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  Snow revisited with all of her old friends and people on the estate she had not remembered before: Dolly, Gwen, Craddoc, and many others who were glad to see her again … but who were changed from who they had been. She made the decision not to tell anyone about the duchess’s attempt on her life; the old duchess was dead, and there was little point in troubling the new, feebleminded one about it.

  Amid these pleasanter conversations, she forced herself to have a private conversation with the blond duke of Edgington, politely but firmly explaining that as a result of recent events she was in no position to marry.

  “And,” she added honestly, feeling the young man deserved the truth, “frankly—I have been asleep for the past two years. I have not—lived enough to make any sort of decision about the rest of my life.”

  “I … understand completely,” he said, and gave a small smile. Snow looked at him, surprised. “My whole life I’ve searched for … another world, with adventures, and magic, and now that I’ve had a taste—I want to see more. I think highly of you, Jessica, but I must admit I am relieved. Proposing to you just seemed … what was expected.”

  She smiled, “I cannot speak for you, but I for one am tired of doing what’s expected.”

  “Excellent, I am glad we agree. Also, I think Raven would have killed me on the spot if I had gone through with it,” he added nervously.

  They parted friends. Everyone in the estate and town was disappointed with her, resentful that she had spoiled their fairy tale.

  Her own secret fairy tale of the Lonely Ones joining her on the estate and living with her was also revealed to be the flimsy stuff of dreams it always was. They didn’t want to be servants, and there was no place at Kenigh for them, anyway—in a small town, someone would eventually discover the truth about them. And Alan, who was the closest thing she had to a brother, well, he couldn’t stay forever either. He had a talent and a life ahead of him.

  She took over some of the duchess’s estate duties, which made her feel useful but left her bored.

  Snow cried for hours, then found she couldn’t cry anymore.

  Snow was left wandering the rooms of the estate and the lawns, feeling let down. Her father had accepted her back and as his daughter now, but she didn’t care anymore. The duchess had been defeated, but in a very sad, unsatisfying way. Sometimes Snow read the duchess’s old magic books and scientific journals and angrily wished that Anne could have been cured of her evil tendencies without losing her mind. Snow had questions about electricity, rituals, and chemicals, and now no one could answer them for her. She could have been a great woman if she had not been so vain. She imagined the good things the old duchess could have done with her equipment, knowledge, and intelligence.

  “It’s like it’s all over, with a whimper. There’s no perfect, happy ending. Nothing fits into a grownup life,” she told Anne as she held a skein of yarn for the old woman. Snow found it very easy to talk to her stepmother now; it was like speaking to a wall that answered back occasionally with something meaningless but charming.

  “I’m surprised you’re still here,” the old duchess said, slightly chastising. She thrust a needle for emphasis. “Turning down a handsome young duke! My word! My father never would have stood for it, I can tell you that much. What with all the scandals this family has had, you should have done it already, let things quiet down a bit. The whole bit with the ball. What nonsense. That’s what we did in my day,” she said, clucking her tongue.

  “Done what already?” Snow asked, expecting something dull.

  “Taken the Grand Tour, you silly goose. Of Europe. All the best lords and ladies who were victims of scandals did in my day.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Hurry, the second whistle has blown!”

  Snow surveyed her entourage—entourages were allowed, even encouraged, she discovered, when people of the highest class were touring Europe to escape scandal. The ship they were about to board was large and fine; they each had a first-rate first-class cabin and their own chairs on the deck for sun, if they chose. They probably wouldn’t, however. Currently it was night, and until such time as they found a place where they would all be accepted, the Lonely Ones—and Alan and Snow—would travel only by dark.

  Porters scuttled up and down the gangplank, getting the last trunks and packages on. Sparrow, Chauncey, and the Mouser were already aboard, on deck high above her. Snow waved at them. The Mouser raised his glass; Chauncey tapped his cigar overboard in greeting. Sparrow jumped up and down. He’s going to get sick, she knew as surely as the sun would rise, Alan and Cat were just about to board. Cat was dressed in a very modern dress with a low-cut bodice and sported an absolutely fantastic hat, Alan was trying very hard to pretend he was ignoring her—but grinned all the time she batted her eyelashes at him.

  It was going to be an adventure no matter what they all ended up doing—just taking this lot to a museum will be an adventure, she thought to herself, visions of marble columns, kings, and foreign canals on her mind.

  “Ready, My Lady?”

  Raven held out his hand. He was dressed properly, with a black morning coat and trousers, with boots that shone, but with hair still wild. He wore gloves; the nubs of new feathers had just begun to grow back along his arms.

  She smiled and took his hand.

  “Ready.”

  Author’s Bio

  Tracy Lynn is the pseudonym of Elizabeth J. Braswell, a writer who spent her childhood reading rather than listening, dreaming rather than watching. After she graduated from Brown, Tracy spent the next decade producing videogames. She currently lives in the East Village with her husband, Scott, her cat, George, and a tank full of fish, all also named George. You can email her at [email protected].

  “Once upon a time …” is timely once again as fresh, quirky heroines breathe life into classic and much-loved characters.

  Reknowned heroines master newfound destinies, uncovering a unique and original “happily ever after….”

  Historical romance and magic unite in modern retellings of well-loved tales.

  She came from the sea….

  Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Aster a strange thing happened. They say the prince married a girl who was not what she appeared and that another girl who saved the kingdom vanished without a trace. Some said it was witchcraft. Some said it was only a legend. For those who knew the truth it was magic….

  MIDNIGHT PEARLS by Debbie Viguié

  Available June 2003

  FROM SIMON & SCHUSTER