make…” I trailed off.
My father turned to look out the window, and I had the dreadful sense that something was about to be taken away from me forever.
“Its appearance,” he said, “was enough to fool a great many people.”
It took me a moment to form the words. “You sold people fake gold?”
“When I was a young man, the Frankenstein fortune was all but gone. My family would have lost everything. Everything. When I discovered the Dark Library, I thought alchemy might prove our salvation. The gold, alas, was not real-but it was possible to carefully sell it through various agents, far away, in the empires of Russia and the Orient.”
“I see.”
“Without that money our family would have failed. I would not have married. You would not exist. I am not proud of it, but it was necessary.”
I felt feverish. My father, the great magistrate, was a liar, a hypocrite, a criminal. I could not sort my thoughts properly. He turned to face me, and this time it was I who could not meet his eye, so ashamed of him was I. He took me tightly by the shoulders.
“You must tell no one of this, Victor. You understand?”
I said nothing.
“It would destroy us.”
I forced myself to look at him. “What about Konrad?”
“Listen to me, my son. Alchemy is a mirage. You must accept that.”
I wrenched myself free of his grip. “Maybe it was only you who failed. You cannot dismiss the entire discipline because you could not make gold! Maybe others are more skilled than you!”
“Victor-”
“No,” I said, blood pounding in my ears. “I no longer trust you!”
He tried once more to put his hands upon me, but I twisted away and fled his study.
The next morning he was gone. He’d departed for Lyon before I was even awake.
At breakfast Mother looked at Elizabeth and me rather uncomfortably and said, “Your father left instructions that you are to stay within the house until he returns.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“He is concerned you might entangle yourselves in more mischief.”
Elizabeth’s face filled with innocent amazement. “That is not fair! We have no such plans!”
I said nothing, watching Mother, wondering how much she knew-of my interview with Father last night, of Father’s criminal past.
“Those were his wishes, and they will be kept,” said Mother firmly.
My pulse was a drumbeat of anger. I would not keep Father’s secret any longer-if secret it were. I would not be treated like a prisoner! But Elizabeth spoke before I could.
“Surely I am still permitted the freedom to worship.”
Mother faltered, for the word “freedom” in our house was given great weight. “Yes, I am sure your father would not deny you that.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said. “Because Elizabeth wants to visit Saint Mary’s again this morning. To light another candle for Konrad.”
Elizabeth glanced at me in surprise.
“And I am happy to take her,” I hurried on, before Elizabeth could say another word.
“To the church and back only,” Mother said. “And do not dally, or there will be no more exceptions.”
Later, on the way to Saint Mary’s in the trap, Elizabeth looked at me.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing,” I lied. “I thought I might light a candle myself.”
“Is that so?” she said.
I let her go inside alone, and then rushed to the crypt to check for Polidori’s message. If I again found nothing, I swore to myself I would ride to Geneva and confront Polidori personally.
At the grave site I got down on my hands and knees and searched. Finding nothing, I climbed the low fence and peered inside the crypt. Nothing. I should have been clearer in my instructions and specified a place. Where would he have put it?
Then I realized it would not have been Polidori himself who’d have brought the message. He would have hired a trustworthy messenger… or sent Krake. A great oak tree shaded this part of the graveyard, and I remembered the lynx’s speed in trees. I glanced up and saw, hanging from a low branch, a pouch. I jumped and snatched it down. It smelled like cat.
I looked about, a touch uneasily, half expecting to see the mysterious lynx gazing at me with his unnerving green eyes. I untied the pouch and took out a small piece of parchment, dated only the previous day. My Dear Sir, I have finished the translation and discovered the final ingredient. It is very close at hand. If you still wish to obtain the elixir, come at your earliest opportunity.
Your humble servant,
Julius Polidori
I went inside, found Elizabeth praying, and lit a candle.
I knelt beside her and silently-to whom, I don’t know-said, Thank you.
When we returned, I saw a pair of horses being harnessed to our carriage. Richard, one of the stable hands, told us that our mother wanted to see us at once. We vaulted up the stairs, fearing it was some desperate news about Konrad. As we passed my bedchamber, there was a servant packing my clothes into a large valise.
“What’s going on?” I demanded from the doorway.
“Victor, Elizabeth,” my mother said, appearing in the hall. “A third servant has been taken ill. Genevieve, from the kitchen, has fever and spots across her body.”
“Is it the pox?” I said.
“It may be.”
“Is that what Konrad has?” Elizabeth asked.
“Certainly his skin bears a rash in places. Dr. Lesage is on his way. In any event I want you two to go with William and Ernest to the Geneva house.”
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. “You must let me stay as well. Who will help you with Konrad?”
“I have more than enough help,” said Mother firmly. “What I can’t bear is another of my children taking ill. I want all of you away until we know whether this is chicken pox or plague.”
Elizabeth began to object once more, but Mother raised her finger and shook her head. “No arguments. I’ll send a messenger the moment I have news to report.”
Within the hour I was in a carriage with Elizabeth and William and Ernest, on my way to Geneva. William insisted on sitting on my lap, and I held him tightly. He looked up at me, beaming, thinking this a wonderful treat. I pressed my cheek to his, trying to find solace in his soft warmth.
Mother must have sent word ahead of us, for when we arrived, the servants were already throwing open shuttered windows and pulling dust coverings off the furniture. We were greeted most warmly by the staff, who wanted to know all about Konrad and the other ill servants.
All I could think about was getting to Polidori’s. The sooner I knew of the final ingredient, the sooner I could obtain it and have the elixir.
I ate my lunch quickly and excused myself from the table.
Elizabeth followed me out into the hall. “Where are you going?” she asked suspiciously. I said nothing, but she knew. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a deserted parlor, closing the door behind her.
“We promised your father, Victor.”
“I don’t have any intention of keeping that promise,” I said.
“Well, I do,” Elizabeth retorted.
“Polidori has finished the translation,” I told her.
“How do you know this?”
I pulled his note from my pocket and showed her. “We have been in communication.”
“You kept this secret from us?”
