“May I be excused to make my way to the laboratory?” Hetty realized her throat was sore from the bread scraping it when her words came out raspy. Or maybe it was from drinking tea that was way too hot to be imbibed.
“Are you feeling all right?” her mother asked. “Your voice sounds terrible.”
“I’m well. I think it’s from the bread. I’ll be fine.” Hetty stood before someone changed their mind and required her to stay at home.
“Don’t stay gone all day, dear. Mr. Fortescue will probably want you to leave so he can do some serious work. Promise not to get in his way,” her mother said.
“She’d move in there if she could,” John said.
“I blame myself for that.” Her father smiled at her.
Confused why he’d blame himself for her falling in love with Laurence, Hetty cocked her head in his direction. “What do you mean? How are you to blame?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “From the time you were in leading strings, I was taking you to that laboratory and teaching you all about the scientific discoveries of the last century as well as this one. How can I fault you for loving the discipline as much as I do?”
Relieved at his words, Hetty leaned over and kissed her father on the cheek. “You’re right. It is all your fault.”
“Enjoy your day, my dear. Don’t let Fortescue give you too much of a problem when you ask questions.”
“Thank you. I won’t.” Hetty was finally able to make her escape and made haste to get to the laboratory, almost leaving Mary a full block behind her as she moved more quickly than was proper.
She stepped inside the laboratory and when Laurence turned to greet her, she almost swooned. Every time she saw him, the love she had for him struck her anew. He was so handsome. Well, maybe not to most of the young ladies of her acquaintance, but to her, he was perfect. Especially when she got a real look at his eyes behind the spectacles.
When she wasn’t in his presence, she had an abstract feeling of esteem for him that simmered below the surface, but when she saw him, it threatened to boil over. How would she ever live her life without him? Marriage to Hammond would be a non-life. It made her physically ill to even contemplate.
“Good morning, Miss Hale. I’m tinkering with my experiment here, but will put that aside since you wanted to talk to me about something rather urgent yesterday. Come in and be seated.” Laurence pointed to a chair near the door. “Your chaperone may sit there.”
Hetty moved to the tall table with stools where Laurence was working with his battery and magnets. She sat across from him. “It wasn’t really urgent, but it was strange. I wanted to see what you thought about it.”
“What happened?”
“Remember I told you about my body temperature running higher since I got struck by lightning?”
“Yes, of course. And I touched your arm and determined you definitely have warmer skin than most people. You also showed me the way your tea got warmer as you held the cup. All of that is odd in and of itself. What else has happened that would make you say it’s strange?”
“I was drinking tea with my mother. She said something that upset me and as I got angry, the liquid in my cup came to a boil. Literally.”
“Boiled?”
She nodded. “Bubbles and everything. Overflowed the cup.” Hetty raised a shaking hand to her brow. “And this morning, I almost choked on my breakfast. When the footman gave me some tea to help the bread go down, I was upset again and the tea scalded my throat. It got hotter from the table to my lips. This is really scaring me. Can you help me learn to control this or maybe somehow reverse the effects of the lightning?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“That’s not what I want to hear. I’m terrified that I’ll be like this for the rest of my life. You’re the only one who can help me.”
“All I can say is that I’ll try. May I have permission to touch your hand again?”
In response, Hetty pulled off her glove and reached her hand across the space between them.
When Laurence took hold of it, a strange look passed across his face. She didn’t understand what it meant, but what she did know was her heart raced at his touch.
He pressed on her wrist. “Your skin is still hotter than normal and your pulse is fast. Has that been happening a lot? Do you feel out of breath or that your heart is beating too fast?”
Of course she did, but she couldn’t tell him that was all because he was touching her bare skin. “No. I haven’t noticed that. Just the being hot a lot and the heating of the tea when I hold a cup.” Hetty paced as she recalled being out of breath as she checked her cache of coins. She chose not to share that with him. Better not tell anyone her plans to flee if made to marry Hammond.
“What was it that made you angry enough to make the tea boil?” Laurence asked without letting go of her arm.
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I can tell by the way your pulse has increased that whatever it was is still upsetting to you. Do you want to tell me about it? Maybe sharing whatever it is will help you bring yourself under control.”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid I’d be indiscreet and impose on you.”
“Nonsense. You and I have known each other a long time and I would be honored if I could help you with something that obviously is causing you distress.”
“If we’re going to discuss this, perhaps you should hand me a cup with some water or tea so we can see if it boils over again.” Hetty glanced around for a source of some liquid.
“Hold on one moment.” Laurence let go of her and soon returned with a utilitarian cup. “Let’s try this one. I’m sure you usually use china. Maybe this one will be resistant to the heat of your skin.”
Hetty doubted it, but she took it anyway.
“Now that we have the liquid, can you tell me what has you upset?” Laurence took hold of her wrist again. “I think I need to measure your pulse as we go.”
