Death of an Alchemist

by Mary Lawrence

  Sleep would elude her. The only way to calm herself would be to begin another experiment. Chemistry would clear her head and eventually sleep would come.

  Bianca placed the pillow beside John on the other side of the bed. With the knowledge she had gleaned from Ferris Stannum, she vowed to start anew. She would not let her mentor’s accomplishments fade with his memory. The kerotakis for creating the elixir of life sat at the bottom of the Thames, but she knew what to try to get her sublimations to work.

  Hobs watched with interest as she unhooked sprigs of silverweed from the rafters and ground the leaves in a mortar. Batting herbs off the table and chewing dried stems failed to engage her. Eventually, the black tiger tired of her single-minded focus and escaped through the window for greater adventures elsewhere.

  She would start with a decoction, boiling the herb and mulberry root bark to extract their valuable properties. Starting a new remedy for the sweating sickness would give her time to think on what additional ingredients she might add. The process comforted her. She found solace in her methods, having practiced the steps so many times before.

  The hours passed and Bianca’s mind settled. Liquid bubbled in a glass cucurbit; the flame licked its round bottom while a vaporous cloud collected near the top of the alembic. The weight of the past week pulled her head to the table and she laid her cheek upon her arm. The familiar sound of flame and boiling liquid soothed her troubled heart. Bianca’s eyelids closed.

  Sleep spared her from thinking about John. Murder may have simmered in her subconscious, but at least for now she escaped its sad exigency. Any thoughts or dreams would escape her when next she stirred.

  In this void, death was. If Bianca suddenly died without the pain and transformation that forced her soul from her body, this empty silence was what death would be. Emptiness and void were descriptive, but neither measured the essence of death. Death cannot be defined with words or description. It was simply not life. But Bianca gave no thought to this, because in her exhausted sleep, she had no thoughts at all.

  It was with dawn’s first light that she felt a weight upon her shoulder. A touch so sure and familiar that it brought her sailing back through layers of consciousness. She blinked, remembering where she was, then jolted upright. In her haste to turn, she fell off the bench.

  And John caught her.

  GLOSSARY

  Bawcock—a fine fellow

  Boozing ken—a drinking establishment

  Codpiece—a covering flap or pouch attached to men’s hose to accentuate a man’s genitals

  Cozen—cheat

  Cucurbit—a gourd-shaped flask

  Cuffin—fellow

  Div—a fool

  Flicks—thieves

  Footpad—robber or thief preying on pedestrians

  Gates—stages of a chemical projection

  Jackdaw—common bird

  Jordan—chamber pot

  Kirtle—dress worn by women

  Ordinary—an eating establishment

  Pizzle—penis

  Pottle pot—a two-quart tankard

  Puffer—a derogatory term for alchemist

  Rakehell—scoundrel, libertine

  Rampallian—a mean wretch

  Sack—fortified wine from Spain

  Starlings—bridge supports

  Stew—brothel

  Stibium—antimony, a silvery-white crystalline metal

  Trug—slut, whore

  Wodebroun blue—the blue color of the flower of bugleweed or Ajuga reptans

  Zedoary—white turmeric, a perennial herb

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  I began writing Death of an Alchemist during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and epidemic scare in the United States. Hemorrhagic fevers are nothing new. Dengue and yellow fever are familiar hemorrhagic diseases, if only in name. The illnesses are usually viral and vector borne.

  As a berry farmer I’ve seen alien pests and diseases introduced to our country that cause widespread impact on our ability to manage crops and our food supply. As a former health-care worker, I’ve also watched our country panic over epidemics that are feared could rage out of control.

  Is there a hemorrhagic virus carried by parrots and transferred by a bite? Not that I found. But the reader will forgive my taking license with the concept. In Tudor England there were plenty of diseases that were mysterious and unexplained.

  Sweating sickness is now believed to have been a variant of the modern hantavirus, perhaps carried by rodents. It was not a hemorrhagic fever, but I threw it into the mix to show how diseases can overlap and confuse, especially in a time when science was not around to distinguish them. Like the bubonic plague, the sweat was much feared and little understood.

  While researching this book, I watched Parrot Confidential, a documentary that aired on PBS in 2013. The film brings attention to the problems of abandonment resulting from the overbreeding and importing of exotic birds. It is an incredible documentary. Please consider supporting the organizations struggling with this problem. Check the PBS Nature Web site for more information.

  One last topic I wanted to mention. Homosexuality in the modern sense was not defined as such in the 1540s. It was considered an inclination and was believed to be part of human nature, though essentially it was thought of as a masculine sin. To the Tudor mindset, it could surface when judgment was dulled (perhaps from drink). Thus sodomy was a political and religious crime in Tudor England. It was a sin committed against the king: both celestial and terrestrial. One could be accused of treason and duly punished for it.

  Many of the alchemy “phrases” were adapted from Liber Se-cretisimus by Sir George Ripley.

  Again, I apologize for anachronisms and inaccuracies regarding language and syntax. My aim is to capture the “flavor” of the period without alienating modern readers. Some phrases are modernized on purpose.

  Another liberty I took was with smoking tobacco; my characters exhibit attitudes more common to the 1580s. I imagine a few folks got hold of the weed before then, but I enjoy using it as a “particular” to Meddybemps’s personality. The Bianca Goddard Mysteries hope to entertain and are not meant to be referenced as fact. It is my intention to accurately depict attitudes and history to the best of my ability, but I do not presume to get it perfect.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am writing this a few days before the release of my first book, The Alchemist’s Daughter. It is strange wondering how the series will be received. I am grateful to the people who have contributed their help and expertise. . . .

  My thanks to Fred and Susan Tribuzzo for their wonderful suggestions. Chatting with Fred gets the wheels moving, and the series is so much stronger for his insight and guidance.

  Andrea Jones, what can I say? Thank you for your enthusiasm and love. To have a writer-friend who understands this insanity and truly supports from the heart is a precious find.

  Thank you to Liliane Yacoub and Don Ross, pathologists extraordinaire, who steer me in the right direction in all things medical. If there are issues with how I present disease and mortality, it is completely my fault. They enthusiastically offer their opinions and are marvelous resources for me.

  This book would have suffered immeasurably without Tracey Stewart’s critical reading and editing. I am extremely fortunate to have found her. She kept Bianca from “grabbing” everything in sight.

  Thank you to Megan Beattie, Jeff Umbro, and the PR/Marketing team at Kensington. It isn’t easy getting attention in this noisy field.

  Thanks to John Scognamiglio, my editor. I continue to be awed by his ability to remember small details about my stories and characters when he has to do it for hundreds of other books. Not only that, I can send him an email and get an answer in a few minutes. Amazing guy.

  Thank you to the team at Kensington, from the art department to production. . . . I am lucky to be in such capable hands.

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

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  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2016 by Mary Lawrence

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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  eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-713-8

  eISBN-10: 1-61773-713-5

  First Kensington Electronic Edition: February 2016

  ISBN: 978-1-6177-3712-1