Page 40 of The Starling and the Hatter

I swallowed my annoyance and did my best to speak calmly. “And she insists on paying for every one,” I said, knowing how important that was to her.

“And you let her?” he asked.

I snorted a laugh. “I do now. I fought that fight enough times to know I wasn’t going to win.”

White just grunted a response and turned to scan my wares. “She’s certainly changed since I knew her.”

I burned with curiosity, wondering what Elise had been like when she’d been living day in and day out with brothers who abused her. “You knew her when she was with her brothers?” I asked, my eyes darting back toward the changing corner, hoping she’d take even longer so that White might answer my question.

He nodded, pulling out his watch to look at the time. “Those men had a tough time rearranging their act when she left.”

“Serves them right,” I muttered.

“What do you mean?” he asked, tucking the watch away.

“She told me how they treated her.” Which made me wonder why White—if he was such a good friend—had not done something about it.

He shrugged. Shrugged. “They were two brothers trying to take care of a younger sister. It was hard for all of them.”

I was taken aback. The stories Elise had told me didn’t make it seem like her brothers had tried their best. “How well did you two know each other?”

“We traveled the same route for both the spring and autumn festivals, so we were around each other for at least six months out of the year. Her brothers kept her pretty close, but we were friends.” White looked over his shoulder toward where Elise was behind the curtain. “We’re going to be late,” he said as he pulled the pocket watch out again and swung it carelessly by the chain Elise had gifted him.

The devil inside me wanted him to set that watch down on my work table, where I might accidentally stab it with my scissors. It was petty of me, but it would be no less than he deserved. He was always in such a hurry, rushing Elise from one event to another, never taking the time to let her be. My jealousy grew even more and I occupied myself with daydreams of opening up White’s ridiculous watch and smearing jam inside of it. If he weren’t so obsessed with keeping his frantic pace, he might have the time to realize how much hurt Elise still carried with her because of her brothers. He might even find the time to care about it.

I crossed my arms over my chest, allowing my rolled-up sleeves to pull over my arms. “So you don’t think that her brothers treated her unfairly?”

He looked at me, actually looked at me long and hard for the first time since I’d met him. Then he let out a distinctly long-suffering sigh. “I know you travel some of the year, but you’ve also got a permanent home. You make your money off of all the festival rats who have no choice but to put on something shiny in the hopes that we can sell a story or a trick and make enough to pay for our next meal.” His nose wrinkled in what could only be called a snarl. “You don’t know the kind of life that Elise lived, that I’ve lived, that her brothers had to live. It’s a hard life. And a hard life makes hard people.”

“That sounds like an excuse,” I challenged.

He laughed. “An excuse? For what?”

“For the fact that you ignore the suffering you see around you.”

He did his best to look cool and unaffected. “It’s not that I ignore it. It’s that I’m too busy trying to fend off my own suffering.”

I scoffed openly. “That may have been the case years ago, but I’ve been watching you and the way you live. Your life may have been one of suffering before, but it certainly isn’t now.” I leaned back, looking over him with a cool and calculated air. “You’re trying hard to look down on me for not being familiar with the harsh realities of life, and yet I can tell from the clothing on your back that you are better off than nearly every other festival rat I’ve seen.” I raised my eyebrows, daring him to contradict me. “Those materials do not come cheap, and that infernal watch looks an awful lot like something a dandy would own. You’re not a scruffy rat anymore, White. If anything, you’re a fluffy little rabbit.”

He glared at me, his nostrils flared as he curled his lips into a mockery of a smile. “Think what you will. Fortunately for me”—he stepped into my space—“you’re not the person in this tent whose favor I wish to win.”

“Hatcher!” Elise called from the back of the tent.

I stepped away from White, giving him a raise of my brow to drive home the point that Elise had called for me, and I was more than ready to be of assistance. I also viciously hoped that she was tangled in her costume and would ask for my help. Let White make what he would of that. I knew Elise saw me only as a friend, but I was positive that the idea of me helping her with her clothing would drive him absolutely mad. “What is it, Elise?” I asked as I went to the back of the tent.

A rustling to my left made me turn. She was elbow-deep in a trunk of accessories, already dressed.

“I was hoping to borrow a ribbon for my hair, but I can’t find one that matches.”

I glanced over her clothing, noting the shades of light blue in her dress, and went to a small trunk, opening it and finding exactly what I knew I would. “Here,” I said, holding up the ribbon that would perfectly complement her clothing.

She pushed to her feet and put her hands to her hips, her lips pressing hard to try to keep her smile in, but it was no good. “You are a wonder.”

“Yes, my powers of organization are unparalleled,” I joked.

She pulled her hair over one shoulder and started braiding the flaxen strands as she looked to the front of the tent. “Is Robert here?”

“Yes.”