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I inclined loves, and I turned , he buttoned upkiss on the nape of e jolted to a stop, knocking us both over Casper pulled on his peacock jacket as the blude, their calls answered fro past the curtains, I was irl just a few feet away, leaning out her own laasp, she popped back behind her curtain It had to be her first ball, and I s how excited I had been finally to see what it was that an to turn cold and srowled toto be as obsessed with my family as the old Muscovy barons had been I slipped the cool porcelain back over y was not to take it off again until I needed my teeth for murder

Before I could likewise re the heavy beading ofleaves as he held out his own peacock mask, broken into three pieces

"You can’t yell at me," he said with a rueful chuckle "After all, you were on this bench, so it’s your fault, not er under his chin, I turned his head this way and that "Do you look different now to yourself?" I asked "Would so about a year ago Every time I did, I saw a new person there whoret"

"And now? Do you hate yourself now?"

He shook ood Do I look different to you?"

"Always and never the same I would know better if I’d been awake for the last four years"

The pieces of ceraers roved tothe impersonal smoothness I had never been one to hide, and I almost envied him his sudden but unwelcoar Snow Ball without a mask, even if some of the revelers favored dainty lace strips orbefore he made a fool of himself or was refused entry

"My lord, my lady! Will you descend?"

The voice from outside startled us, and in a fit of inspiration, I said, "Quick Rub the ink over your eyes where a o It will have to do You can’t be seen with your face fully bare It’s tradition"

He took off his gloves, licked his fingers, and gri across his temples, over his eyes, and over the top of his nose produced a raw, prireen It hter, wilder, and e to kiss hie door "It’ll have to do," I said

It was easy enough to blend in with the crowd that strolled leisurely down the paved path and into the shadow of the Ice Forest The wo lanterns andin my eyes The men were likewise resplendent, ifwith color from staid jackets and breeches of chocolate, navy, and olive Casper was one of a few dandies, outshone in brightness and glitter only by a tall, thin pair of gentle tailcoats and carefully tended facial hair under their half-nized them from past balls, as they were much-celebrated dancers and fashion trend-setters in the city Feeling their black-painted eyes onhis arm harder than I meant to It was a credit to him that he didn’t complain