Page 63 of The Light Between Worlds

Jack smiles again. “I’m good at my job, I have a friend at the Hermitage, and they’ve got no conservation department to speak of. It’s not a very exciting story.”

Absently, I slip the silver pendant out of my blouse and rub the little stag figure between two fingers, as if it can bring me luck. “You must be more than good at your job to have someone send a picture all the way from Leningrad.”

“It’s not that.” Jack shakes his head. “I’m just—”

“Wait,” I cut in. “Did Presswick hire you?”

“Yes, a little over two years ago.”

“Then let me guess,” I say. “You’re careful?”

Jack’s smile turns to a grin. “Exactly. I’d assume that’s why she hired you as well?”

“Yes. She seems to value that particular trait quite highly.”

Stepping forward, Jack straightensThe Two Sisters, a tinyadjustment I hadn’t even noticed was needed. “No one who doesn’t have the patience of a saint would last long in this department—all the work is slow, and the lead up to it is even slower. I suppose that’s why she looks for cautious people to employ. Though I can’t say you came off as cautious at our first meeting.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Oh, come on, that’s not fair. I’ve already apologized for the scene I made.”

“I know,” he says. “And I shouldn’t tease. It’s forgotten. If Presswick’s not around, do you mind if I sit for a minute before tackling the stairs again? Don’t let me interrupt you, though, just go on with what you were doing.”

“Please.” I gesture to her chair and take my own seat. But it’s hard to focus with him sitting across from me. I can still remember the warmth of his hand in mine, and I’m certainly not about to go on eating my sandwich and peppering myself with crumbs.

“You know,” Jack says after a moment. “I don’t usually ask complete strangers to dinner. But what would you think if I did?”

I glance up quickly. He’s not looking at me, just toying with a pencil, and there’s a bemused expression on his face.

I lower my head and keep on doggedly writing away. “That depends. Am I the stranger?”

Jack echoes my words aboutThe Two Sisters. “I’d prefer you didn’t inquire further.”

“In that case, I think it’s very easy to find yourself living a life full of regret,” I tell him. “And that you should always make the courageous decision, even when doing so seems hard.”

When I look up again, Jack’s not exactly smiling but he still manages to seem pleased. “That’s a very good answer, PhilippaHapwell. I’ve got a feeling you’re frightfully clever. Now I really should be getting back.”

He sets his cane on top of the cart he broughtThe Two Sistersin on and wheels it out the door. I stand in the hallway and watch him go, back through the Gallery’s labyrinth toward the restoration room.

“Hang on,” I call after him. “Have you asked me to dinner or not?”

“Not,” Jack says.

“Are you going to?”

He raises a hand to wave but doesn’t turn back, just keeps pushing the cart on down the hall. “I’m not sure yet. We aren’t all as brave as you, Philippa.”

I don’t want to let anything sour the moment, but, oh, if only he knew.

46

MAX AND I ARE IN LIT CLASS, SORTING THROUGHbooks to be mailed to a hospital in Leeds. The rest of the Aid Committee will be along shortly, including Ev, and I glance out the window impatiently.

We’ve made it four years since the Woodlands. It’s January, the middle of Evelyn’s bad season, which starts in October when the stags fill the woods with their insistent, mournful calls. Looking up, I freeze at the sight of my sister crossing the quad. Despite the blowing snow and the ice that glazes the windowpanes, she’s coatless, not even wearing a school sweater. Something’s gone wrong with her feet, too, because each step she takes is slow and pained.

“I’ll just run out and use the lav before everyone gets here,” I say to Max, and hurry down the stairs and through the nearest outside door.

It’s bitterly cold—the sort of cold that rips your breath out of your chest. I meet Evelyn halfway across the quad and wrap my arms around her, chivvying her indoors. When we stand inside, in the pokyback hall beneath the Lit staircase, I shake my head.

“Evie, you’ve got to wear your coat. You’re going to catch your death out there like that. If I see you without it again, I’ll come to your room and put it on you myself.”