The Vespertine Read Online Free PDF Page B

inside and out, I opened the door to call after him, bid him call on me, or leave his card, or anything at all. But there was no one to hear me.
    The street was empty.
    ***
    Bundled beneath the sheets, Zora and I bumped and squirmed for possession of the middle. I suppose we were both spoiled, since neither of us had ever had to share a bed. But lying awake had its advantages—namely, the pleasure of gossiping in the dark.
    "I think Wills is fond of you," Zora said. She bounced as she rolled over, making the mattress groan on its ropes.
    I peered over my shoulder. "Which one is Wills?"
    "The exceedingly tall one. It's good he fancies you this year. Last year he was a scarecrow in a suit." Suddenly, Zora leaned over my shoulder. Her face glowed in the moonlight, turning her into an otherworldly vision that would have frightened me if she hadn't crinkled her nose in delight. "We're waltzing this week-end. Dare you to put him on your card."
    "I can't."
    "I'll teach you," Zora said, exasperated.
    This once, though, it wasn't my country manners keeping me from city pleasures. "I know how to dance, thank you!"
    "Then what's the matter?"
    Nothing. I just didn't want to dance close to someone I couldn't remember without help. I shook my head, as much an answer as I could offer, then said, "The funniest thing happened when we were waiting for dinner."
    Zora grew wary. "Charlie didn't bother you, did he?"
    "Which one's Charlie?" I asked.
    In truth, I had some vague idea which cousin she meant, so I deserved it when she shoved me. But I had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep my giggles in. Outside our room, footsteps crossed the stairs. We must have roused Mrs. Stewart with our laughter. We held our tongues until the night watch had passed.
    Once it had, I murmured, "I was looking out the window, right when the vespers bells tolled. My thoughts drifted, and I saw you. In a new dress."
    This was hardly the relevant bit of the vision, but it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps I should test Zora's patience for supernatural whimsies before admitting mine. I wasn't sure about it.
    It was a singular event. I'd never been struck by premonition in Maine, never had the slightest sensation of it. Spiritualists and seances and reincarnations were fashionable. Considering my anxiety, I might have simply retreated into a hundred stories I'd read before in magazines.
    So this vision, of Zora in lilies—I decided to let her think I wasn't too serious about it. What if it turned out to be nothing but gilt-edged fantasy? How stupid I would feel.
    "Was it a very good dress?" she asked. "I picked one from the
Harper's
book, but Mama said it would have to wait. It called for twelve yards of Irish lace. Twelve! But it was glorious!"
    With alight smile, I said, "I hope it has lilies embroidered on the sleeves. That's the dress I saw you in, dancing with Thomas."
    "It does! The entire polonaise is lace, embroidered with lilies!"
    "Twelve yards!"
    The bed groaned again when Zora pulled me to sit with her. She clutched my fingers, imploring with wide eyes. "Did You see it, really? All of it?"
    I abandoned my studied lightness at once. "All of it," I swore.
    With such earnest desperation, Zora stirred a heat inside me, an ardent hope that my sending would come true. Such a sweet soul, such a pure longing.
    She deserves it,
I thought.
Wanting something that badly should make it true.
    Then, as if she couldn't bear the possibility, Zora sighed and fell back on her pillow. "Thomas never comes to dances. Just another one of his mysteries, I suppose."
    "This time, he shall." I pulled my pillow in my lap. "Once you have your dress."
    "The twelfth of never, then." Zora murmured something to herself, then tugged my sleeve. "Lie down, dreamer."
    As I lay back, I asked thoughtfully, "What do Fourteenths do, besides round out the numbers and pursue their arts?"
    "Were You taken by him? Truly?"
    "It was only a question." Punching the pillow, I stuffed it beneath my