By then Jem and Wil had turned and were staring. As if aware he was drawing attention, Starkweather had nodded once, sharply, turned, and walked off, his ragged cloak blowing behind him.
Tessa could make neither head nor tail of the whole business. She was just thinking of her brief time in Starkweather’s head, and the astonishment he’d felt when he’d first seen her, when the carriage came to a jerking halt before the Institute. Relieved to be free of their cramped quarters, the Shadowhunters and Tessa spil ed out, onto the drive.
There was a gap in the gray cloud cover over the city, and lemon yel ow sunlight poured down, making the front steps glisten. Charlotte started toward them, but Henry stopped her, pul ing her close with the arm that wasn’t holding Tessa’s destroyed hat. Tessa watched them with the first glimmer of happiness she’d felt since yesterday. She had truly come to care for Charlotte and Henry, she realized, and she wanted to see them happy. “What we should remember is that everything went as wel as we could have hoped,” Henry said, holding her tightly. “I’m so proud of you, darling.”
Tessa would have expected a sarcastic comment from Wil at this juncture, but he was staring off toward the gates. Gideon looked embarrassed, Jem as if he were pleased.
Charlotte pul ed away from Henry, blushing furiously and straightening her hat, but obviously delighted. “Are you real y, Henry?”
“Absolutely! Not only is my wife beautiful, she is bril iant, and that bril iance should be recognized!”
“This,” said Wil , stil looking off toward the gates, “is when Jessamine would have told you to stop because you were making her sick.”
The smile vanished from Charlotte’s face. “Poor Jessie . . .”
But Henry’s expression was uncharacteristical y hard. “She shouldn’t have done what she did, Lottie. It’s not your fault. We can only hope the Council deals with her leniently.” He cleared his throat. “And let’s have no more talk about Jessamine today, shal we? Tonight is for celebration.
The Institute is stil ours.”
Charlotte beamed at him, with so much love in her eyes that Tessa had to look away, toward the Institute. She blinked. High up in the stone wal , her eyes caught a flicker of movement. A curtain twitched away from the corner of a window, and she saw a pale face peering down. Sophie, looking for Gideon? She couldn’t be sure—the face was gone as soon as it had appeared.
Tessa dressed with special care that night, in one of the new gowns Charlotte had provided her: blue satin with a heart-shaped basque and a deeply cut, rounded neckline over which was pinned a chemisette of Mechlin lace. The sleeves were short and ruched, showing her long white arms, and she wore her hair in curls, pinned up and back, a coiffure interlaced with dark blue pansies. It was not until after Sophie had careful y fixed them in her hair that Tessa realized they were the color of Wil ’s eyes, and wanted suddenly to pul them out, but of course she did nothing of the sort, only thanked Sophie for her efforts and complimented her sincerely on how prettily her hair had turned out.
Sophie left before she did, to go and help Bridget in the kitchen. Tessa sat down automatical y in front of the mirror to bite her lips and pinch her cheeks. She needed the color, she thought. She was unusual y pale. The jade pendant was shoved down under the Mechlin lace, where it could not be seen; Sophie had looked at it as Tessa had dressed, but had not commented. She reached for the clockwork angel pendant and fastened it, too, around her throat. It sat below the other pendant, just under her col arbones, and steadied her with its ticking. There was no reason she could not wear both, was there?
When she emerged into the corridor, Jem was waiting for her. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and after a glance up and down the hal , he drew her toward him and kissed her on the mouth.
She wil ed herself to melt into the kiss, to dissolve against him as she had done before. His mouth was soft on hers and tasted sweet, and his hand when it cupped her neck was strong and gentle. She moved closer to him, wanting to feel the beat of his heart.
He drew back, breathless. “I didn’t mean to do that . . .”
She smiled. “I think you did, James.”
“Not before I saw you,” he said. “I meant only to ask if I could escort you to dinner. But you look so beautiful.” He touched her hair. “I’m afraid too much passion could start you shedding petals like a tree in autumn, though.”
“Wel , you can,” she said. “Escort me to dinner, that is.”
“Thank you.” He ran his fingertips lightly across her cheekbones. “I thought I would wake up this morning and it would have been a dream, you saying yes to me. But it wasn’t. Was it?” His eyes searched her face.
She shook her head. She could taste tears in the back of her throat and was glad for the kid gloves that hid the burn on her left hand.
“I’m sorry you’re getting such a bad bargain in me, Tessa,” he said. “In years, I mean. Shackling yourself to a dying man when you’re only sixteen .