Emma Holloway - A Study in Ashes

Evelina bowed her head, her rueful anger an open wound. If it weren’t for the bracelets and the threat the Gold King posed to her loved ones, she would have simply walked away. She’d disappeared once; she could do it again. “I will do my best, Sir William. You may rely on that.”

“Very well. And now it is time that you retired to meditate upon your actions.” Sir William rose, the others following his lead. “James here will escort you to your rooms.”

“Miss.” The man switched off his device and rose. Then he gave an almost mocking bow and held out his arm.

Evelina felt her eyes widen in shock. Now she remembered where she’d seen the man before. It’s Mr. Juniper! She had seen him almost a year ago, when she’d been sneaking through the compound where the Blue King kept his war machines hidden. Juniper was the Blue King’s man of business, and therefore one of Keating’s bitter enemies.

The memory brought a fresh flood of loss, remembering her hand in Nick’s as they crept unseen through enemy territory. Her body tensed as she clamped down hard on her emotions. Nick was gone, and she had to focus on the threat in front of her. Does Juniper recognize me? Does he know it was me who stole the designs for the Blue King’s weapons?

She could feel the three men watching her, and quickly hid her confusion. “Then I will bid you good day, gentlemen,” she said with a neat curtsy.

The men bowed—Bickerton with a perfunctory jerk, Sir William with gravity. Steeling herself, she took Mr. Juniper’s arm and let him lead her from the room and down the stairs.

Juniper gave a small, cold smile as they left the New Hall. “I see that I am familiar to you, Miss Cooper. No doubt your association with Mr. Keating has acquainted you with many players surrounding the Steam Council.”

“Only in a modest way.” If he believed that she knew him through Keating, it was far safer than the truth.

He led her along the path with a casual air, as if they were just out for a stroll. In the afternoon sun, his face seemed pale to the point of translucence, blue veins visible beneath the fine skin of his temples. “And so here we are. Academia makes strange bedfellows.”

She couldn’t argue with that. “How did you come to be here?”

“Ambition,” he said, without the least embarrassment. “I have been working on a binomial theorem. Perhaps I shall publish a treatise. A university chair gives me credibility in a way that a steam baron’s patronage could not.”

It still seemed a strange leap from managing a steam baron’s business affairs, especially since the Blue King held sway over the poorest parts of the city. “It seems you are a man of hidden talents.”

“We share that quality in common, though your abilities are far more controversial than mine. Oh yes,” he said, smiling at her fresh surprise, “I know what those bracelets you wear mean. Most students just think they’re prisoners here. You are chained in fact, bound to do Keating’s bidding whenever he finally chooses to crook his finger.”

Evelina was speechless for a long moment. “How do you know about that?”

Juniper narrowed his eyes. “Think about it. The public version is that you are a ward of sorts to Mr. Keating. No mention of magic is made in the official records. Still, you must know by now that you are watched, and not just by Keating’s pet thugs.”

“What do you mean?” She tried to pull away, but he grasped her more tightly, keeping her arm linked through his.

“Word of your talents has got out, Miss Cooper. There are those on the Steam Council who know where you are.” He stopped walking. They were almost to the gates of the Ladies’ College, but still far enough away that no one else was close enough to hear his words. “Both you and Bickerton should have been blown to pieces. How did you do it, Miss Cooper? I’ve always wanted to know how sorcery works.”

Evelina shielded her eyes from the sun, studying his sharp features. He might have been handsome but for an unpleasant glitter in his eyes. “Are you really here for your theorem, or did the Blue King send you?”

His smile made her pulse skip, and not in a good way. “I have my eye on many interests, Miss Cooper. The steam barons are titans, and they will go to war with one another before long.”

“I think that is common knowledge.”

“Perhaps.” He finally released her arm. “In any event, creatures like you and I will be looking to our own survival once it happens.”

She almost smiled. “Are we not doing so now?”

“A valid point, Miss Cooper. You are as astute as you are troublesome.” A flock of birds flashed across the sun, their wings casting a fluttering shadow. Juniper looked up, seeming almost uneasy. “Nevertheless, I would be very careful to watch my back if I were you.”

“I always do.” Evelina turned away. Juniper was trying to lay the groundwork for something, with his dark observations and half confidences, and she wasn’t having any of it. She began walking again, returning the conversation to safer territory. “But my chief concern at the moment is my education. I have to say the entire college experience has been a severe disappointment.”

His bright gaze darted toward her. “How so?”

“I’ve been to one finishing school already. I did not come here to learn flower arranging and domestic economy.”

Juniper laughed softly to himself. “Then allow me to do you a favor, Miss Cooper, in the name of equitable education. Tutors can be arranged, as can a modest amount of scientific equipment. As a member of the faculty, I will gladly provide you with anything that is not poisonous or combustible. For the time being, that should satisfy your needs and those of the administration both.” He pulled out a silver case and extracted a calling card. “Make a list of what you need and send it to me. I will do what I can to ease the burden of good behavior.”

She took the card from him, still wary. “And why would you do me this favor?”

“Because someday I may need one from you. I am still at the start of my career and building my capital. Do not look for complications where they do not exist.” He gave a slight bow. “And here we are at your gate. Good day, Miss Cooper.”

“Good day, Mr. Juniper.”

“Ah.” He gave a slight grin—a real one this time—gesturing toward the card. “I do not use that name here. Arnold Juniper has nothing to do with my career as a professor of mathematics.”

Evelina inclined her head. “I stand corrected, sir. It seems a nom de guerre is de rigueur these days.”

“As is schoolroom French.”

“Touché.”

And with a last tip of his tall hat, Mr. Juniper left her there, his tall, slim frame elegant in the mellow sunshine.

At last Evelina turned to enter the gates to the Ladies’ College of London. Reluctance seized her, but there was no option but to obey. She shivered as the lock clanged behind her with a sound like the snap of iron jaws. Here I am, and here I shall stay . At least, until she discovered a way out. Evelina walked slowly across the quadrangle of the college, disgusted with everything. Surely I can do better than this .

Only then did she pause to read Juniper’s card: Professor James Moriarty . She slipped it into her reticule without another thought. The name meant nothing to her, except that he looked more like a James than an Arnold.

London, September 18, 1889

HILLIARD HOUSE

6:35 p.m. Wednesday

TOBIAS ROTH SAT AT HIS SISTER’S BEDSIDE. IMOGEN SLEPT AS she always did, still and pale as a marble effigy. Good God, Im, what happened to you?