From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(69)

I opened the letter because I could no longer bear to look at his haunted eyes. I drew in a steadying breath, but my hands still shook as I read. It was from Alice, and she had news. Dreadful news.





Chapter 17





Lincoln strode to my side, but didn't get too close. "What is it? What's happened?"

"Alice's dream came to life again." I showed him the letter. It was brief, only a paragraph long, but it told me everything I needed to know. Alice's parents refused to keep paying for her place at the School for Wayward Girls, and had forbidden her to return home. They'd disowned her and Mrs. Denk had given her until Christmas to leave. That very night, Alice's dream had come to life again. This time, two fat twins visited the school looking for her, both of them bumbling fools, according to Alice. She'd met them often in her dreams. Two portly idiots were better than an army, but Mrs. Denk became cross and ordered them to leave. Apparently the men wouldn't listen to her. I wondered if she marched them down to the dungeon to teach them a lesson.

"Alice will come here," Lincoln said, handing the letter back to me. "Write to her today and send her some money for the journey."

I nodded through my tears. Why was I still crying? I was happy to be seeing her again, yet I couldn't stop. "Thank you, Lincoln."'

"Don't thank me." He walked away and did not look back.

"What is it?" Seth asked, joining me.

I showed him the letter. "Alice is coming to stay."

He laughed as he read. "I hope we get to experience these dreams of hers. Her fat twins will get along superbly with Gus and Cook."

"Hopefully a safe environment will put an end to that."

"How safe is it here at the moment?" He put his arm around my shoulders. "Let's go see Cook. You look like you could do with a slice of one of his cakes."



The evening at the Overtons began well enough. Miss Overton stuck to her mother's side so I simply avoided them both during the pre-dinner drinks in the drawing room. Lincoln managed to slip out of their trap, too, thanks largely to Lady Vickers accosting Mrs. Overton. Catching one Overton inevitably led to the capture of the other.

"Two birds, one stone," Seth muttered in my ear. "But my mother needs to think again if she's setting her sights on that girl for me."

"She might be quite lovely, when she's separated from her mother's skirts," I said.

"How will we ever know? I prefer a girl with a mind of her own."

"Like Miss Yardly?" I nodded at the buxom woman giggling at something Andrew Buchanan had said. I'd been prepared to like her for her spirit until I saw her fawning over him. He was a cad and not very good at hiding the fact. Clearly she had poor taste.

"Not like Miss Yardly." Seth turned his back on the couple and gazed over my head at the rest of the party. There were twenty, mostly young and eligible, the girls with their chaperones, of course. It would seem Mrs. Overton had matchmaking in mind.

So did Lady Vickers. The two of them put their heads together and nodded at various members of the party as they talked. I suspected they were pairing us up in some sort of game.

"Vickers," declared a gentleman, clapping Seth on the back. "Good to see you again. It's been a while."

Seth shook the man's hand. "A long while. I thought you'd left London."

The man grinned. He had straight, white teeth that dazzled against his tanned skin. His hair was as fair as Seth's and he was just as tall. If it wasn't for the three scars on his cheek, he'd have been very handsome.

"I did." He pointed to his scars. "Been in Africa."

"What creature did that?"

He threw his shoulders back, pushing out his chest. "Lion."

"Bloody hell." Seth drew me over. "Charlie, this is my old school friend, Mr. Martin Seacombe. Seacombe, this is Miss Charlotte Holloway, my mother's companion."

Mr. Seacombe did the oddest thing. He held out his hand for me to shake. Most men bowed or kissed women's hands, but he did not. I shook it with a firm grip.

His face pinked and he quickly removed his hand. "Sorry. I've been away so long I've forgotten how to behave around gentler company."

"Don't be sorry," I said.

"Don't worry," Seth said with a grin. "Charlie's not at all gentle." He nudged me with his elbow. I wanted to kick him.

Lincoln joined our party and Seth introduced him then asked Seacombe about his travels. He regaled us with the story of how the lion he'd been hunting outsmarted him and hunted him instead.

"He won the battle," Seacombe said with a grin that made his scars pucker. "But I won the war."

We three stared at him. "You killed the lion?" Seth asked.

Seacombe puffed out his chest. "I did."

"Oh."

"The skin and head make an impressive rug on my library floor, as long as you watch your step." He laughed. "What's wrong, Vickers? Lion got your tongue?" He snorted.

"I suppose I don't see the appeal of killing animals for no particular reason."

"That's because you've never experienced the thrill of the chase. It makes you feel alive. When it's a matter of kill or be killed, everything becomes so much clearer." He clapped Seth on the shoulder again. "Wouldn't expect you to understand. You've never been to Africa."