“Please, Ella, consider my offer. I have a promising career, and significant holdings I am to inherit from my family one day.”
He started listing other reasons I should marry him, and all I could concentrate on was how he called me Ella.
“My name is Eleanora,” I said, still stiff with remaining shock.
Karl blushed. “I apologize. Your name is quite long.” He bowed gallantly over my hand. “I don’t have much time before Teresa Marie and her father demand that notice be sent to the papers. Unfortunately, I need to know your answer soon. I would not put you in this position otherwise, I swear. Count Potocki is to announce his support for me to become the next Minister-President at the Advent Ball. I need to know I will have your support by then.”
“I see.” I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking it over. If Karl was the heir to the throne, but he needed financial support, I suspected he did not have his family’s support, like Lady POW had said before.
Another thought struck me. Was Karl somehow connected to all the strange murders that had happened? Had he needed to dispose of Dr. Artha and Father Novak?
“I would be happy to come and call upon you and your grandmother to formally ask for your hand. But I would not want to do so without knowing you are in agreement.”
I had to stop myself from flinching. “Thank you.” Karl was more mercenary than I liked, but he was polite about it.
“Please,” Karl said. “I like you. Very much.”
Quietly, I detached myself from Karl. “I will think about it,” I promised.
I knew I could say that honestly, too. I would think about why someone like Karl would pledge his lifetime to someone who was smart and clever and funny, especially when I was sure that Teresa Marie would be more than willing to act the part of the perfect wife and mother for him. I appreciated he knew the truth of who I was, and my background, but I was still too shocked to do anything but curtsy.
“Send me word through a messenger when you make a decision,” he said. “I will call upon you and your grandmother and we can discuss this more.”
“As you wish, Mr. Marcelin.”
“Karl, please.” He kissed my hand. “Farewell ... Ella.”
I nodded tepidly as Ben came over beside me. Together, we watched Karl walk away. He was as confident as ever, with his head held high and his eyes remaining forward.
“I told you,” Ben said, “you have Máma’s charm and beauty. It was only a matter of time before gentlemen all around started to propose to you.”
I would have laughed and agreed if there was less riding on the situation.
“Karl is not just any gentleman,” I said. “He is King Ferdinand’s son.”
“What?” Ben blinked. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I’m fairly certain.”
“But the king was declared medically unfit to have children,” Ben said. “This is ... that’s not ... how?”
Amir came up beside him. “What did you learn, Eleanora?”
“Karl has to be the king’s son,” I told him. “Lord Maximillian is offering him money for his political career in exchange for marrying Teresa Marie. From what I overheard Cecilia say, and given Karl’s age, that means he has to be the true heir to the throne of Bohemia.”
“Wait, what? What did Cecilia say? When did this happen?” Ben asked. “Did Marcelin tell you this when he asked you to marry him?”
“He asked you to marry him?” Amir repeated. “Well, this has certainly been quite a night for you already, Eleanora.”
“She was asked by the king’s son,” Ben said.
“Is he the one?” Amir glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the entrance to the Summerhouse.
“I’m almost completely positive it’s him,” I said. “From what I know about him and what others have said, he’s the right age, and he has the right connections. And it makes sense. His family—his mother and father—would not support an uprising against Emperor Franz Joseph. They are happy in their retirement, by all accounts.”
“Do you have proof?” Amir asked.
“I can’t even believe you think he’s really the king’s son,” Ben said.
“I’ll explain everything I know to you, Ben. But first, we have other plans. Lady POW is distracted for now. I managed to secure her an extremely private session with the Minister-President, and now I want to get to the Jewish Quarter before it’s too late.”
The Royal Summerhouse still swelled with music behind us. The early evening moon was shining on the alabaster of the columns behind us. I shivered at the touch of wind, even as it sifted through my hair like a loving hand. I turned away from Ben and Amir, looking out across the city. Prague was starting to light up with little flickers of light, and I felt it call to me.
