The Wisdom of Madness: The Ministry of Curiosities, Book #10

by C. J. Archer

  Seth entwined his fingers with Eva's as he felt the pull of the portal's magic.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter 15

  Lincoln

  Lincoln had to admit he'd missed Seth and Gus. Seeing their grinning but battered faces as they strolled into the entrance hall at Lichfield Towers, he realized he would have felt their loss keenly if they hadn't come home. Not that he'd tell them. Charlie was aware of his feelings and that's all that mattered. The night after they left through the portal, she'd told him he was worried. The following night, she'd told him he was going to be devastated if they died. She'd been right on both counts, although he hadn't been fully aware at the time. It was only now, when his heart leapt at the sight of them, that he could admit his wife knew him better than he knew himself.

  His wife. He smiled to himself. He'd never get used to calling her that, although he was already very used to the benefits that came with marriage.

  He received Seth's hug gladly and returned Gus's clap on the shoulder. Eva hugged him too and kissed his cheek. But it was David's handshake that took him by surprise. It was firm and friendly. He sported blood on his jacket and across his face. He'd killed.

  Charlie led them into the drawing room and asked Doyle to bring in brandies and cakes. "Sit, sit. You must be tired."

  "We can't sit on your lovely sofas," Eva said. "We're filthy. I don't want to think about what I sat in while in the dungeon."

  Charlie waved a hand. "Never mind the upholstery. Monsieur Fernesse will send something just as nice to replace it if it's beyond repair."

  Eva and Seth exchanged glances. So he'd told her. Well, well. What else had the two of them shared? Lincoln could guess, but would wait for the announcement and act surprised when it came.

  "Thank you," David said to Lincoln. "If it hadn't been for your foresight…we would never have got out of the dungeon."

  "He had my mother sew lock picks into my dress," Eva told Charlie.

  "I know," Charlie said, as if she had never been sick with worry for their friends. "He told me after you left." She gave Lincoln a hard smile. "It would have been nice to have been informed before."

  Eva touched Charlie's knee. "We can't speak too much about the future we see in our visions. It could create all manner of havoc."

  Charlie crossed her arms and glared at Lincoln. So she still hadn't forgiven him for not immediately telling her about his conversation with Leisl.

  "I didn't know what the lock picks were for," Lincoln said again.

  "My husband's formidable intelligence, coupled with his seer's sight, still wasn't enough for him to guess why his mother wanted him to give her a pair of lock picks. Added to which, he didn't even ask her!" She turned her shoulder to him.

  He blinked at her severe profile and wondered how he was going to convince her to forgive him. He was going to have to ask Seth later. He always knew the right things to say to women.

  Seth looked like he might be busy later, though, going by the way he stared at Eva.

  They managed to hold off on announcing their news until Doyle returned with refreshments. He brought Cook, Lady Vickers and Leisl with him. The two women had been keeping one another company these last few days, sharing their joint worry over their children. Although Leisl had known Eva would survive, she hadn't seen David's fate.

  Seth swept his mother up into an exuberant hug while Eva and David embraced Leisl. Gus eyed a grinning, teary-eyed Cook as if he'd never seen a better sight. Cook offered him a plate of biscuits and Gus took one.

  "Take more," Cook urged him. "Take many. Seth?"

  Seth clapped Cook's shoulder. "Thank you," he said cheerfully. "Now, listen up. I have two things I want to tell you, Mother, right here in front of everyone."

  Lincoln sighed. This was going to get emotional. He wished he could retreat to his office but Charlie was still looking frosty, and he hoped one of Seth's announcements might put her in a better mood. Lincoln had no idea what the other one would be, and he found he was curious.

  "Firstly, Mother, Cook, I want you both to know that I accept your relationship. As odd as it is, you're both good people, deserving of love." He spread out his arms. "So you have my permission to marry."

  The room fell silent. Then Cook and Lady Vickers burst out laughing. "Oh, that," she said. "We just pretended to fall in love to irk you."

  "Irk me? Why?"

  "To teach you a lesson. You can't tell me who I can and can't be with, Seth, just as I can't tell you."

