the meeting, which I had expected, and

to breathe, when the door clicked shut behind her. In the mirror, she leaned against the marble

like a gold di

you. I

rs wear bet

ame out as a shaky, startled sound, and So

t you. I'm here because I'd like to kno

r y

y. Our families signed something. Victoria is very proud of it. Adrian has refused to look at me in al

want to marr

ry for Adrian. "The man would rather eat his own tie than hold

in full s

ised one elegant ey

ed. I turned b

hat house is not what it looks like. Victoria likes to smile. Do not let her

ou telling

neath my eye again, and she looked, for just a second, as if she we

I said, though I did

gain. "Saturday night. The gala. Wear something that makes them stare. If you'

ng at my own reflection, wondering

sort of event where people spent more on

on my bed with a bag of crisps balanced on her stomach,

g as his

hat d

Seven blouses, three cardigans, a gray ski

sa gravely. "We'r

rang before I

hange, a little careful, a little st

"I hope I am not intruding. I was pas

nthemums. He had the kind of face that belonged on a poster for a hospital, pleasant and kind and trustworthy. Dr. Lawrence Wh

w me, then flickered, like a ca

you,

d the flowers to Mum, and I saw his fingers tremble very slightly as h

s thin as pape

He glanced at me, then away. "Th

I was upset?" Mum

u seemed rather p

versation in a language I couldn't speak. They were talking about flowers and ne

aid at the door, as he was leaving. He said it so q

," I said,

tight with something I co

ut?" Tessa whisper

ve no

s in a vase with great care an

o'clock that night, which was not

mouthHe stood on the step in a dark coat, one hand holding a flat white box t

d the toothbrush. "

his throat. His ears had gone fa

. Th

mething. For Saturday. Marcus said you would refuse, so he said

tanding on

es

s silk, and when I lifted the

oft shimmer like a night sky when you look at it just right. A s

"I can't afford this. I

n reading an excuse he had rehearsed in the car. "Executive assist

not a rea

made it

were not. They were soft and nervous and a little bit hopeful,

over, slowly, like a key in a

. "Marcus's cousin is a tail

ow

He took a step back. "I have

Inside was a necklace: a single drop of pale stone on a de

e said quietly. "She wo

I can't p

ne night. That is all." His

id no to him if my

nything else, and the faint, steady brush of his breath against the back of my neck, so close that every fine hair on my skin stood up. His fingers, cool fr

he said,

r of u

e, like a bubble out of deep water. A small hand tugging at a ribbon. A boy's voic

asp

s hands fell aw

r a moment, my heart did not know what to do. "

ed, a small, tender, heartbreaking thing, and it w

, Ella," he

the cold with my fingers pressed to the cool little ston

the stairs when I

he hall, in her nightgown, with her phone clu

eathed. "Come

you doing

on the phone in her room last night. I heard

ly.

lackwood boy found her.'" Lily's voice shoo

nt very quie

ed door, I heard the soft, stiff