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"So you’re still bringing the fire yourself?"
He snorted a laugh, which er and a hundred times more attractive For just a moment, Frannie tried to picture what her life would be like if she opened her heart to Casper and his high-flying world Parties, fashionable dresses, glasses of chaloves , sparkling, being adored Like a princess
The iht as well put a crow in a bonnet and ask it to sing
"Suicide? No I favor longer, less drae, darlin’ Enjoy the flowers See you toave her a last, long, siving up, and what’sup his sleeve
Fine Let hih, but as a savior of lost things, she sensed the recklessness within hiht Casper was bad news--to himself, if no one else
Frannie closed up shop early on Friday night She’d gotten in a new shipether in a traveling cage like old biddies on a train, frightened of foreigners By the tiy left to sell canaries to e drivers As she flipped the sign to "Closed," she realized that her hours had been more sporadic in the last week than in all of the previous year coood or bad She also had hope for the first ti the kittens alive And she couldn’t deny, even to herself, that the pleasant flips in her sto she illing to give up just for the sake of regular work hours
She had decided to live a quiet, co herself for what had happened to Bertra from the future, she didn’t know But excitement held a new appeal, now that she’d tasted it
Her stomach felt fizzy with anticipation as she skipped upstairs to her room The dress was there on its form, pressed and fluffed to the best of her ability She decided right then that she would need to talk with Reve about her wardrobe, as the solid, serviceable tweed she’d inherited had begun to feel less like a coe She would never be an ornairl, but at the very least, she could be presentable Maybe Thoain, maybe he would
Button by button, she shucked off the tweed until she stood in just her petticoats and corset, once white but now faded to the color of cold tea Ignoring the chill in her heart, she sought the full-length ed it into her own bedroo before it, she took stock of herself for the first ti around with Bertras and tighten the led with Reve and so tips from the more worldly Parisian daimons on how to catch the eye of the debonair but ne’er-do-well Franchian lad with the curled ht his eye she had
Look how that had turned out
She shook her head Things were different now Not every man was Charles Thank heavens
As she passed in front of the , the sunset stained her with a rainbow of light, and she smiled She looked like a scarlet oould make herthe skirt from her dress form, she stepped into it and ads The tweed kept her arms safe from avian talons, but it didn’t feel pretty, didn’t slither over her skin like the inky indigo of the unworn but long-kept dress
The new style was different, too, with a separate skirt and bodice, which et dressed on one’s own The last time she had preened, she’d missed her mother’s patient hands And she missed her still, of course But left all alone with herself and her shop, she was the captain of her ship, and there were certain perks to that For example, her ht in a quiet chignon befitting abraid in the Franchian style, the tail falling over her shoulder She could only hope that Casper wouldn’t istrate The farther Frannie flew under official notice, the better
Thom’s knock was so tentative that she barely heard it, despite the fact that she aiting for it She smoothed her hair behind her ears once more and lifted her skirt to keep it fro of the snake incident, she checked the peek hole tothe top of his hat, aspider webs in her old bonnet
With a deep breath, she opened the door She only worried for a moment about hoould see her, as she was utterly arrested to see hi another kilt, albeit a dark and sober one pinned neatly and topped by a soft white bag with long tails It was strange, to be sure, but she couldn’t iine any other costuly, showing the breadth of his shoulders, a gray vest peeking out underneath Even his stockings looked tidy and formal, and his boots were neatly polished
"What a beautiful wee thing you are," he said softly, and she felt herself flush with pleasure
"You cut a fine figure yourself"
"I hope ye don’t mind the kilt" He looked down self-consciously "I haven’t any fine trousers, and I haven’t worn this kilt in years, but it’s the best I could do I know I’, aren’t I?"
He looked up and rin "That ye are, lass At least, I washed the soot out of my hair, eh? Now, shall I call a conveyance, or would ye care to walk?"