A Clockwork Heart (3 page)

These men had no idea who they were dealing with. And enlightening them was going to be such fun.

CHAPTER 3

LONDON

Elle was still smiling when Neville drew the car up alongside the house in Grosvenor Square. The townhouse was an imposing Georgian building with carved sandstone pillars on the façade. A row of camellia trees grew near the black railings outside the front steps. At the moment they looked dark and bare, but Elle knew they would be glorious in the summer when they bloomed. This was where she lived.

Marsh was waiting for her at the front door when she reached it from the street.

“I'm home!” Elle kissed her husband as he helped her out of her coat.

“Did you have a good flight, my darling?” he said.

“Oh Hugh, it was simply wonderful. And I have such exciting news!” she said over her shoulder as she went into the house.

Elle flung herself into the leather Chesterfield in the library with a sigh. “Oh, it's nice to be home. I could murder a nice cup of tea right now. Ring the bell, would you?”

“Well, what is it?” Marsh said as he rang the bell-pull and sank into one of the wingback chairs opposite her.

The fire had burned down in the fireplace, but the room was lovely and warm after the crisp cold of the February afternoon. The library was one of Elle's favorite rooms in the house, mainly because it was so utterly dominated by Marsh.

She smiled at him with glee. “I got a new ship.”

Marsh frowned. “How on earth did you do that?”

Elle sat forward in her seat. “I won her in a card game. The same game we played with Loisa when we visited on the way back from the honeymoon.”

“You gambled?” She watched her husband's expression darken. “I knew I should have come with you. What if you had lost?”

“I wouldn't have. The captain of the ship was cheating. He had an amulet around his neck, which made him able to see what cards the other players held. But I stopped him from seeing my cards. When I had a good enough hand, I made him think I had worse cards than I really had and so I won. Serves him right for trying to cheat,” she said in one excited breath.

Marsh's frown deepened. “Shadow magic,” he said. “What if you had been discovered?”

“Oh, don't be such a worry ninny. I was very careful and the captain of the ship didn't guess who—or should I say what?—I am. Besides, I bumped into Ducky in Amsterdam and after I won the ship, I hired him to pilot her home. He's busy berthing the
Iron
Phoenix
in Croydon as we speak. We need to book her into Farnborough for an overhaul though. She's a bit rickety.”

“Eleanor!” Marsh thundered.

Elle jumped. Marsh only called her Eleanor like that when he was angry with her and they were about to have an argument.

“What?” she said, squaring her shoulders.

“I will not have my wife gambling with ruffians. Do you not understand how dangerous that is? You promised you wouldn't take any unnecessary risks.”

“They were not ruffians. Well, not terribly bad ones, if you have to be completely precise. But it was only an innocent card game in the pilots' mess. I told you I wouldn't leave the airfield, and I didn't.”

Marsh ran his hand though his dark hair, worn slightly too long for society. “Innocent card games do not end up with people losing their ships to one another.”

“Don't you think you are overreacting ever so slightly?” she said sweetly.

He strode up to his desk and grabbed the newspaper that lay neatly folded on its broad leather-topped surface. “Look!” he thrust the newspaper at Elle.

She took the paper and opened it.

“There.” He jabbed at the news report in the right hand corner of the page, right underneath the headline that spoke of the trouble between Russia and Japan.

The heading read:
SKY
PIRATES
SPOTTED
OVER
THE
ENGLISH
CHANNEL
.

“I have been pacing up and down all day worrying and waiting for you to come home safely.”

“Oh,” said Elle. “But we saw no pirates.”

“There could very well have been. I can manage the thought of you flying the
Water
Lily
because she is small and not worth bothering with. But with two ships you are a—a fleet!” he spluttered

“Oh Hugh, you are being ever so slightly ridiculous.” Elle said.

Marsh sighed. “I love the fact that you are so utterly bold and fearless, my darling, but you really do need to be more careful.”

“But I was careful,” she said. “Hugh, you can't wrap me in cotton wool. I need to take risks if I am to turn this charter company into a success.”

Marsh closed his eyes in exasperation. “And how do you suppose I do that?”

