Read The Seducer for Free Online Page A

treatise. Ever since, Gustave had detected a lack of deference. Presumptuous that, since Adrian was of suspect blood and a mongrel in appearance. The boy was fortunate to have any position at all, let alone that of a secretary to one of the greatest scientists on the Continent.
    On the other hand, this visitor had made reference to foreign texts. No doubt such a person considered Latin foreign.
    “You may stay. You might learn something.” His own writing of Latin might make some slips, but his reading of it was unsurpassed. Perhaps he would have a chance to put this secretary in his place.
    Adrian left and returned shortly, carrying three bound books. A tall man, about thirty years old, followed him in.
    Daniel St. John accepted Gustave’s welcome and took the chair beside the desk. Adrian deposited his burden and moved away to the wall.
    Gustave examined his visitor. For a man who had made his wealth in trade, St. John was well turned out and carried himself with an arrogant dignity. Well, money could do that, up to a point, just as learning could. He had heard of St. John, but they had never met.
    “It was generous of you to see me,” St. John said.
    “Your letter describing some rare books intrigued me. I doubt anything will come of it, but I decided that they are worth a look. Tell me where you found them.”
    “One of my ships was in the eastern Mediterranean. The captain, as a favor to the Turkish sultan, agreed to provide passage to Egypt for a member of the royal court. Unfortunately, the minister died while on board. These were found among his belongings.”
    And Daniel St. John had not sought to return them to either his passenger’s family or the sultan. No wonder the books were being offered privately and quietly.
    “I have heard of your library,” St. John continued. “And although I cannot begin to make any sense of it, the top book appears to deal with something scientific.” He flipped open the cover of the thin volume. “See here. There are drawings and numbers, and not just words.”
    “This is not a printed book. It is a manuscript.”
    “Yes. Didn’t I mention that?”
    He had not. What a fool.
    Gustave pulled the volume closer. The writing was not Latin, but Arabic. Hell, he didn’t know any Arabic.
    He studied the mathematical formulas and the pictures. He paged forward.
    A tiny image near a corner caught his eye. It showed rows of cylinders, connected by lines. Now, that appeared familiar. His blood began pulsing for reasons he could not name. It reminded him of how he had felt when he neared completion of that ill-fated proof.
    He forced a bland expression. It would never do to reveal his interest. St. John would probably charge a fortune for anything someone really wanted.
    His presumptuous secretary craned his neck to get a glimpse. Feeling a spurt of the teacher’s largesse, Gustave called him over.
    “Arabic,” Adrian said with astonishment.
    “Brilliant observation.”
    “I have taught myself some.” Adrian’s finger went to a line of jottings. “I can translate part of this for you.”
    Gustave snapped the cover closed, almost crushing the intrusive finger. “M’sieur St. John, would you excuse us for a short while?”
    St. John graciously retreated. When the door closed behind him, Gustave turned on his employee. “Do not
ever
presume to instruct me, especially in front of others. I took you on despite your ambiguous history and your lack of fortune, but there are others waiting for your place.”
    “My apologies. It is just that I thought it might help if you knew what the manuscript was about.”
    Gustave opened the pages to where he had been. Those cylinders . . . Why did that look so familiar?
    Well, what was the good in having a secretary if you didn’t get your money’s use out of him. “Fine,” he said to Adrian. “Tell me what you make of it.”
    The young man frowned over the dots and dashes. “I do not think it is only scientific, but also mechanical.