“I can’t believe you still want to go.” Ben crossed his arms. “If what you’re saying is true, we need to talk to Lady Penelope right away.”
“Of course I still want to go.” I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Besides, Amir is right; we need proof. And if anyone would know the truth about Karl, it’s Mr. Clavan. Ferdy himself told me that everything filters through the Cabal sooner or later.”
Ben still looked skeptical.
I tugged on his arm. “Please, Ben. Amir will be staying here and he can fill her in on the details. I don’t want to disappoint Ferdy, and we might be able to learn more to help us. Besides, you promised.”
“Fine, Nora.” Ben sighed. “Come on. If nothing else, I want to meet this Ferdy person. If you’re so enamored of him, especially when it appears a prince is asking for your hand, it is my duty as your brother to make sure he is worthy of you.”
I flushed red, but I said nothing. Ben had a way of ruining my good mood, and I knew I would only get in trouble if we ended up arguing over Ferdy. Karl might have liked me very much, but I knew without even thinking that I liked Ferdy much more. Even if Ferdy had lied to me about things before, I had a feeling he would never lie to me about wanting to marry me for my dowry.
*17*
◊
Ben and I made our way through the evening streets of Prague swiftly, crossing the Vltava and sneaking our way through the tighter streets of the Jewish Quarter.
Clavan had said it right; there was a sad history between the Christians and Jews, and I felt the truth of the segregation’s pains as Ben and I headed for the Cabal.
The streets of the Josefskà were cluttered with tiny townhouses and small rooms. In the darkness, the shuttered windows and the chipping paint made the neighborhoods collectively dreary. I gripped my old maidservant skirts. I had changed into them in the carriage, before stuffing my hair under a simple bonnet and pulling on my old work shoes. The rough stitching was already foreign to me, but I had a feeling that the downtrodden figures shuffling into the alleyways to avoid my gaze would have welcomed their itchy warmth.
“I’ve never been here at night,” I said. “Is it always like this?”
“Like what?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know. Quiet. A little sad. A little strange. It’s hard to describe.”
“The Jews have always been foreigners outside of the Promised Land,” Ben reminded me. “Just as Christians are aliens this side of Heaven. You shouldn’t be so surprised to feel like you are out of place, and that this place is, too.”
“I suppose. But it seemed a lot more welcoming in the daytime the last time I was here.”
“That’s just an effect of night,” Ben assured me with a laugh. “You don’t go onto the streets of a city like Prague unless it’s for balls or parties. Now that you can see past the gilded cover, you’ll see poverty and other trials that exist in the city’s crevices.”
Ben was right. As we skimmed across shadows toward the Cabal, I saw the city was not just a wonder of light and magic; it was a place of darkness and sin, crying for deliverance.
My heart softened, witnessing plight of so many others, the ones I could see now that the daytime crowds had dispersed and the night had
called out society’s undesirables. “I wish we could help more people.”
“That’s part of the reason I like working for the Order,” Ben admitted. “With Amir’s help, and Lady POW’s income, I’ve been able to see the world more for what it is than what I thought it would be.”
“I know what you mean. Quite a few things have changed since they’ve come into our lives.”
“I’ve noticed you’ve warmed up to Amir.”
“He apologized and brought me back the book he stole,” I said. “It was Máma’s journal.”
Ben nodded. “He told me about it when I asked, the first days we worked together.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, slighted. “You’re the one who wanted me to get along with him.”
“He said it would be better if you asked, so I said I wouldn’t say anything. And ... ”
“And what?”
“And you were younger than me when Máma’s ship was lost at sea,” Ben said. “You probably don’t remember her the same way I do. She loved us, and even Otec, too. But there were days when she would disappear, locking herself in her room. I found out later she suffered from bouts of melancholy.”
“Where did you hear that?” I asked.
“Cecilia mentioned it once or twice in her list of reasons I should be glad to be alive, even if I had to work in the manor.” Ben shrugged. “Amir said that Máma and Lady POW had quite a falling out. He said he was certain that at least one of reasons she left Prague to go to London was to apologize to her. I didn’t say anything to you earlier because I didn’t want to rob you of anything you weren’t ready to hear.”
