A Scandal in Battersea (Elemental Masters #12)(3)
“Coo!” said Suki, nose pressed against the carriage window. They had come out on the other side of the park and were now just at Harrod’s. The traffic was such that the carriage was able to travel very slowly indeed, and Suki was able to gaze on the shop windows to her heart’s content without endangering her precious boots.
The adults exchanged indulgent smiles. “How long are you stopping with Nan and Sarah, Suki?” asked Mary Watson. “Does Memsa’b Harton give the usual Christmas holiday?”
“I go back t’the school a’ter—after the New Year,” Suki replied, with her face still pressed to the window. “I reely loik—like bein’ at school, on’y some of the lessons make m’head hurt.” Now she turned her face toward the rest of them for a moment, her expression one of pained distaste. “It’s so hard t’talk genteel-like! I druther talk Frenchy!”
They all laughed, and Nan dropped a kiss on Suki’s forehead, remembering her own struggles with the Queen’s English. “Believe me, I know exactly what you mean, darling. I know exactly what you mean.”
This was turning out to be a lovely day. In deference to Suki’s inability to stay awake, Lord Alderscroft had scheduled “supper” at the scandalously early (for him, anyway) hour of six. Under most circumstances, getting anything other than a late, hearty tea would have been impossible . . . but “impossible” was not a word often spoken around his Lordship. So they all settled into an elegant little dining room already warm and cheerful with a good fire, and, almost as soon as they were seated, staff entered with the first course.
Again, in deference to Suki, whose Christmas treat this really was, the courses presented them were nothing overly complicated, nor anything that required special utensils or etiquette. Nor were they covered in exotic sauces or anything likely to make a little girl turn up her nose. No oysters, for instance, and lobster arrived out of its shell, in the form of the first course, a lobster bisque. Otherwise, however, this was a quite grown-up dinner, with all the courses a full formal dinner required. Memsa’b Harton had been consulted, and had agreed that it was time for Suki to get her first exposure to such a thing—because given the circumstances that her life was likely to throw her into, even as young as she was, she might have to attend one. When one was a budding medium of great potential power and the protégé of the great Wizard of London himself, you were very apt to find yourself in extremely exalted company without much warning.
If the servants were astonished to find such a young child attending a dinner with her elders, they were well trained enough not to show it. The one serving her, however, very quietly advised her on things she might or might not like, and confined her drink options to water with just a little wine in it for flavor, and light cider. Suki listened to him gravely, generally accepted his suggestions, and then listened intently to the conversation going on about her.
Sarah had been dubious about whether Suki would remain interested and alert through such a long dinner, but she comported herself well, and was rewarded with her favorite dessert, Eton mess, at the end. Not the usual dessert for a formal dinner, but the smile on Suki’s face put an answering smile on Lord Alderscroft’s. It certainly would have been a relief to the kitchen staff to produce something this simple, rather than the usual dinner-party dessert. “Eton mess” was a mixture of whipped cream, broken meringues, and strawberries. In this case, strawberries being out of season, it had been made with strawberry preserve.
When the last dessert dishes had been taken away, leaving them with fruit, cheese, nuts, and wine, the servants departed. “Now,” said his Lordship, “We can speak freely. I have a bit of a task I have often given John and Mary, ladies. I’d like to ask you to join them. When things are quiet, I send them to make visits to asylums for mentally afflicted.”
Nan saw where that was going before Sarah did. “Oh! Because an inmate of such a place might actually be seeing things—like Elementals—and not be the victim of lunacy!”
“Exactly. And up until now, I haven’t had anyone who could determine whether any of these poor creatures was the victim of his or her psychical gift, rather than insanity. Memsa’b and Sahib Harton have been called upon in the occasion that there was a strong likelihood of such a thing, but no one has been looking for it routinely. I should greatly appreciate it if you would, accompanying John, or perhaps John and Mary, as a party.” His Lordship took a sip of his wine. “Do you think that would be possible?”
“I don’t see why not,” Sarah said, after a moment of thought. “It will probably be harder for Nan than me, of course, to tell if something of interest to us is going on—it will be immediately obvious to me if there are spirits plaguing someone. But if someone is unable to close out the thoughts of others and that is what is wrong with them . . . that might be harder to spot.”
“I’ll think of something,” Nan declared, who already had a rather good idea of what she could do. “But what do we do if we find such a person?”
“Let me know immediately, and I will take steps,” Alderscroft declared. He smiled thinly. “It has occurred to me that if said persons could be induced to place their talents at the disposal of the Crown. . . .”
Nan nodded. “You would probably have more luck in recruiting those who are full of gratitude on account of having been saved from a life in a lunatic asylum than those whose circumstances were more fortunate,” she said dryly.