“Deacon, help me clear the table,” Mrs. Stirling said, rising from her chair.

Deacon groaned but then asked, “Can we play Seven Wraiths tonight?”

Seven Wraiths, I thought with alarm. That card game my father had forbidden me to play. The one the Fielding girls loved, even with its enchanted consequences. All I could think of was Elle, terrified of a nightmare she had been given by losing the game. A nightmare that had frightened me as well. I could almost hear the heavy clink of the knight walking through the streets again.

“I think we should,” Phelan said, also glancing to me. “Would you like to join us, Miss Neven?”

“I fear I need to return home,” I said, standing. “But thank you again for the lovely dinner, Mrs. Stirling.”

She smiled and nodded, but I could see the tension in her face. I hadn’t shared my decision yet, if I was accepting Phelan’s offer or not, and Deacon carefully began to stack the plates. When he came to take mine, he begged, “Please, Miss Neven! Please choose us! Mr. Vesper needs you.”

“Deacon!” Mrs. Stirling called to him through the swinging kitchen door, mortified by his outburst.

I wanted to smile at the boy, to reassure him. But I worried about drumming up that ache in my chest again, and so I merely watched as he retreated into the kitchen with a pile of precariously stacked dishes.

Phelan cleared his throat and rose. “Let me see you out, Miss Neven.”

I followed him back into the corridor, where I did find one small mirror hanging in a collage of paintings, gleaming mirthfully on the wall. But I didn’t think it would be likely to give me away so long as I ensured no one trailed me into the hallway.

Phelan opened the front door. The night rushed in, encircling us with the fragrance of sweet cedar smoke from a nearby tavern. We stepped out onto the front porch, and the lantern light trickled over our faces.

“Do you need more time to consider the offer, Miss Neven?”

“No, I’ve decided. But there is one thing I want to ask you, before I give you my reply,” I said.

“And what would that be?” he drawled, gazing intently at me.

I held his stare, even though I felt oddly vulnerable. I didn’t know if I liked or disliked the way his attention was so rapt upon me.

“Why did you offer the position to me?” I asked. “You must have had plenty of other promising magicians at the interview today.”