"Gave you the French disease for free, more like." Gus's chuckles faded as he closed the door.
Finally I was alone again. I settled on the bed with the book and removed the pistol from the waistband at my back. I checked the barrel to see if it was loaded—it was—then slid it beneath the pillow beside me. I tried not to think about it and concentrated on the book instead, but it wasn't easy. I'd never shot anyone before.
Despite the apprehension curdling in the pit of my stomach, the afternoon didn't drag. The book was riveting, and I found myself reading as quickly as possible.
The clicking of the key in the lock startled me. How much time had passed? I took note of my page then closed the book and slipped my hand beneath the pillow. The metal of the pistol felt cool in my fingers. My pulse quickened.
Death walked in. His assessing gaze took in the book and my relaxed repose. "You met Lady Harcourt." He did not mention my attempted escape.
"She's very nice."
Behind him, Seth and Gus crowded in the doorway.
"I'm hungry," I said.
"I'll fetch you something from the kitchen." Seth trotted off.
"My chamber pot needs emptying," I told Gus.
He screwed up his nose. "Should've offered to get the food." He slid the pan out from beneath the bed and left the room in much less of a hurry than Gus. I was alone with Fitzroy. With Death.
He moved toward the bed, his long, easy strides bringing him close to me much faster than I anticipated. With my heart in my throat, I pulled the pistol out from under the pillow, aimed at his shoulder and fired.
Next thing I knew, he was sitting on top of my thighs, pinning my wrists to the headboard. I bucked but couldn't dislodge him. I went to butt my forehead into his nose, but he dodged the blow. I hawked up a glob of saliva, but before I could spit it into his face, he'd shifted his weight, lifted me, and threw me face down onto the mattress. He resettled his weight on my legs and pressed a hand into my back. He took the pistol off me. Just like that, I was rendered immobile and defenseless. It had been far too easy for him.
"Lady Harcourt will be pleased to have this returned," he drawled.
A grunt was all I could manage.
Footsteps pounded along the corridor and stopped at the door. Gus and Seth's faces peeped around the corner and, seeing their leader in control, they entered the room.
"We heard a gunshot," Gus said, his eyes huge.
"Sir!" Seth cried. "You're bleeding!"
I'd shot him? He'd not shown any signs of pain or even a little discomfort, nor were his movements hindered. He'd attacked me so fast that I'd not seen him coming. I tried to look back at him to see how badly he was hurt, but the angle was too awkward and he pressed his knee into my lower back, locking me in position.
I sucked air through my teeth as the bruises inflicted by Lord Gillingham flared with pain.
"You should tend to it," Seth went on.
"It's nothing." Fitzroy let me go and climbed off the bed. A patch of blood bloomed on his shoulder, but it was hardly a significant amount. "Go." He spoke to the men but didn't take his gaze off me. His eyes were like two pools of black ice.
Gus and Seth exchanged glances then left the room again. They shut the door.
I scooted back up the bed, as far away from him as possible. When it came, his retaliation would be swift and brutal. I braced myself.
"Your hands shook."
I blinked slowly. "Wh-what d'you mean?"
He balanced the weapon on the flat of his palm. "You didn't hesitate and your gaze was focused, but your hands shook. If they'd been steady the bullet would have hit my throat."
I hadn't been aiming for his throat, but his shoulder. My aim had been better than he thought, but not good enough. The bullet must be lodged somewhere in the wall. "You moved. If I didn't hesitate, how did you know I was going to shoot?"
"I can't give away all my secrets."
All? So far, he'd given away nothing. "So I am to remain your prisoner. I have tried escaping, twice today, and yet here I am. What will you do to me?"
Despite his bleeding shoulder, he remained standing. Perhaps he thought sitting was a sign of weakness. "I will not
do
anything to you, child."
I was beginning to hate it when he called me that. Nobody called me "child" anymore. Not since I was a thirteen year-old girl. "Then you will let me go?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I will wait."
"For what? For Hell to freeze over? Because that's when I'll give you answers, and not before."
"I'm a patient man, Charlie, but the situation requires some urgency. The lives of British citizens are in danger, perhaps the life of the queen herself."
I snorted. "You think that ridiculous fairytale will have me telling you anything?"
