Gillingham's jaw dropped like an unhinged trapdoor. "I say! You dare speak to me in such a manner!"
"May we please discuss the situation?" Lady Harcourt looked distressed, and I felt a little sorry for her. These gentlemen were her peers, perhaps her friends, and Fitzroy her lover. It put her in an awkward position, particularly as the only female member of the committee. Not for the first time, I wondered how a beautiful young woman had ended up part of the body that oversaw the Ministry of Curiosities. Particularly now that I'd met the final member, another aged lord.
"See how he repays you, General!" Gillingham crossed his legs and settled into the armchair. "You should have had him disciplined more as a child."
Lady Harcourt, sitting beside me on the sofa, stiffened and pressed her gloved hand to her lips.
"That's enough, Gilly," Lord Marchbank said. "You're upsetting the ladies."
"Lady," Gillingham muttered. "There is only one present."
I sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.
"Tell us about Charlotte Holloway, Lincoln," the general said quickly. "How did you learn the boy Charlie was, in fact, her?"
Fitzroy told them how he'd traced me back through the years, then went on to inform them that I'd seen a man visit my father. He finished by telling them the vicar had revealed the full name of the man they sought.
"Then you know where he lives!" Lord Gillingham said.
"I've not had time to investigate."
Gillingham looked as if he were about to chastise Fitzroy, but a glare from Marchbank kept him quiet.
"Good progress," said the general. "We're very pleased. Having a name at this point is more than we'd hoped for."
Seth and Gus had entered with the tray of tea things during the speech and now served cups to everyone. Seth also took one, but Gus did not. He fell back to the door, removing himself from our presence. Only Gillingham eyed him as if he didn't belong in the parlor. Seth, however, escaped his snobbery.
Lady Harcourt touched my hand. "Your assistance has already proven valuable. Thank you, Charlie, on behalf of not only the ministry, but the entire realm."
"The empire really is in danger from this man?" I asked.
"Yes, unfortunately. If he manages to reanimate an army of superior bodies, then we are all at his mercy."
"He will turn that army on the members of parliament," the general said. "That includes the three of us." He indicated the three gentlemen.
"And the court, too, would be in danger," Lady Harcourt finished. "The queen and her family are vulnerable to an attack from someone intent to do harm."
"How do you know that's his intention? You know him to be a murderer, but committing treason is another crime altogether."
"That is none of your affair," Gillingham snapped. "Leave these matters to your betters. You wouldn't understand them."
"Gillingham!" the general snapped. "You forget that we need the chit's help."
"Do we?" Gillingham drawled. "We have the man's name. Fitzroy doesn't need her to find this Frankenstein fellow. It seems to me we can dispense with her now."
"And leave her for Dr. Frankenstein to capture?"
Gillingham didn't answer. He sipped his tea calmly. I set mine down, unable to swallow it. Fitzroy, who'd not accepted tea, took a seat and addressed me.
"You recall we told you about the woman in Paris, whose letter to V.F. I intercepted," he said.
"I do. Her husband was murdered and you suspected she had a hand in it, or knew the murderer—Dr. Frankenstein, I assume."
He nodded. "Her husband's head was cut open, the brain removed."
My stomach rolled, threatening to toss my lunch onto the rug, but I willed myself not to throw up. Somehow I suspected that would work in Gillingham's favor. "Frankenstein wanted to put his brain into a body made up of parts from others?"
"Superior parts taken from athletes. But it was the brain of Mr. Calthorn that was crucial to his plan."
"Was Mr. Calthorn an intelligent man?"
"Yes, but it wasn't merely his cleverness that Frankenstein wanted. It was Calthorn's knowledge. He was England's spy master."
I gasped. "England has a spy master?"
"Not anymore," the general said. "Calthorn is yet to be replaced."
"You ought not tell her all that." Gillingham sniffed. "If this information gets into the wrong hands…"
"Calthorn is dead," Marchbank said. "All the girl knows is that England has a spy network. Our enemies already know that too. It's hardly news."
Gillingham sipped, watching me over the rim of his cup.
