“It doesn’t matter, since the baron will never marry me.”
“Don’t be so gloomy! You are a wonderful person, of course he’ll fall in love with you. How could he not?”
“You said that about Tom, too. Yet he’s happily married to Charlotte now.”
“Because you refused to flirt with him!”
Sadie had never really been tempted by the village blacksmith. She’d been glad he had given up on her and turned his attention to Charlotte within weeks. But even if she had been tempted, she wouldn’t have flirted. Getting close to people only increased the odds she’d betray her magic. Friendships were hard enough; romance was out of the question.
She stared her friend down. “I’m not going to flirt with the baron, either.”
Belatedly, Sadie remembered the way Nicholas’s eyes had darkened as she had eaten her slice of peach at breakfast. She hadn’t been trying to flirt or distract him, but she had almost repeated the action right before he swore to figure out all her secrets.
Her cheeks grew warm, and Pippa gasped. “You have flirted with him!”
“I have not,” Sadie insisted.
Pippa’s eyes went sly. “But you want to. Do it, Sadie. Enjoy yourself for once.”
That, Sadie couldn’t do. Even if Pippa was right and she could make the baron fall for her. Hells, even if she could only manage to flirt with him and tempt him physically, Sadie couldn’t risk relaxing her control enough to enjoy herself.
It was bad enough that she picked up surface thoughts without meaning to. But her telepathy wasn’t limited to hearing thoughts. If Sadie truly relaxed, she might accidentally send thoughts, too. There was no hiding that sort of mistake.
Another denial would only make Pippa press harder. Sadie shook her head. “It won’t matter, because there is one more thing I forgot to tell you.”
Pippa’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Nicholas knows something odd is going on. He confronted me over breakfast about the fact that I didn’t arrive in a carriage.”
Her friend’s excitement dimmed all at once. “Do you think he’s going to throw you out for lying? Would the dowager intercede?”
“If he figures out I’m not really one of the guests his mother invited, there wouldn’t be a reason for Madeleine to allow me to stay.” Sadie thought over her conversation with him in the breakfast room. “But I don’t think he’s going to kick me out. He wants to figure out exactly what is going on first, and since I don’t plan to tell him…”
“Oh good. I don’t want to go home early. I’m looking forward to a month away from the tavern.”
“Hey! If you are so desperate to get away, then why are you always trying to make me take a job there?”
“It’d be more fun if we were working together.” Pippa rolled her eyes. “Besides, even without having a friend nearby, working at the tavern is better than working for Mr. Ferman. I just… I want to run my own place. But my parents will be running the tavern for decades longer.”
“You could open your own shop.”
“And what would I sell?”
Potions. It was one of the only non-luxury goods that Lamsdel didn’t have a ready supply of. But no one in the village brewed potions. For a moment, Sadie let herself imagine it. She’d work in the back, making their stock. Pippa would run the shop and deal with customers. It would be perfect.
Until people asked what her power was. Then they’d watch her with suspicion. Eventually, fear and hatred would make her an outsider. People would only visit the shop if they had no other choice, and refuse to talk to her. Pippa would avoid her as much as possible, too. She would probably return to working in the tavern, and the shop would die. And Sadie would find herself on the road again, looking for a new home.
Eight
???
Maisie brought anotherof the dowager’s old gowns for Sadie to change into before supper. Pippa helped her into it, then they both stared. This dress was aubergine silk that barely clung to Sadie’s shoulders. The overskirt was gathered up into a handful of elegant swags, with silk roses pinning up the fabric at knee height. Underneath, a skirt of slightly paler purple fell to the floor over wider hoops than Sadie had ever worn.
“It’s so beautiful,” Pippa sighed.
“It costs more than I make in a year.” Sadie rolled her shoulders, not used to having them exposed to the air.
Pippa giggled. “That’s one way to make the baron notice you.”