"I thought you said you had nothing more to tell me."
Damn. "I don't. You're wasting your time and mine."
"Have an appointment to keep?"
I gave him a withering glare. His expression didn't change from his usual bland one.
"I returned to Clerkenwell today," he said. "I spoke to your friends."
"They're not my friends."
After a moment he said, "I'm glad you realize that. They were quick to tell me what I wanted to know."
"You gave them money."
"Not much."
I folded the book in my arms against my chest. "And what did they tell you?"
"They told me where they think you came from before they met you mere months ago."
"How can they know where I came from?"
Again he hesitated, as if weighing up how much to tell me. "Your accent and a few words you used were more common in the Whitehall area."
"I don't have no accent." So I'd thought. Yet he'd been correct. I'd lived in Whitehall before Clerkenwell.
"I traveled to Whitehall and asked around. A boy matching your description lived there for six months or so. They thought he'd come from Finsbury. Tomorrow I'll send Gus and Seth there to find out about a child who kept his brown hair over his face to hide it." He took a step toward me and lowered his voice. "I
will
find out where you came from, Charlie, and I when I do, I'll discover how it is you can bring the dead back to life."
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I couldn't look away. His gaze held me, pinning me as thoroughly as his body had done moments ago on the bed.
"Here you go," Seth said, carrying a plate of food in. Gus entered behind him.
Fitzroy stepped back and marched out the door. "Follow me. Bring the boy and his books. I see he's already in possession of the spare shirt."
I was too stunned to do anything but follow meekly. Fitzroy had not only dodged the bullet intended for him, but he'd learned more about my past than I'd have liked. And his methods were going to lead him to discover the truth. My only hope was that the further back in time he went, the slower his investigation would become. Gangs broke up, and children died or moved on. And then, of course, he would hit a wall altogether. He would be asking about a boy with hair covering his face, not a girl. My secrets were safe until I chose to reveal them.
If
I chose to do so. I didn't believe his silly story about the queen's life being in danger. I certainly didn't want to reanimate the dead for him or his cause, no matter what it was. On the other hand, Lady Harcourt was his ally, in whatever scheme they had in mind, and surely such a fine noblewoman wouldn't want me to do anything wrong.
"Where are we taking him, sir?" Seth's question might as well have fallen on deaf ears. Fitzroy strode ahead, heading down two flights of stairs then swiftly along the corridor that housed the bathroom.
Gus prodded me in the back with the clean chamber pot he still held and I had to trot to keep up with Fitzroy. Finally we reached the end of the long corridor and stopped at a door.
"He's to stay in here until I give further word," Fitzroy said, opening the door.
Seth gasped. "But these are
your
chambers?"
I was as confused as he and Gus. Why did Fitzroy want me in there instead of the tower room?
"It's larger and more comfortable for two."
"Two, sir? Are you going to remain here?"
"He seems to be able to outwit you both too easily. I'll guard him, from now on."
Seth shuffled his feet and Gus's cheeks colored. I wondered if they would be in more trouble later or if that was the extent of it.
I hugged the book to my chest. He was right. I could trick Seth and Gus, but Fitzroy was too clever to fall for my ruses. On the other hand, he was only one man, and even he needed to sleep. He was
not
a machine.
He stepped aside and motioned me through the door. I entered and took in my surroundings. It was a large room with a sofa and leather armchairs at one end gathered around a fireplace, and a solid desk at the other. Paintings of country scenes hung on the dark green papered walls. A large freestanding iron candelabra was tucked into the far corner beside a bookshelf that took up almost the entire wall. It reached to the ceiling, and a ladder leaned against it. I stared at it in wonder, amazed at so many books under one roof. I hadn't realized Seth and Gus had left until the door clicked closed.
Fitzroy locked it with a key that he tucked into his waistcoat pocket. "We sleep in there." He indicated a closed door.
"We?" I said on a breath.
"I'll have a trundle brought up for you. Unless you prefer the bed. It doesn't matter to me."
I blinked at him. "I…I am to be held prisoner in here now? With you?"
"I know it's not ideal, but you're too quick-witted for them."
"You were present when I sent them away to shoot you. You fell for my ruse too."
