David Liss - The Twelfth Enchantment - A Novel

“How can you know that she had them?”

“I can’t,” he admitted. “Not for certain, but my order had long suspected that two of them were in her hands.”

Lucy walked to the window and peered out, taking in none of what she saw. She did not know if Mr. Morrison was right. She supposed it hardly mattered now. There was but one course, and she would follow it.

“My niece awaits,” she said. “And so does everything else, I suppose. Mr. Morrison, will you take me to what was once my father’s house? Will you take me to Harrington?”

Mr. Morrison rose and bowed. “You need not ask. You need only command. But you must know that Lady Harriett will suspect that Mr. Perceval’s death means the end of our agreement. She and her kind will come after us. Are you prepared to face them?”

Lucy thought of her sister Emily, whom she had loved so much. She thought of her niece, the child who bore her sister’s name. “Mr. Morrison, I am prepared to kill them.”

It was too late to leave that evening, but Lucy and Mrs. Emmett joined Mr. Morrison in his coach at first light. Mr. Blake awoke early to see Lucy out, and he appeared uncommonly pleased that she was going—not because he wished to be rid of her, but because he sensed that she was doing what she must do.

“Your father must be very proud of you,” he told her. “I have but known you a little, and I certainly am.” He thrust some papers into her hands. “You must take these.”

Lucy looked at the pages. They were engravings like the engravings of the Mutus Liber , full of similar imagery. Even the pages were old, like the pages of the true book, but these were not true pages. They felt light in Lucy’s hand, like dry leaves.

“What are they?”

“They are pages made in the likeness of your own book. I have been practicing against the day that I must make the true pages, even if that day is hundreds of years in the past.” He smiled at her. “It is how I live my life.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blake.”

“They are but a reminder,” he told her, “that we are all works in progress. Even at my age, I strive to improve. You must be kind to yourself, my dear girl.”

He took her hand and smiled upon her, and then led her to the coach where Mr. Morrison and Mrs. Emmett already awaited them.

When Lucy climbed in, she saw that Mr. Morrison found Mrs. Emmett puzzling. He looked at her and then, realizing he was being rude, looked away, only to sneak glances out of the corner of his eye. As the coach began to roll, he looked at Lucy and, in the dim light, raised his eyebrows questioningly. Lucy answered with a shrug, perhaps not the most reassuring answer as they embarked upon a dangerous mission, accompanied by a curious serving woman.

For much of the morning they rode in silence, Lucy only half awake, watching the landscape pass before her, thinking of everything she’d like to ask Mr. Morrison, but daring to ask none of it. More than anything, she wanted to ask about Mary, but she had seen the look of heartbreak upon his face at the mention of that name, and she would not inflict that upon him. And yet, after everything they’d discussed, one question remained above all else. If he had loved Mary as he said, and if she had loved him, then why were they not together? She had died, but she had come back. What kept them apart?

Lucy continued to dwell on such things because she did not want to dwell on one thing in particular—that she would be returning to the house where she had grown up and once lived in happiness with her father and her sisters. She had been there since Martha’s marriage to Mr. Buckles, but not often, and not since her life had altered so drastically. She did not know what to expect now. She did not know what she would see or how she would feel. She did not want to go there and see her sister and the goblin she believed to be her own baby. Most of all, she did not wish to confront Mr. Buckles in front of Martha.

They had been in the coach not an hour when Lucy turned to Mr. Morrison. “What is this great heroic act that people keep attempting to mention?”

He laughed. “There’s always some threat or other, Lucy. I know this must all seem very new to you, but for me this is only one more time I must save the world from destruction.”

She looked at him to see if he made sport of her, but she could see no sign that it was so.

They arrived before noon, turning off the main road to enter the grounds, then, onto the circular drive before the old rectangular house, made of dusty and battered red brick. Lucy had thought it grand as a child, but now she saw it was a rather plain house, somewhat tired-looking. Still, it reminded her of Emily and her father, and that was enough to make her love it.

They had sent no word ahead, and Martha came running out of the house to greet them, and Lucy forced herself to stifle a cry when she looked upon her sister. She looked thinner now, and her eyes tired and lined, her skin brittle and dry. She appeared ten years older.

Lucy hugged Martha until she saw she dampened her sister’s neck with her tears.

“What has happened?” asked Martha, as she watched Mrs. Emmett and Mr. Morrison emerge from the coach. “For you to come here unannounced, and with—good lord, Mr. Morrison. It is he. I did not think you would really come.”

“We have come to see Mr. Buckles,” said Mr. Morrison. “Is he at home? We’d just like a quick chat. Nothing terribly violent.”

Martha looked to Lucy, but when her sister offered no further comment about the nature of their visit, she turned back to Mr. Morrison. “I expect him later today. I am told you must come in.” She cast her eyes down and spoke in a quiet voice. “But you must not come in. There are men who wait for you.”

“That is troubling,” said Mr. Morrison, giving every sign of being entirely untroubled. “How many?”

Martha shook her head. “They told me not to say.”

“There are three of them,” said Mrs. Emmett.

Lucy was about to ask how she could know, but saved herself the trouble. She knew there was no point. Instead she looked at Martha. “We shall have a look.”

“You mustn’t,” said Martha. “These men, they will not be gentle.”

“Neither shall I, and we shan’t make anything better out here,” said Mr. Morrison. “Come, Miss Derrick. Mrs. Emmett, please keep Lucy’s sister out of trouble.”

Martha turned toward him, and then stopped, instead fixing her tired eyes on Lucy. “Do you know what you are doing?”

“A little,” said Lucy.

Mr. Morrison raised his eyebrows and then beckoned Lucy to follow. She had seen him silly and charming and gracious and foolish and in love, but now, Lucy understood, she was seeing him for who he was. She now observed Jonas Morrison fully in his element, with a task to do, unconcerned with the odds or the dangers. This, she understood, was his true nature, and she did not wish to miss seeing it.

They stepped inside the house, and the old front hall filled Lucy with instant melancholy. Things had changed, of course—the paintings upon the walls were different, replaced with new paintings and silhouettes of both Mr. Buckles and Lady Harriett—not one of Martha, Lucy could not but notice. There had been a worn Persian rug in her father’s day, but that was gone, replaced by a new rug of garish blue and red. The statue in the corner of the second Charles was replaced by an oriental vase full of bright spring flowers. And yet, for all these changes, it was her old house, her old front hall, and the memories of those years fell upon her, heavy and warm. The wave of nostalgia felt wonderful, but it was soon enough replaced by anger. This house was never to have been hers, of course. It had been entailed to Mr. Buckles, and nothing could have changed that, but so much else had been stolen from her. Here was the house of her happiness, and it had been transformed to the seat of her misery.