She wanted to tell him he could hold her hand all day, but refrained from doing so since it could very well stop him from helping her at all.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “My father has given Henry Hammond permission to court me.”
“I presumed that when I saw you at the park with him.”
“The worst part of it is I think they’re going to force me to marry him even though I abhor him.” As she said the last words, the water in the cup came over the edge and onto the table.
Laurence reached over with his free hand and touched the water flowing over the rim. “Hot.” He shook his head. “If I wasn’t right here seeing this, I would have a difficult time thinking it could truly happen.”
He hadn’t addressed what she said about Hammond and that made Hetty even angrier. Laurence truly didn’t care about her. This proved it. All he cared about was the science. Tears formed in her eyes, pooling so she could barely see. The water continued to pour over the side of the cup.
Laurence finally looked at her. “I’m so sorry about your dilemma. Do you know why your parents are so set on Hammond as a choice for you? Does your father have business dealings that would be furthered by a union of the families?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t really know. My father loves this laboratory and I know he and Mr. Hammond have discussed Father’s new project, but I don’t see how that would mean I need to marry the man.”
“What new project?” Laurence’s face paled for some reason.
“I don’t know. Does it matter?” She really did know all about it, but he seemed so strange as he almost gaped at her that she didn’t want to share the information. After all, he didn’t seem so concerned about her fate in becoming Mrs. Hammond so why should she satisfy his curiosity?
“It might. You never know. Maybe they have some kind of arrangement that includes Hammond assisting your father with his political connections. We both know your father has never recovered from the humiliation of that paper he published that
was proven to be unfounded. What would he do in order to bring himself a better kind of notoriety?”
Hetty jerked her hand out of his. “Surely, sir, you aren’t suggesting my father would sell my virtue for a good mention in the press?”
“When you put it that way, I guess you’re correct. I apologize. I didn’t mean to cause offense.” Laurence pressed his hand against his forehead then adjusted his spectacles. “May I explain why I said what I did?”
She nodded without speaking. How he thought he’d make amends for his words was something she was eager to learn.
“As someone who has known your family since I was a young man of twenty-two and you were twelve, I’ve had many opportunities to see you and your father together. I even remember the days before he married his current wife and he was imbibing too much.”
“Please don’t bring that up. I don’t like thinking about those days.”
“I only do so in order to illustrate my point.” Laurence reached out for Hetty’s hand where it rested on the tabletop, but she crossed her arms to prevent him from touching her again.
At her rebuff, he pulled back, but continued to speak. “What I’m trying to say is that I cannot fathom why your father would encourage a match you clearly find so repugnant. Even in his lowest days, he was always concerned about your well-being.”
“Don’t be so sure of that. You saw the public man. My brother and I saw the private man and there were many days of fear.” She knew she shouldn’t be sharing this intimate information with him, but couldn’t help herself. “In fact, since he threw the glass of wine at my brother at dinner that night, I’ve been terrified he’s going to revert to being that man.” She shook her head and choked on a sob. “You are right about one thing. He’s not acting in his normal way.”
“I’m so very sorry. These are a lot of worries for a young lady such as yourself to be carrying in your heart. I wish I could do something to assist you.”
“There’s nothing to do. I’ll have to go on and hope for the best.”
What she really wanted to do was throw herself at him and beg him to run away with her. He certainly could assist her out of her terrible situation if he would, but she was positive the man who made his living from lecturing at the university wouldn’t have the daring to elope to Gretna Green nor would he have the funds to support a wife. There was no doubt in her mind her father would cut her off without a farthing if she did act in such a way.
Laurence really wanted to assist Miss Hale. Not only because he felt pity for anyone forced to act in a way that was anathema to him or her, but because he was beginning to realize how much he actually liked Miss Hale. Never having thought of her as other than a young girl since he’d met her when she was a mere child, his thinking had changed recently. First, when he’d realized she actually had bosoms and second, when she’d confessed her anguish at being forced to allow Hammond to court her.
Where those bosoms suddenly bloomed from was a mystery. It was like one day she was a flat-chested little girl with a big bow on her head annoying her father in the laboratory as Laurence smiled at her antics and then the next day, she was dressed in the fashion young ladies preferred today with perfectly rounded mounds peeking from the top of her gown.
He recalled with almost a feeling of shame that first day he’d noticed them. He’s almost dropped a beaker on the floor and a certain part of his anatomy reacted in such a way he’d had to step around to the back of the cabinet for a moment to recover himself.
After that day, Laurence pushed his physical attraction to her aside in the name of his work and tried to ignore her assets the best he could. Having never really gotten to know her as a person, he had no interest in pushing a relationship. After all, a lady could be attractive, but if there was nothing to talk about, what was the point in going forward?