The corner of his mouth twitched, and I suspected he'd known that I was sending Gus and Seth away in order to escape. I suddenly realized how difficult it would be to get out of Lichfield Towers. He may be only one man, but he was efficient, clever and ruthless. I had no doubt he played jailor better than his men, and even better than those at Highgate Police Station. My escape attempts would need to become more sophisticated.
I sat on the armchair near the window and opened my book. Instead of reading, I thought of ways to outwit Death himself.
"You are quite the little thief." Lady Harcourt's wink softened her accusation, but the sting of her words pricked me nevertheless. Or perhaps that was my guilt. I felt horrid that I'd dragged her into my scheme. She'd already received a sharp glare from Fitzroy as he'd handed the pistol back to her.
She checked the barrel then placed the gun inside her reticule. The evening gown she wore probably didn't have pockets. It was an exquisite outfit of mourning black satin and lace, with gold beads arranged in leaves on the bodice and down the length of skirt in two panels. A black silk ribbon choker set off the white of her throat and the lustrous sheen of the pearl at the center. It was difficult to tear my gaze away from the gown and her jewelry, but I managed it. It wouldn't do to show too much interest in feminine things.
"The pocket in your skirt wasn't deep," I told her as she sat on a chair in the parlor. Fitzroy and I remained standing, he with his hands casually at his sides, me with mine behind my back. "It's too easy to steal things from shallow pockets."
"I'll have it deepened. Thank you for your advice, Charlie." She bestowed a smile on me that had me blushing. It was more than I deserved. "I see the bullet is missing."
"It's in the wall of the tower room."
Her eyebrows arched. "Was anyone injured?"
"Only Mr. Fitzroy."
She leapt up from the chair. "Lincoln!" She crossed the floor to him, sweeping past me as if I weren't there. I could have easily snatched the reticule from her and she wouldn't have noticed in her agitated state. "Where? Where are you hurt?"
"I am unharmed, Julia." Fitzroy looked uncomfortable as she searched his face in earnest.
"I asked where?" she said with quiet steel.
His lips thinned. "The left shoulder. A graze only. It doesn't hurt."
"Of course it must." She clicked her tongue. "It's typical of you to downplay your injuries. You are fallible, Lincoln, even though you like to think you are not."
Several beats passed, during which they stared at one another in a kind of silent battle of wills. It was almost as if words were exchanged between them and yet none passed their lips. I wasn't sure who'd won, but Lady Harcourt was the first to break the silence.
"May I see your shoulder?"
"There's no point. I've already had it seen to."
"Nevertheless, I would like to assess it for myself."
He turned away from her to tug the bell pull. Her back straightened in offense. "Lincoln, stop being such a child and let me see it."
"I am not the one acting like a child, Julia. We have company."
"Your point?"
"I suggest you don't ignore him. He has been eyeing off your reticule."
She swung round to face me. I could see her temper flaring, but I didn't think she was angry with me. Fitzroy was being terribly rude toward her. It was one thing to speak abrasively to someone who'd ended their prior liaison—surely
she
must have been the one to end it—but it was quite another to call a lady a child. I wouldn't have stood for it if I were her.
"I won't steal from you again," I said quickly. "Mr. Fitzroy is cruel to blame me."
Her face softened. "He is, isn't he?"
Fitzroy didn't seem to care that I'd called him cruel. No doubt he'd been labeled worse.
Gus arrived, sporting crumbs down the front of his waistcoat. "Boy giving you trouble, sir? Want me to take him away?"
"No. How long until dinner?"
"It's just about ready. Might as well go and sit down. Save me coming back to call you." He trudged off as I heard Lady Harcourt quietly lament the lack of proper servants.
"Shall we?" Fitzroy offered her his arm.
She took it and bestowed a too-sweet smile on him. "Hungry, my dear? Or do you wish to get rid of me?"
"If I wanted to be rid of you, I wouldn't be dining with you."
Her smile faltered and she allowed him to lead her out.
"Come, Charlie," he said. "You need to eat too."
