“Ash doesn’t know I’m here?” Charlotte shot an accusing glare at Coe.
“No,” Coe answered. “But if he’d seen everything I have, he would have assented to my plans this evening.”
“What did my brother tell you to get you here?” Jack asked Charlotte.
Though she wasn’t keen to answer Jack directly, she said, “Coe told me that the plans for this evening had changed. I thought I had to attend the ball for sake of appearances.”
Lord Ott snorted. “Not a bad lie. Still a lie, though.”
“You did this just to spite me,” Jack snarled at Coe.
Coe shook his head. “I did it to remind you of who you are. You’re not playing in the woods anymore. This is your life.”
Coe’s words were like a slap in the face to Charlotte.
Playing in the woods. Pretending. Jack’s dalliances were all fiction. Part of his escape from a life he resented. It was never real. How could it have been? Charlotte let her gaze float away from the group to take in the splendor of the ball. This was Jack’s world—full of vividly bright silks and gleaming silver. A spectacle of wonders. Charlotte’s world was dingy and chaotic, a place of dull brass and cold iron.
Linnet slipped her arm around Charlotte’s waist.
“You’re unwell, Miss Marshall,” Lord Ott said gently. “It’s best you get home.”
“I’ll take her.” Jack tried to push past Lord Ott.
“No, you won’t.” Coe started toward Charlotte. “I’ll take her home in my carriage.”
“If you so much as touch her—” Jack spat at his brother.
“Don’t be idiots,” Linnet interrupted, drawing Charlotte back. “I’ll see her home.”
“Yes,” Lord Ott growled. “If you boys would take a moment to remember that we still have that matter at hand.”
With Lord Ott’s words giving Jack and Coe pause, Charlotte seized on the moment to whisper, “Linnet, get me out of here.”
Before anyone could intervene, Linnet had turned Charlotte around and they were slipping through the crowd, past dancers and servants and musicians, to the opposite end of the ballroom. Linnet guided Charlotte through glass doors that opened onto a terrace that led to the palace gardens.
They left behind the lights of the palace and ducked into the shadow-filled garden. Linnet stopped beside a bench, reached underneath the hedge just behind it, and pulled out two traveling cloaks.
“Put this on,” she told Charlotte. “It’ll cover your gown so we can take the trolley without drawing attention.”
Charlotte felt numb as she drew the cloak over her shoulders. She followed Linnet along the garden paths, sinking deeper and deeper into melancholy. After a while, Linnet slowed, falling in step beside Charlotte.
“You know, if Jack’s that much to your liking, you should just take him to your bed.”
Charlotte tripped over her feet. “Excuse me?”
“Why bother with betrothals and marriage?” Linnet shrugged. “I wouldn’t. The Raj himself could offer his hand, and I wouldn’t give it a second glance. Marriage is a prison for girls like you and me. Nothing more.”
“Are you teasing me?” Charlotte asked. Even if the other girl was winding her up, Charlotte was a bit grateful for the distraction.
“Only a bit,” Linnet replied. “You wouldn’t consider it?”
“Taking a lover rather than a husband?” Charlotte felt scandalous just saying it out loud.
“Yes, that.”
“I’ve never thought about it,” Charlotte admitted. She’d flirted with Jack once she’d stopped hating him, but her thoughts hadn’t gone further than that. At least not that much further.
“Never?” Linnet sounded skeptical.
“In the Catacombs, you think about the war. About staying hidden,” Charlotte argued. “I wasn’t worried about . . . that.”
“Until Jack.”
Linnet took Charlotte’s silence for an affirmative reply.
“Sorry, kitten,” Linnet said. “It was obvious where you stood with Jack as soon as you got rankled when you thought I might be something other than his sister.” A moment later, she added, “Don’t be too cross with him.”
“You don’t know what he did.” Charlotte bristled.
Linnet laughed. “I know more than you think. And I knew it before I ever met you. You just sped up the clock is all.”
“I don’t follow.” Charlotte frowned into the darkness.
“Jack set a trap for himself without knowing it,” Linnet told her. “And he just sprung it.”
They had to crawl through a gap in the outer hedge wall to escape the garden.
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked as she wriggled through the opening.
“Jack’s sole aim in life has been to avoid becoming like his father,” Linnet explained. “He despises the admiral.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Away from the palace, the streets were quiet; the loudest sound came from their footfalls on the cobblestones.
“Jack knew his parents’ marriage was loveless,” Linnet said. “Arranged because it was an ideal match between a powerful civil and equally powerful military family. So Jack decided to avoid that doom by finding a wife of his own before his father could make similar arrangements.”
“So he found Eleanor.” Charlotte’s voice was strained. “And he loves her?”
“I’m sure he thought he did,” Linnet replied. “She’s a very nice girl and all. But I knew that wouldn’t be enough. I told him that you don’t find love—it finds you.”
“What did he say to that?” Charlotte asked.
“He told me to bugger off.” Linnet laughed. “Jack never listens to anything I have to say.” She cast a sidelong glance at Charlotte. “And now that love has found Jack, he’s in a terrible fix.”
