His smile faded. “It is true. My dear wife has been gone for five years now and there was an indecent clamour to become the next Mrs Everard.” He pressed his lips together in distaste.
Adelia nodded. “I am sorry to hear of it – not only the loss of your wife, but also the inevitable frenzy that it must have sparked among a certain type of woman.”
“Indeed it did, and I was somewhat shocked. I consider myself a man of the world but I have seen a side to society that has troubled me greatly. I have vowed, therefore, to remain as happy as I am, alone for the rest of my days. Any woman who wants me now is not the sort of woman that I want, if that makes sense to you?”
“It makes perfect sense,” Adelia said with a smile. “And yet here you are.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if you really were perfectly content to ride out your days alone, you would not be calling upon Mrs Carstairs.” Mrs Carstairs had told Adelia that he was looking for the right sort of wife; this reticence, she knew, was all part of the game. They played along happily.
“As to that, she invited me so that I could not refuse. Furthermore, I have been involved in some of the management of this Floating Ball that she is so set upon. As a representative of the navy, I am to act as some kind of go-between. Essentially, my main role is to prevent the planning of any unworkable excesses. I have already had to refuse the idea that they borrow a tiger from the zoo. I am sure there will be yet more steadying conversations that I shall have to have with Mrs Carstairs.”
“Oh dear. Is that very onerous?”
“No, it is a pleasure. And an amusement.”
“See, you are a sociable man at heart.”
“Perhaps.” He gave her a long, considering look. “But you are married to the Earl of Calaway, so why this interest in my situation?”
“I shall be blunt. I am matchmaking for a friend. But now I find that I am not sure you’ll do.”
“Excuse me?” he said, spluttering. “That is not the way it works! Do I not get to choose?”
She looked him up and down, and smiled. She knew she was almost flirting-by-proxy but it was harmless fun and it was important to check that he had a sense of humour. “If you pass my tests, I may consider allowing you to be chosen.”
“You must tell me about this friend of yours.”
“I warn you, she is somewhat particular. She is a spinster, unwed all her life, and now in her forties and quite content – as much as you are – to shuffle through the rest of her life as a free and independent being.”
“Shuffle?”
“Yes. For she is alone, and you are alone. You shuffle. But together, perhaps you might dance...”
“Describe her to me, then,” he declared, and Adelia knew she had won the first victory.
THEODORE EXAMINED EVERY inch of the ice house. It was cool in there, but not cold, and certainly unsuitable for ice. The interior was circular, and sunk below the level of the ground outside. The channels cut in the floor were half full of the same dank water that Knight had been found in. The police had moved things around. Theodore placed a few lanterns around and kept the door propped open. He sniffed the air but there was not a great deal of hydrogen sulphide, as far as he could tell. It was noxious stuff and easily identifiable – at first. He also knew that it worked upon a man’s nose, so that after a certain amount of exposure to it, one ceased being able to tell that it was present. That was one reason it was so deadly.
It was also flammable, and tended to pool in low layers rather than rising up. The fact that none of the lanterns had exploded in a shower of glass was both reassuring generally, and also told Theodore that there was very little sewer gas present, at least at the moment. He went around and placed a few more copper coins around the ice house anyway, particularly in the area that Knight had been found. He drew a map in pencil on some thick paper, and marked all the places he had placed a coin. Discolouration would not take long if gas was present, and he would regularly check for changes, in case Oscar’s suggestion that the gases came in waves was correct.
From the light by the lanterns he could see how much the police had moved things. They had not done much damage, thankfully. There were scuffs in the floor from boots where there had been the most traffic by the entrance, and some wooden boxes had been opened and left open. Most were full of rocks, untamed and unprocessed pure lapis lazuli in its original mineral form. There were also earthenware jars, quite large, containing grainy blue powder.
It was to this powder that Theodore now turned his attention. He had a theory to test and he had brought out his bottle of muriatic acid to do so. He took one of the jars to the entrance, where there was no danger of him becoming overcome by the fumes, and gently dropped a splash of acid onto the powder, performing again the same test for the presence of hydrogen sulphide.
He sniffed the air.
Nothing.
He bent closer. Still nothing. Had his senses already become deadened to the whiff of rotten eggs?
Perhaps that batch of lapis lazuli was adulterated somehow.
Frowning, he tested another jar of powder. Then he dropped acid on some rocks. He took a small chisel and a hammer and hacked off a lump, and tested that.
Nothing.
There was no sign of noxious gas from any of the rocks, pigments, powders
