They sat for the next hour nearly immobile on the sofa, Jex cradling Kit’s body against his own and murmuring endearments against her cheek. She thought surely she must be dreaming; Jex had never been so tame. They talked in soft, almost idle voices about Geldricht, the games they had played as children, the people they remembered from their childhood, things Chay had said to one or the other of them.

“Your father will not let you stay with me, you know,” she said finally, something neither of them had ever said aloud. “He wants you to marry a gulden girl and have a family, and the sooner the better. And once you do that, I can’t stay with you. I won’t ever be able to see you again—it would break my heart.”

“It’s a long way off,” he said in a faraway voice, stroking her arm with a slow, absentminded motion. “So much could happen before the day my father presents me with his chosen bride. Nothing we have to worry about now.”

“Certainly, nothing we have to worry about while you’re in prison,” Kit said, laughing a little.

Jex tickled her briefly in the ribs. “Is that why you still come visit me? Because you know here I’m safe from other girls?”

“Oh, yes, I’m the reason you’re still in jail. I told Ariana Bayless, ‘Keep that man right there for the rest of his life. I want him all to myself.’ ”

More of this nonsense—sweet beyond telling—and the hour rushed to its impossibly rapid close. The guard was pounding on the door, calling “Time’s up!” and they were still kissing good-bye. Kit did not think she would be able to tear herself away—literally did not think she would be able to unwrap her arms, shift her weight, see Jex’s body as something distinct and separate from her own—but he came to his feet, and suddenly she was just herself again without her conscious volition.

“I don’t know when I’ll have another pass,” he said, pulling her upright and giving her one final, painfully tight hug. “Where shall I send a note? To the charity bank or your cousin’s?”

“I don’t know. The charity bank. Maybe not. I don’t know.”

“I’ll send letters everywhere. One of them will find you.”

“Time to go!” the guard shouted through the door.

“I can’t leave you,” she said.

“I’ll send you a message,” he said, and helped her to the door.