Choices, choices.In that instant, Charlotte snapped the bookclosed, her mind made up. Yes, the dark shadow of Death was taunting them at every turn—but that was all the more reason to celebrate the bright flickers of Life.
“Come morning, I shall make arrangements for us to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew for the day after tomorrow, so you can see the exotic specimen collection brought back to Britain by Sir Joseph Banks.”
“The Botanic Gardens!” Hawk’s eyes widened and a note of wonder fluttered in his voice.
“Yes. And we’ll have McClellan pack a picnic and accompany us.” She turned to Raven. “Will you come along, too?”
He shook his head. “The new lenses for His Lordship’s microscopes will be arriving from Holland that day, and Mr. Tyler said I could assist him with polishing them. And we expect to get the results back on the snuff sample he took to the botanist at the Royal Society. So he might need my help in preparing the slides, if he needs to have another look at it.”
Mention of the snuff reminded her of the exotic cards and the book explaining how to work with them, which she had received from Lady Julianna. Given Raven’s skill with mathematics, she had considered showing them to him. But after reading the first few pages, Charlotte had decided against it. Had it merely been about numbers, she would have seen no harm in it. However, she found its logic . . . impenetrable.
Raven, for all his cleverness and knowledge of life’s grim realities, was still a child. Perhaps she was simply being naïve, but she wished to shield him from its talk of Good versus Evil, and the elemental struggle between them to rule the universe.
“That sounds very important,” she replied. “It appears you are finding the work with Mr. Tyler interesting.”
“Yeah, I am.” For Raven, that was a rare show of his feelings.
Yet another debt of thanks she owed to Wrexford. For a man who claimed to have no tender sensibilities, he had quickly recognized the boy’s curiosity and taken pains to encourage it.
“I can take your drawing to Mr. Fores when you’re done,” offered Raven. “I promised to assist Mr. Tyler in making an inventory of the chemicals, first thing in the morning.”
“But it will be hours before he is ready for you.”
He grinned. “Oiy, but I’m teaching the bootboy how to play dice, and after that, Cook will feed me a very nice breakfast.”
The boys, she knew, were friendly with all the servants who worked for the earl.
“And then I can tidy up the laboratory and check over the monthly entry in the accounting ledger for any errors until he comes.” A pause. “Mr. Tyler sometimes makes mistakes in his addition and subtraction. But I fix them before His Lordship reviews the numbers.”
Charlotte held back a smile. “That’s very loyal of you.”
“Lord Wrexford says loyalty to friends and family is very important.”
“He’s right.” Charlotte regarded their faces, aware that she couldn’t imagine her life without them. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked back to her drawing. “You two scamper up to your aerie while I finish my work. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day.”
CHAPTER 23
“Idon’t understand,” said Sheffield, breaking the heavy silence. “Granted, you two are far more knowledgeable about science than I am, but I seem to recall that both Aldini and Galvani ultimately acknowledged that they were wrong about electricity having the power to bring the dead back to life.”
“They did,” agreed Wrexford. “However, the history of science shows us that many things that were thought impossible in the past prove to be valid concepts when modern techniques and discoveries are applied to them.”
Thornton nodded. “The allure of making momentous breakthroughs is what drives many of us who are fascinated by science. There is so much we don’t know.”
Sheffield made a face. “And perhaps some of it is best left that way.”
“Perhaps,” said Wrexford. “But it’s rather like Pandora’s box—we have opened the lid on scientific inquiry, and it cannot be stuffed back into a dark hole simply because some of the results frighten us.”
He looked to Thornton. “You mentioned that something made your blood run cold. What is it that spooked you?”
“It’s merely a suspicion, based on a few things Chittenden let drop in his agitated ramblings,” replied the marquess. “But I think they were working on developing a more potent electrolyte—”
“What the devil is anelectrolyte?” interrupted Sheffield.
“It’s a conductor, Kit,” explained the earl. “In the case of the voltaic pile, it’s a liquid solution that creates a chemical reaction, allowing the electrical charge to flow.”
Sheffield still looked baffled, but Thornton gave a grim nod. “I have no idea what the electrolyte might be—or even if I’m right. However, I was hoping I might find some answers here.”
“Then let us conduct a thorough search.” Wrexford found another lamp. “But carefully, so as not to leave any evidence that we were here.” He lit the wick and turned up the flame. “You didn’t worry that DeVere might be working late?”
