Read The Vespertine for Free Online Page B

said. Then, his strange face turned with a smile. "Not so loud, either."
    Softened by his remonstration, Zora clasped her hands together and said, more conversationally, "Miss Burnside's gone all twisted with power, and don't think I won't mention this to Papa."
    "Please don't," Thomas said. He drifted nearer her.
    "Why not?"
    Closer still, as if a line between them tightened, Thomas said, "It was only an excuse, Miss Stewart. I held the man down and Dr. Rea had his tooth out well before eight this morning."
    The clouds above us shifted, and lances of cool, clean light pierced the alley. Sounding betrayed, Zora asked, "Then why were you late?"
    "I didn't care to sit her class this morning." Wickedly pleased with himself, Thomas started to say something else, but he took notice of me and turned formal. "We haven't met."
    "This is my cousin, Miss Amelia van den Broek," Zora said. "She's come to stay the season. Amelia, Mr. Thomas Rea."
    Remembering my wild flare of jealousy the night before, I kept my hands in my muff, offering a nod instead. "Good to meet you, Mr. Rea."
    "Likewise." His eyes were green as glass. He looked from my face to Zora's, then said, "Now I understand."
    Zora lingered beneath his gaze, her hands poised to raise her hood again but stilled in the moment. They seemed very like an etching, a modern-day Tristan and Isolde, whispering with their eyes.
    But I ruined the atmosphere with my very presence.
    Brought back to life, Zora arranged her coat and said, ordinary as anything, "Were taking a horse car to Old Drury, Thomas. Will You escort us?"
    "He can't," I gasped. "Miss Burnside sent us home."
    Zora sniffed and said, "On the contrary. She dismissed us and gave me a note to carry. She demanded no receipt."
    "I shouldn't," Thomas said.
    With a great rustling of satin and wool, Zora gathered herself, performing that most remarkable trick of making her pixie delicacy fill the space all around us. "Amelia and I chaperone one another. It's just that Holliday Street is so close to the Inner Harbor. I'd hate to fall to prey for want of a gentleman's protection. But certainly I understand if you don't care to offer it."
    With that, she took my elbow and made me walk with her, a formal march betrayed only by the nervous flutter of her lashes. Halfway down the alley, she whispered to me, "Is he following us? I can't hear over my head's rush."
    I tossed a look over my shoulder and smiled.
    Of course he followed. After a performance like that one, how could he resist the encore?
    ***
    "They should tear this place down," Zora said, leaning into my seat to avoid a steady drip from the roof.
    Though the marquee proclaimed this ramshackle mess the Holliday Street Theatre, it had earned the appellation
Old
Drury quite honestly. A moth-bitten rug lined the way from doors to stage, but several floorboards were missing.
    That made the walk to our seats far more exciting than it had to be. And poor Thomas, he'd done his utmost to keep a respectable distance, only to find himself handing us down the aisle.
    Grateful for the padding my skirts made, I still winced when my cracked seat threatened with a groan. "Honestly, do they light those sun burners?"
    "They do." Thomas draped his coat over Zora's chair, to soak up the offending pool of water. His seat was none better—he sat at the edge, his knees pressed against the row in front of him. "And the pots onstage. There's an arc light up top, too. It gets black as the devil on Sunday nights, from all the smoke."
    It was very nearly that black now, but mainly because the theatre had no windows. Recessed alcoves on the walls boasted gas taps furnaced in glass. Their glow lent just enough light to make out the crowd. A ribbon of incense tickled my nose, sweet over the rank cologne of mildewed theatre and damp wool.
    "I hope Lady Privalovna manifests," Zora said. "Miss Avery was a disappointment."
    "Aren't they all?" Thomas replied.
    I think Zora would have said something more, but the