  "But…but you tried to force me to marry women you thought would make good wives. You let it known that you didn't think Alice was a good match for me."

  "She wasn't." She nibbled the edge of a biscuit. "You would have grown to hate one another." She smiled gently at Seth then at Eva. Lincoln suspected he knew what Lady Vickers and Leisl had been discussing these last few days. Somehow Leisl had changed Lady Vickers's mind about Seth marrying for money.

  Seth gave Cook a withering glare. "You agreed to play along?"

  Cook's grin widened. "I be needing some amusement."

  "I hate you."

  Cook handed him the plate of biscuits again. Seth took one and smirked.

  "You said two announcements," Charlie said. "What's the other one?"

  Seth took Eva's hand and kissed the back of it. "Eva and I are going to marry."

  Leisl clapped her hands in delight. Charlie sprang up from the chair and embraced them both. "Congratulations! I had no idea you two held tender feelings for one another."

  "It's surprising what being stuck in another realm together can do." Seth winked at Eva.

  Eva smiled back. "We learned a lot about each other. A lot of wonderful things."

  "But I thought you didn't particularly like him, let alone love him," Charlie said.

  "Well…" Eva lifted one shoulder. "The truth is, I already knew we'd marry. I had a vision."

  "You did!" Charlie threw her hands in the air. "Why am I the last to know everything?" She shot another glare at Lincoln. "Did you know?"

  "No. No!" He said it twice, just to make sure.

  "Only my mother knew," Eva said. "I tried to avoid Seth when we were here in London, but it was impossible in Wonderland. I didn't want it to come true, you see."

  "Why ever not?" Charlie asked.

  "Because he's pompous and vain," Gus offered.

  Eva laughed. "Because I didn't think a nobleman would want…" She looked at her mother. "…would want a doctor for a wife. I thought he'd force me to give up my career."

  Leisl sipped her brandy. The room fell silent.

  "She will be an excellent doctor," David said quietly. "She saved Alice's life." He waited but Leisl simply sipped again. "Mother, don't do this. It's her dream. If Seth won't stand in her way then you have no right to either."

  "What objection do you have to her becoming a doctor?" Lincoln asked.

  "Nursing is safe, noble profession for English gentlewomen," Leisl said. "Doctoring is not for good girls. It is unseemly."

  "I am not a gentle Englishwoman, Mother," Eva burst out. "I possess all the independence and fire that comes with being half-Romany. I don't care what you or anyone else thinks. I'm smarter than most of the men in my class, and I can make a difference in the medical field. I'm going to graduate with or without your blessing, so you might as well give in."

  Leisl sipped again. Lady Vickers reached for her fan on the table beside her. "It's going to take time to get used to the idea," she said, flapping the fan as if she were trying to use it to fly away. "A doctor in the family. Well, imagine that."

  Seth glared so hard at his mother that she slowed her flapping. They would get used to the idea eventually, Lincoln suspected. Once Charlie spoke to each of them, they'd be more accepting. She was good at reasoning with people. Very good.

  He glanced at her, a little worried that she'd still be glaring back at him. But she wasn't. Indeed, she looked happy and content. Good. Now that the others were back, he could
move ahead with their plans.

  "Does anyone have anything else to share with me?" Charlie asked, tongue firmly in cheek. "Any more news that I'm the last to hear about?"

  "Alice and Markell are together," David said. "They'll probably marry and turn Wonderland into a constitutional monarchy instead of the absolute monarchy it has been."

  Charlie stared at him. "It was a busy few days."

  "And I lost my job at the bank." He spoke to Leisl, and for the first time since Lincoln had met her, she looked shocked. "My employer dismissed me, but I was too ashamed to tell you."

  "Why?" she said, maternal anger hardening her voice.

  David stretched out his fingers and thrust out his chin. "I told—"

  "He told them he wants more money," Eva said. She smiled at David. "You're better off not working there. I'm sure your next employer will value you more."

  Lincoln got the distinct impression it was a lie, but Leisl didn't seem to notice.

