this cake and tell Wilhelmina what is bothering you.”
The young alchemist did as he was told, and in a moment began to relate how early that morning the mysterious earl had appeared at the palace. The visitor had spent a long time in close consultation with the Lord High Alchemist while Gustavus continued with his work in the laboratory.
“Then,” he said, “all of a sudden, I am summoned and told to abandon my present work in order to undertake a new commission from Herr Burleigh. But I am deeply engaged in a most delicate experiment, I tell them. I will be finished in a day or two-and I must not lose all the work I have already completed. But no! It is not to be. Nothing will do but that I must sweep everything aside and begin at once on this new project-and they will not even tell me why it is so important that it cannot wait another day!” He puffed out his cheeks in exasperation. “Months of the most exacting labour gone up in smoke-poof! Just like that!”
“Most upsetting,” sympathised Wilhelmina. “What do they want you to do?”
“It is to be another device,” answered Gustavus. “Like the one I made before-to aid in His Lordship’s astral investigations, ja? But this one is a little bigger, and more powerful and more complex in every way.”
“I see.” Wilhelmina feigned a mild interest. Inside, her pulse quickened at the news. She let him enjoy some more of the muffin and drink some more coffee, then said, “Did they tell you the purpose of this new device?”
“No.” He shrugged, then gave her a sly smile. “But I overheard them talking about it when they thought I had gone.” He sucked in his breath with an audible clutch. “They treat me like a child.”
“Tch!” Mina gave her head a derisive shake. “That is a very shame. But I hope you know that I have the utmost respect for your intelligence and skill. I am grateful for your expertise.” She paused, then offered, “I suppose they hope to keep such important work a secret.”
“It is to be similar to the first device in many respects,” offered Gustavus. “But this one, I believe, is to be used to locate people as well.”
“People?” wondered Wilhelmina. “Which people?”
“Fellow travellers-if I overheard them correctly-those who likewise journey on the astral paths. The earl says he wishes to meet those who share his explorations.” The chief under-alchemist leaned forward. “But I do not trust him. I think this Lord Burleigh is not what he appears.”
“You could be right.” Wilhelmina frowned. There was no question but that she had to get her hands on a copy of Burleigh’s latest mechanism, whatever it was, and add it to her collection. At the same time, she thought it best not to let on how badly she wanted the new gismo.
She was thinking how best to phrase the request when the young alchemist asked, “Would you like me to make one of these new instruments for you?”
“Well, I don’t know-” Wilhelmina began, not wanting to sound overeager. “I appreciate you are in a very precarious position. I would not like you to put yourself at risk in any way.”
“I will do it.” Gustavus slapped the table with determination. “I will make a copy for you.” He saw her hesitation and offered, “You will not have to pay me anything. It will be my gift to you.”
“I am not worried about the cost, mein Freund,” she told him. “It is you I am worried about, Gustavus. It is such a big risk. If the earl discovered what you were doing, he could cause a great deal of trouble for you. I would not like to see you come to any harm.”
“Do not worry, Fraulein. No one will ever know. Of this I am quite certain.” He took another drink of coffee. “I am a scientist. I have devoted myself to years of study. I have mastered the arts of my profession, and I refuse to be treated like an ignorant stable hand to be commanded at every idle whim.” He smiled ruefully. “Excuse me, I seem to be forgetting myself.”
“It is nothing,” Wilhelmina assured him. “Drink your Kaffee and I will bring another pot. We have a few more things to discuss.”
CHAPTER 17
The dig at Karnak was abandoned for the rest of the day in favour of other, more pressing investigations. Dr. Young, having recovered from the shock of Kit’s revelations, was now in the grip of scholarly excitement and, in a fit of exuberance, treated Kit to a meal at Luxor’s newest sensation, the Golden Ibex Hotel, recently erected to cater to the city’s nascent tourist trade. There on a table spread with clean linen, he fed his new friend on substantial Egyptian fare and began a preliminary examination of the nature and mechanisms of his latest discovery: ley travel.
Unfortunately, the scientist’s enthusiastic queries very soon outstripped Kit’s own very limited experience and understanding. “I honestly wish I could tell you more,” Kit finally confessed as they sat staring at the remains of the meal. “The real expert was Cosimo, my great-grandfather. He is the one who got me involved in this, and the one who knew the most about it. I’m sure he could have told you far more than I can.”
“He sounds like a man after my own heart,” said Thomas. “I should have liked to meet him.”
“If only that were possible,” replied Kit gloomily. “Sadly, Cosimo is no longer with us.”
Thomas, catching the note of grief in his companion’s voice, raised his eyebrows. “Am I to understand that his passing was quite recent, then?”
Kit, suddenly unable to speak, merely nodded.
Thomas sat back, regarding Kit across the table. “Forgive me, but I am puzzled. I had assumed-”
“That he must have passed many years ago?”
The doctor nodded.
“Cosimo and Sir Henry died only a couple days ago.”
“My dear fellow,” said Thomas, his physician’s manner coming to the fore; he reached across to pat Kit on the arm. “I am truly sorry. Please, accept my sincerest condolences.”
Kit thanked the doctor for his sympathy and proceeded to tell his host about the untimely demise of Cosimo and Sir Henry. Thomas listened to the sorry tale, hands folded beneath his chin as Kit unburdened himself of the weight he had shouldered since landing in Burleigh’s clutches. “It is up to us-Wilhelmina, myself, and Giles, that is- to carry on the work of those two good men.”
“A most noble ambition,” affirmed Thomas. “I salute you, sir. Moreover, I stand ready to aid the enterprise in any way I can.”
“Thanks. You don’t know what a relief it is to hear you say that.”
A white-coated waiter in a blue turban came to remove the dishes. Dr. Young spoke a few words of Arabic to him, and then rose. “Come, we will continue our discussion in the garden. The walk will do us good.”
They crossed the dining room to a pair of French doors that opened onto a canopied terrace. A pebbled path led into a palm-shaded garden, lush with tropical vegetation. They strolled among lime-green tree ferns and dwarf figs. Peace returned to Kit’s soul. After a moment, he asked, “What did Wilhelmina tell you-about all this, I mean- however did she explain it?”
“Well!” sighed Thomas. “She said the most outrageous thing I have ever heard uttered from a rational human being. She told me in no uncertain terms that she was a traveller from another dimension who had come to enlist my aid in helping her locate a very valuable artefact which was believed to be buried somewhere in Egypt.”
“Wilhelmina can be very… forceful.”
“I thought her demented, of course,” replied the physician. “In my professional practice, I occasionally encounter people suffering from various forms of delusion and insanity. However, those were merely her introductory remarks. I offered her refreshment and sought to keep her talking so that I might observe her better and improve my diagnosis of her particular hysteria.” He smiled suddenly. “That was where she captured me, the dear girl.”
“Literally?”
“The more she talked-lucidly, calmly, with animation, intelligence, and fervour, but entirely lacking any of the more explicit signs of mental aberration-the more fascinated I became. In short, I allowed her to spin me such a splendidly impossible tale that I confess I was wholly taken in by the audacity of her creative invention.”
Thomas raised a finger in his own defence. “Not that I did not argue-I put forth numerous and vigorous
