“Found one device not blow,” Ming clarified. “Same material inside.”
“Don’t know ’ow this shite is made, but it’s twice as powerful as gunpowder. Ming and I tested it.” Black’s voice was stark. “Stuff burns cleanly and through everything in its path. If Bennett ’adn’t stopped those buggers from lighting more tonight, they would’ve razed this place. Just like they did The Pearl.”
Harry’s gut coiled. All the properties Black described were those of the explosive material he’d accidentally created in his laboratory. The one that had been stolen from him by fellow scientist Aloysius De Witt, Celeste’s father.
“I can keep track o’ gunpowder by tracking its components. No sales o’ saltpeter ’appen in the underworld without my knowing. But this ’ellfire is different,” Black said grimly. “We don’t know its ingredients. Some bastard might be making it right beneath our noses.”
Harry swallowed, thinking of the volatile compound he’d produced out of nitric acid, oil of vitriol, and cotton. When Aloysius De Witt had learned about Harry’s discovery, he’d wanted to produce and sell it for industrial purposes. Harry had argued that the substance, which he’d named “explosive cotton,” was too volatile and dangerous to market.
De Witt had proposed a partnership. He’d funded Harry’s attempts to produce a safer product, but then he’d grown impatient. Even though the explosive cotton wasn’t ready, he’d insisted that it was time to bring it to investors.
Harry had refused, and his decision had cost him his future. Yet his shattered ambitions paled in comparison to the present threat. Had De Witt managed to stabilize the compound? Had he turned it into a useable weapon of destruction?
“On top o’ all this, the Peelers are bloody thorns in my side,” Black raged on. “Their spies are everywhere, so watch your backs.”
“I ain’t afraid o’ the police,” Todd scoffed. “I’ll slit the throat o’ any spy that dares set foot in my ’ouse.”
“No, you’ll bring ’im to me.” Black’s decree was cold, as final as death.
Harry’s pulse thudded.Obviously, revealing his identity was not an option.
Beside him, Tessa gave a start. She scrambled to cover up the peephole.
“Grandfather was walking toward the squint,” she said urgently. “He might have seen it.”
Wordlessly, Harry shoved the books back in place. Tessa ducked her head out in the hallway, looking this way and that before gesturing to him. Numbly, he followed her down the empty corridor and up the stairs, his mind consumed by all he’d learned.
Byhellfire…which he might have inadvertently unleashed on the world.
14
Filled with agitated energy,Tessa entered her sitting room. She dismissed Lizzie, who’d been tidying up her watercolors. The lady’s maid pointedly left the door wide open, and Tessa didn’t gainsay her. If Grandpapa stopped by, the closed door would rouse his suspicions. Despite the less than private situation, Tessa was determined to gain clarity on two points.
First, would Bennett help her family in their time of need?
Second, what were his feelings toward her?
Her heart palpitated. Since their spying session, Bennett had withdrawn even more, and she didn’t know the cause of it. Whether it was the looming threat of the hellfire that absorbed him…or his regret over their passionate encounter.
What she did know was that she couldn’t stand on pins and needles any longer.
She turned to face him, blurting, “Are you in or out?”
Despite her anxious state, she felt a quiver of longing just looking at him. He was wearing a tobacco brown frock coat and buff trousers, his masculinity starkly pronounced in her feminine chamber. Framed by the primrose silk walls and delicate furnishings, he was as out of place as a stallion in a tea shop. At present, he stood by the table she used for painting. Thanks to Lizzie, the pots of colors were neatly lined up, the ivory-handled brushes organized in their filigreed holders.
“Beg pardon?” His dark brows drew together. “In or out…of what?”
She decided to start with the easier issue. “Are you going to help me protect my grandfather? Or are you going to get in my way?”
She refused to stand by idly while Grandpapa’s life was in danger, while her beloved streets were being threatened. She knew she was taking a risk in disclosing her intentions to Bennett. He might take the stance of every other man in her life and forbid her from doing what she needed to do.
Yet she’d taken the risk of trusting Bennett because…he wasBennett.
Time and again, he’d shown that he was a man who could be relied upon. He was one of the steadiest, most intelligent and competent men she’d ever met. Tonight, he’d risked his life saving her family home and all its occupants.
If she were going into battle, he was the knight she’d want by her side. Which was why she was asking for his help. Having Bennett as an ally would be a double boon: not only would she have his indisputable talents at her disposal, she could also save the precious energy that would be required to evade him.
Bennett’s deep brown eyes studied her. She was relieved beyond measure to see that he seemed more like his normal self. His demeanor was less detached, his focus once again upon her.