Elle felt herself grow angry. She hated it when he condescended to her. She rose to her feet. “Hugh, flying and airships are my business and I was flying for years before you came along, so please stop interfering.”

This was not a new argument. It had taken all her powers of persuasion to stop him from coming along to watch over her.

“Elle, you can't keep the ship. You have to return it to the airfield in Amsterdam. Surely you of all people must know that.”

She didn't want to admit it to Marsh, but Captain Dashwood looked awfully angry the last time she had seen him. And yet, despite her rather rickety shortcomings, the
Iron
Phoenix
was a beauty. She was a big freighter, almost a hundred feet long. With it, Elle would be able to take in bigger, longer charters for larger fees. And with larger fees she would be able to pay back the money Marsh had lent her to start the company.

His
money,
the voices suddenly whispered out of nowhere. That was enough to make her decide.

“No. I am keeping the
Iron
Phoenix.
My mind is quite made up. The captain knows he lost the bet fair and square. And I am hiring Ducky to pilot her for me. I could use the help, to be honest.”

“I think that is a tremendously bad idea,” Marsh said.

“Well, I don't.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The situation would have been very different if you had been the one doing the winning. You are only saying this because I am a woman.”

“I am not going to change your mind, am I?” Marsh rubbed his face in resignation.

She smiled and put her arms around his neck. “No, you are not. I want my charter business to grow and be successful and an extra ship is precisely what I need.”

“You know I would have bought you another ship. All you had to do is ask,” he said.

“But that wouldn't be the same,” she said.

Marsh put up a hand in defeat. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay here and wait for you to come home every time you take the air on some adventure?” His dark eyes pleaded with her in a way that told her he was serious.

Elle felt a rush of affection for him and kissed his cheek. “Marsh, we have spoken about this at length. You know you can't come with me on flights, because flying is something I must do on my own. We are both strong-willed people. And if we impose on one another, we shall end up despising each other over time. You have to leave me be on this topic.”

“I don't like it. Sometimes I think shall go out of my mind with worry,” he grumbled.

“Well, now you know how the wives of soldiers and sailors have felt for centuries,” she said.

Just then, Edie the maid rolled in the tea trolley.

Elle clapped her hands in delight. “Ah, just what I need. And with strawberry tarts as well!” The little tarts filled with jam were Elle's favorite.

“I think I need something stronger than tea.” Marsh walked over to his drinks cabinet. He selected one of the decanters. It was filled with bright green liquid that could only be absinthe.

“Speaking of which, where is Adele?”

“Oh, she's in the greenhouse. No one is allowed in there. She is driving the staff to distraction with her demands. Who knew that one so little could make so much trouble.”

Elle laughed. “Well, she
is
an absinthe fairy.”

Marsh turned and smiled at her. “So, could I perhaps persuade you to forego your tea and join me in a drink?” he said.

Elle gave him her most alluring smile. “You might. And if you'll bring mine to me upstairs in a little while, who knows? I might even invite
you
to join
me
.”

Marsh gave her a wicked grin. “Invitation accepted, but don't blame me if Mrs. Hinges is annoyed because we're late for dinner.”

CHAPTER 4

An almighty crash followed by a high-pitched scream greeted Elle as she came downstairs one morning, a week after her flight to Amsterdam. Edie, one of the maids, came tearing up the stairs. Elle caught her by the upper arms and brought her to an abrupt halt that almost made them both tumble back the way the poor girl had come.

“Edie, what on earth is wrong?” Elle said.

“Begging your pardon, my lady but it's the fairy. She's absolutely impossible!” Edie rubbed her tear-streaked face. “I cannot attend her anymore. I simply cannot.”

“What happened?”

Edie started sobbing into her apron. “His lordship is downstairs,” she said between sobs. “I think you had better ask him, my lady.”

Elle drew the girl's face out of her apron. “Why don't you take a few moments to calm yourself? And once you've washed your face, go and ask Mrs. Hinges for a sweet cup of tea. It is the best remedy after an upset. I know this from personal experience.”

“Yes, my lady.” Edie bobbed a quick curtsey and wiped her nose with the side of her hand. “Thank you, my lady.”

