“So where do we start looking for them?” mused Charlotte.
“If I had any ideas, I would say so,” said Sheffield, a note of defeat shading his voice.
“Wrexford?” she asked.
The earl took a moment to look at the hulking machinery. “I need to think about it. But first, let’s continue looking around and see if there’s anything that might give us a more solid idea of what they’re building.”
They returned to the main work counters and began a methodical search, checking beneath the jumble of canvas coverings and inside the narrow cabinets set against the wall.
“Is this helpful?” asked Charlotte, holding out a box that contained an assembly of minute gears.
Wrexford took a look and shrugged. “Not particularly. Gears are used for a great many purposes, so it doesn’t really tell us anything.” He went back to his section of the counter and resumed his rummaging. “What we need is something that might indicate—”
A low whistle cut short his words as he shifted a large metal storage box and spotted a bulky object cloaked in a heavy oilskin cloth hidden behind it. He pulled off the cover, revealing a complex construction of rods and levers.
“Bring over the lantern, Kit.”
Charlotte and Sheffield gathered around the earl as he took the light and angled it on the mechanical device.
“Look, there’s a small wheel with a handle that must rotate,” noted Sheffield.
Wrexford was already spinning it. They watched in wonder as the gleaming brass rods and levers moved, turning a complex construction of gears, which in turn spun and shifted a procession of the numbered ivory wheels that were attached to the rods.
“Ingenious,” murmured Wrexford. “It looks to be a prototype of how a machine can do complex calculations. I don’t pretend to know exactly how it works, but . . .” He thought for a long moment. “I recall hearing a lecture on Pascal’s famous adding machine at the Royal Institution, and I saw a model of the device. It can’t hold a candle to this in terms of sophisticated engineering.”
“I think it’s becoming clearer why Sudler needs Lady Cordelia,” said Charlotte. “He would require a mathematical genius to complement his engineering genius.”
“However they came together,” said the earl, “it appears they’ve created . . .”
“A monster,” intoned Sheffield.
CHAPTER 16
The early morning mist had given way to a sun-bright sky. And yet the ride home felt overshadowed by a black cloud. Wrexford glanced at Sheffield’s profile as they broke free of the trees, and felt a chill seep into his bones. To feel betrayed by a trusted friend cut to the quick.
And it was the sort of wound that could fester. . . .
The earl forced his thoughts back to a more immediate challenge. The machine was too big and too intricate to risk carrying on horseback, so he had decided to leave it. He and one of his grooms would return later with a cart and bring it back to the manor house. Perhaps Tyler, who was very mechanically minded, would have some ideas about its capabilities after examining it.
Still lost in thought as they entered his estate lands, Wrexford led the way down a bridle path that cut through a stretch of pastureland. But a sudden hail from Sheffield brought them all to a halt.
“If you don’t mind, I shall leave you here and take the long way around to the stables.”
“Of course, Kit,” he replied.
With a gruff nod, Sheffield turned his mount and spurred off.
“Damnation,” uttered Charlotte, her face wreathing in concern, as she watched him gallop away.
“Kit possesses more strength and resilience than he, or any of us, thinks. It seems to take adversity to bring his best qualities to the fore,” said Wrexford, watching a plume of dust swirl up in their friend’s wake. “Or so I tell myself.”
The attempt at wry humor didn’t draw a smile from Charlotte. Her worry seemed to deepen.
“I . . .” She blew out a sigh and fell silent.
“Go on,” he urged.
Charlotte looked away. The breeze tugged at the ribbons of her bonnet, tangling them into a knot. Deciding the moment for her to confide her thoughts had passed, he shifted on the saddle and regripped his reins.