"Calthorn knew a great many important secrets," Lady Harcourt said, taking over the story. "After we were alerted to his murder, and the missing brain, we began to piece everything together. We'd already heard about the missing body parts of other murder victims, all of them physically superior in one way or another. We questioned Mrs. Calthorn at the time but she could prove she was elsewhere at the time of the murder. We didn't believe that she was entirely innocent, but we couldn't pin anything on her."
"Then she went and exiled herself to Paris," the general said. "Blasted woman."
"How did she know about me?" I asked. "It seems that Frankenstein had been searching for me, and she found out enough clues to point him in the right direction. How?"
"We don't know," Fitzroy said. "Nor do we know how Frankenstein learned of your existence. It's only clear that he failed to reanimate his monstrous creation on his own and realized he needed a necromancer to perform the deed. I think he's been seeking you ever since, corresponding with his friend, Mrs. Calthorn, in Paris. The first I learned about a necromancer is from her letter. It became a race to find you before he did."
I almost blurted out that I was glad he'd got to me first, but bit my tongue. For some reason, I didn't want Gillingham to hear my gratitude. I didn't want any of them to hear it. Not even Fitzroy. I didn't even like admitting it to myself.
"Mrs. Calthorn's information was out of date," Lady Harcourt said. "You haven't lived with your father since you were thirteen."
"He's not my father." I picked up my teacup and concentrated on not looking at anyone, even though I could feel their gazes on me. "I'm adopted, or so he informed me this morning."
"Adopted!" General Eastbrooke sat forward. One of the lords gasped as Lady Harcourt's hand touched my arm. "Then who is your real father?"
"I don't know."
"Did Holloway know? Did you question him, Lincoln?"
"No," Fitzroy said.
"Why not?" Gillingham snapped. "My God, man, this is of utmost importance! If the girl inherited her ability, we need to know who he is."
"Or she," Lady Harcourt added. "Lincoln, I agree with Lord Gillingham. You need to question Mr. Holloway."
"He won't tell us anything," Fitzroy said. "Questioning him will only produce lies or total silence. His state of mind is delicate, his fear absolute."
"It's unlikely he knows anyway," Lord Marchbank said. "Orphanages don't give out that information to the adopting parents."
"We won't know if Fitzroy doesn't ask." Gillingham slammed the foot of his walking stick on the floor. "To hell with the fellow's state of mind. I don't care if your questions turn him into a blathering idiot, unable to function in society. It's an oversight on your part, Fitzroy."
"Not an oversight," Fitzroy said in a voice so quiet that Gillingham's swallow was audible. "It was a deliberate decision."
"One that I protest."
"You can protest all you like. It changes nothing."
"I command you to ask him!"
Fitzroy stood, very slowly, his hands curled into fists. Gillingham lifted his chin as Fitzroy stepped closer. "You don't command me."
"I bloody well do. We
all
do. You work for us, Fitzroy."
"I work for England. I can also stop working for England."
Gillingham snorted. "You were born to do this, Fitzroy. It's your entire life. You won't leave."
Several moments passed, in which I expected Fitzroy to either deny it or punch Gillingham in the nose. He did neither. "If you disagree with my decision, you're welcome to question the vicar yourself."
Gillingham's gaze slid away and his hands increased their rapid rubbing over the head of his stick.
"Don't wish to get your hands dirty, I see," Fitzroy said.
Gillingham's fingers flared then closed around the knob again. He pointed his stick at me. "I wager her real parents were sewer rats, just like her. Breeding always reveals itself in the end, you know. Bad blood breeds only more bad."
Fitzroy's knuckles turned white.
"I'm famished," I said quickly, rising. "Unless I'm needed, I think I'll find something to eat in the kitchen."
Seth set down his tea. "I'll escort you. Gus?"
Gus shook his head and nodded at Fitzroy. Fitzroy, however, took a step back. It wasn't until Gillingham tugged on his tie that I realized he'd been anxious.
Lady Harcourt clasped my hand before I walked off. "Everything will be all right. You'll see."
"I'm not worried," I said with a shrug. And I wasn't. I didn't care if Fitzroy gave Gillingham a bloody nose. I just didn't want to see it.
