Albert stepped aside, and Dora realised that Elias meant to simply take the girl with him. She began to follow him, without being entirely conscious of it. “Where will you be going?” she asked.
Elias turned his head, and again Dora saw a flicker of confusion cross his face—as though he’d nearly forgotten she was there. “Elsewhere,” he said. “Somewhere I can investigate further, in peace.”
Dora dropped her eyes to the little girl in Elias’ arms. She was small and light enough that he had her nearly upright, with her cheek pressed against his shoulder. She did not look like a feverish, suffering patient, so much as a listless puppet with cut strings.
“I would like to come with you,” Dora said.
Elias frowned. “Why?” he asked. His tone was more distracted than confrontational, and Dora thought he must have really desired an answer.
Dora thought on it for another moment. But whatever instinct had prompted her to ask was like a lily pad floating on the water without any sort of root. It existed, but it had no discernible cause. “I don’t know,” she said finally.
Albert gave Dora a strange look at this. But Elias accepted the answer with a nod, aware as he was of her condition. “If you like, then,” the Lord Sorcier said. “But I am not Albert. I will not be coddling you.”
“I am well enough aware of your nature not to expect as much,” Dora said dryly. She looked towards Albert. “You will not be upset if I desert you, I expect,” she said. “Given that you did not want me here in the first place.”
Albert coloured at the direct observation. “I will not stop you, certainly,” he replied. “But I would like to retract my earlier worries, Miss Ettings. You have indeed been of practical help today, and I would not decline if you wished to accompany me again.” He frowned. “Though you may need to bring your much-absent chaperone, if you wish to go with Elias. Where has she gotten off to now?”
“Miss Jennings is ahead of us by one room, I believe,” Dora said absently. “I suppose I will fetch her.” She went to do so, and found Miss Jennings arguing with a recalcitrant patient, who had accused her of wanting to steal his bedding.
“We will be leaving,” Dora told her. “The Lord Sorcier is removing a sick child from the premises.” Then, on afterthought, she added: “Mr Lowe has suggested that we should accompany him.” This was an outright lie, but Dora hoped that Albert would not grudge her the escape, given that she had apparently been somewhat useful that day.
Miss Jennings glared at the old man in the bed. “Someone shall need to pry your dirty sheets from you,” she informed him. “But it seems that it shall not be me.” She turned on her heel and took Dora by the arm. “It is already early afternoon, unless I miss my mark,” Miss Jennings said. “We will need to have you home well before dark, Miss Ettings.”
“Yes, of course,” Dora said. Miss Jennings had not reacted badly to the mention of the Lord Sorcier, which Dora supposed to mean that Auntie Frances and the countess had not mentioned their aversion to the man. That, at least, was a helpful oversight.
The two of them had to walk quickly to catch up with Elias, who had started for a hired hackney outside. Miss Jennings eyed the small car with a frown.
“That will be an unsuitably close fit for all of us,” the ex-governess noted.
Elias glanced back towards her with a look of distaste. “Your chaperone, I presume?” he asked Dora, who nodded minutely. He shrugged at Miss Jennings. “You can always walk, if you prefer,” Elias said. He gave an address to the driver and stepped up into the cab. Dora got in after him, which necessitated that Miss Jennings hurry to follow suit.
The cab did not take them too terribly far. It was only ten minutes or so before it came to a stop outside a small, run-down building, still located within the Strand. This one had at least a tiny garden in the front, and even a few bright flowers. Elias paused at the front door, still holding onto his sleeping charge, so Dora knocked at it for him.
An older, matronly-looking woman in a dress and apron answered in short order. She seemed so unsurprised to see the Lord Sorcier that she didn’t even bother with a greeting. Instead, her dark eyes glanced down at the little girl, and she sighed. “Oh no,” she said. “Another one?”
“I presume the upstairs room is still free, Mrs Dun?” Elias said, by way of reply.
“It is,” she said softly. Her eyes glanced past him, towards Dora and Miss Jennings, and she frowned in surprise. Clearly, Mrs Dun was not used to the Lord Sorcier coming with company. Still, she said nothing as the two of them followed him inside.
The building was light and airy, with many open windows. Dora thought it might have been some well-to-do merchant’s house, once upon a time. Now, however, she could see children peeking out at them through bedroom doors as they passed. It was hard to see much of them, as they stayed carefully out of sight, but they did not seem dirty or miserable, like the children in the workhouse had been. Mrs Dun stopped to shoo these children gently back, closing the doors as they went. She led Elias up the stairs towards a remote sort of room that had been marked in paint with a red X.
Dora might have expected something ominous to be beyond that door—but as Mrs Dun opened it for them, she was surprised to see that it was simply a small, relatively pleasant bedroom. It had another broad, sunny window and two child-sized beds, both currently empty.
Elias carried the little girl over to one of those beds. Mrs Dun pulled down the covers, and he laid the girl very