I trailed behind, somewhat stupefied by the invitation to dinner. It seemed silly to worry that I wasn't dressed for the occasion, since it was just the three of us, but they were a beautiful and elegant couple in their eveningwear, and I was disheveled by comparison. The dining room wasn't meant for the likes of me either. It was sized for large parties, with the long mahogany table seating twenty, although it was only set for three tonight. The chandelier suspended above it blazed, catching the facets of the crystal glasses and the diamond earrings dangling from Lady Harcourt's ears. I hunched my shoulders and kept my head low, not wanting them to change their minds and send the scruffy gutter rat from the room.
We sat and Fitzroy poured the wine himself. There was no sign of footmen or a butler, and moments later, Seth and Gus brought in the food. I stared at the platters piled with roast beef and poultry, lobster salad and vegetables. There was so much of it!
"You must serve yourself," Seth whispered in my ear. "Be sure to use the utensils provided and not your hands."
"I am not a Barbarian."
Behind him, Gus snorted a laugh. "Sewer rats are refined fellows now, eh?"
"Cut up his food," Fitzroy told the men, "then remove his knife."
After Seth finished cutting my food, Lady Harcourt arched her brows at Fitzroy, who dismissed the men with a nod. She served herself, placing only a minute portion of each dish on her plate. No wonder her waist was so tiny. I may eat just as little, but only because I wasn't used to so much food and I didn't want to throw it all up later. For one thing, it would be a waste, and for another, Fitzroy's rugs looked expensive.
"You could have returned the pistol to me tomorrow," Lady Harcourt said, passing the peas to Fitzroy. "Why the invitation to dinner?"
"I want you to tell the boy what it is we do here at Lichfield Towers, and why we need him."
"You haven't informed him yet?"
"I tried. He doesn't believe me."
She laughed until her eyes watered. "Why am I not surprised? Lincoln, you aren't very good when it comes to convincing people."
"I had some success in Paris," he said mildly.
"And nobody is more surprised than me. Ordinarily people run from you when you become intense. Which, I might add, is all the time."
I held my breath. I wasn't sure if she were teasing him or accusing him. Nor was I sure how he would take it. He didn't seem like the sort of man just anyone could tease. The longer I spent in their company, the more certain I became that Gus and Seth were right. Fitzroy and Lady Harcourt had been lovers. It wasn't clear if they still were.
"Well, now I know why I was invited to dinner," she said with a smile for Fitzroy. "I thought there had to be another reason."
He said nothing, and I wondered if it was true and he didn't particularly desire her company. It was strange that he could be so cool toward her, whereas her emotions had seemed in danger of boiling over ever since her arrival. I was beginning to think I'd been wrong and
he
had been the one to end their relationship.
"I explained about the queen's life being in danger," Fitzroy said. "Charlie didn't believe me."
"I see. Well then, after we finish the main course, I'll tell him what he needs to know."
After a few minutes, in which the only sounds were that of chewing, Lady Harcourt asked me some questions. They were innocuous enough, and I answered in a way that gave nothing away. I wanted to know more about her too, but refrained. Boys like me didn't ask impertinent questions of ladies like her, and I was afraid the only questions I could think of were impertinent.
"The boy is positively a chatterbox compared to you, Lincoln," she said as Gus cleared away the dishes.
It was true that he'd not spoken the entire time, but he'd not been addressed either. He took her teasing well enough, by showing no emotion whatsoever.
"Dessert, sir?" Seth asked. "Cook tells me he's made jellies and a trifle."
Jelly! I hadn't had jelly in an age.
I caught Lady Harcourt smiling gently at me out of the corner of my eye and quickly schooled my features. I didn't want to seem as if I could be bought with a bowl of jelly.
"Thank you, Seth," Fitzroy said. Before the two men left, he asked Lady Harcourt to begin.
She dabbed her mouth with the napkin then folded it up and set it on the table. I found myself wishing she would hurry up. I wanted to hear the story from her lips.
"Has Lincoln mentioned the ministry and its role?" she asked me.
"Not really."
She shook her head at him but he merely sat in his seat at the top of the table and waited. "He is the head of the Ministry of Curiosities. It's a government organization but operates somewhat outside the official boundaries of parliament. Lincoln makes all the day to day decisions, but the ministry is overseen by a committee. The committee decides what curiosities require investigation, but always on Lincoln's advice. He is the heart and soul of this organization. The brains, too."
