“Alice, you’re being rash. This is your home. Even if you don’t want work, at least stay here. You wouldn’t have to do another job again. You can be done with it.”
“And do what to earn my keep?” I asked angrily as I shoved a pair of trousers into my bag.
“Nothing. Marry me, Alice. Stay here. Be my wife.”
I turned and looked at him, my eyes wide. “I can’t quite tell, are you proposing to me or yelling at me?”
“Both,” he said, then smiled softly. He crossed the room and took my hands. “Don’t go. I love you.”
“I love you too. I just…I can’t get past what happened with the banker.”
“Nothing like that will ever touch you again. You won’t see it. Won’t be part of it.”
“But you will. And it will come home with you every day.”
“What would you have me do, become a groom, a tailor? Jabberwocky trained me for this life. I don’t know how to do anything else.”
“There are people who can help us.”
“Like the Countess? I understand she is looking for a position for you.”
“She can help you too.”
“Shall I go from being master of this house to being some rich man’s butler?”
“From a life as a thief and killer to that of an honest man.”
“I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Isn’t that convenient.”
“I don’t mean it like that.”
“This is not a life I ever wanted.”
“Then you are saying no.”
“To staying here? To staying in the life? I am saying no.”
“And what are you saying to me? What is your answer for me?” he whispered, then brushed my hair away from my face. “Alice Lewis, I’ve been in love with you from the moment I set eyes on you. Marry me.”
“Leave with me.”
“I can’t.”
“Then my answer has to be no.”
“But Alice—”
“I love you, William. I love you more than anything. I love you enough that I killed to protect you. You will never find anyone who cares for you as I do. But I can’t stay in this life. I made a promise to Bess long ago that when Jabberwocky was gone, we’d leave. She cannot handle all this darkness. We must get away. Please come with us. We could travel. See the world. Isn’t that something you have always wanted? You, not what Jabberwocky made you into, something you wanted? We could go somewhere warm where Bess’s health will improve. What about Barbados? Or maybe Tahiti? Let’s leave this place and start somewhere new.”
“People are depending on me now. I can’t just let everything Jabberwocky worked so hard for fall into pieces.”
“Then settle his affairs and join me. Settle his affairs and be done with it.”
“I…I don’t know.”
I closed the case and took it by the handle. “My carriage is downstairs. I’m going. If you choose this life, choose it all the way. I don’t want any part of it. Do you understand? If you choose this life, you choose it in total. Don’t bother me or mine until you have something worth saying.”
“‘I love you’ is not enough? ‘Be my wife’ is not enough?”
I looked him deeply in the eyes. “I love you too,” I whispered then leaned in and kissed him. I let my lips linger long on his. I caught his scent and the sweet taste of vanilla on his lips, and then I stepped back. “When you’re ready to choose me, and only me, you’ll be able to find me. Until then, I have to say goodbye.”
I turned and left William standing there.
And I didn’t look back.
* * *
I stopped in the middle of the street and wiped away the tear slipping down my cheek. I had been foolish and rash. At the time, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I could have helped William settle Jabberwocky’s affairs and gotten us both out. The banker’s death had split me down the middle. Followed by the scene with the Queen of Hearts and Jabberwocky’s death, and I hadn’t been thinking straight. The horrible realization racked me. I had been wrong. All this time, I was the one who was wrong. I’d left a man who’d loved me enough to marry me. And I still loved him. I had done wrong by him when I’d left. Now I had a chance to make it right. No matter what, I would get him out of this debt to the Queen of Hearts.
I slowed as I reached Henry’s shop. The front window boasted a beautiful display of hats. I paused a moment to gaze at them—after I managed to find a spot amongst the women already gathered there. There was a gorgeous pink and green silk top hat trimmed with flowers. What made the hat unique, however, was the clockwork butterfly whose copper wings wagged gently as it floated all around the hat, fluttering from flower to flower. If you looked hard enough, you could see it was attached to the hat with the thinnest piece of wire. Another top hat depicted a skyline view of London. A little metal airship, a replica of the famous airship Stargazer, piloted by the renowned airship racer Lily Stargazer, made its trek around the circumference of the hat over and over again. There was also a hat that featured a replica of the Tinker’s Tower. The face had a working clock. I looked beyond the clever creations and saw Henry at his workbench inside. I went in.
“Alice?” Henry said, standing. His brow furrowed with worry. “Is everything all right?”
I nodded. “I have an errand to run. I stopped by the apothecary. Would you mind taking this to Bess when you go for lunch?” I asked, holding out the bag.
“Of course. She’s out of medicine already?”
I nodded.
A troubled expression crossed Henry’s face, but he didn’t say anything. There was no need. Worrying about Bess was a state in which Henry and I both lived.
“So, were the tea service hats well received?” I asked, sitting down across from Henry.
He laughed. “Oh yes. And the chief conspirator, Mrs. Wolston, ordered something new in celebration of the Grand Exhibition,” he said then pulled a hat off a box sitting nearby.
I laughed out loud when I saw it. The base of the hat was made with white silk, but the top of the hat was made to resemble the same arched beams and glass of the Crystal Palace.