Elle watched the maid hurry downstairs before continuing on her way.

She stopped at the door to the breakfast room. The place was in a complete uproar. Chairs lay overturned. The tablecloth had been dragged off the table and lay in a heap on the floor amidst the broken breakfast crockery.

In the conservatory the stacked terra cotta pots had toppled over. Shards of pot and soil were spilled all over the floor. Someone had treaded mud all over the black-and-white checkered marble floor of the breakfast room and the Turkish rug.

On the table in the midst of all the chaos, stood Hugh, holding what looked like the extended ribs of an umbrella stripped of its canvas. The ribs were attached to a cascade of copper wires, which snaked all the way to the floor where they fed into what looked like a very poorly sealed tank of spark. Globs of the bright blue liquid had sloshed onto the carpet and were creating alarming sparks and acrid puffs of smoke.

Adele hovered at the entrance of the conservatory with her arms crossed, blocking the way of anyone who dared enter her domain.

And, if that wasn't enough, someone had strewn enough sugar on the floor to sweeten the waters of the Thames.

“Hugh, what on earth is going on in here?” Elle said, surveying the whole muddy, sticky smoldering mess.

“Elle!” Hugh turned and smiled at her. “I think I've devised a machine that will allow humans to converse with fairies. Adele has been helping me. Look.”

He put the umbrella down and dusted some sugar off a set of rough-drawn plans. A few scrunched-up balls of paper interspersed with the sugar rolled off the table and landed on the floor.

“I see you have been busy,” she said drily. “You do know that Mrs. Hinges is going to have an apoplexy when she sees this.”

The copper wires started buzzing from lying too near the spark and they set a bit of the tablecloth on fire.

Marsh ran over and started putting out the flames with his foot.

“Don't you mind Mrs. Hinges. She will understand,” he said between pats.

Elle crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Good heavens, I think I've married my father,” she murmured. Since Marsh had given up his power and become an ordinary mortal, he was becoming more and more like the professor by the day.

“Adele and I have invented a new game,” Marsh said, entirely unperturbed by Elle's icy stare.

He picked up one of the balls of paper and threw it into the air.

“Go on, fairy, fetch!” he said.

Adele dashed into the breakfast room and started zooming around the room at a speed faster than the eye could follow. Round and round the room she went in an attempt to create enough updraft to keep the paper afloat in the air. Her flight path made everything in the room rattle and even more sugar and paper scattered across the table and floor.

“Oh, and before I forget, your father telephoned to say he is coming down to London this evening for dinner. I have some questions to ask him about aether conductors.” He beamed at her. “I never knew how much fun inventions were. I would have given up my position on the Council years ago had I known. I thought that binding my warlock power would be difficult, but this is fun.”

“Oh, Marsh, you didn't invite my father, did you? We are supposed to be going to the opera with Lady Mandeville and her daughters tonight. I cancelled a charter especially so I could go.” Elle closed her eyes in frustration.

“That's no bother. You go with the ladies and I'll stay here with Adele and your father. Mrs. Hinges will look after us.”

“What makes you think that I want to go to the opera with the Mandevilles by myself? I only accepted the invitation for your sake and because we had no option but to say yes. Did you not think to ask me first?”

Marsh pulled the wires out of the spark tank and the sparks that were emanating from the umbrella stopped. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “You weren't here to ask. You, my dear, were too busy stealing airships from other pilots while I, your poor husband, was left alone to my own devices.”

Just then the doors of the library burst open and Professor Charles Chance, followed closely by the housekeeper, Mrs. Hinges, burst into the room. “Ah, Eleanor! There you are, my girl. Couldn't sleep, so I took the early train. Hope you don't mind. Thought I'd catch one of those moving pictures at the cinema theatre while I'm here.” He kissed the top of her head as he walked past. “Oh, what a display of supra-kinetic energy. I say, old chap, you and the little green one have been hard at work.”

“Papa …” Elle started to say, but the professor had already pushed past her and was staring at the paper balls, which Adele had now managed to suspend in the air in a pattern that resembled a solar system.