  She touched David's knee. "She is right. You are very good at your job. You will get better work, more respect and money. Now, Eva, David, let us go home. You need bath. You stink."

  "They ain't the only ones." Cook wrinkled his nose as he collected empty glasses. "I could smell Gus before he reached this realm."

  "You missed me," Gus said.

  "More than apple cake."

  "That much?"

  "But not more than bacon."

  They said their farewells to the Cornells, although it took some time before Seth was willing to let Eva go. He seemed to think she wouldn't be safe if he couldn't see her. Lincoln knew that feeling all too well.

  "Get used to it," Lincoln told him as they re-entered the house. "It never goes away."

  "You're an expert on marriage already?" Seth said with a wry smile.

  "Far from it." Lincoln waited until Charlie was out of earshot then leaned closer to Seth. "I need your advice. She's angry with me for not telling her about you going to Wonderland. I told her I didn't know, that Leisl only informed me that she needed something that opens padlocks and was small enough to be sewn into Eva's dress."

  Seth draped his arm around Lincoln's shoulders. Lincoln wondered how much he'd had to drink, then remembered he was in the first flush of love. Lincoln recalled those first few days very clearly. A fog had descended over him, resulting in strange behavior, not to mention stupid decisions.

  "I've learned the secret to keeping a woman's love, my friend, and I'm going to divulge it to you for free," Seth said.

  "You and your mother live in my house."

  "For the price of rent, then. The secret to keeping Charlie's love is trust. She must know she can trust you, and you must trust her. To do that, you need to share everything, even the bad things."

  "Like the secrets you told Eva."

  Seth's arm retreated. "Are you sure you're not the devil?"

  Lincoln thought it best to remain quiet. "What if those secrets will worry her?" he asked. "Or harm her?"

  "Then you have to be there to hold her hand or rescue her. Whatever is required. Now, I have to run or Gus will get to the bath first."

  "Thank you, Seth."

  "Don't thank me, just increase my wages." He sprinted up the stairs, passing Gus telling Charlie about the Queen of Hearts.

  Gus spent the entire hour that Seth was in the bath telling Lincoln, Charlie, Cook and Lady Vickers what happened to them in Wonderland.

  Later, when the household had retired, Lincoln stood behind Charlie as she sat at her dressing table. He picked up her brush and watched it glide through her honey brown tresses.

  "I've already brushed it out," she said, giving him a peculiar look.

  He said nothing. He was trying to think how to begin. Trust, Seth had said. "I should have told you about the lock picks," he said. "I should have told you everything Leisl told me when she asked for them. I'm sorry."

  She said nothing and that forced him to meet her gaze in the mirror's reflection. Damn. She was always doing that. He should be prepared for the trick by now. "Why didn't you?" she asked.

  "Because I didn't know how it would turn out for them. I didn't even know if they would have an opportunity to use the lock picks. Leisl didn't tell me, and even if she had, her visions may not come to pass. I didn't want you to worry."

  She turned and plucked the brush from his hand and kissed his knuckles.

  His heart settled into its usual rhythm again as he released a breath. "You thought I'd interfere, didn't you?" she asked. "You thought I'd try to stop them going."

  "No." He sighed. Trust. "Yes. A little. But mostly I didn't want to worry you."

  "Thank you for your honesty, Lincoln. But please don't keep things from me again. This marriage won't work if we're not honest with one another."

  That now familiar panic pinched his chest hard. He nodded. "I promise."

  "I'm sorry too. It wasn't fair of me to say that. Our marriage is solid. It always will be. You don't have to worry about that."

  He nodded again. There was nothing more to say, which was lucky because he didn't feel like talking. He just wanted to look at her, all lovely in her nightgown. She'd look even lovelier out of it, but he could wait a little longer.

  She stood and put her arms around him. She pulled out the ribbon holding his hair back and dug her hands through it. "Now, what else aren't you telling me?"

  He lifted his brows. "What makes you think I've got something to tell?"

  "I can read you like a book, Lincoln."