“I’m still working on the faux glass insets. We’ll use spun sugar for the glass.”
“It won’t melt?”
He shook his head. “I’ll just have to warn her not to get her hair too close. She won’t want it to stick.”
I laughed.
“Around the brim, I’m trimming it with the delights of the exhibition. Look,” he said, lifting a small wooden boat with a paper sail, an exact replica from the India display. Beside it, he set a miniature Colt, the pistol that had been on display in the American exhibit.
“Does it work?” I asked, picking up the tiny gun.
“Well, I’m no gunsmith, but I do appreciate realism,” he replied. He motioned toward a hatbox nearby.
Taking aim, I squeezed the tiny trigger with the tip of my fingernail. The little gun made a louder bang than I expected.
I laughed.
“I’m working on a clockwork cat today,” he said, pointing to a small box of metal bits sitting on the table. “Your Chess is my model. I’ll create his likeness with watch parts. Your miniature feline will be ticking in no time.
“Alice, I have something I must confess,” Henry said, his voice turning serious.
I was looking into the box from which Henry had pulled the hat. Inside I saw miniature versions of taxidermied elephants, samurai suits, a tiny Chinese vase—on which I saw Bess’s handiwork—a miniature velocipede, but then one item caught my eye. I reached into the box and pulled out an exact replica of the Koh-i-Noor. Steadying it on the palm of my hand, I studied it in the light of the lamp sitting on the table.
“Alice? Did you hear me?” Henry asked.
“Yes. Henry, where did you get this?”
“Did you see the real thing? Muddy hunk of diamond, wasn’t it?” Henry said as he fingered through the clockwork parts. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I spent the whole night tryi
ng to get the cut on the replica perfect,” he said, motioning to a pamphlet on the diamond he must have gotten from the exhibition. The pamphlet showed the exact proportions of the diamond. “I was going to use a crystal to give it more sparkle, but the real stone is too dim. So, I went with dim for the realism. My grandfather—did you know he was a jewelry maker?—had an old stone someone had given to him in payment. Not a diamond, not a crystal, not even a topaz, just some odd gem attached to a hunk of limestone. My grandfather never did anything to it. Since neither my father nor I followed him into the trade, that old rock has just been sitting in a box all this time. Turns out, it was perfect. Large enough, and dull enough, to make a perfect replica. But Alice, I really must tell you—”
“Yes, I know. You told Bess. Henry,” I gasped. I wrapped my hand tightly around the gem and squeezed my eyes shut.
“Alice, what is it?”
I opened my eyes and stared at him. “Are you sure it’s a perfect match? You're absolutely certain?”
“Yes. Same weight. Same cut. Same lifeless sparkle.”
“Can I have it?”
“Have it? Why?”
I opened my mouth twice, trying to find a way to explain. Henry stared at me. The more at a loss for words I was, the more the blood began to drain from his face.
“Alice,” he whispered, aghast, “what have I gotten you into?”
I shook my head. “Not me. William. I need this stone. Are you sure it’s exact? Are you sure no one could tell the difference? A gem expert? A jeweler? Are you certain?”
Henry stared at me, his eyes wide. “Alice?”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, I’m certain. I apprenticed under my grandfather. I know everything there is to know about gems. I just didn’t like working with metals. Silk was always easier on the hands. It’s exact.”
Leaning across the table, I wrapped my arms around Henry and hugged him hard.
“Alice?”
“I’m sorry. I have to have it. I have to. And you must never tell anyone anything about it.”
“All right. But Alice—”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
“This makes us even,” I said, pinching his cheek playfully.
He smiled nervously. “I don’t know what you’re into, Alice. But I have a feeling I just saved you from a big mistake.”
“I hope so. I need to go now,” I said, gathering myself together.
“Be careful.”
He was right. It was a good fake. A perfect fake. But it was still a fake, which meant there was risk involved, for everyone.
I looked back at Henry. “When you make the new replica for the hat, don’t be perfect. Make sure the cut isn’t right and that the gem sparkles too much.”
“Why?”
“To ensure that no one ever suspects you can do better.”
Understanding, Henry nodded.
I looked down at the gem in my hand. It really did look exactly like the diamond. “Any more of this stone left?” I asked him.
He raised an eyebrow at me then nodded.
“Good. Then get to work.”
“On what?”
“On an engagement ring for my sister,” I said with a smile, and then turned and left.
Chapter 20: What the Countess Knew
When I reached The Mushroom, I was not surprised to find the Countess’s auto sitting outside. It had been a year since I’d been inside Jabberwocky’s old pub—at least its more permanent residence. The makeshift tent on the Hyde Park green was already enough of a reminder of the life I’d left behind. The pub had practically been a second home to me and all the others Jabberwocky had adopted into the life.
The scene inside the pub was sleepy. The lights were dim, but the familiar smell of alcohol hung heavy in the air. A few patrons sat huddled at tables, hovering over their drinks as they spoke in low tones. I spotted a weapons dealer I knew. They called him Lobster on account of his hand being frozen into an awkward claw after one of his products had detonated in his hand.
