From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(56)

"No, thank you. I'm tired. I think I'll rest."

"There you both are!" Lady Vickers stood in the kitchen doorway, the invisible barrier keeping her out of Cook's domain. "Who is our new guest? Seth wouldn't tell me. He suggested I speak to you about it."

"His name is Dr. Fawkner," Lincoln said.

"A doctor?" She pursed her lips in thought. "While I think you can do better, my dear girl, a doctor might suit if there are no other candidates. How fortunate that we can study his manner at close quarters. Do you know his connections, Mr. Fitzroy?"

It was so absurd that I couldn't help the bubble of laughter escaping. "Madam, I dislike Dr. Fawkner intensely."

She sighed. "Well, I suppose it's my own fault for telling you to set your sights high."

I rolled my eyes.

"I do expect you to be civil to him, Charlie," she snipped. "You must take tea with him and such. You may not like him, but you might like his friends. It's important to present yourself in the most agreeable manner to everyone. You never know how a connection will be made."

"Charlie won't be taking tea with him," Lincoln said. "No one will. He's not to be disturbed."

"Why not?"

"He's ill."

Her hand fluttered to her chest. "Nothing catching, I hope."

"It's highly contagious."

She gasped. "Good lord. Why isn't he in hospital?"

"It's a long story, and one I don't wish to go into right now."

That seemed to satisfy Lady Vickers. I expect the fact that Lincoln was the one to tell her had much to do with her believing the story. If I or someone else did, I doubt she'd be so trusting. Lincoln did have a rather straight way of delivering his lies so that I, too, found him utterly believable at times.

Lady Vickers left, muttering under her breath about diseases and cleanliness. Bella entered a moment later and I suspected she'd been waiting for her mistress to depart. Lincoln told her about our new guest and repeated his warning about staying away. She, too, believed every word, so much so that when Seth returned, she screwed up her face and told him to scrub himself clean before he came near her.

"What have I done now?" he asked, throwing up his hands.

I left Lincoln to inform him and took my breakfast tray upstairs to eat in my room. After a warm bath and a quiet sit by the fire to dry my hair, I could no longer keep my eyes open. I fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later from a nightmare. I'd dreamed that the Queen of Hearts' soldiers chased me into a prison cell where the disgusting Jenny, dressed in the queen's livery, belched in my face then drove a sword through my heart.

I went downstairs and found Seth and Gus in the sitting room with Cook and Doyle. Doyle jumped to his feet upon seeing me and flushed red to his hairline.

"It's all right," I told him. "Please, sit down. You're welcome to use the sitting room. Mr. Fitzroy won't mind."

"Thank you, but I have to speak to him anyway." He skirted around me as if I were a wild animal and slipped out.

"How's the prisoner?" I asked, touching the sides of the teapot on the table to test its warmth.

"Still alive, unfortunately." Seth lay stretched out on the sofa, his long legs dangling over the armrest, one arm under his head. "He's an annoying little turd."

"Did Lincoln question him?"

"Aye," Gus said. He sat on an armchair and wiggled his bare toes at the fire. "Fawkner told him nothin' about the person who employed him. Prob'ly because he knew nothin'."

"He received money and instructions in a blank envelope delivered to his house," Seth added. "He didn't see who left it."

Cook stretched out his legs and scratched his round belly. "He sounds like a toss pot. Who'd hire a fool like that?"

"He was closest to Dr. Bell," I said, "and desperate. Men like that are eminently employable. Apparently his mother is ill, too. That reminds me, we ought to find out where his family lives and concoct a story to explain his absence."

"Fitzroy asked me to do it later," Gus said.

Seth sat up to make room for me on the sofa. "Your mother would have a fit if she saw you sprawled out like this," I said. "Where is she, by the way? And why isn't Bella in here with you?"

"Bella's helping my mother dress for the dinner party."

I glanced pointedly at the clock on the mantel. It was only five o'clock and the dinner didn't begin until eight.

"Apparently it takes hours," Seth said. "Bella's hair dressing skills aren't up to snuff."

Gus snorted. "She ain't much good at anythin' round here."

Seth wiggled his eyebrows. "That's what you think."

"You're doin' it right under your mother's nose? Bloody hell."

"You be asking for trouble," Cook added. "Don't come crying to us if you get caught."

"I can handle my mother," Seth said around a yawn.

I chuckled into my teacup.

Lincoln entered and nodded at me. "You're awake."

Had Doyle been ordered to tell him when I woke? It would seem so. "Tea?" I asked.

"Thank you. Gus, make your visit to the Fawkners now. Seth, see if Dr. Fawkner needs anything."