Her Own Devices (13 page)

The door closed downstairs. At first, Claire thought it might be Tigg, going out to the landau to fetch something, but no, there were feet on the stairs with a much heavier tread than his.

James Selwyn emerged, removing his gloves.

Andrew turned away, and Claire bent to the nearest stack of papers, tapping them into order with absolutely no idea of what they were.

James glanced between them, apparently seeing no hint of what had just transpired. “Good morning, Andrew. Ah, Claire. I was delighted to see the landau outside just now.”

“I’m usually here in the mornings.” Drat. That wasn’t very welcoming. She was engaged to him. “I trust you are well?”

“Very well. You know, it occurred to me I have no idea of your address, so I cannot forward the invitations that have begun to arrive.”

“Invitations?”

“I’m afraid I mentioned our happy news to one or two people—” Andrew exhaled sharply, but he didn’t seem to notice. “—and now I am inundated by tubes. Tomorrow night, for instance, we are invited to the theatre with my cousin and his wife, and thence to Lady Wellesley’s ball. On Friday there is dinner and cards with the Meriweather-Astor clan, and the next evening some kind of fancy-dress nonsense rumored to be attended by the Prince of Wales.” He smiled at her. “My social life has doubled since I took myself off the marriage market. It’s mystifying.”

“It’s not mystifying at all,” Andrew said shortly. “Everyone knows Claire’s circumstances. They simply want to be entertained by seeing the two of you together.”

“Are you implying there is something amusing in my fiancee’s situation?”

“It’s no secret that she has to make her own way in the world. Those—those meringues are going to be at many of these events, and you’ve seen how they amuse themselves at her expense.”

“I am standing right here,” Claire reminded them both. “I’m not afraid of Julia and her set. I have more important things than
their
opinion with which to occupy my mind.”

James smiled again, but it seemed a little tighter this time. “Then you will accompany me?”

An idea popped into her head, fully formed, and she had difficulty controlling the urge to laugh. “You may accept on my behalf for the fancy-dress ball. As to the others, I’m afraid I have nothing suitable to wear. I left all my evening clothes behind at Carrick House, which was subsequently looted.”

“I’m sure my cousins’ wives can find you something.”

“No, thank you, I could not put them to that trouble.”

“Claire, you’re going to have to meet my family eventually.”

“Yes, I know, and in four years I am sure I will have many opportunities. But for this week, I simply have too much to do, and too little time in which to do it.”

“Is Andrew working you that hard?” He glanced at him, censure in his gaze. “If that’s the case, I’ll have a thing or two to say about it.”

“You shall not,” Claire retorted. “I’m quite capable of managing my work here without interference.”

“I’m entitled to interfere. You forget who is funding this endeavor—including your salary.”

“I shall forego my salary, in that case.”

This seemed to take him aback. “You don’t mean it. What will you live on?”

“Until we are married, that is my business.”

He gazed at her, perplexed. “Perhaps I was a little hasty,” he said carefully. “Please forgive me.” The tension in her shoulders did not relax, but she inclined her head. “I have another matter to discuss with you.”

“If it is another ball, the subject is beginning to fatigue me.” She swept the treatises from their shelf into one arm, and carried them across the room. Then she began to shelve books.

“No, not another ball, though you may as well resign yourself to them. They aren’t going to go away. This is a more personal matter.”

“Please excuse me,” Andrew said. “I should not be an unwelcome third in this conversation.”

“Relax, Andrew.” Lord James waved his concern away. “I simply wanted to say that among the invitations was one from Claire’s mother, Lady St. Ives.”

She gripped a stack of books as if it would shield her from whatever he was going to say. “Did she want a wedding date for the announcement in the
Times
?”

“Yes, but I took care of that. She invited us down for a few days, that is all. I believe she wrote to you about it as well.” When Claire nodded, he went on, “It just occurred to me that if I decline most of the other invitations, we could take the
Princess Mary
down and be back in time for the fancy-dress ball Saturday evening.”

“Go by airship? Not the train?”

