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He wasn’t there The wharves were heaped with stacks of luggage and all sorts of boxes and cargo, evenin the rain A stea sailors swar in French She tried toof dise for the shelter of the railway station

But Nate was nowhere to be seen

"You are Miss Gray?" The voice was guttural, heavily accented A man hada sweeping black coat and a tall hat, its bri rainwater like a cistern His eyes were peculiarly bulging, al as scar tissue Tessa had to fight the urge to cringe away from him But he knew her name Who here would know her name except someone who knew Nate, too?

"Yes?"

"Your brother sent me Come with me"

"Where is he?" Tessa de away His stride was uneven, as if he had a liathered up her skirts and hurried after hi ahead with purposeful speed People ju about his rudeness as he shouldered past, with Tessa nearly running to keep up He turned abruptly around a pile of boxes, and ca black coach Gold letters had been painted across its side, but the rain and mist were too thick for Tessa to read thee opened and a woman leaned out She wore an enormous plumed hat that hid her face "Miss Theresa Gray?"

Tessa nodded The bulging-eyed e--and then another wo after her Each of the themselves from the rain Then they fixed their eyes on Tessa

They were an odd pair, the women One was very tall and thin, with a bony, pinched face Colorless hair was scraped back into a chignon at the back of her head She wore a dress of brilliant violet silk, already spattered here and there with splotches of rain, and loves The other woman was short and pluloves stretched over her large hands made them look like colorful paws

"Theresa Gray," said the shorter of the two "What a delight to make your acquaintance at last I am Mrs Black, and this is my sister, Mrs Dark Your brother sent us to accompany you to London"

Tessa--dahter around herself "I don’t understand Where’s Nate? Why didn’t he come himself?"

"He was unavoidably detained by business in London Mortmain’s couldn’t spare him He sent ahead a note for you, however" Mrs Black held out a rolled-up bit of paper, already dampened with rain

Tessa took it and turned away to read it It was a short note fro at the docks toher know that he trusted Mrs Black and Mrs Dark--I call them the Dark Sisters, Tessie, for obvious reasons, and they see her safely to his house in London They were, his note said, his landladies as well as trusted friends, and they had his highest recommendation

That decided her The letter was certainly fro, and no one else ever called her Tessie She sed hard and slipped the note into her sleeve, turning back to face the sisters "Very well," she said, fighting down her lingering sense of disappoint her brother "Shall we call a porter to fetch my trunk?"

"No need, no need" Mrs Dark’s cheerful tone was at odds with her pinched gray features "We’ve already arranged to have it sent on ahead" She snapped her fingers at the bulging-eyedhie She placed her hand on Tessa’s shoulder "Coet you out of the rain"

As Tessa rip, the e painted on the side of the door The words "The Pande each other’s tails, for a circle Tessa frowned "What does thatyou need worry about," said Mrs Black, who had already climbed inside and had her skirts spread out across one of the coe was richly decorated with plush purple velvet bench seats facing each other, and gold tasseled curtains hanging in the s

Mrs Dark helped Tessa up into the carriage, then clambered in behind her As Tessa settled herself on the bench seat, Mrs Black reached to shut the carriage door behind her sister, closing out the gray sky When she sleamed in the dimness as if they wereride ahead of us"

Tessa put a hand to the clockwork angel at her throat, taking coe lurched forward into the rain

SIX WEEKS LATER