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Authors: Shelley Adina
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and then climbed up the arm of the rickety sofa and into her lap.
“You oughtn’t to waste good paper, Lady,” Lizzie informed her. “Even Willie knows that.”
“It was a letter from my mother, and I did not wish its contents seen.”
“We wouldn’t’ve looked. I could ’ave done another drawing of our walking coop on t’back. An’ it smelled nice, it did.”
“Perhaps Granny Protheroe will teach you how to make lavender water, so that you may have your own.”
Lizzie subsided, mumbling something that Claire chose not to hear.
Cuddling Willie, who with regular meals was beginning to sprout out of his clothes, she raised her voice and spoke to the chemists at the table, the girls before the hearth, and the poker players, who had not yet left for the evening. “Has anyone ever been to Bedlam?”
The room had been lively with chatter, but now it fell silent. “Bedlam, Lady?” Lewis asked. “As in visited, or as in committed?”
“As in visited, silly gumpus. I wish to visit one of the patients there and I should like to know what it’s like beforehand.”
Jake and one of the chemists looked at one another. “Me gran said once that they used t’sell tickets so folk could come and gawk at t’lunatics.”
“Yes, well, they do not do so in this enlightened age,” Claire said crisply.
Jake was not finished. “I been, oncet. And I’m not like to go again. It were hellish, it were.”
“How so, Jake?” She did not like to ask whom he had been visiting, in case it was a sensitive subject.
“People rambling up and down the galleries, some in proper clothes, some in nightclothes—some in nowt at all. People screamin’, beggin’ fer help. It were awful.”
Claire swallowed. “Tigg and I have learned that the scientist who invented the device that powers the lightning rifle is in Bedlam. I wish to speak with her about it.”
Jake shook his head. “You’ll do as you like, o’ course, Lady, but me, I wouldn’t. No device is worth goin’ there again.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tigg said quietly, appearing out of the dark hallway, out of range of the lamps and firelight.
“Not wi’out me,” Snouts said, his nose throwing a vulture-like shadow on the wall behind him. “Mopsies? Ready for a mission?”
Sitting on the rug before the hearth, the girls looked at each other, then back at Claire. They shook their heads as one. “Not we, Lady,” Maggie said. “I’m afraid o’ them lunatics.”
Claire nodded with understanding. “Very well. Snouts and Tigg will accompany me. The scientist’s name is Doctor Rosemary Craig, therefore, I shall be her cousin, Lady Claire Craig, from Shropshire. Snouts and Tigg shall be my secretary and his assistant. Perhaps you might lay hands on a pair of spectacles, Snouts, to complete the illusion.”
“I b’lieve I ’ave some, Lady. Won ’em in a hand of poker not long back. Nice gold rims on ’em.”
“Perfect. We shall go tomorrow.”
Tigg and Snouts nodded, then faded into the dark. They had first watch tonight. Willie’s body had relaxed in her lap, and when she looked down, she saw he had fallen asleep. She carried him upstairs, which meant she didn’t see the Mopsies grab the poker and fish what was left of her mother’s letter out of the grate.
Chapter 8
The sound of the warehouse door closing below brought Andrew out of his fierce concentration on a recent paper on the augmentation of electricks for industrial use. He had not heard the arrival of the landau, nor was that the swish of skirts on the stairs. In any case, Claire would not come so late at night.
It could only be— “Hello, James.”
James Selwyn mounted the last of the stairs into the lamplight and smiled. “Hard at work, I see. I thought you might be.” His gaze touched on the desk, the floor, a cabinet. “Something is different up here.”
“You’re seeing the initial results of Claire’s influence.” Andrew spread his hands to indicate the
“You oughtn’t to waste good paper, Lady,” Lizzie informed her. “Even Willie knows that.”
“It was a letter from my mother, and I did not wish its contents seen.”
“We wouldn’t’ve looked. I could ’ave done another drawing of our walking coop on t’back. An’ it smelled nice, it did.”
“Perhaps Granny Protheroe will teach you how to make lavender water, so that you may have your own.”
Lizzie subsided, mumbling something that Claire chose not to hear.
Cuddling Willie, who with regular meals was beginning to sprout out of his clothes, she raised her voice and spoke to the chemists at the table, the girls before the hearth, and the poker players, who had not yet left for the evening. “Has anyone ever been to Bedlam?”
The room had been lively with chatter, but now it fell silent. “Bedlam, Lady?” Lewis asked. “As in visited, or as in committed?”
“As in visited, silly gumpus. I wish to visit one of the patients there and I should like to know what it’s like beforehand.”
Jake and one of the chemists looked at one another. “Me gran said once that they used t’sell tickets so folk could come and gawk at t’lunatics.”
“Yes, well, they do not do so in this enlightened age,” Claire said crisply.
Jake was not finished. “I been, oncet. And I’m not like to go again. It were hellish, it were.”
“How so, Jake?” She did not like to ask whom he had been visiting, in case it was a sensitive subject.
“People rambling up and down the galleries, some in proper clothes, some in nightclothes—some in nowt at all. People screamin’, beggin’ fer help. It were awful.”
Claire swallowed. “Tigg and I have learned that the scientist who invented the device that powers the lightning rifle is in Bedlam. I wish to speak with her about it.”
Jake shook his head. “You’ll do as you like, o’ course, Lady, but me, I wouldn’t. No device is worth goin’ there again.”
“I’ll go with you,” Tigg said quietly, appearing out of the dark hallway, out of range of the lamps and firelight.
“Not wi’out me,” Snouts said, his nose throwing a vulture-like shadow on the wall behind him. “Mopsies? Ready for a mission?”
Sitting on the rug before the hearth, the girls looked at each other, then back at Claire. They shook their heads as one. “Not we, Lady,” Maggie said. “I’m afraid o’ them lunatics.”
Claire nodded with understanding. “Very well. Snouts and Tigg will accompany me. The scientist’s name is Doctor Rosemary Craig, therefore, I shall be her cousin, Lady Claire Craig, from Shropshire. Snouts and Tigg shall be my secretary and his assistant. Perhaps you might lay hands on a pair of spectacles, Snouts, to complete the illusion.”
“I b’lieve I ’ave some, Lady. Won ’em in a hand of poker not long back. Nice gold rims on ’em.”
“Perfect. We shall go tomorrow.”
Tigg and Snouts nodded, then faded into the dark. They had first watch tonight. Willie’s body had relaxed in her lap, and when she looked down, she saw he had fallen asleep. She carried him upstairs, which meant she didn’t see the Mopsies grab the poker and fish what was left of her mother’s letter out of the grate.
Chapter 8
The sound of the warehouse door closing below brought Andrew out of his fierce concentration on a recent paper on the augmentation of electricks for industrial use. He had not heard the arrival of the landau, nor was that the swish of skirts on the stairs. In any case, Claire would not come so late at night.
It could only be— “Hello, James.”
James Selwyn mounted the last of the stairs into the lamplight and smiled. “Hard at work, I see. I thought you might be.” His gaze touched on the desk, the floor, a cabinet. “Something is different up here.”
“You’re seeing the initial results of Claire’s influence.” Andrew spread his hands to indicate the
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