Read Her Own Devices for Free Online Page B

society.
    Andrew gazed at the coal in his hand. “Such a waste of an amazing mind. The electricks were all destroyed, for safety. Or almost all. A few went missing but they’ve never turned up. I supposed we’d know it if they did—it would be difficult to miss explosions or buildings suddenly burning down.”
    Goosebumps prickled on Claire’s shoulders. “What would happen if one did turn up?”
    Andrew laughed. “The likelihood of anyone knowing what to do with such a thing would be low.”
    “I knew a man once,” Tigg said. “’E’s dead now, o’course, but they say ’e got into college afore ’e frew it all away an’ turned to a life of crime. Handy wiv electricks, ’e was.” Tigg studiously avoided looking at Claire.
    “I wouldn’t like to see one of these devices in the hands of a criminal,” Andrew said slowly. “Fortunately, they were small. Dr. Craig—that was the scientist’s name, Rosemary Craig—could carry one in her reticule and still have room for stamps and a pocketbook.”
    “But if there was a big ’un?” Tigg asked. “What then?”
    Andrew gazed at his chamber. “From what I remember, even a small cell could probably power this chamber.”
    “Could you build one?” Claire asked. “If you could find that paper?”
    He shook his head. “Not if the order was given to destroy them. Once the Society makes that decision, it’s final. Every copy of the paper in their archives would have been destroyed. Now that I recall, it was that order that triggered the attack on the Chief Engineer. Dr. Craig simply snapped.”
    Claire wondered if she might not do the same in that unfortunate lady’s position. Imagine devoting your life to a magnificent device, creating it, demonstrating it—and then being told that it was dangerous and every example of it would be destroyed. Flying at the Chief Engineer, it seemed to her, would be a fairly reasonable response.
    But perhaps every example had not been destroyed.
    The lightning rifle . Could it really be that it contained one of Rosemary Craig’s lost devices? And if it did, how could Claire find a way to use it to help Andrew in his endeavors?
    The trouble was, she did not know enough about electricks. She could show the rifle to him, but then she would run into the troublesome problem of telling him where she’d got it. And that was impossible.
    No. She needed to learn more about Rosemary Craig and what she had created.
    But how? Where?
    Claire went upstairs and began work on the piles of treatises, formulae, and measurements to one side of the desk. As she sorted, she began to see patterns—in the paperwork, in names, and in the nature of Andrew’s experiments. And in the back of her mind, a resolution formed.
    Dr. Craig must have had a family. And if it were a respectable family, no one would know more about them than their staff.
    And no one knew more people among the servants in the great houses than Mrs. Morven, the Trevelyans’ former cook at Wilton Crescent.
    She was now employed by Lord James Selwyn at Hanover Square, but Claire would not allow that to dissuade her. Lord James was away, and there was nothing to prevent her from visiting a well-loved former employee, now, was there?
     
    *
     
    Mrs. Morven opened the door so fast that Claire was sure she’d been waiting behind it for her to knock. “My dear Lady Claire!” She had never been given to displays of affection, but she swept Claire into a hug against her vast chest and kissed her soundly on both cheeks.
    Claire kissed her back, adjusted her hat, and stepped inside Lord James’s home. It smelled of carnations and furniture polish. “It’s very good to see you, Mrs. Morven. Lord James is treating you well?”
    As she spoke, she took in every detail. Parquet floor in the hall. Ah, there were the carnations, in the front parlor, which was tastefully decorated in Wedgewood blue and Nile green. Not a speck of dust lay anywhere, from walls painted cream to the furniture