‘Like his last lecture,’ suggested Thea.
‘Exactly,’ said Emma. ‘I was a terrible snob and I apologise. Everyone–’ she paused. ‘–everyone has their cross to bear. Mine is in trying to be everything that was expected of me.’
Thea nodded in acceptance, not wanting to embarrass Emma further by dwelling on the subject. ‘I am delighted you were able to bring Harriet with you.’
Emma looked across the room at her old friend. ‘As am I. I hope that we will be able to regain a friendship. We were once close.’ Thea saw her throat work as she swallowed.
‘I do hope you can,’ said Thea. ‘She values your company so incredibly highly.’ What an understatement.
‘I know,’ said Emma gently. ‘And I value hers.’
‘There is enough difficulty for women without us fighting amongst ourselves.’
‘Indeed,’ said Emma. ‘The ladies and I have been chatting, and we wondered if you would be interested in bringing some of your machines to the group. Or rocks, or whatever. Talk to us about how they work.’ It was clumsy, but Thea understood the sentiment.
‘I would be delighted,’ she confirmed, ‘and to offer Foxmore Square, or Hawkdean as venues for meetings where required.’
Emma smiled in relief. ‘I am very pleased,’ she said. ‘But now I must go and see Helena, you know how it is.’
‘I do,’ said Thea, as Emma bobbed a farewell and took her leave. Her absence revealed another form behind her.
‘Doctor Travers,’ said Thea, delighted to see him. ‘What a wonderful display.’
‘Thanks to you,’ he said. ‘At least partly.’
She stared at him blankly. ‘That is very generous of you, Doctor, but even your generosity cannot generate a part for me in that display.’
‘I beg to differ,’ he said. ‘I am informed by the queen – or at least, by her staff, that you were generous enough to recommend me when she visited Hawkdean.’
The conversation slowly returned to Thea. ‘So I did,’ she said smiling. ‘And yet, you created the most diverting entertainment I have ever seen in this room. Such audience participation!’
‘You were right,’ he said, ‘I needed to have the courage of my convictions. I wasn’t sure that I should electrocute the queen.’
‘Bold and successful.’
‘Thank heavens, or I should be in the tower, I think.’
‘I was actually going to find you, Doctor Travers,’ she said, suddenly excited about the thought that had occurred to her right at the moment he almost shocked her off her feet. ‘I noticed that your generating machine was a little old?’
‘Yes.’ He looked towards it where interested party goers were trying to peer under the cloth. ‘But I am building up my repertoire as I make more money, and the second-hand ones work fine.’
‘Well,’ said Thea. ‘I have a collection of some of the finest machines. Not my own, but they were left to me by a very dear friend who was one of the finest, and bravest, physicists I know. There are generating machines and air pumps and optical glasses and even a little thing he called a storage jar or something. I believe most of them are made by Benjamin Cole and George Adams. You would be very welcome to take and use whichever you wish.’
Doctor Travers gaped at her. ‘Benjamin Cole is one of the best there is, and George Adams makes for the king, Your Grace.’
‘I believe so,’ said Thea.
‘I couldn’t possibly accept it,’ said Doctor Travers. ‘It would be too great a gift.’
‘Doctor Travers,’ she said, stepping around him to look him straight in the eye. ‘Not all beneficial transactions are monetary or commodity. I believe we were beneficial to one another on the night of the party at Upper Plumbthorne?’
He nodded.
Thea went on. ‘We both understood that it was acceptable to be different. You created this wonderful show. I struggled to find what my place was, but I think my gardener knew all along. Now I see how it can be beneficial. It seems to be my place to enable, and to sometimes coordinate and sometimes even to inspire others. And so here we are. I would consider it a great service if you were to use the machines for their intended function. I feel terrible that they are languishing in my attic and Edgar would so love for them to be delighting others.’
‘Then I should be honoured, Your Grace,’ he said, bowing to her in thanks. ‘The things we could do…’ But he was cut off by the announcement for gifts.
This time, the court crowded around the throne, atop its dais and stairs. One by one the presents were brought, their giver announced, and an appreciation given by the queen. Thea was beginning to become bored of the toilette sets, when the master of ceremonies called the next gift.