“You can’t know that he loves me.” Charlotte drew her cloak more tightly around her body. She didn’t want to let hope sneak into her heart. She couldn’t bear it.
“You’re right,” Linnet said. “I can’t know. Only you can. But Jack isn’t the sort to play games with someone’s feelings, not after what he’s seen his mother go through.”
“I’m surprised you’d defend him,” Charlotte admitted.
Linnet’s laughter was harsh. “Because he hates me?”
Charlotte cringed. “I don’t mean any offense.”
“None taken.” Linnet was still laughing. “Jack doesn’t really hate me. He hates what our father did to his mother. And I’m the living proof of what the admiral did. I understand why Jack resents my presence, but I also don’t give him an inch if he tries to blame me for things I’m not responsible for.”
When they reached the trolley stop, Linnet turned to Charlotte. “So?”
Charlotte lifted her brows.
Linnet smiled wickedly. “Are you going to give my brother a second chance?”
“I don’t know if I can.” Charlotte looked down at the trolley tracks.
The trolley bell rang in the distance.
“Well, if you decide you can’t, that may be just as well,” Linnet told Charlotte. “Because I’m fairly certain Coe didn’t bring you to the palace tonight just to torment Jack.”
“He said he wanted to teach Jack a lesson,” Charlotte said quietly.
Linnet shook her head. “That’s not it either.”
“What reason would he have?” Charlotte asked as the cable car pulled up.
“Don’t you think it’s obvious?” Linnet said, stepping into the trolley. “Coe wants you for himself.”
21.
THOUGH CHARLOTTE COULD hardly believe it possible, the next morning proved worse than the night before.
For a few blissful moments after she woke, Charlotte didn’t remember anything that had transpired at the Governor’s Palace. Then
the world came crashing down on her. She pulled the sheets over her face and shut her eyes tight. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to wake up and be back in the Catacombs, having never seen the Floating City, met Lord Ott, or entered the House of Winter. And most of all, she wished she’d never admitted that she loved Jack.
When it became clear that no amount of wishing would send her back in time, Charlotte threw off the covers and set about preparing to face the day. She dressed in a clean chemise and soft muslin dress. She wrapped a paisley shawl around her shoulders.
The house was quiet. Charlotte wondered if Ash had yet returned. When she’d arrived at the mansion with Linnet, Charlotte’s brother had already departed for his first meeting with the city’s contingent of rebels. A little relieved she was spared having to explain the night’s events to Ash, Charlotte had bidden Linnet farewell and then collapsed into Meg’s arms with a wail. It was for the best. Meg let Charlotte sniffle and weep and condemn Jack to every awful fate she could imagine. Charlotte didn’t remember falling asleep, but she knew Meg had stayed with her until she’d cried herself past the point of exhaustion.
If Ash had been witness to Charlotte’s heartbreak, he might have challenged Jack to a duel on the spot. While Charlotte didn’t ever want to see Jack again, she wasn’t sure she wanted him dead. Meg would be able to convey the necessary information to Ashley in a way that might just persuade him to let Jack go on living.
Though it meant risking an encounter with Lady Winter, Charlotte went to the courtyard. Lady Winter wasn’t in the garden, but Charlotte found Grave sitting on a marble bench watching the jewel-embellished peacock parade around its home.
Grave looked up when Charlotte approached.
“I’m sorry I ran away,” he said. “And for hitting Jack.”
“Don’t be sorry about Jack,” Charlotte said. “And as for running away, I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Grave nodded and returned to admiring the bird.
“Do you know why you ran?” Charlotte sat beside him. “Did you remember something?”
“I just knew that I’d been that afraid before,” Grave answered. “I thought that if I didn’t run, I would die.”
Charlotte considered that, then asked, “Where did Linnet find you?”
“I wasn’t sure where I was,” Grave said. “But Linnet said I was walking toward the Hive.”
“You were wearing the clothes of a Hive worker when I met you,” Charlotte told him. “I think that must be where you came from.”
“But the people at the temple will be able to tell me for sure?” Grave sounded neither happy nor sad.
“Meg’s mother seemed to think so,” Charlotte replied.
“Will we go there today?”
“We have to wait for Ash to tell us.” Charlotte rubbed her temples. She hoped they would go to the temple that day, solve the mystery of Grave, and then leave this city and never come back.
“Charlotte!”
Recognizing Jack’s voice, Charlotte wanted to crawl under the bench. Instead, she sat up straighter and looked toward the sound of his call.
Jack crossed the lawn, slowing when he saw Charlotte wasn’t alone.
“Hello, Jack.” Grave stood up. “I’m very sorry I hit you.”
“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Jack said, then added, “Actually, you can make it up to me by giving me some time alone to speak with Charlotte.”
“I don’t want to be alone with you,” Charlotte snapped, not caring that Grave heard her anger.
Jack came to the bench and dropped to one knee. “Please, Charlotte. Give me a chance to explain.”
“Fine.” Charlotte hid her trembling hands under her shawl. “But Grave stays.”
“I don’t think—” Jack began.
“Grave stays, or you can leave,” Charlotte interrupted. “I want his opinion on whether what you have to say has merit.”
Grave’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know that I’ll be very helpful.”