  Very true. "I've made inquiries about honeymooning on the Côte d'Azur in France. Now that the others are back—"

  She kissed him, taking his words and his breath away. She clung to him, her feet off the ground, and he carried her to the bed. Her nimble fingers quickly helped him shed his shirt and then she rolled him onto his back and sat up on his lap, admiring him. He watched, feeling dazed and lucky as she removed her nightgown.

  Tomorrow, he was going to raise Seth's wages.

  Tonight, he was going to enjoy his wife.

  THE END

  * * *

  Have you read:

  THE MEDIUM

  The 1st novel in the EMILY CHAMBERS SPIRIT MEDIUM TRILOGY

  by C.J. Archer

  Read on for an excerpt.

  * * *

  Sign up to C.J.'s newsletter via her website to be notified when she releases new books. All subscribers get exclusive access to a Ministry of Curiosities / Freak House cross-over story.

  The Medium: An excerpt

  About The Medium

  Seventeen year-old spirit medium Emily Chambers has a problem. Actually, she has several. As if seeing dead people isn’t a big enough social disadvantage, she also has to contend with an escaped demon and a handsome ghost with a secret past. And then there’s the question of her parentage. Being born an entire year after her father’s death (yes, a year) and without the pale skin of other respectable English ladies, Emily is as much a mystery as the dead boy assigned to her.

  Jacob Beaufort’s spirit has been unable to crossover since his death. It might have something to do with the fact he was murdered. Or it might not. All he knows is, he has been assigned by the Otherworld’s administrators to a girl named Emily. A girl who can see and touch him. A girl who released a shape-shifting demon into the mortal realm. Together they must send the demon back before it wreaks havoc on London. It should be a simple assignment, but they soon learn there’s nothing simple when a live girl and a dead boy fall in love.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 1

  London, Spring 1880

  Whoever said dead men don't tell lies had never met Barnaby Wiggam's ghost. The fat, bulbous-nosed spirit fading in and out beside me like a faulty gas lamp clearly thought he was dealing with a fool. I may only be seventeen but I'm not naïve. I know when someone is lying—being dead didn't alter the tell-tale signs. Mr. Wiggam didn't quite meet my eyes, or those of his widow and her guests—none of whom could see him anyway—and he fidgeted
with his crisp white silk necktie as if it strangled him. It hadn't—he'd died of an apoplexy.

  "Go on, young lady." He thrust his triple chins at me, making them wobble. "Tell her. I have no hidden fortune."

  I swallowed and glanced at the little circle of women holding hands around the card table in Mrs. Wiggam's drawing room, their wide gazes locked on the Ouija board in the center as if Barnaby Wiggam stood there and not beside me. I too stood, behind my sister and opposite the Widow Wiggam who looked just as well-fed as her dead husband in her black crepe dress and mourning cap. However, where his face was covered with a network of angry red veins, hers was so white it glowed like a moon in the dimly lit room.

  "Are you sure?" I asked him. If he knew I suspected him of lying, he didn't show it. Or perhaps he simply didn't care.

  "Sure?" Mrs. Wiggam suddenly let go of her neighbor's hands. My sister, Celia, clicked her tongue and Mrs. Wiggam quickly took up the lady's hand again. It's not as if anyone needed to hold hands at all during our séances but my sister insisted upon it, along with having candles rather than lamps, a tambourine and an Ouija board even though she rarely used either. She liked things to be done in a way that added to the atmosphere and the enjoyment of the customers, as she put it. I'm not convinced anyone actually enjoyed our séances, but they were effective nevertheless and she was right—people expect certain theatrics from spirit mediums, so if we must put on a performance then so be it.

  Celia had taken it one step further this time by wearing a large brass star-shaped amulet on a strap around her neck. The recent purchase was as unnecessary as the hand-holding but she thought it gave us authenticity amidst a city filled with fake mediums. I had to admit it looked wonderfully gothic.

  "Sure about what?" Mrs. Wiggam asked again, leaning forward. Her large bosom rested on the damask tablecloth and rose and fell with her labored breathing. "What does he want you to say, Miss Chambers?"