It seemed I felt everything too strongly as I came into the salon of the Alvisi and saw the Hannigans. Sophie Hannigan was laughing, revealing that slight overbite, and I felt the quick and brutal sting of desire. She had her hand on her brother’s shoulder, and I noted that same strange magic between them that held the eye. I felt oddly as if I were falling into something I was not quite prepared for, though there was nothing overt, nothing I could point to and say, yes, there it is, that’s it. They were in a group with Duveneck and Giles, and I made my way over, snagging a glass of sherry on the way. Giles looked up from his sketchbook, and pushed his glasses back into place. “Nick, there you are! Where the hell have you been?” “About.” I smiled at Sophie Hannigan, who met my gaze with a steady one of her own. Joseph Hannigan said, “We thought perhaps you’d fallen into a canal.” “Like that unfortunate organist,”