“I’m sure you will.” Charlotte patted Grave’s hand. In truth, she needed Grave to stay put because she was certain Jack wouldn’t try to kiss her with the other boy present. She was equally certain that if Grave left them and Jack did kiss her, she’d be lost.
Turning to Jack, Charlotte told him, “Say what you will.”
The annoyed glance Jack threw at Grave gave Charlotte a bit of satisfaction.
Jack lowered his voice. “I was going to break it off.”
When Charlotte didn’t say anything, Jack added, “The engagement. I was going to end it last night.”
“You were going to?” Charlotte asked archly. “Does that mean you’re still pledged to Lady Eleanor?”
“I don’t want to be.” Jack sidestepped the question.
“But you are,” Charlotte said. “Even now that I know about her, you didn’t end it. And that’s all that matters.”
“That isn’t all that matters,” Jack insisted. He looked at Grave. “Are you sure he has to be here?”
“Yes.” Charlotte stood up. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t know how.” Jack rose and faced her. “I thought I could end the engagement quietly and you wouldn’t have to be bothered with it. I didn’t want you to think poorly of me.”
“Well, that was bad judgment on your part,” Charlotte said. “Because I think very poorly of you now.”
“You said you loved me,” Jack pressed. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”
Grave turned around on the bench and concentrated on the peacock.
“That’s not fair.” Charlotte’s throat tightened. “You lied to me. You never told me that you were tied to your life here. Jack, you’re pledged to marry her! Last night, before the ball, I thought you wanted—” She couldn’t get the words out, but Jack finished for her.
“You.”
Charlotte looked down. The grass beneath her feet pooled and eddied as her vision was blurred by tears.
“I do, Charlotte,” she heard Jack say. “I want you more than anything.”
“Then why didn’t you call off your engagement?” Charlotte didn’t lift her face.
There was a long pause before Jack answered, “I needed to talk to you first.”
“So you could be certain I’d still want you?” Charlotte turned away from him. “And if I didn’t, you could go on with your Eleanor as if none of this ever happened?”
“It’s not so simple as that,” Jack said. “Eleanor is a sweet girl. We were barely more than children when I asked for her hand. It was foolish—I know that now. But I don’t want to disgrace her without cause.”
“Without cause?” Charlotte glared at him, no longer caring if he saw her tear-streaked face. “You claim to want me, to love me, but you’ll still marry her if I can’t forgive you.”
Jack shook his head. “You don’t understand what it’s like here, Charlotte. There are politics and social expectations to consider. It’s no easy task to end an engagement without causing a scandal. I’m trying to act with honor.”
“I do understand, Jack.” Charlotte glowered at him. “You want me, but you don’t want to tarnish the perfect future you’ve been building. You can keep your honor and your pretty fiancée. I want none of it.”
“Don’t do this.” Jack reached for Charlotte, but she drew back.
“I haven’t done anything,” Charlotte said. “All this was of your making. But your brother put it plainly enough—remember, Jack, you’re not playing in the woods anymore.”
“Coe never should have said that.” Jack’s hands balled into fists. “He knows nothing about us.”
“I think your brother grasped the truth about us very quickly,” Charlotte countered. “What’s done is done. Now please leave.”
Charlotte returned to her seat on the bench, but didn’t look at Jack again. Hav
ing confronted him, she knew that it wasn’t a matter of wanting Jack as a lover or a husband—before last night she would have welcomed him into her heart either way, but he hadn’t responded in kind. Charlotte would have risked everything to love him. When it came to love, Jack had long been hedging his bets. That was something Charlotte wouldn’t abide.
Beside Charlotte, Grave stood up and faced Jack. “You should go. She heard what you had to say, and now she wants you to go.”
Charlotte listened to Jack’s retreating footsteps, and a fresh wave of tears spilled down her cheeks.
Grave sat beside her and frowned. “That was rather awful, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Charlotte sniffled. “Thank you for staying.”
He surprised her when he said, “I’ll always do what you ask, Charlotte.”
“Why?” Charlotte blinked at him through her tears.
“Because you’re the one who saved me,” Grave replied.
22.
THE TWIN TEMPLES of Hephaestus and Athene stood at opposite ends of the Market Platform.
“These are the Empire’s gods?” Grave asked as they moved through the bustling streets. Around them servants went to and fro between the many stores, running errands for their employers.
“Britannia is a Christian nation,” Meg told him. “But the Empire’s scholars and priests found inspiration in the Greek pantheon and revived its popularity. Athene and Hephaestus represent the most ideal aspects of the one Christian God.”
“But if there’s a whole pantheon, why these two?” Grave walked between Meg and Charlotte.
Meg said to Grave, “The Empire claims its strength in industry and craft. Hephaestus is blacksmith to the gods. He is meant to provide inspiration and guidance to the workers of the Foundry, who toil like the god at his anvil. Athene, goddess of wisdom, is also patron of complex craft—weaving, clockwork, machinery. The temples were built at opposite points on the same platform because god and goddess represent the harmony and tension between art and industry. Harmony because both Athene and Hephaestus are servants of war.”
“What’s the tension?” Grave looked puzzled.