“Wonderful, dear boy. Simply wonderful,” the professor said to Marsh as he shook his hand.

“Good heavens! Look at the mess. It's like the gates of the underworld have opened up in here,” Mrs. Hinges exclaimed.

“Mrs. Hinges—” Elle started saying, but Mrs. Hinges also pushed past her and started waving her arms at Adele. “Put those papers down, you little green minx. Don]t make me fetch the broom!”

In response, Adele screeched and started aiming the paper balls at Mrs. Hinges like missiles. Mrs. Hinges, unused to random aerial attacks by absinthe fairies, let out a most undignified squeal of surprise before setting off after the fairy while waving her hands in the air, but Adele simply darted up and perched on the chandelier, out of harm's way.

Mrs. Hinges stopped before Elle, slightly out of breath. “Eleanor, my dear, we really need to talk about …” She stared pointedly at Marsh. “It's too much for the staff to take. And my nerves cannot take it. They cannot, I say. Very soon, no one will want to work here and you will find yourself without staff.”

“I know, Mrs. Hinges—” Elle started to say, but just then Adele dashed off to one side, knocking a vase of flowers and the row of bric-a-brac from the mantelpiece. The whole lot came crashing to the floor in a cloud of papers and grains of sugar and dust.

And all the while, the professor and Marsh continued their discussion on the umbrella carcass, utterly oblivious to the pandemonium that was unfurling around them.

“
Enough
!” Elle shouted at the top of her voice.

Everyone stopped and stared at her. In the silence, a small porcelain dog, the last ornament standing, slid off the edge of the mantelpiece and smashed on the floor where the bits rattled for a moment.

Elle walked up to the cabinet and pulled out the bottle of absinthe. She yanked the cork out and held the bottle aloft. “Adele. Inside. Now.”

The fairy obeyed and wisped into the bottle. Elle fastened the cork, sealing the fairy inside with a tad more force than needed.

She took a long, deep, steadying breath. “Hugh. Go upstairs and ask Neville to go to town to see if he can get us an extra ticket for my father for this evening. I'm sure Mrs. Mandeville would love to meet the professor.”

She turned to the housekeeper. “Mrs. Hinges, take my father to the drawing room. Prepare the blue guest room for him and ask Neville to see that the professor's tails are pressed. He is going to the opera.”

“Yes, my lady,” Mrs. Hinges said, for once without comment.

Elle turned to Neville who had appeared in the doorway, but seeing the commotion was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible by hiding behind one of the ferns that stood in copper pots on stands by the doors. This was proving to be an impossible task, given that Neville was almost as tall as Marsh, with a shock of dark-blond hair that stood up no matter how much he combed it.

“Neville, there you are,” she said. “Please go and find Caruthers. Ask him to assemble the staff. Volunteers for this clean up get an extra half-day wages as compensation for helping to clear up this mess.”

“Yes, my lady,” Neville nodded and disappeared from the room as quickly as he could.

“And Mrs. Hinges, I was going to wait to discuss this with you, but I think it would be better for all if you went home with my father when he returns. He needs you more than we do at the moment.” She gestured at her father who appeared to be dressed in an unstarched collar and shirt that, despite his best efforts to hide it behind his waistcoat, had clearly not been pressed. Judging by the angle of the collar, it looked like he had done his buttons up wrong without noticing.

Mrs. Hinges put her hand to her throat in shock. “I do say,” she started mumbling, “I've never been spoken to like this in all my life. If there is anything wrong with my work, I would that you say so, but to be dismissed like that—”

Elle turned on her, eyes blazing. “Oh no you don't. You know very well that this has nothing to do with the quality of your work.”

Mrs. Hinges closed her mouth, sealing off whatever she was about to say.

“And you two!” Elle turned and pointed at Marsh and the professor. “No more spark experiments in the house.”

Neither of them answered and Marsh guiltily kicked a stray ball of paper under the table.

“And now I am going upstairs. When I come down again, I don't want to see a single thing out of place. Do I make myself clear?”

Everyone mumbled various form of the affirmative.

And with that, Elle set the absinthe bottle down on the top of the cabinet, turned upon her heel and marched upstairs.