The
Princess Mary
was the air equivalent of the Flying Dutchman—though of course it traveled much, much faster. Going to see her mother in Lord James’s company was the very last thing she wanted to do ... but at the same time, what better way to smuggle Dr. Craig out to the airfield and get her on the packet to Paris than as part of her own party?

“It will be dreadfully expensive.”

“For two people? Hardly. I can send a tube and make the reservations at once.”

“For seven.”

“Seven?” He dropped his walking stick and had to bend to pick it up. “Are you planning to take my entire family?”

“No, mine. I should like the children to go, as well.” She held up a hand and counted them off on her fingers. “Margaret, Elizabeth, Willie, Tigg, and Jake.” As her lieutenant, Snouts would need to stay behind in her place. She would, unfortunately, need to leave the lightning rifle behind, and she could entrust its care to no one else. “I believe you’ve met everyone except Jake.”

For a moment, all he could do was stare, and then he closed his mouth with a snap. “Certainly not.”

“I shall buy their tickets myself, so they will not presume upon your generosity.”

“I’m not going all the way to Cornwall with a passel of brats who don’t even belong to me!”

“They are my responsibility, therefore, they go with me.”

“Aren’t you taking your governessing a little too seriously? Where are their parents?”

Time to take the plunge. “They have no parents. They are orphans. I have taken it upon myself to see to their education and well-being, and I think a journey to Cornwall will be beneficial to both.”

“Why ... why didn’t you tell me this?” James looked to Andrew for support. “Did you know?”

Poor Andrew looked as though he would rather be anywhere but in his own office. “I knew some of it. But it isn’t really my business what Claire chooses to do with her private life. My business is the four hours she and Tigg spend here.”

“Well, the rest of it is my business! I won’t have it, Claire.”

She gazed at him and for the space of two seconds there was silence in the room. Even downstairs in the laboratory, the sounds of banging and clanking had stopped. Then she lifted an eyebrow. “Until four years are up, my life is not your business. You surprise me, James. Would you begrudge a penniless orphan the chance to see an airship, to travel in civilized company, and to see a great estate like Gwynn Place?”

“It’s not a matter of begrudging. The point is that they have nothing to do with me, and I don’t care to be imposed upon.”

“They are not imposing upon you in the least. They are my responsibility, and I propose it as an educational and social opportunity.”

“Ridiculous.”

She put the books on the shelf in a neat row. “As ridiculous as your balls and dinners. Very well. I decline all invitations, and you may explain to your circle in any way you like why your fiancee will not appear with you at any of your engagements.”

For a moment he appeared to struggle with himself. “Claire, please.”

Her voice quiet, she said, “It is the responsibility of the noble and blessed among us to look out for those who are less fortunate. The children will not bother you. I will not beg, but I will ask you to think of their well being—and my own.”

Was he grinding his teeth? No, she was imagining it. “I suppose you will do what you like, no matter what I say.”

“Certainly. But my mind would be greatly eased if I knew I had your approval.”

“I don’t know if I can manage approval.”

“I would be satisfied with unwilling complicity.”

“It is safe to say you will have that.”

Her smile seemed to make his face soften. At least, his jaw had stopped working. “Thank you, James. If you will be so good as to make the reservations for tomorrow’s flight, I will pay for the children’s tickets.”

“Certainly not. In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose.”

She savored her victory. All in all, perhaps it would be best if she didn’t mention the sixth member of their little party.

After all, he could hardly pitch a tantrum if the scientist were standing right in front of him, could he?

*

“Cor,” Tigg breathed, gazing up with huge brown eyes at the enormous elliptical shape of the airship over his head, “I ent never seen anything so big in all me life. Not even bleedin’ Parliament.”

Even Jake, who rarely reacted to anything with more than a snort or clenched teeth, did not seem to be aware that his mouth had fallen open as he gazed up past the gleaming wood and brass gondola, to the mooring ropes that held the ship to the ground, to the polished canvas of the balloon itself as it swelled over their heads.

