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Her father wasn’t a reader--he’d never learned how, despite having an uncanny head for nuht home with him was always eclectic: texts on ani manuals, four separate versions of the Book of Common Prayer Once, he’d cos frooverness had proirl, her father’s boxes would have been boring But to Sophie, they’d been es and pages of distant worlds and re And simple, unadulterated happiness They’d piled up in her bedchamber, first on shelves, and then on the floor, and then, finally, in the armoires her mother had installed so the books could be hidden But the book shipined that her mother hadn’t minded her opinions so very much Until the Liverpool summer soiree, when her mother had been horrified by her opinions Just as the rest of London had been

Cold memory pooled inside her--London’stheir backs on her, as though she didn’t exist Exiling her Worse Disappearing her

She couldn’t go back; so she would go forward And she would forge her own future by returning to the dearest memories of her past

And if Robbie was still there, perhaps he’d o proan in her chest at the thought--at the idea of beingloved Robbie had had a lovely smile And he’d always listened when she told him about her books and her ideas

If theyan old friend

And if they didn’t--she’d have her bookshop And there werethe gaze of the youngaway in e wo her curiosity The wo on the place where her coat buttons strained against her breasts, and Sophie couldn’t help but look down as well, following the perusal

Discovering the button that had co a white chambray shirt and a swell that was decidedly unfootmanlike

Sophie snatched the coat together, fastening the button once ain She nodded in the direction of Sophie’s cap "You’re co brown curl escaped fros

Sophie opened her mouth to explain, then closed it when she could not find the words She shrugged

The woman smiled, let in on her secret, then leaned forward to whisper, "I wondered why a fancy servant was riding by ht draw attention to her in this world, when it made her so invisible in the world from which she’d come "I suppose it’s obvious that I’ Most people don’t look," the young wo at the boy on the seat next to Sophie "Give it back, John"

Sophie looked down at the boy, as grinning up at her, dangling her watch fro to take it"

"No one knew that," the wo"

"Yer not my mum, you know"

The woot to one"

The boy returned the watch

"Thank you," Sophie said, belatedly realizing that she really shouldn’t be grateful for the return of her rightful possession

"You’re welco forward and adding, "If I were going to steal so, I’d vie for your satchel"

Sophie reached down and lifted the satchel between her feet to her lap "Thank you for the warning"

John tipped his cap