Read Magnificent Devices 07 - A Lady of Integrity for Free Online

watch.”
    Alice pushed herself off the wainscoting. “I have to say this is a new one on me. Having a middy, I mean. That poor kid—are you sure he wouldn’t be happier back at Carrick House?”
    “He would not.” Claire looped her arm through Alice’s and together they made their way to the crew’s quarters. “The children may arrive in Wilton Crescent as street sparrows, but they stay with the understanding that they will make something of themselves. Mr. Stringfellow has proven himself able at mathematics and reading, and has shown an aptitude for heights—meaning he retains his meals during lift. When we find the Stalwart Lass and Jake, the latter may be incapacitated. You will be glad of another hand then, I daresay.”
    “He doesn’t leave Athena . I don’t want another boy’s fate on my conscience—especially one barely out of short pants.”
    “Of course not. His duties are aboard ship.” Briskly, she knocked on the closet-sized cabin that had thrilled the boy’s heart. Had he been a prince given a country of his own, he could not have been happier. “Mr. Stringfellow, are you within?”
    The door opened at once to reveal the black-haired, red-cheeked urchin. “Yes, Lady. What is it, Lady?”
    “Captain Chalmers and I must dress and receive dinner guests—since she cannot go out, they are coming to us. I would like you to stand watch in the communications cage. The instant that pigeon arrives from England, I want the contents brought to me, no matter where I am or what I am doing.”
    “Yes, Lady.”
    Before she could take another breath, he dashed off down the corridor to carry out his orders.
    “Can’t fault his obedience, anyway,” Alice said as he disappeared from view. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed.”
    “What about you?” Claire poked her in the ribs. “Whatever happened to that aquamarine dress Lady Dunsmuir had made for you in Edmonton?”
    Alice huffed a laugh. “That thing? I haven’t seen hide nor hair of it since then. I think it got spoiled somehow during our escape. I must have thrown it out—or used it to patch a gas bag, maybe. There was enough fabric in it to make a touring balloon.”
    “Such a shame. You looked well in it.”
    “If you’re hinting that I ought to dress up for dinner, you’re bound for disappointment. I’ll put on one of your navy skirts and a shirt, and that will have to do.”
    “Believe me, I wish I could do the same. But the von Zeppelins know perfectly well the contents of my wardrobe, after four years here, so I’ll be expected to put on evening clothes. It shows them respect, you know, since they will certainly dress to greet us.”
    Alice looked a little anxious. “They won’t think I’m not showing respect, will they? Because all I have to stand up in outside of what I can borrow from you are the things Mr. Malvern got from his haberdasher.”
    “Certainly not. A man who secretes you in a rifle case knows precisely the extent of your resources and will not hold them against you.”
    Claire had not seen the count and the baroness since she had taken her leave of them following her graduation from the University of Bavaria the previous June. So their arrival here yesterday had been a happy one, with tonight’s invitation being contrived so that the count, ever alert for the engineering talent he enjoyed nurturing in others, might converse with Alice without danger of her being seen.
    Claire had kept the menu simple out of consideration for the von Zeppelins’ cook, who had prepared the meal in the palace and was simply adding the finishing touches in Athena’ s spartan galley. A cold shrimp cocktail, soup, and a game course with roasted vegetables were all easily transported across several hundred feet of lawn.
    They had barely begun the haunch, which may as well have been porridge for all the attention Alice and the count were paying to it, so deep in conversation were they, when running footsteps could be heard in the