Steven Harper - The Doomsday Vault

“What does this have to do with kidnapping me?” Gavin demanded. He had gotten to his feet as well, tense as a lion.

“Patience, Mr. Ennock. You waited in my tower for weeks. You can wait a few minutes more. The problem was, you stayed stubbornly with your father, Alice, and refused to try anything on your own. So I involved myself more directly.”

“You disguised yourself and became my friend and mentor,” Alice said dully.

“Exactly! What better way for me to mold your thinking than to become your best friend? After I met you, I took Patrick Barton home with me from the Greenfellow ball and drugged him senseless so I could-”

“You drugged Patrick Barton?” Alice interrupted. “What for?”

“I had to. I did tell you I would leave the ball with him.”

“Oh my God,” Gavin whispered. He sank back to his perch on the table, and his revolver shook. “You infected him with the clockwork plague. That was why he showed no signs of the disease before the ball, and that was why he became a clockworker so quickly afterward.”

“I injected him with my own accelerated recipe, yes. Mr. Barton did everything I’d hoped.”

“And that was?” Alice asked, feeling more than a little sick. For a moment, she had been lulled into seeing Aunt Edwina as merely odd, someone who dressed up in strange clothes and played an elaborate prank. But the incident with poor Patrick Barton slapped her back into sensibility. Aunt Edwina was completely mad.

“I’m getting ahead of myself.” Edwina sipped at her cup, realized it was empty, and tossed it over her shoulder. It shattered on the stone floor behind her. “After the ball, I arranged that little plague victim riot so you would get some exposure to the Third Ward, Alice. I didn’t have high hopes that you would come out of your shell right then, so I continued with my plan-until that idiot Norbert Williamson whisked you away into betrothal, anyway. I tried to talk you out of it, but I was handicapped by having to be subtle. It was infuriating. So I had to bring in Mr. Ennock.”

“I don’t follow this.” Gavin was clearly expending a lot of energy holding on to his temper, and Alice was afraid he was going to leap across the table. “Tell me why you kidnapped me and held me. Why you killed those airmen just to grab me again.”

Edwina nibbled a cake. “Frankly, you enchanted me, Mr. Ennock. Your fiddle and your voice and your natural charm-irresistible! In addition, you’re young and strong and have no children. Perfect material for the Third Ward, if only they noticed you. I suspected Alice would find you as attractive as I do, and I was fortunate to learn that she took all those rides in Hyde Park. I dressed in red velvet so you would notice me, and I paid you plenty to ensure you would play there often. And when the time was right, I hired a pair of men with a rope and a sack. Then it was just a matter of time before Alice rescued you.”

Alice’s mouth fell open. “You locked Gavin in that tower because you wanted to introduce us?”

“Well, obviously! Good God, girl, I practically threw the two of you together!”

“I don’t believe it,” Alice said faintly. “It all comes down to a maiden aunt who plays matchmaker-clockwork style.”

“Why did you leave the traps running?” Gavin said. “They almost killed us.”

Edwina stared at him. “I couldn’t deactivate the traps. The wrong person might get in.”

“Indisputable logic,” Alice muttered.

“Mr. Ennock is worth a few traps, don’t you think? He’s much better looking and far more talented than dull, drab Norbie.”

Anger thundered through Alice. “How dare you manipulate us this way.”

“I see.” Edwina looked genuinely hurt. “Your father arranges a marriage that makes you unhappy, and that’s all right, but I match you with someone you actually love, and that’s wrong?”

Alice felt ready to explode, and Gavin’s gentle hand landed on her shoulder. “It’s all right,” he soothed. “You don’t want to throw the teapot. Let’s hear the rest.”

Was she holding the teapot? She was. Alice set it down with careful control.

“Thank you,” Edwina said. “At any rate, you rescued Mr. Ennock but refused to contact the Ward, so I talked to you as Louisa and ‘accidentally’ found the card with the agent’s name on it. And then there was the incident with the paper bomb outside the solicitor’s office. I was hoping you’d notify the Ward then, too. It was a relief when you and Mr. Ennock went off in that dirigible, and I was very upset when you agreed to marry little Norbie anyway and moved Arthur into his house. I had to come up with a whole new plan to break you free. Once young Mr. Barton was ready, I distracted the rest of the Ward and turned him loose so it would be just the two of you going after him. So romantic!”

“How could you possibly have known you’d need Patrick Barton?” Alice said, surprised at how level her voice was. She felt more and more as if she were attending a tea party in a lunatic asylum. “It was a year between the time you met him at the ball and the time he attacked the smithy.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure I’d need him. I was only planning ahead, just in case. It takes time for the plague to develop, especially for someone who’s going to become a genius, and I was sure my new version of it would develop Mr. Barton into one.”

“What if I had joined the Ward right away?” Alice said.

“Then Mr. Barton would have had a wonderful time inventing any number of things before the plague took him off. Really, darling, I don’t know why you’re so upset. You didn’t even know him. And he wasn’t very good in the bedroom. Though now that I think of it, that may have been the drugs.”

“Your version of the plague burns clockworkers out even faster than normal,” Gavin said. His voice was tight. “I watched him die. It was horrible.”

“I was afraid of that. Fortunately, he served his purpose first. You two did become closer. But then my automaton spies gave me the news that Alice was planning to elope, so I had to act fast. I’m sorry the plan was so crude-short notice and all. Still, your adventure with the war machine did make it clear how much you need Mr. Ennock, Alice. My dear brother’s death was a minor complication, but in the end you made the right decision. If it makes you feel any better, darling, you’re going to get notice tomorrow that all your debts have been paid off by an anonymous benefactor. You don’t owe Norbert a thing.”

Oddly-or perhaps understandably-the news didn’t make Alice didn’t feel any better. “Edwina,” she said in a dangerous voice, “I need you to tell us what the point is. Why did you want Gavin and me to. . to fall in love and join the Ward?”

She held up a finger. “You haven’t asked why I attacked the Bank of England.”

“You needed money?” Gavin said.

Edwina laughed like a society woman who had heard a small joke. “I have pots of money, Mr. Ennock.”

“Then why did you do it?” Alice sighed.

“Partly to bring you two lovebirds closer together, and partly so I could play those notes for you, the ones that gave you the map coordinates for this little den of mine. I knew you and your perfect pitch would eventually figure it out, Mr. Ennock.”

“Alice figured it out,” Gavin told her coldly. “I just gave her the frequency numbers.”

Edwina waved this away. “It still worked. You’re here.”

“Aunt Edwina, I’m quite confused. Why did you lead us here?”

She stared at Alice. “So we could have this little chat, of course.”

“We have a wonderful telegraph system,” Alice nearly shouted. “And the Royal Mail. You didn’t need to attack the National Bank to get our attention.”