If I held a revolver to your head, James, and pulled the trigger, would it really matter if I did not know that there were not bullets in the chambers?

Your place is with me. It always will be. -Jem Carstairs

Tess?” A soft voice at the door; she looked up and saw Will there, silhouetted in the light from the corridor.

Nearly unable to bear the thought of how much he needed her quiet strength, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold glass.

She felt as if the world were tilting and she was clinging on helplessly, trying to keep from tumbling into a black abyss.

Unfortunatley, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains my self.

Jem leaned closer against the chair, staring into the fire. “Better it were my hands,” he said. Will shook his head. Exhaustion was muting the edges of everything in the room, blurring the flocked wallpaper into a single mass of dark color. “No. Not your hands. You need your hands for the violin. What do I need mine for?