I did not tell Ben that as much as I was grateful for his earlier consideration, it almost prevented me from finding out the truth. I knew that was a large part of growing and learning, and I did not want to be left behind because of childish matters. Thanks to Lady POW, and now Ben, I knew that the woman I remembered as my mother was as wispy and insubstantial as the wind.
We said nothing else until we caught sight of the Cabal. Torches flickered at either side of the doorway. Through the windows, I saw clusters of friends and family gathered together.
We made our way to them. As Ben shuffled beside me, I took his arm. “Ben?”
“What is it?”
“Promise me that we won’t let anything come between us like Máma and Lady POW did.”
Ben took my hand and squeezed it affectionately. “I promise that won’t happen to us.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m certain, ségra.” Ben sighed and looked back at the Cabal. “But I’m warning you, if this Ferdy character is as much of a charlatan as I think he is, the limits of my patience and your forgiveness will be tested.”
“It’s better that way,” a voice said from behind us. “Such things become more precious in the end when they are tested.”
Ben and I whirled around to see Ferdy walking toward us. He had his cap on over his hair, and his scarf looped around his neck in a poor attempt to ward off the chill in the air. In the evening darkness, I might not have realized it was Ferdy at all, if I had not seen his slightly crooked grin.
Everything seemed instantly more vivid. My heart raced and my stomach twisted with happy nerves.
“Ferdy.” I smiled and waved, and it was hard to quell the joy—and relief—inside of me.
“I’m glad to see you’ve made it to the Cabal tonight,” he said, taking my hand and bowing over it before turning toward my brother. “And you’ve brought a friend?”
“This is my brother, Ben.”
“I’ll admit I’m relieved,” Ferdy said as he bowed to Ben. “I’ve heard Ella’s quite the sensation on the dancefloor—even if she falls over.”
I laughed. “How did you hear about that already?”
“I know a few people,” Ferdy teased. “And some of those people were very excited to see your stockings.”
“Excuse me.” Ben coughed. “Do you want to repeat that?”
“Later, my new friend,” Ferdy said, giving me a quick wink. “But only if you insist. I know from Elie and Clavan that the news cycle can get quite dull.”
Ben cracked his knuckles. “Is that so?”
“And this is one of the reasons I vastly prefer a brother to an admirer.” Ferdy slapped Ben on the back in a friendly manner, ignoring Ben’s threatening posture. “If I am going to fight someone for her, it’s better that it’s her brother than an admirer. That way, if we end up broken and bleeding, I can at least gain your respect in the end, if not your friendship.”
Ben glanced over at me, and I could tell he was unsure of what to say.
Ferdy reached out to me and offered me his arm. “Well, Lady Ella, why don’t you come in and see what’s going on? Jarl is here with his Faye, and Helen cooked up a mutton stew that will keep you warm until next month.”
“Sure. Come on, Ben.”
“Yes, Ben, you too,” Ferdy said with a smile.
“Ella?” Ben whispered behind me.
“That’s what Ferdy calls me. He said Eleanora was too long.” I thought about telling him that Karl had said the same thing, but Ferdy opened the door and the inside warmth called to us.
“I still like Nora better,” Ben grumbled.
“I think both have their charm.” I could tell he did not like my answer.
He frowned, but the atmosphere of the Cabal instantly overwhelmed our senses. I smothered a laugh as I looked at Ben’s face. Right away, I saw he was impressed with the surroundings; after telling him how Ferdy had brought me here the first time, Ben had likely expected it to be a seedy place, full of drunks and criminals.
Candles decorated all the small tables as circles of friends surrounded them. The air was full of pockets of smoke and brandy, all layered with a warm ambiance coming from the kitchen at the back.
