From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(63)

"How did he make himself agreeable to her?" I asked.

"By following her about as she shopped, made calls, and so on. Apparently he happened to bump into her and her mother on no less than three occasions that day."

"Don't sound so agreeable to me," Gus muttered. "More like a cough that can't be shook off."

"Someone ought to warn her about him," I said.

"No need," Seth said. "His methods didn't work. She has since told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him and is now being courted by a far more upstanding gentleman."

"Good for her."

"Amen. Fortunately for me, too, or Mother would see that I make myself agreeable to her."

"His story will be easy enough to verify with her maid," Lincoln said.

Seth pressed his hand to his heart. "It will be an honor to be assigned the task of interrogating the maid."

Lincoln nodded.

Gus stretched out on the rug in front of the fire and rolled his eyes. "You're a toss pot."

"But a toss pot who finds out things, like Harcourt's involvement with St. Bartholomew's Hospital." Seth downed the contents of his glass and set it on the table. "I mentioned Barts in a passing comment about Gus's aunt's health, and asked Buchanan if he knew any good doctors there. He claimed to know nothing about the institution, but said his brother does. Apparently Harcourt donates to research there."

"Which department?"

"Buchanan didn't know. The latest medical breakthroughs, is how he put it. He followed it up with a snide comment about his brother's excessive spending on strangers when he had family practically starving on his doorstep."

I laughed. "Buchanan's likening himself to a starving waif, now? The man is incorrigible."

"I'll look into it," Lincoln said.

"Right." Seth pushed himself out of the chair, wobbled a little, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I'm going to bed."

"Not yet," Lincoln said, and Seth plopped back down into the armchair. "There's been a development that you both need to be aware of."

"We know the committee were here," Gus said. "Cook already told us."

"That's not all of it." I glanced at Lincoln. He nodded at me to go on.

"You two have patched things up?" Seth asked us with a hopeful smile.

I cleared my throat. "Lincoln has resigned from the ministry."

"Um…what?"

Gus sat up. "Bloody hell! What'd you go and do that for?"

"They were dismissing him anyway," I said. "He simply agreed to it."

"Huh?" Seth rubbed his fingers in his eyes then blinked back at us. " You two really shouldn't be left alone with the committee."

We told them how the committee had met that day and voted to oust Lincoln as leader, and why, mentioning that Eastbrooke had been the only one against the decision. We went on to tell them what Lincoln and I had subsequently decided to do.

"Then, when all this is over, they'll happily reinstate you as leader," Seth said with a knowing tap of his finger on the side of his nose.

"Aye." Gus nodded. "They'll be bowin' and scrapin' and beggin' you to come back. Make sure I'm there. I want to see it."

"I'll reassess how I feel about the ministry after the murderer is caught," Lincoln said. "I might not return."

Two sets of eyes bulged. Then they both turned to me, as if I held the answer to why Lincoln had suddenly lost his mind.

I stood, wanting to cut off questions before they uttered them. "Goodnight, everyone."

"We go out for one evenin' and look what happens," Gus mumbled, helping Seth out of the chair. "We come home to a mess."

Seth nodded, but the action caused him to sway. Gus caught him before he fell back into the chair. "They shouldn't be left on their own with only the servants to keep an eye on them. We can't trust them."

I smiled as I headed out, feeling content for the first time in weeks.



"Finally!" Lady Vickers declared when I told her there was no need to keep my return a secret anymore.

"Finally?" I asked. We sat in the sitting room by the fire. Lincoln had taken Dr. Fawkner with him to Barts to find out what he could about Lord Harcourt's investments. He'd promised the doctor he'd take him to see his mother and sisters afterward, as long as he did as he was told. A bleary-eyed Seth was visiting The Honorable Jane Stebney-Green's maid. Meanwhile, Gus kept watch over me, a job he took very seriously. He'd already ordered me back from the window when I went to sit there to soak up the morning sunshine. He remained alert while Lady Vickers and I sewed.

"Yes, finally," Lady Vickers repeated. "There is already interest surrounding you, thanks to my edited account of your intriguing past. Once I put out the word that you're available to attend parties, I expect the invitations to pour in. I'll begin today."

"So soon?"

She patted my knee. "Of course, my dear. There's no time to waste. You're not getting any younger."

I sighed and appealed to Gus for help.

"It might be fun," he said with a shrug. "You need a little fun. Ain't good for you to be cooped up in here."