Page 70 (1/2)

Chapter 1

London, 1815

It was ti her rented flat of teeks that only a few days earlier she had thought was dingy Now that it was time to leave the place she couldn’t help but think it was quaint and char and homey and other words that people used when they wanted to make a place sound more wonderful than it was But honestly, it was just small and musty

Sunlight slipped in through the single , illuht had not attested to the aparte and outdatedthe curtains or airing the place out seelect And yet, here she stood, unwilling to look away from the place she had temporarily called home

Why h this after every job? It would be easier to just turn around and walk aithout looking back Instead, her feet felt ce on She felt an odd tug of emotion from somewhere deep within her she didn’t like, couldn’t nao away She had been feeling itthe last few moments in every rented rooine—for just one fleeting moment—what it would be like if she stayed

Time stretched for a ine a different outco her few dresses into the oak wardrobe in the corner She would trade out the dust in the empty vase on the table for a bundle of colorful flowers and try her best to remember to refill the water when it looked low When friends came over for a dinner party, they would all comment on the beauty and vibrancy of her flowers and insist on learning the secret to their longevity Or would they? Rose didn’t know exactly what close friends discussed at dinner parties because she had never allowed herself to have friends And as for loved ones, well…Papa had been gone thirteen years now All of this drea was really a useless waste of time

She wouldn’t stay She never did Rose would continue to live her life the way she always had and the way she preferred it — alone

The door behind her flew open and sla the dusty vase to teeter on the entry table She lunged and caught the vase just as Uncle Felix ru over Rose’s valise and practically trae

So, maybe she wasn’t completely alone

“Blast!” he said leaning over his increasingly round stomach to pick up her valise

Rose pursed her lips together to hold off the s at her h he would likely give her a fine triht of him as old But this incident alone only solidified Rose’s decision to keep hi side of their operation rather than join her on the performance side

“Rosie girl, I don’t suppose you have a bit of that good Burgundy left that iped from the Pinkerton’s ball, do you?”

“I would,” she said, letting her gaze rest heavily on his round wrinkled face, “if you hadn’t drunk it all the very night I brought it ho as how you were drunk as a wheelbarrow”

“Aye! I reue always intensified when he s a fine drink”

“No, but I can blas at the top of your lungs throughout the night I’m not sure if you or I had a worse headache the next day” The fact that in the eleven years she’d worked with thehe had ever done when in his cups was sing loud tavern songs spoke volumes of his character Well, that and the ti up to her knees to fetch the and cold

His thick brows pulled together “If we don’t have anything to drink, what are we doing kicking our heels in here?”

“Nothing” Too sharp Really, had she never lied before? She forced her shoulders to relax “I was only…taking abehind” She was not about to tell hiirlish ritual

“There’ll be tih for moments once we’ve stuck our spoons in the wall,” he said “We’ve a large suirl!” Theto get caught one of these days