A Clockwork Heart (4 page)

CHAPTER 5

Later that evening Marsh came to her as she was putting the finishing touches to her hair and face. She was, at this stage, still in the process of looking for a proper lady's maid as befitted her new rank and station. But Elle had always prided herself on her self-sufficiency, and with the exception of enlisting Edie to help her with her laces, she managed quite well on her own. She had been so busy that hiring a maid to dress her had been fairly low on her list of things to accomplish.

“You look lovely,” Marsh said. He rested against the doorframe of Elle's dressing room.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him in the mirror. “Although I always did think it a little silly to get this dressed up only to sit in the dark for a few hours.”

“You have such a strange way of looking at the world. But I have something for you. To wear in the dark.” He sauntered over to where she was sitting and produced a flat velvet box from behind his back. “For you, my dear wife.” He opened the box with a flourish.

She gasped. A diamond-and-emerald necklace along with a pair of matching earrings nestled inside its cushioned interior. “Oh Hugh, they are magnificent. But aren't they a little much for an evening out with the Mandevilles?”

He laughed. “And don't forget dinner at Simpson's. Everyone is going to be looking at the breathtakingly beautiful Viscountess Greychester this evening. And what kind of a husband would I be if I didn't drape my wife in the most extravagant jewels money could buy?”

She touched one of the earrings and it twinkled back at her.

“I asked the bank to withdraw my mother's jewels from the Greychester family vault when we got back from our trip. I was planning to give these to you for your birthday, but you were so cross this morning that I thought these might cheer you up a little.”

“I'm sorry about that,” she said. “I may have overreacted a little.”

He shrugged. “You were right. Things had become a little out of hand by the time you arrived. Seeing you so angry this morning made me pause to think. It has been a very long time since there has been a Lady Greychester in this house and even longer since anyone wore these jewels, so I thought it was high time to do something about it.” He set the box down on the little table behind him and lifted up the necklace. “I asked Edie what you were wearing tonight and when she said that it would be this dress …” He motioned to the ludicrously expensive Worth creation she was wearing. It was layer upon layer of gold and ivory silk and lace with a subtle floral pattern woven into the fabric. “I thought the emeralds would be perfect.” He draped the necklace around her neck and gently he placed a kiss on the back of her neck, just below the clasp.

Elle felt a shiver of pleasure at his touch. “They're beautiful,” she murmured.

“Better keep away from Adele when you are wearing them, though.”

Elle laughed. The last time Elle had worn diamonds, Adele had used them to escape from the café in Paris where she had been forced to work.

“Shall I help you with your gloves?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Hugh, you are so naughty,” she said but handed him the long ivory-colored gloves with the satin-covered buttons. Who was she to deny a gentleman his pleasure?

“Is my father ready?” Elle asked as she slipped her hand into the first glove.

“Yes, between Neville and Mrs. Hinges, they have worked miracles. The professor is a new man,” he said as he slid the fabric up her arm, sending little shivers through her.

“Sometimes it is hard to distinguish who is the parent and who is the child when it comes to my father. It was wonderful fun when I was a child, but as I grow older, I do worry about him,” Elle said, trying to keep her thoughts on matters mundane, but finding it increasingly difficult.

“The professor is quite capable of looking after himself. You worry too much about other people, my darling,” Marsh said as he started doing up the tiny buttons.

Elle sighed with pleasure and she felt herself flush as his fingers caressed the buttons. He closed the last button and placed a kiss on the delicate skin that was left exposed on her upper arm between the sleeve of her dress and the top of the glove.

“And you spend far too little time on yourself,” he said in a low voice that suggested that they were definitely going to be late for the opera.

Elle cleared her throat. “It takes so much work to run a household. I had no idea. Life was so much simpler when—” She broke off her sentence when she realized what she was about to say.

Marsh frowned.

“It's just that I never considered the possibility of getting married and having my own home, let alone all this.” She gestured at the opulence of the room around her. “It's so very different from how I had thought I would end up in life.” The words were coming out all wrong and she watched the hurt spread across his face as she said them.

“I'm sorry you feel that way.” He lifted the second glove, his touch suddenly perfunctory and matter-of-fact.

“That's not what I meant,” she said, trying to mend the damage she had done.

He looked away. “This isn't enough for you, is it?” He finished buttoning the second glove. “What more do I need to do, Elle? Tell me.”

“Nothing, Hugh. I want to be here and be your wife, but I also want to fly and be my own woman. Is it so hard to understand that I need both things in life to be happy?”

He ran an exasperated hand over his face.

Elle stood and put her hand on his arm. “Thank you for the jewels. They are beautiful and I'm sorry if I've upset you. I don't think I am expressing things quite they way I mean. And I certainly don't want to argue with you and spoil our evening, I just want you to understand.”

He pressed his lips together. “Fair enough. Let's not argue then. Lady Mandeville and her daughters are fine gossips and the last thing we want is for them to start spreading rumors.” He gave her a tight little smile and offered his arm. “Shall we?”

She picked up her fur-trimmed opera cape and took his arm. “Monsieur Puccini's
La
Bohème
awaits.”

The light from the Royal Opera House spilled out of the brightly lit windows and onto the cobbled street below, illuminating the evening rain and fog until the air looked like a fine sheet of spangle.

The streets around Covent Garden were congested with carriages and steam cars attempting to deposit their occupants as close to the entrance as possible.

Footmen with large umbrellas stepped onto the cobbles to help glittering ladies in evening gowns and furs negotiate the puddles. Their evening dresses stood out like exotic pastel-shaded flowers in the gloom around them. London society had come out in full force to see Nellie Melba, the world's greatest soprano, perform Monsieur Puccini's exquisite work.

