Tori finished her song with one final flourish. She rose and bowed as everyone applauded.
“What a horrendously antiquated piece,” Julianna said with a sneer as Tori returned to our box.
Neither of us paid Julianna any mind. I was much too nervous to argue. I knew it was my turn before I heard my name.
“Next, Miss Amarante Flora will be performing...a scientific demonstration,” Madam Lucille said, pulling a face.
I began the treacherous descent to the stage with my arms full of my supplies. I was immensely glad of the velvet carpet, which gave my slippers more grip than they would have otherwise. I climbed the stairs. The table and two glass terrariums I had requested were already set up when I approached.
It was deathly silent when I unloaded my crate.
Two small porcelain dishes, one in each terrarium. A flask of water. The box Ash gave me, right at the center.
When everything was in place, I took a deep breath and spoke.
“Tonight, I will be showing you all a mystery. A mystery you will be eager to solve.”
I shot a quick glance up at Ash, who flashed me an encouraging smile. I wanted to strangle him with his own necktie. The lines he wrote sounded ridiculous. But there was no time to change them, so I continued.
“Inside this box are two mice. One will have a very different fate than the other.”
I lowered the box into one terrarium and slid the lid open. A tiny white mouse scurried out. I tried not to shriek as I let the other into the next terrarium. I put the box down.
“Both will drink out of the same flask.” I opened the flask and filled each dish with water. Murmurs rose as I waited for the blasted mice to drink the water. It took longer than I anticipated. One of them drank a bit. The other was busy sniffing around the terrarium, exploring every corner except the one that actually held something of interest.
When at last the stubborn mouse drank, I stepped back and waited for the sleeping draught to kick in. I waited some more. The murmurs grew louder. Somebody coughed. The curtains rustled behind me.
“Now, what is this, Miss Flora?” Madam Lucille demanded, poking her head from the curtains. “I must object to the rodents. They are horrifying.”
I threw a worried glance at the terrariums. Both mice were still scurrying around. Had I remembered to use Erasmus’s sleeping draught at all?
“Madam, if you’ll wait a little longer—”
Madam Lucille frowned, emerging fully from the curtains. “That is quite enough, Miss Flora. What you’re trying to do, speaking so cryptically? It’s quite unbecoming.”
Both mice were still awake. I was sure my cheeks were red enough to be a beacon. “Madam—”
The music mistress shook her head. “The theatre is a place for art, Miss Flora, not spectacle. Now, if you would like to sing a song, perhaps—”
“Look! One of them stopped moving!” a voice that sounded suspiciously like Ash’s rung out from the seats. I looked. The mouse on the left was no longer moving. I deflated with relief. Madam Lucille gasped.
“Yes. This mouse has felt the effects of a sleeping draught while the other remains awake,” I said, assuming as grandiose an air as possible. “How could it be, when both drank the same water from the same flask?”
Murmurs ran through the audience. They seemed properly intrigued. Madam Lucille retreated back into the curtains with a huff.
“You slipped it in when we weren’t looking!” someone shouted.
“The mouse was drugged beforehand!” another gentleman hollered.
“You’re a witch!” a debutante exclaimed.
My heart nearly leapt out of my throat at the last comment, but another voice stopped me from blubbering and exposing myself.
“Do not keep us in suspense, Miss Flora.” It was Duchess Wilhelmina. She had stood from her seat, her face impassive. “Tell us.”
I bit my lip. “I coated one dish in sleeping draught before pouring the water.”
Oohs and ahhs filled the theatre, but the ruckus quieted when Her Grace clapped slowly. “What a clever little trick, Miss Flora. I wonder where you got such an idea.”
