some of them deserve.”
This seemed to satisfy her. It was, after all, the truth, if not the whole of it.
But when he risked another glance at Miss Harper, he caught her looking at him, face pinched with apprehension, for the half-second before she averted her eyes and smoothed her expression into a calm blank. And he sensed enough of her roiling emotions—distrust, uncertainty, distress—to know that simple fear for her sister wasn’t the cause.
What had he said?
She took her friend’s arm. “I suppose we should go now, if we’re going.” Without quite looking at him, she added, “We’ll drop you off at your car, Omnimancer.”
Asking her what was wrong—in front of everyone—seemed like a fool’s errand. So he followed the women out of the bathroom and took her conversational cue. “Bring the new contracts. I’ll hide them with the other two—we can’t afford to have anyone find them.”
Miss Harper nodded, but Miss Knight put up a warning hand. “I’m only handing Beatrix’s over if I’m satisfied with what I see. Don’t think it hasn’t occurred to me that you could destroy it anytime you like.”
