From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(16)

"They left."

My head whipped round to face him. "Pardon?"

"They no longer wished to work for me."

I blinked. "Oh," was all I could manage.

"They might come back when they learn you're home."

Seth and Gus gone. Surely they had too much at stake simply to walk away. They both needed the work, and they both believed that unmasking the killer was important. Lincoln must be wrong. No doubt they'd expressed their anger with him over sending me away, so perhaps he'd interpreted that anger as something more.

"Or they might decide to stay away," he went on. "If that's so, I'm sure they'll visit you."

I removed my soggy hat and set it on my lap. "What about Cook?"

"He's still at Lichfield, as far as I know." He pulled his watch out of his pocket and flipped open the case. "I have to go out again after we get back. The supernaturals listed in the archives need to be warned that their life is in danger."

"Not all of them, surely. Only the ones whose magic could be used to bring back the dead."

"I'll start with them."

"You've made a list?"

"I don't need to."

Of course. Everything was safely stored in his perfect memory.

"You need Seth and Gus to come back and assist you. Fetch them first then split the list by three."

"It'll be faster if I work alone."

I doubted that but I was in no mood to argue with him over his stubbornness again. I wouldn't win.

It wasn't a long drive to Lichfield Towers, thank goodness. I couldn't decide what was worse—the tense silence or my wet clothes. The familiar high fences and hedges of the beautiful properties at the edge of Hampstead Heath made me forget both, however. Glimpses of the lovely homes through the gates shed my dreary mood, and quickened my heart. Despite the awkwardness between Lincoln and me, despite the grim weather, and the prospect of Seth and Gus not returning, I didn't want to be anywhere else.

My breath caught in my throat as we drove through the heavy iron gates and along the winding drive. Lichfield loomed ahead, its wings spread in a welcome. I used to think it gloomy, its central tower forbidding, but no longer. There was nothing more homely than its gray stone walls and the smoke drifting from three of its chimneys. If Seth and Gus no longer lived there, why were there three fires? Had Lincoln told Doyle when to expect us?

The butler greeted us at the doorway with two umbrellas. He opened the carriage door and gasped upon seeing me. "Miss Holloway!"

"Good afternoon, Doyle. You weren't expecting us?"

He looked quite foolish with his mouth ajar and his eyes wide. "No. I, er, was given no warning." He glanced past my shoulder to Lincoln then handed me an umbrella. "Welcome home."

"Thank you, Doyle. It's wonderful to see you again. But I insist you call me Charlie."

He held out the other umbrella to Lincoln, emerging behind me, but he refused it, and once again got thoroughly wet as he took down the luggage. I hurried up the steps and glanced at my surroundings. Little had changed. The only difference was the calling cards in the salver on the table by the door. Visitors had called in Lincoln's absence. Five, in fact, all women, and very well to-do going by the thickness of the cards and the toff sounding names. I stamped down on the pang of jealousy screwing into my chest. His callers were none of my affair anymore.

I continued to the kitchen, stepping lightly so as not to alert Cook to my presence. He stood at the central table, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, his hands buried in dough. He did not look up.

"God, I missed these delicious smells," I said with a smile.

He glanced up. Without so much as a dusting off of his hands, he rounded the table and scooped me up. He was warm and soft, like one of his soufflés, and smelled like flour and butter and spices.

"It's so good to see you again," I said, pulling back to look at him. His eyes sparkled and a grin split his moon-like face.

"And you!" He glanced past me. "You escaped? Does he know?"

I laughed. "He fetched me. I don't know why."

"He missed you," he said with typical bluntness. "He ain't a machine; he just want folk to think he is." He laughed and hugged me again. "Thank God you be back. It be hell here since you left. Seth and Gus be gone."

"I heard. Do you think they'll come back?"

He nodded. "Once they hear of your return. Only I'm not sure where to find them."

"Then how will we inform them?"

"Seth will be in touch with his mother."

"His mother?"

He grinned. "The hoity toity Lady Vickers be living here now. You'll meet her soon enough." He told me to wait and fetched something wrapped in a cloth from the pantry. He handed it to me. "I were saving this for Lady V, but you have it." I unwrapped three slices of cold beef and ate one while Cook watched. "Take it with you upstairs. Go have a bath. You be wet and cold." He nudged me with his elbow and returned to his dough. "These biscuits be ready by the time you get out."

I took the service stairs to the second floor and kept an eye open for Lady Vickers as I hurried to my old rooms. I wasn't ready to meet her yet. A warm bath was called for to fortify my nerves first.