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Frannie stood and slipped a shawl over her shoulders Her feet were silent on the boards, her nightdress whispering as she crossed the small bedroom and put a hand on the door as if she would be able to feel his war, she twisted the knob, and the large ht himself before he could fall backward into a lady’s cha his kilt and unbuttoned shirt to rights and keeping his gaze politely averted from her bare feet

She couldn’t see his eyes in the dark, and that made it all the easier to answer, "You do"

He leaped to his feet and stood, dwarfing her "I can keep watch downstairs in the parlor, if that would be easier I know it’s daht and not a lodger" He frowned as he looked at the door of Casper’s empty room

She only put a hand on his arm and said, "Can I trust you?"

"Aye" It was half statement, half question

He hesitated for just aher inside The house was dark, but she knew every inch of it She wasn’t surprised to feel his fingers catch her gown as she walked to the closet door Frannie had kept her family’s secret faithfully, the only one left to keep it since Bertram’s death As she opened the closet door and pushed aside the layers of tweed and wool, a little thrill ran through her, le Even Charles had never known about this She had planned to tell hi, which had never happened

Thoainst the sto help ye sleep"

"Close the door and co"

She pulled the hook hidden under a coat, and when the panel slid aside, she reached behind for Thom’s hand and pulled him up a narrow staircase Even as she shoved the coats aside, he didn’t grumble or question her, as if he understood that what he was about to see was important The steps were tall and wooden and probably quite dusty, but it was too dark to know for sure Frannie held her nightdress up in front, counting the steps until she felt the press of wood against her outstretched hand The stair below hers creaked ominously as Tho to herself, she opened the door to the roof and stepped out into the arden in London

The ss and deep earth and robust, natural health And, yes, goat Next came the tweets of birds in the branches, just as sleepy as their captive brothers below After a few steps in, the shed happily and looked up at the half-full

"I’ll be da, lass?"

"You’re no sleepier than I ah his eyes, as if for the first tiarden all her life, had even taken her first steps here Since first her parents’ and then Bertra care of all the chores that allowed it to flourish The setables and tidy fences The flowers and beehives, sleepily huoats that kept her in cream and milk when the rest of the city suffered The troubleso their scat into the richest coh stone walls of the roof that hid the bounty within were painted the fresh, warreen of a suroeak and watery with pollution and sharp with blud creatures Frannie’s ho could only be seen from an airship, and not many of those crossed this part of London A small but powerful charm helped eyes slide away, should they actually land on the curved glass, which was carefully vented on the side so the wild birds could coo

"This is why you’re so scared of the Coppers, aye?" Thoo sky "All very illegal, yes If anyone ever found out, it would all be seized for the city Probably ruined, as they ruin everything"

Looking all around, he put a hand on her shoulder, where the shawl had fallen aside The warh her

"This place is far too precious to be ruined," he said gently

"This is where I go when I can’t sleep When I feel unsafe or unquiet or too alone I lie back in the grass and stare at the sky and just breathe"