At first, he passed me a cursory glance. Recognizing me, he nodded. I’d worked jobs for him at least twice, lifting some hard-to-find parts. At the back of the pub, William’s guards eyed me skeptically. One of them went into the back office. A few moments later, Jack appeared.
“Morning, Alice. Want tea?”
I shook my head. “Is the Countess in the back?”
He nodded then waved for me to follow him.
Jabberwocky’s old office—now William’s—looked much the same. Nothing had changed besides the man sitting behind the desk. I noticed that William had even left hanging the painting of Madame Mock which Bess had painted as a gift to Jabberwocky.
The Countess was sitting in a chair across from William sipping on a glass of some amber-colored liquid. She stopped midsentence when I entered.
“Alice,” she said nicely.
With a nod to William, Jack closed the door then left.
“I got your message,” the Countess said.
I turned to William. “I’d inquired of the Countess as to why the Queen wanted the diamond. It seemed an extreme acquisition, and I suspected the Countess might have some additional information,” I said, looking at her sharply.
The Countess nodded, a guilty expression passing over her features. “Please understand, I had no idea she would pull the two of you into this. If I had known, I would have done my best to forestall her.”
“Jabberwocky…I took the job to pay off the last of Jabberwocky’s debt to her,” William explained.
The Countess frowned. “Then I am twice at fault.”
William and I both looked at her.
“The Queen of Hearts sought, some years back, to expose me if I didn’t help her. Jabberwocky helped me buy her silence,” the Countess explained.
“You said she threatened to expose you. Expose what?” I asked.
“My dear, what do you think the gentry would make of an occultist in their mix? It’s one thing to do favors for certain high-up people who want those favors kept secret. It’s quite another matter when those secrets are exposed.”
“She was blackmailing you.”
“Yes. Jabberwocky did jobs for her to keep her silent…and so did I.”
“I remember. You were there the night she was in that bathtub filled with blood,” I said.
The Countess swirled the liquid in her cup. “For years, the Queen of Hearts has found my Uncle Horace’s collection of books—and my skills by extension—curious. She’s been looking for something. Her interest in the dark arts, as I believe the two of you already know, is deeply personal.”
“Yes,” I nodded, shuddering to think of the night I’d seen her consume Anna’s living blood.
“In exchange for her silence, the Queen has had me working to help her acquire certain knowledge. It began with a book she traced to Uncle Horace’s collection. That book chronicled the enchantments used by a Hungarian Countess by the name of Elizabeth Bathory.”
“Why? What information is she hunting?” William asked.
The Countess took a swig of her drink. “She’s looking for ways to stay young. She’s seeking the path to immortality. Bathory believed that bathing in the blood of virgins could extend one’s youth.”
“That’s madness,” William said.
“Is it?” The Countess replied. “When I first met the Queen, she and I were the same age.”
We both stared at her. But she was right. I had seen it myself.
“So she’s seeking spells, elixirs,” William said.
“More than that, but I have managed to keep such knowledge—what I know of it, at least—hidden from her. She would go the way of Faust and summon up a demon if she could.”
William laughed nervously. “But such knowledge…that’s impossible.”
The Countess raised an eyebrow and the expression on her face told me it was, in fact, very possible. I shuddered at the thought. “Some time ago my late husband—
with whom I had a very contentious relationship—sold many of the books in Uncle Horace’s collection just to spite me. May you rot in hell,” she said, looking at the ground. “The Queen acquired a volume from that collection which contained a spell written by an Egyptian priest. The book was annotated, half translated, and appeared to have the ritual the Queen was after.”
“What kind of spell?” I asked.
“One that grants immortality. Of course, you had to have the right ingredients to make it work. And that is where her royal highness of insanity ran into some problems. I take it the deal you botched involved the acquisition of some of those…ingredients?” the Countess asked, turning to William.
“I…I’m not sure.”
She smiled carefully at him, an expression that told us both that she already knew the answer. “Well, no matter. She found a way. The task she set you on, William, and Alice by inadvertent extension, was to pluck another important element needed for the ritual. She needs a blood diamond.”
“A blood diamond?” William asked.
“A diamond that has caused many deaths,” the Countess explained. “The bloodier the diamond, the better. And what bloodier diamond is there than the Koh-i-Noor? Of course, the diamond is not the only thing she needed. She also needed a complete translation of the ritual, which I now have. So, now, I have the words, and she has everything else she needs except the diamond. Once she has that, the potion can be prepared and the ritual completed.”
“A potion? You mean, something she will drink?” William asked.
The Countess nodded.
“Will it work?” I asked, aghast.
The Countess shrugged. “I have no idea. But I know that this is where Anastasia Otranto and I will part ways. This is the last debt I owe her.”
“You’re not the only one,” William mumbled.
“Anastasia Otranto…why do I know that name?” I asked.
“The banker,” William replied. “That was the name on the paperwork the banker had. We botched the job, Alice. We missed something in the banker’s vault. That’s why…that’s why I was doing one last job for her, to clear off our—Jabberwocky’s—mistake.”
I frowned. “Anastasia Otranto. Who—”
Curiouser and Curiouser: Steampunk Alice in Wonderland (Steampunk Fairy Tales) Page 13
