“Just then, I notice Mrs. Mulgrave giving the younger woman beside her a slight push in my direction. "This is my daughter, Maisie. She will be your maid." "Maisie?" I can't help blurting out in astonishment. I hardly recognize her. The past seven years have transformed Maisie from a plain preteen into a beautiful young adult. I didn't expect her to be so... pretty. She wears a black tee with black pants, but the simple clothing and lack of makeup only enhances her looks. She has heavy-lidded deep brown eyes, clear skin with the hint of a tan, the kind of plush pink lips that housewives in my New York hometown would pay good money for, and long brown hair highlighted with strands of gold. Her only adornments are a thick wristwatch and a rectangular pendant hanging on a chain around her neck. I feel a pang of sympathy as I look from mother to daughter. If Maisie's luck had been different---if she'd been born to parents like the Marinos---she could have had the world at her feet, instead of being shut up in a house working as a maid.” Natural BeautyBeautiful WomanChildhood FriendMaidMaisie Book:Suspicion Source: Suspicion
“I told Lucia how I felt, how I thought she was wrong about you. It was the one thing that came between us." My breath catches in my throat. So then...he cared. He cared enough about me to stand up to his beautiful, powerful girlfriend. "I thought what you did that day in the Shadow Garden was...incredible," Sebastian continues. "It was magic. Afterward, I kept waiting for you to come back. I wanted to ask you to show me more---but you never did." "And now?" I ask, my chin quivering. "What do you think now, after everything you've seen and read?" Sebastian touches my shoulder briefly, and I feel a tremor where his hand was. "I've seen enough to know that you're still the Ginny I remembered from when we were kids. Open, honest, and incapable of hurting anyone. Maybe you are an Elemental, maybe not." He leans in closer. "But I'm not afraid.” ConfessionTrue FeelingsChildhood Friend Book:Suspicion Source: Suspicion