Elswyth inclined her head to him. “Of course, Doctor. Thank you for coming on such short notice. You were the only person I could think to call.”
Gall smiled. “I am honored. Now I’m afraid I have to leave you. Her Majesty expects her arthritis treatment, and I am not one to keep her waiting. Good day, Elswyth.”
“Good day, Doctor,” she said, and returned to the microscope.
Gall moved to the door but then hesitated. “And Elswyth?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Do stay safe. This business with the Reaper worries me. If you ever feel in danger, call upon me. I may not be the biggest or boldest man, but I promise, I will be there.”
Elswyth could not help but feel gratitude for the man. What would Gall, short and scholarly, do against any sort of danger? “I shall, Doctor. Thank you.”
He left, and Elswyth spent the next hour watching the mandrake. Mrs. Rose pestered her once, then twice, about tea with Lady Gimlet at one o’clock. Elswyth took out her pocket watch—she was unwashed, sleepless, hair a mess and face covered ingrime. When she couldn’t delay it any longer, she went to the far wall and took the jar of formaldehyde from the shelf. A yellowed paper label contrasted with the clear liquid within. She uncorked it, and an acrid odor filled the room.
She looked at the little creature in the specimen jar. It mewled like a baby, then chirred, the face opening in a pathetic whine.
She had promised herself that she would never kill again.But it’s not alive, not really. Not in the way a person is, despite its components. It’s a plant. Organic but insentient.
She hesitated. Could it feel pain? Could it think, like an animal or a human, or was it really just a plant? Something driven solely by instinct? An organic machine?
You don’t have a choice, she thought. If it escaped and reached the Reaper, could it really relay what it had seen and heard back to him? It did not appear to speak. How could it pass information to its master? It was said that trees communicated with one another through electrical currents in their root systems, not unlike the synapses of a brain. But between a plant and a human?
She steeled herself. Then she opened the lid of the jar and began pouring the formaldehyde inside.
The creature opened its fly-trap face to cry out, but its mouth quickly filled with fluid. The scream became nothing more than a stream of bubbles. Then it began to choke on the chemical, the clear liquid filling its lungs. It twitched, trying to swim, as the formaldehyde reached the top of the jar.
Elswyth slammed the lid shut. She watched the creature struggle, choke, and then slowly grow still. The mandrake began to float. The leaves atop its head waved like seaweed, and its flytrap-mouth hung open.
She frowned. It died like anything else. Like something that felt pain. She shivered, calmed herself, and took a sip of cold tea. Then she took the jar with the dead mandrake to the table on the far wall where she kept her plants. The light from the window poured through, illuminating the clear liquid and the dead thing within.
She took a red cloth from the workbench and draped it over the specimen jar. For one thing, she didn’t like looking at it. For another, she couldn’t risk the creature photosynthesizing. She had drowned theanimalpart of the thing, after all, but theplantpart might still be alive. She would have to dissect it later to ensure it was truly dead.
She looked over her shoulder as she left, imagining she heard a bubbling sound from beneath the red cloth. Then she moved to the bathroom, drew herself a bath, and readied herself for tea.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The broom flower, referring to several species in the genusGenista, is a symbol of the Plantagenet dynasty and the source of its name by way of the Latinplanta genista. In floriography, broom flowers meanhumility.
And remember, when the herald calls your name, you will walk slowly down the processional, curtsy to the queen, and then exit stage right. Leaveonlywhen Queen Viscaria dismisses you. If she graces you with a question, you must answer, but remember to use the proper forms of address. Do not speak unless spoken to. Understood?”
Mrs. Rose counted off her commands on her fingertips. Their carriage rumbled along the cobblestones leading up to the Royal Palace, and Elswyth strained her neck to get a view through the window.
“Miss Elderwood, am I understood?” Mrs. Rose said.
Elswyth turned away from the window. “You’ve been telling me the same five things for nearly a week. I think I could present myself to the queen in my sleep. Besides, I should think that myreputation is already besmirched. I shan’t do much damage in the space of a single curtsy.”
“It’s a curtsy that could redeem you, Elswyth. It could mean the difference between a rich and handsome husband and an ugly, broke bastard. If the queen even hints at disapproval, the rest of society will shun you forever.”
Elswyth took on a mocking tone. “Oh no, Elswyth, don’t fret. You’ll do splendidly! I have theutmostfaith in you.”
Mrs. Rose gave her a sour look. “Sarcasm isn’t befitting of a lady. Especially when one is not particularly good at it.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Despite Elswyth’s glibness, a steady sense of dread had been building since that morning. She was already an outcast due to the disaster at Venus’s ball, and her presentation to the queen might be the only chance she had to return to good standing. Frantic letters had poured in from her father after Mrs. Rose had informed him of what had happened, ceaselessly reminding her that the season was halfway through and she had no real prospects for marriage. Mrs. Rose managed to keep him placated, but only just. And despite all their careful planning, Elswyth doubted that even a grand presentation would rescue her reputation.
The carriage lurched to a stop. Mrs. Rose nearly lost her fascinator and scrambled to put it back into place. She cursed and then knocked on the wood behind her. “My good man, we are running late!”
Of course, they were running at least an hour early, but Elswyth said nothing. Instead she pulled back the curtain and stuck her head once more out the window.