Now here she was, in the laboratory in distress and worried about not only her own reaction to the lightning strike, but her father’s behavior and having a suitor thrust upon her. And what did she know about her father’s latest project?
“Let’s try to take your mind off Mr. Hammond and see about your overheating and what we can do about it.” Laurence stood and walked over to his battery set-up. “It will soon be time for Mr. Johnson to come in and then I have to go give a lecture.”
“What do you think will make it go away?”
“I’m not sure. It may take another shock of some sort.”
“Another shock?” She looked horrified at the thought.
“We won’t resort to that yet. I want to first see what other symptoms you have. What else you can do.”
“This is not something I want to develop as a skill, Mr. Fortescue. I would like to have it go away.”
“I understand, but first, we need to assess what exactly we’re dealing with.”
She stood and followed him to the end of the table. “I’m still fascinated by this experiment. Who knew electricity was related to magnets?”
“It was completely an accident that I found out. I’m excited to share the findings with the scientific community.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Father asked me to take some notes for him. He’s so proud of your work.”
“I know and I’m grateful for his allowing me to use this facility. I count myself lucky to have met him and for his generosity.” Laurence turned the battery toward her.
“May I be so bold as to say something impertinent?”
He nodded, unsure what she would say, but interested to hear it.
“I love my father dearly, but I have to say this. Please, whatever you do, don’t allow him to take credit for your work.” She held her hand up. “I see by the look on your face that you’re going to deny he would do such a thing, but as we discussed earlier, he was humiliated and is on a quest to be redeemed. He’s more focused on that than Sir Galahad was on the search for the Holy Grail so I want you to be aware that he could try to say he was the discoverer of this wonderful phenomenon.”
“Surely you don’t think he’d do that?” Laurence knew the man had done the very thing in the past, but he didn’t want Miss Hale to know he knew and was actually afraid it would happen to him as well.
“Just be wary.” She reached toward the magnets. “Let’s talk about something else.
The magnets hurtled toward her of their own volition. She let out a squeal that brought her maid running over from her seat near the door.
“What is it, Miss? I’ve been silent as your gentleman held your hand, but I have to say something if he’s acted improperly. That’s my job as chaperone.”
“It’s all right, Mary. I startled myself with the magnets. I’m fine. Mr. Fortescue hasn’t been improper.”
Mary nodded. “Very well. I’ll take my seat.”
As Mary walked away, Miss Hale said, “And Mr. Fortescue is not my gentleman.”
Was that a catch in her voice as she said the words? Yes, it was true he wasn’t her beau. That right was reserved for Henry Hammond. No matter how unhappy it made Miss Hale and shockingly, himself.
Laurence forced himself to change his focus from who or who might not be a proper suitor for the lady in front of him. “What happened with the magnets? I would swear they moved toward you by themselves.”
“They did. I didn’t touch them. I merely reached out and they came.”
“Try it again.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Without the noise that would attract your chaperone.”
Setting the magnets several inches away from her, he nodded when he was ready for her to reach for them.
She held her hands out and they came at her again.
Laurence stood in awe for a moment. His mind raced with possibilities.
“What do you think is going on?” Miss Hale asked.
“You won’t believe it.”
“How can I not believe? I see what’s happening as well as you do.”
“I think the lightning strike has charged your body almost as if it’s a battery itself. Thi
s is exactly how the magnets act with Mr. Volta’s battery.”
“I’m a human battery?” She shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
“Like it’s impossible for you to make tea boil when you hold a cup?” He raised his eyebrows as he saw the realization come across her face.
Covering her face with her hands, she said, “Oh my God. This can’t be happening.”
He reached out and took hold of her wrists, uncovering her eyes. “I’ll have to study this, but we’ll find a solution. I’m going to do my best to help you. I promise.”
“You can’t put this in your paper for the scientific society.” Her voice was a mere whisper.
“I won’t. There’s no need for anyone but us to know.”
The door to the laboratory opened. Laurence glanced over to see who it was.
“Good morning, Mr. Fortescue. I’m here to work with Mr. Hale later. I came early to clean some equipment before he gets in,” Mr. Johnson, the laboratory assistant said. He smiled at Miss Hale. “Good morning to you as well, Miss Hale. I didn’t expect to see you here until your father arrived.”
“He’s given permission for me to come with my maid as my chaperone whenever I want. I came by to take some notes for him while Mr. Fortescue worked.”
“Will you back then this afternoon?” Johnson asked.
“Most likely not. I have other engagements.” Miss Hale looked over at her maid. “In fact, we should be on our way.”
“I wish you’d return. We’re almost finished with the secret project.”
Laurence’s head shot up. What secret project? Was that the one he and Miss Hale referred to earlier? The one she said she didn’t know about? Clearly she did. He had to leave for his lecture and wouldn’t be able to stay himself.
Lightning Strikes Twice (The Heart of a Hero Book 4) Page 13
