“Yes.”
“I see. Yours?”
“Well, not all of it, obviously,” I replied. “Most of it comes from the horses.”
“Awfully considerate of them to give it to you.” He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. Then he began to laugh, and I could not stop myself from following his lead. It was heedless, uncontrollable laughter, and even as I enjoyed it, it reminded me how little laughter Konrad and I had shared in the past month. But this-this was fun as we used to have it.
I went to him and hugged him tight. “Do you think me mad?”
He wiped his eyes. “Not yet. Tell me what you’re doing.”
“Well,” I said, “first it was necessary to boil the urine to a paste.”
“Of course.” He put his hands behind his back and surveyed my table like a pompous tutor. It was difficult not to start laughing again.
“And after that I needed to transmute the paste into gaseous form-”
“Gaseous form! Excellent!” he said. “I like what you’ve done with these little glass curlicues, by the way.”
“They allow me to pass the gas through water to create-Well, I don’t want to tell you yet. But you’ll be amazed.”
“No doubt. Where did you learn all this?”
“Eisenstein,” I said, pointing to the green book on the table.
“That is from the Dark Library too, is it?”
I nodded.
“Let’s just hope Father isn’t checking the shelves. How can you bear the smell?”
“I’d stopped noticing.”
“Come on. You need some fresh air, Little Brother. Henry and I want to go for a row on the lake. Your company is requested.”
Looking at him smiling upon me, my guilt was sharp. I had stolen his kiss from Elizabeth. I had harbored jealous and stingy thoughts. I was indeed a scoundrel.
“Soon,” I promised. “I’m nearly finished. Ready the boat, and I’ll join you in half an hour.”
“But is he strong enough yet?” Mother asked worriedly the next day at lunch.
We had just told our parents of our plan to go riding in the foothills.
Father looked at Konrad, who was eating his sausage and potato Rosti with great enthusiasm. “Look at him, Caroline. He blooms with health. I see no reason why they shouldn’t have their outing tomorrow.”
Konrad truly did look well. He’d regained almost all of his lost weight, and his face was no longer gaunt.
“It won’t be arduous,” I said, pouring myself some more cider. “We only mean to do some fishing, wander in the hills, and have a leisurely picnic.”
“And it will be Henry’s last day with us,” Konrad reminded them, for Mr. Clerval had returned from his journey. “Our good-bye celebration.”
“And if Konrad becomes too tired,” said Elizabeth, “he can recline on a blanket like a sultan and we will feed him grapes and fan him.”
Mother sighed. “Very well, as long as you promise to return before sunset. Henry, you are more levelheaded than these three. I charge you with everyone’s safe return.”
“I give you my word, Madame Frankenstein,” said Henry.
“Thank you, Mother,” said Konrad. “And now, to prove my fitness, I will trounce Victor in fencing.”
“Do not count on it,” I said.
“A hit!” said Konrad.
“Your point,” I panted as we retreated to our starting positions. It was not a formal fencing match this time, just the two of us in the armory. Konrad had wanted a single bout-his first since his illness-to see what kind of shape he was in. And damn him, he was in the lead! Three hits to my two.
“En garde!” I said, readying my foil.
“Allez!” said Konrad, and we circled each other. It was my attack, and I watched him like a falcon, knowing I needed three more hits if I wanted to win.
“You are very good, Victor,” Konrad said.
“Without my usual partner I’m out of practice,” I replied.
I remembered our last match. My victory against him had really been a lie, since he’d been sick.
“There’s something I must tell you,” Konrad said. “It’s given me a guilty conscience, keeping it from you so long. You and I shouldn’t keep secrets.”
“What’s your secret?” I was glad my face was concealed.
“I am in love with Elizabeth.”
“You are?” I let my foil drop, as though surprised, and then I lunged. He parried weakly, and left himself wide open for my riposte. I struck him in the belly.
“Nicely done,” he said, retreating.
Now we were tied.
“Did you know?” he asked as we stepped back and prepared to resume the bout.
“I had an inkling,” I said guardedly. “And does she return your feelings?”
“Entirely.”
His single word delivered a sharper stab than any foil.
“But how… When did this happen?” I still couldn’t understand how I could’ve been so ignorant of this.
“Sundays, when I take her to Mass.”
I nodded. Over the years, that would have given them ample time alone.
Hurt barbed my next comment. “But it’s strange, don’t you think? She’s grown up with us as a sister…”
“But she is not our sister, just a distant cousin.”
“True, but doesn’t it seem just a touch… unsavory to you?”
We watched each other warily, foils at the ready.
“Not in the least,” he said. “En garde.”
“I wonder how Mother and Father will feel about it,” I mused.
“Oh, I think Mother knows perfectly well how Elizabeth and I feel about each other.”
“You’ve told her — and not me!” I exclaimed, genuinely hurt.
He lunged, and I quickly parried.
“She could tell,” Konrad said. “I didn’t need to confide in her. And she was very happy about it. She said it had long been her wish, and Father’s, that Elizabeth would one day be a bride to one of us, and be forever part of our family.”
“You mean to marry at sixteen?”
“When we’re older, of course.”
“From what I’ve heard,” I said, “youthful passions are often fleeting. You may both feel differently in a few years.”
“Listen to you-he who has never been in love!”
“How do you know?” I said coldly.
Our blades clashed, and before Konrad could retreat, I had struck his jacket.
“A hit,” I said.
“You are filled with fire,” he said. “Well done.”
We backed away from each other once more, puffing.
“So, have you been in love?” Konrad wanted to know. “With whom? Out with it!”
“That’s my business.”
“We don’t keep secrets, you and I.”
“You’ve kept yours,” I said. “And for quite some time.”
“Well, a few months perhaps. No more.”
That was not what Elizabeth had told me, but I said nothing. I was not quite that reckless, not yet.
“One of us,” I murmured.
“What?”