“Good heavens, how do you think she manages to breathe between sentences?” Elle whispered to Marsh below the relentless chatter of Lady Mandeville and her daughters as they made their way through the gold trim and red velvet of the grand foyer. Lady Mandeville was a rotund woman in her late forties. Her two daughters, despite valiant corsetry, looked to be heading the same way. And although Elle was about the same age as the Mandeville girls, she found it very difficult to maintain a conversation with them. Their minds were filled with the type of feminine frippery and frivolity that Elle hated. They were also quite clearly in complete awe and envy at the fact that she was married to London's former most eligible bachelor. To make matters worse, they swooned and giggled each time Marsh paid them the slightest bit of attention.

Above them, huge crystal chandeliers shimmered brightly. The light caught and echoed in the glitter of diamonds and other precious gems on the people below.

“I honestly don't know,” Marsh murmured back. “I think your father is starting to regret his decision to join us.” They both watched the professor with amusement as he tried to stem the tidal wave of verbosity aimed at him.

“Just look at the diamonds on the duchess,” Miss Mandeville the elder whispered to Elle.

Elle looked over to where she was indicating.

“Paste,” she whispered back. Elle was an expert at spotting costume jewelry.

“Are you sure?” Miss Mandeville looked scandalized.

“Almost as sure as I am that we are both standing here,” Elle said. The big diamond draped round the neck of the lady in question was most definitely polished glass. The real one would be far too valuable to wear out on public like this. But she did not bother explaining that to Miss Mandeville, who was at that moment whispering furiously at her sister.

She smiled up at her husband. Marsh was every bit the handsome viscount in his formal top hat and tails and Elle had caught more than one lady studying him surreptitiously from behind a strategically placed opera program or fan.

“Everything all right?” he said.

“Everything is more than all right,” she said with a rush of pride.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” he murmured. “I keep thinking about dragging you into one of these dark little recesses so I can have you all to myself,” he said. “We have some unfinished business that started with those gloves of yours.”

Elle felt herself blush. “Behave, or else I might take you up on the offer.”

He made a strange growly noise, which told her she had scored a point.

At that moment, she caught her father's eye. He stared at her with all hope of safe rescue.

“We had better save my father,” she said.

“At least the performance will force them into silence for a little while. Until intermission that is.” Marsh placed his hand on the small of her back. “Let's escape while we can. I believe our seats are this way.”

And so it was, with no small measure of relief, that Elle sat back in her seat as the lights dimmed to signal the start of the performance.

“Thank goodness for that,” the professor muttered a little too loudly in the moment of silence before the orchestra started up.

Elle heard Marsh snort and shudder with laughter, which he did his best to disguise as a cough.

Then the music filled the theatre. Elle pulled her new brass opera glasses from her reticule and slowly adjusted the gears in order to bring the famous tenor who had just stepped on to the stage into focus. She became so enraptured by the sad story of Mimi and Rudolpho that she barely noticed when Marsh took her hand in his.

Suddenly, the world shifted. Elle gasped as she felt the barrier between Shadow and Light lurch violently.

“What is it?” Marsh asked, suddenly concerned.

“It's nothing,” Elle whispered back to reassure him.

She sat forward in her seat and adjusted her glasses again. They were the latest in spectral optics, guaranteed to allow the viewer to see in extremely fine detail. She felt the shift again. This time, the lurch of energy was so strong it had made her feel quite out of breath. It was almost as if someone was manipulating the divide between Shadow and Light right here, in the concert hall. And they were not being particularly careful or discreet about it either. She scanned the rows of seats below them. She could see nothing out of the ordinary. The audience sat, entranced by the beautiful music that filled the air and quite oblivious to the workings of the Shadow Realm.

She felt the movement again and this time she followed it, as one would do with sound. Her gaze fell on a woman who sat in one of the side seats. She was wrapped in a dark cloak. All Elle could see was the side of her fine white cheek. But the woman must have sensed her presence, because she suddenly turned and looked straight at Elle.

In that moment, Elle felt a gush of energy rip straight though her. She gasped with shock and almost dropped her glasses. The woman was definitely channeling power, in a public place, without even trying to hide it.

The thought filled Elle with such outrage that she half rose from her seat.

An expression of surprise briefly crossed the woman's face and in that instant, Elle felt the flow of power cease. Then the woman rose and slipped out of her seat. She slipped silently down the aisle and melted into the shadows cast by the velvet drapery.

“What is it?” Marsh said again.

“I told you, it's nothing,” she whispered. “I need a bit of air, it's very close in here. I won't be a moment. Stay and make sure the Mandevilles don't follow.” She was out of the box before Marsh had an opportunity to stop her.

As quickly as she could, Elle ran down the stairs. She wanted to catch up with the woman before she got away but was hampered by her skirts.

Watch
out
dear
heart. Beware!
the voices of the Oracle urged.

“You are not helping,” she said to them. “I only want to know who or what the woman is. And if you were better teachers, then I wouldn't need to be running after her like this.”

The voices did not reply. Elle was not sorry, for she needed all of her concentration to run down the red-carpeted stairs in her evening gown and fine-heeled slippers. Behind her the aria rose to a dramatic crescendo.

She reached the side entrance staircase and paused for breath. Running in a tightly laced corset really was most unpleasant, but before she could catch her breath properly, a soft flutter of fabric caught her attention as the hem of the woman's dark cloak disappeared around the corner.

“Wait! Stop that woman! I only want to talk to you!” Elle called after the woman, but she did not stop.

The woman's escape was conveniently halted by one of the door ushers. Elle caught up with her as she struggled to push past.

Elle put her hand onto the woman's sleeve. “Wait! Who are you? How did you do that?”

The woman swung round and glared at her.

Elle took a step backward as she took in the sight of her white hair and stark sea-green eyes.