Read Online Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George - Free Book Online

your clippings. But I have searched and searched the papers for a notice of a visiting British lord, and there were none. They have documented Will Carver’s every move . . . and even mine, I blush to say! So perhaps I was mistaken.

THE ORIENT EXPRESS
    The train moved through forests and mountains, steaming, smoking, clanking, and whistling, and Lou hated every minute of it. What was wrong with human beings, she wondered, that they needed to declare themselves so loudly everywhere they went? Must there really be so much noise, and smell, and . . . weight . . . pressing down on the earth?
    There were thin clouds in the sky, and Lou longed to float up and wind them around her like a scarf. She lifted one hand, wondering what a cloud would feel like. Would it be cold? Or warm and soft like the feathers of a bird?
    â€œWill we ever learn to fly?” she murmured to herself as she gazed out the window.
    Even the houses they passed, the train stations, the barns, seemed to press on the ground, crowding out the trees, sneering at the world. She hated it all. Everything seemed to be too rough, even her beautiful new traveling suit of corded blue silk.
    â€œYou will learn to fly soon enough,” her mother said.
    Lou’s head jerked up. She had forgotten that her mother was not asleep, and Maria Neulander had always had incredibly sharp ears. Lou had sometimes wondered if it was compensation for her mother’s poor eyesight.
    Lou looked at her mother, who had her spectacles perched on her nose and was knitting a little white bonnet out of soft wool she had bought in Paris. Dacia’s mother was expecting, which was why her cousin had traveled with Aunt Kate. Lou had been trying her best to knit some booties, and though the first one had gone well, the second was turning out twice as large, so she’d put it aside. She knew Aunt Ileana would despise anything that wasn’t perfect, no matter how heartfelt the sentiment behind the gift, and had decided she’d better buy her gift instead.
    â€œI was just—I didn’t mean—” Lou was flustered, and not entirely certain what she had meant.
    â€œYou will learn to fly soon enough,” her mother repeated with a secretive smile. She looked as though she was going to say something else, paused, and then changed the subject. “Did you write to Dacia before we left?”
    â€œYes, but the letter is probably on the train with us,” Lou pointed out.
    â€œOh, they have faster trains for that sort of thing, I believe,” her mother said vaguely. “Did you tell her about the gowns we’re bringing for her?”
    â€œYes, of course.”
    Lou’s mother had gotten several telegrams from Aunt Kate before they left Paris. Maria was very excited about something,and had gone to the dressmakers and ordered a number of things for Dacia using measurements she had on hand. Maria loved to shop, and she carried the measurements for her sisters, daughter, and nieces in a little notebook in case she saw something that she thought would suit them.
    So it transpired that, even though she hadn’t been able to stop in Paris herself, Dacia now also had a Parisian wardrobe consisting of a corded blue silk traveling suit identical to Lou’s, an evening gown of white satin with lavender embroidery on the bodice, and several morning dresses, not to mention stockings, gloves, and hats, all in the latest mode. Maria had already ordered the evening gown as a surprise for her oldest niece but picked out the other things ready-made, saying they would have them altered in Bucharest if they needed to. Maria and Kate were clearly plotting something, and with Aunt Ileana’s full permission, Lou was sure. Her mother had sent telegrams to New York almost daily so that Aunt Ileana wouldn’t be left out, despite her delicate condition.
    â€œMy mother will want you to wear traditional gowns for the family parties, but for social calls,