Jake had not wanted to come. “Ent never had my feet further off t’ground than t’Whitechapel catwalks, and never plan to,” he said, and it had taken all the Mopsies’ wheedling and all the other boys’ teasing to get him to agree. It was Snouts who tipped the scale in the end. “The Lady needs protection, mate, and yer the best ’and I got,” he’d told Jake in a low voice. “I don’t trust his bleedin’ nibs and nor should you.”

Tigg, evidently, had blabbed the entire debacle up in the loft to a rapt audience. Claire was not certain she wanted her personal business common knowledge in the cottage, but it couldn’t be helped. If it got Jake to go with them, she was willing to make the sacrifice.

“Any sign of his lordship, Mopsies?” she murmured. They never missed a thing, and getting Dr. Craig onto this airship with no one recognizing her was vital.

“Still in the bar, Lady,” Lizzie said from her post on the walkway above. “He don’t even know we’re here yet. I ’ope ’e don’t get sick.”

Lizzie’s only contact with boats, floating or flying, had been on the Thames, and nausea had been the result. Claire hoped that her stomach would stand up to the test today.

“Come, Dr. Craig. The steward appears to be beckoning to us.”

“Tickets, ladies? We cast off lines in five minutes.”

Dr. Craig handed him the ticket that had come in the tube this morning, and he stamped it and handed it back. “A pleasure to have you aboard, ma’am. Your seat is second from the bow. Please strap yourself in until we reach cruising altitude.”

Dr. Craig drew a shuddering breath through her nose, and her skin turned white as paper. “Doc—Rosemary?” Claire had agreed not to use her last name aloud. “Are you all right?”

The scientist controlled herself. “Must I be ... strapped in?”

Claire felt the cold brush of the woman’s fear on her own skin. Of course.

Leather straps.

“It’s for your own safety, ma’am. The
Princess Louise
, she’s eager to fly. If you’re not prepared, you can lose your balance when we take off, what with the speed of ascent and all. But of course you can unbuckle them and move about the gondola as you please when the captain gives the all clear.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Very well. It ... helps to know I can take them off myself.” She turned to Claire. “I suppose this is where we bid each other farewell.”

“I suppose it is.” Claire gave her a warm smile. “I hope someday to see you again.”

“I do, too.” She turned to the others. “Margaret, remember ... the leg mechanisms must be oiled regularly, and you must exercise the coop at least once a week. Otherwise, you will find it unwilling to move when you really need it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Maggie gazed up at her and took her hand. “Ta for your ’elp, ma’am. We would never ’ave figured out those legs without you.”

“Yes, you would, little gumpus.” The scientist’s gaze softened. “I have every confidence in the inventiveness of your intellect. Goodbye, Master Tigg, Master Jake. I look forward to seeing all of you in the Canadas someday. I expect you will take them by storm.” She knelt and took Willie in her arms. “And goodbye to you, darling. I shall never have children now, but if I had had any, I should have liked them to be like you.”

The steward offered his hand and she mounted the steps, which since they did not actually rest upon the ground, dipped under her weight. As Claire moved everyone back, they could see her take her seat through the oval windows, and in the next moment someone shouted “Up ship!”

The lines were cast off, the mooring mast released the ring in the bow, and the
Princess Louise
leaped into the sky. In the space of a breath, she was the size of a gold piece next to the sun, and then she passed behind a cloud and was gone.

“That’s a relief,” Claire said. “I didn’t think anyone would recognize her after all this time, but you never know.”

“Recognize who?”

She nearly jumped out of her shoes as James’s voice boomed right behind them. She shot a poisonous glare at Lizzie, who had been watching the ship with her head tilted back and her hand shading her eyes, instead of keeping an eye on James’s whereabouts.

“Oh, no one,” she said easily. “I just thought I saw an old friend of Mama’s, that’s all.”

“None of your gadding down here. It isn’t safe. Come, they’ve just called for us to board.”

The
Princess Mary
, being a domestic vessel that did not need to cross the sea, was much smaller than the
Princess Louise
, but she was no less beautiful. After they had presented their tickets, James handed Claire into the gondola and waited with barely concealed impatience for the children to board behind her. Jake stuck to her side as though he had been strapped there.

“Excuse me, you young ruffian, but I will sit beside my fiancee, thank you very much.”