Her praise of him surprised me after her teasing. If Fitzroy was embarrassed or pleased, he didn't show it.
"The committee also provide the necessary funds," she went on. "I am on the committee, as is Lord Gillingham, whom you've met."
"What are 'curiosities?'"
"Unexplained events. Phenomena that seem to happen for no
Earthly
rhyme or reason."
"Like ghosts? Angels?"
"Do you believe in ghosts and angels?"
I shrugged one shoulder.
"You are correct. But not only ghosts and angels. Raising the dead is another phenomena that most people would consider an impossibility. The ministry, however, thinks these curiosities—and more—are entirely possible. We seek to understand them better, but also to make sure they cannot harm us. It began as a group of like-minded individuals, with an interest in the supernatural, but has recently been given a more official role. The ministry investigates situations that the police and Home Office cannot get involved in because of their public role. The Ministry of Curiosities is more secretive."
Seth and Gus re-entered the room, both carrying a tray. Seth set his down and I couldn't take my eyes off the wobbling jelly.
"The nature of the crimes we investigate must be kept quiet or the public would panic," Lady Harcourt went on. Clearly it didn't matter what Seth and Gus overheard.
"Then why tell me?" I asked.
"Because we trust that you won't speak of the ministry outside these walls."
"Nobody would believe you anyway," Gus said. "They'll put you in an asylum."
Seth jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.
"The queen and prime minister approve of the ministry?" I asked.
"They would if they knew we existed," Lady Harcourt said.
Gus grunted. "Either that or burn us at the stake for believing in all this magic talk."
"The ministry's existence has been kept secret from them for their own good," Lady Harcourt went on. "Governments come and go. The committee members are involved for life. We all have prominent positions, either at court or in parliament. Our sole purpose is to serve the British Empire and keep queen and country safe—from paranormal forces, rather than military ones."
"Think of us as the sword of the empire," Seth said, puffing out his chest. "And Mr. Fitzroy is the pointy end."
Fitzroy sat listening without saying a word. I'd felt him watching me the entire time, and I wished I knew how to react. I wasn't sure whether to show surprise or fear, or whether I should pretend they were all mad.
"Why him?" I asked. "Why is he the leader?" He was, after all, young for such responsibility. I imagined someone of Gillingham's advanced years would be more suited to a leadership role.
"He was chosen at birth," Lady Harcourt said.
"Chosen at
birth
?"
"His entire life has been dedicated to becoming the ministry's leader. His education and training were specifically designed to make him the best. There is no one better suited to the position." She shrugged thin, bare shoulders. "No one more capable."
Clearly she
hadn't
ended the relationship then. I needed no further proof than her effusive admiration and the stony expression on his face.
Chosen. Best. Capable. It all sounded so cold and calculating, yet I supposed it was no different to many gentlemen born into the nobility, raised knowing he would take over from their fathers one day. Even so, it sounded like a dull life. The old me, the dutiful daughter, probably wouldn't have thought so, but the new me did. The thought of being destined to be someone since the day I was born, and never having the opportunity to deviate from that path, sounded like a prison sentence.
"Was your father the ministry's leader before you?" I asked him. Although Lady Harcourt had told me the story, it didn't seem right to ask her the question. "Is that why you were chosen?"
"No."
I waited for further explanation but none came. Yet the air in the room tightened. It took me a moment to realize that the other three people there had gone quite still. Had they also been waiting for an answer? Or did they already know it, and I'd stumbled onto a sensitive topic?
"You are investigating paranormal curiosities," I said to him. "And you want the necromancer girl to help you. Does that mean
you
are paranormal, sir?"
For a long moment I thought I'd overstepped the line; that I'd gone too far. He simply stared at me, unblinking. What was he waiting for? "No," he eventually said.
"But you got out of the bullet's way. How, if not with an unnatural speed?"
"I'm observant and quite quick."
Quite! He was also the master of understatement.
"No one in the ministry or on the committee has any true paranormal abilities," Lady Harcourt said. "You're our first such employee."
"I'm not working for you." I kept my tone light, but my tight jaw made it sound harsh.