Page 99 of The Trick of It

“Your host is gone,” the footman said softly, giving a gentle shrug. “He went in the night.”

“He went,” Seph repeated, furrowing her brow, “or he left?”

The footman only shrugged again, this time turning his hands outward. “He is gone.”

“‘To my esteemed friends,’” Nini said loudly, propping herself up onto a chair as she clutched the letter in her hands. “‘I have performed my final vanishing act. Did you see me disappear? I suspect you did not, for I am, in all things, a professional.’”

The others turned to her, one by one, each drifting toward their seats, dragging the chairs out, slumping down, silent and stunned as the paper wrinkled in Nini’s hands.

Madame Ivanova began to cry softly, with Father Wheeler placing a comforting palm on her shoulder.

“‘I could not choose a winner amongst you,’” Nini continued, her voice a little raw, “‘for you all did what I asked you to do. You all made me believe in magic. And so, I have no choice but to divide what I have amongst you. My book of tricks has been separated and sequestered into loose pages, each designated to those of you who might find the best use for them.

“‘Inside this box, you will find the pages, labeled and bound, as well as my mask and the whole of my estate: twelve pounds sterling, to be divided evenly amongst you.’”

“‘Twel… Twelve pounds’?!” Rhys said, his voice kicking up an octave. “That’s it?”

“What about this house?” Master Yuri asked, gesturing around them. “The estate?”

Nini held up a finger, her eyes flicking back up as she turned the letter over in her hands. “‘I spent all I had saved in my final years in this last, glorious month of living. I rented the priory grange house. I paid for luxury and ease. I would apologize for misleading you all, but alas, it was quite literally my vocation to do so.’”

Seph snorted, covering her mouth quickly at the narrowed eyes from Master Yuri and the Breton mesmerist.

“‘After all, I am an illusionist,’” Nini continued. “‘Did you really think I could own a house like this one? If you did, you are paid far better for marvels than I ever was.’”

“What about the mask?” Master Yuri asked, looking more stunned than offended by this trickery. “The star mask?”

“‘My mask and cape, I bequeath to Miss Persephone’s Oddities and Curiosities. Miss Persephone, I feel, is the only one amongst you who might display it as a relic, rather than lose it in a trunk,’” Nini read, smiling to herself. She glanced up at them and shook her head. “I resent that, you know. The circus has a whole tent of relics.”

“But I label my fakes,” Seph told her, raising her brows. “And he wants those who see this to know it is real.”

“Bah,” said Nini. “People love fakes.”

Rhys tittered at that but did not otherwise comment.

“‘The only trick you will not find in my book is the one I performed for you all on your first night here,’” Nini continued, going back to the letter. “‘It is a secret I will keep, if you will allow me the indulgence. After all, one has to impress upon arrival in the next life.

“‘And so, I say farewell and thank you to those who gathered here. May we meet again, one way or another.’”

For many minutes afterward, everyone was silent.

Everyone was somber.

And then, with tears pricking her eyes, Seph began to giggle. She giggled and put her hands over her mouth and shook her head and still could not stop.

Nini laughed next, a tear escaping down her cheek as she shook her head, her narrow shoulders trembling with the oddest feeling of loss and joy.

And then the priest.

And then the medium.

And then the footman too.

They all laughed, and cried, and sighed in wonder.

Because in this business, that was how one said goodbye.

Chapter Thirty-Four