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can. I’m very interested to see what you are going to do next.”
    “As am I,” Victoria murmured.
    Taking the copper boiling pot of melted isinglass from Mrs. Noggin, Agatha poured the gelatinous material into the wine glass. Immediately a thick muddy precipitate fell to the bottom.
    Victoria lowered her head level with the table and stared at the glass. “I thought you were going to do something spectacular.”
    Agatha glanced at the precipitate and laughed. At last, an experiment that had turned out right . “I did.”
    Victoria thrust her elbows on the table. “I still don’t understand what this has to do with your boots.”
    Agatha picked up the glass and held it to the light. “Most wines contain a substance called tannin.”
    “Hmm. That’s what Henry says gives him the headache after he’s drunk the wine.” Victoria withdrew her elbows from the table. “Tannin, has this anything to do with tanning leather?”
    Agatha smiled. “Exactly. In the book Mrs. B. says that Tannin is used in the making of leather. Animal hides are soaked in a solution of water and tannin made from bark. It turns them into a leather that provides a strong impermeability to water.”
    “But why the isinglass?”
    “The isinglass is acting like the animal skin. The isinglass has precipitated the tannin from the wine to form an insoluble compound… something that is impervious to water.”
    Victoria frowned and poked at the glass. “I can’t wear that.”
    “Animal skin contains a similar substance to the isinglass. It mixes with the tannin, turning the skin into leather which is waterproof.”
    Mrs. Noggin sat back from the table. “Well I never. I’m not sure I understood half those words that you used. But I do wonder what Mister Henry’s stomach looks like after drinking all that red wine if that is the case.”
    “Exactly what Caroline says in the book.” Agatha snapped the book closed and drew her chair away from the table.
    “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.” Victoria took the glass to the sink and poured the contents down the drain. “He only drinks when he’s upset. After he’s eaten of course.” Picking up the bottle of wine, she turned it round to see the label. Chateauneuf du Pape 1780. “Oh dear. We had better go and perform more experiments elsewhere.”
    Agatha glanced at the bottle. “I thought Mrs. Noggin said he didn’t like it.”
    Victoria pulled at her arm with tense fingers. “It’s not a case of not liking it,” she whispered, nodding a goodbye to the smiling Mrs. Noggin. “More, that one doesn’t drink Chateauneuf du Pape very often as it is so expensive. That bottle is from the last of the wine my father bought.”
     

CHAPTER 6
     
    Henry stared over the breakfast table at the unusual sight in front of him. It was not the fact kippers had been banished from the sideboard that bothered him, in fact he hadn’t eaten any fish for several weeks. Nor was it the excessive way in which salt from the salt cellar was disappearing unexpectedly.
    It was the sight of Victoria laughing. Laughing without a care in the world to be precise. Slowly his eyes tracked across to Agatha, who leant on the table, examining her bacon and eggs with a magnifying glass.
    “Just what—” Henry took a deep breath. “What are you looking at, Agatha?”
    “She’s examining the bacon and eggs flummery that Mrs. Noggin sent up.” Victoria giggled. “Mrs. Noggin is protesting against my ban on fish products in our food. She’s sent up bacon and eggs for Agatha on a bed of spinach made of green jelly.”
    “Good god. That doesn’t have fish in it.”
    Victoria nodded earnestly. “Yes it does. The spinach jelly is made of isinglass, a fish’s swim bladder.”
    “Oh.” Henry blinked. “I’m surprised at Mrs. Noggin. I had to reprimand her for spilling some of that wine that Papa brought back.”
    “Ah, about that.” Victoria hung her head.
    Henry wanted to take the words back. Immediately the