"You ought to be," Lord Marchbank said. "Of everyone here, I'm the only one who saw the crime scene. I know what this Dr. Frankenstein is capable of."
He was right, and I should have been more concerned about the murdering doctor. He wanted me, and he seemed desperate enough to go to great lengths to get me.
"Was that necessary?" Lady Harcourt said to Lord Marchbank. "You've scared her now."
"Good. Fear will keep her safe."
He was correct there. It was a sentiment that had helped me get through five long, hard years relatively unscathed.
I hadn't decided whether I liked Lord Marchbank. He spoke less than the others, only talking when he needed to impart an important point. In that, he reminded me of Fitzroy. It was a trait that made it very difficult to read either man.
Gillingham pushed himself to his feet. "Good day, gentlemen, Lady Harcourt. I've got business to attend to."
I stepped aside to let him pass. The other committee members also made their excuses. They, at least, addressed me in their farewells.
"Remember what I said," Lady Harcourt whispered as she took my arm. "There will be a place for you in my household, if you wish, when this is over. You won't have to live on the street anymore."
"Thank you." I decided not to go through the ritual of refusing her offer again, but I knew I could never live with her, either as a servant or her companion. Indeed, I couldn't imagine living anywhere other than Lichfield Towers.
The admission shocked me and left me speechless as the carriages rolled away. I'd only resided there less than a week, and most of that as a prisoner, and yet I felt more comfortable there than anywhere. Perhaps that had more to do with the fact that I had no home now. Not in the Tufnell Park house I'd grown up in, or any of the derelict buildings I'd lived in with the boys' gangs. Dr. Frankenstein would be looking for me in all those places. I wasn't safe there. I was only safe at Lichfield.
Seth confronted me at the foot of the stairs, arms crossed over his impressive chest, making him seem even broader. "You didn't wish to eat more, did you?"
"No. I needed to leave the parlor."
He sighed. "I thought as much."
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you believed me."
"I was hopeful." He lowered his arms. "At least you ate all your lunch."
"And I promise to eat all of my dinner, as long as the plate isn't piled too high or Cook serves sprouts."
He pulled a face. "I'll boycott the sprouts too, if he does." His gaze slid to a point past my shoulder. He cleared his throat, gave me an uncertain smile, then moved away.
I turned to see Fitzroy hovering. "I'm not going to try and escape." At his small frown, I added, "Your constant presence…you seem to think I'll run away at any moment. I won't. I gave you my word and I intend to keep it."
"I never doubted it." Still, he did not leave.
"Is there something you wished to speak to me about?"
"No." He went to walk away but stopped. "Yes. Are you comfortable here? Is there anything you require?"
"I'm not sure. I haven't resided here as a free woman for very long yet." At his blank face, I added, "I have everything I need for now. Thank you."
It was a strange, awkward conversation, which seemed to be leading onto a further question, perhaps the one I suspected he truly wanted to ask, yet he merely said, "I will be out all afternoon, searching for Dr. Frankenstein."
"Without me?"
"Your presence isn't required."
"I suppose not." I was relieved, on the whole, yet a part of me wanted to go with him. Or wanted, at least, to
be
with him.
I forced myself to walk up the stairs. I didn't like my growing feelings for someone who'd kidnapped me without qualms and held me prisoner until I'd made myself useful. I doubted
he
thought about
me
in the same way I thought about him. He'd certainly given no indication that he did. Such an imbalance of feelings between two people was never a good thing.
I read
A Guide To The Spirit World
in my small sitting room and learned more about my power in thirty minutes than I'd discovered in eighteen years. Most of it chilled me. A necromancer was different to a spirit medium, in that mediums could only speak to ghosts that had decided to remain and haunt their place of death. They could summon spirits into the living body of another through possession, but the spirit had a will of its own and a medium could not control it. A necromancer could raise a spirit that had already crossed over
and
control it—any spirit, no matter how long ago they'd died. The spirit could go anywhere in its ghostly form and not be confined to their place of death. That made necromancers much more powerful. Frighteningly so. The only limitation was that a spirit raised by necromancy couldn't be placed into a living body, only a dead one. The book didn't specify whether the body had to be its own or could be any cadaver.