Looking around, I saw there were a lot of men and women in pairs, the men wearing their dark suits, and the women wearing long skirts and scarves. Most of the men wore hats or yarmulkes, but some had no caps at all. I was surprised there was a priest. He was sitting at a table near the bar, reading a Bible.
“Jarl,” Ferdy called, waving toward a table tucked into the corner beside the bar.
“There you are, Ferdy. Where have you been?” A German man with dark hair and a smoking pipe gave Ferdy a brotherly hug, before he blew a stream of smoke out in greeting. “Faye and I have been here for hours.”
“We have not.” The young woman sitting beside him rolled her eyes before she laughed. “We just got here.”
“They don’t need to know that, Faye. I was hoping to leverage that into getting Ferdy to buy me another round.”
“Oh, so you’re not in your cups already?” Ferdy pulled over two more chairs for Ben and me.
“Of course not. Dad’s been keeping his eye on him,” Faye said. She looked behind her chair, where I saw Clavan scowling down at Jarl. I was glad to see Clavan gave Faye a wink a second later, and I realized he was in on the joke.
Ferdy laughed and then introduced us. “This is Ella, and her brother Ben,” he said. “They’re new to the Cabal.”
“So you brought them over to meet us first, so we’d scare them off?” Jarl asked.
“If anyone could do it, I figured it would be you.”
“Don’t forget about Eliezer,” Clavan said from behind us. He was carrying a tray full of beers, and when he sat it down on our table, he turned to Ferdy. “I’ve got a new tab started for you.”
“Excellent,” Ferdy said. “I didn’t even have to tell you. Sometimes I think you can read minds, Clavan.”
“It’s a mark of a good businessman,” Ben said, as Ferdy handed him his glass.
Ferdy and Ben seemed to get along after that. I smiled into my own glass as they began talking, Ben asking some questions and Ferdy jokingly answering them. I was introduced to Jarl and Faye, and even Clavan’s wife, Helen, when she came out of the kitchen to meet us. It was clear there was an air of comradery and fam
iliarity to the group that seemed to add to the open warmth of the atmosphere.
“So, Ella,” Jarl spoke up, “Ferdy tells us that he rescued you. Is this true?”
“Ferdy has a reputation for being quite a liar,” Faye said. “But he insists he is telling the truth this time.”
“He is right to do so.” I began to recount the tale of how I met Ferdy. I did not mention that I found out who Amir was later on, nor did I say anything about the book. Jarl was still skeptical of Ferdy’s account, but Faye had misty eyes as I told her how he brought me to the Cabal and treated me like a princess.
As Jarl and Ben began talking about cigars, and Faye, Ferdy, and I all discussed Prague’s latest social season, I lost track of time. The sounds of friendship and comradery around me blurred into a single confection of comfort and welcome, and I tasted the opportunity with relish.
It was only when the door opened and another man walked in that the atmosphere changed into one of business. He was wearing the dark suit of an Orthodox Jew. His yarmulke sat atop his head, the dark, loopy ringlets of a devout man framing his bearded face. As he entered, several men lifted their glasses to him.
“Elie!” they cheered, and the man waved their praises down.
“It’s fine, folks,” Eliezer said, greeting the crowds. “It’s fine. I’m here, you can all settle in.”
“Any good news this week?” a man called.
“If there was only good news, there wouldn’t be news at all,” Eliezer replied. “That’s the way the news works. There’s only news if it’s bad.”
“So the bad news is that there’s news? That’s good news to me!”
The crowd laughed, and I chuckled at their banter as it continued.
“Eliezer runs a news network of his own throughout the city,” Ferdy explained to Ben and me. “I get to be part of it from time to time, passing along information I hear. I enjoy it. Jarl helps with the printing, when he’s not working at the factory down the river, and Faye even helps by cleaning the bar here. Clavan provides the beer and offers his own insight, while Elie usually interrupts him.”
Faye smiled. “I also help with some of the pamphlets,” she said. “I take notes every meeting and help Jarl with the deliveries.”
Kingdom of Ash and Soot Page 22
