Other dancers broke apart. Drude and Shrike, however, retained their shared grip on Wren. Only after Wren reassured them he could stand under his own power did Drude drop his hand, but not before giving it an affectionate clasp. Shrike, meanwhile, relinquished his hold on Wren only as it became apparent he would need both hands to make the votive offering.
While Wren felt well enough to dance, he still couldn’t stretch over-far, nor had he grown any taller since last Ostara. As such, he could only tie his mask to the lowest-hanging twig before them.
But it did not hang alone, for no sooner had he stepped back than Shrike bent to tie his own mask beside it, the leather cordwinding through Wren’s own and rendering them inseparable on their shared branch.
And no sooner had Wren shot a knowing glance up at Shrike than Shrike bent again to grant him a most welcome kiss.
~
The Ballad of Daniel Durst
Port Hawkesbury, Canada
May 15th, 1846
“Expectin’ company, Mr Durst?”
Daniel’s head shot up from where he’d bent it over the ledger laid out on his desk.
The office boy, Thomas, had leant just far enough into the door-frame to make his enquiry. His shrill and strident voice had shattered the gentle atmosphere of small repetitive sounds—the scratch of pen-nibs against paper, the rustling of turning pages, the occasional footsteps or muffled coughs that served as a reminder of the otherwise-silent human presence—that hung over the shipping firm. Despite this sudden interruption, none of the other clerks seemed to have taken any notice of him yet, for which Daniel gave silent thanks. Despite being, technically, a city, often Port Hawkesbury reminded Daniel of Rochester—in that small-town way where everyone seemed to have their nose perpetually in everyone else’s business.
Daniel, meanwhile, kept his countenance free from any sign of the alarm which had begun ringing in his chest. His voice remained dull and disinterested as he replied, “Why do you ask?”
“Two gen’lemen just disembarked from Liverpool and keep askin’ folks where to find you,” said Thomas.
This answer did nothing to assuage Daniel’s increasing concern. He turned a page in his ledger and dipped his pen whilst his mind whirled.
It couldn’t be Tolhurst searching for him, though that had been his first fearful assumption. Mr Grigsby had written him some months back to inform him of that monster’s demise. Perhaps it might be Felix, the prodigal son returned at last. But Thomas had mentioned two gentlemen, and Daniel knew not who would accompany Felix in search of his vanished betrothed. Furthermore, Felix had no idea of Daniel’s true identity—unless he had encountered Lofthouse in his wayward travels and Lofthouse had divulged Daniel’s secret. Although Daniel realised as he recalled the existence of Lofthouse, it might just be that Lofthouse had accompanied Mr Grigsby across the Atlantic to see how Daniel got on. A spike of anger struck Daniel’s heart at the thought of Lofthouse breaking his promise to secrecy, but if Mr Grigsby had come to see him and asked after him by a description which resembled a copy clerk in a shipping firm rather than a runaway heiress, it would seem to indicate that Mr Grigsby had taken the shocking revelation rather better than Daniel had expected, and the thought of his guardian’s approval did warm Daniel’s heart despite himself.
“Did they give their names?” Daniel said without looking up from the columns of figures.
Thomas shrugged. “Not in my earshot.”
Useless, Daniel thought. Aloud, he said, “Did you notice anything particular in their appearance?”
Thomas snorted. “Certainly did!”
Daniel waited with no small amount of impatience for him to elaborate.
“One fellow’s taller than a lamp-post,” Thomas went on, his words carrying a tinge of admiration. “With a massive furred cloak and big leather boots and a cap with a feather in it, all in black.”
Daniel blinked. “A furrier, you mean.”
“No!” Thomas scoffed. “He’s wilder than that. Like Robin Hood or something.”
Daniel didn’t wish to waste any time debating the relative wildness of furriers and highwaymen. At any rate, the description matched no one he’d known in England. “And the other?”
Thomas twisted up his face. “Dull. Like a clerk.”
Said to a roomful of clerks. A smile twitched at the corner of Daniel’s mouth. Still, he did know one clerk in particular, and so he asked, “Chestnut hair? Freckles?”
Thomas blinked in astonishment. “Yeah.”
There was half the mystery solved, then. Lofthouse had arrived in Canada. For what purpose, Daniel knew not. Still, he realised as he considered the matter, he would have to catch Lofthouse up on his cover story before he spoke to many more townsfolk.
Daniel had not attained his present position through entirely honest means. He and Sukie had arrived in town hardly six months ago. With Daniel not yet in possession of his entire fortune, they had only the remainder of their profits from selling his hair and pawning what delicate articles he had no use for. They’d gone first to visit Sukie’s Aunt Molly, who worked as a cook in the household of a ship’s captain and who didn’t take kindly to the notion of her maiden niece sharing a cross-Atlantic cabin with a gentleman. (The announcement that Daniel had asked Sukie to marry him calmed her ire somewhat, but she didn’t smile upon Daniel until the wedding actually took placesome weeks later.) There Sukie remained whilst Daniel trod all over town looking for work.
While Mrs Bailiwick’s Academy had given Daniel an education, it had not given him a gentlemen’s education, which left a few gaps in his instruction he must leap over if he wished to find employment. He had stopped in at every sort of office he encountered as he wandered the unfamiliar streets—for, if nothing else, he had splendid penmanship and a head for figures. The banks, post office, and solicitors weren’t taking on any new hires. The shipping firms proved more promising, and one in particular, Swift & Allen, had an office manager who let him take their clerking exam on the spot. The exam itself felt at least somewhat intuitive, and despite his nerves Daniel kept his hand from trembling. His audacity paid off, for no sooner had the manager, Mr Peakes, reviewed his exam than he offered Daniel the position starting the very next day.
