Bobby nodded, not offended. “They’re used to me. Shock has worn off. Or, like the conductor chappie, they have no idea.” She chortled.
Miss Townsend drew out a box with glasses and a bottle of brandy, and poured out for all of us. I accepted a goblet politely and took the barest sip, though I was not one for spirits.
“Mr. Thanos would never be embarrassed by you,” Miss Townsend told Cynthia. “He likes you too well.”
Cynthia’s cheeks grew pink. “But his new employer will be nigh, and I now take meals with Sir Arthur. I must come off as demure and ordinary, so I won’t be banned from the house before Mrs. H. can wrap up the investigation.”
Bobby and Miss Townsend knew all about Lady Covington’s troubles, and in fact had eagerly inquired if we’d made any progress when Cynthia and I had entered the compartment.
“They’re coming, you say?” Miss Townsend asked.
Cynthia took a deep gulp of the brandy. “The whole lot of them. Wouldn’t miss dear Arthur’s presentation about his new Polytechnic. Well, Lady Covington said that, and the rest of the brood had to agree they’d toddle along with her. They were happy when I said I’d be traveling down with friends—I think the younger generation is glad to see the back of me for a time.”
“Be careful George doesn’t propose.” Miss Townsend raised her glass in a toast. “I’d have to start calling you Baroness.”
Cynthia scoffed. “No fear. I know Auntie hopes that good old George will fall hopelessly in love with me and offer me an immense engagement ring, but I see no sign of it. Not the least bit interested in me, is old George, thank heaven.” She wiped her forehead in relief. “Young Mr. Morris, now, has tried to corner me several times, not to propose, if you take my meaning, but I rebuff him. I’m not averse to punching him in the nose if I have to. He takes my rejection amiably, but I’ve learned not to be in a lonely corner when he is in the house.”
“He is rather handsome,” Miss Townsend pointed out. “Perhaps Auntie Bywater wouldn’t mind if you married the younger fellow, who’s bound to inherit a fortune sometime.”
“Rot that.” Cynthia shuddered. “I’d kick you if I didn’t know you were teasing. Besides, I suspect young Jonathan has his hand in the jam pot. Stealing from his own mother—I ask you.”
“Sounds a right hellion,” Bobby agreed. “Besides, Cynthia prefers a gent who wears spectacles.”
Cynthia flushed a bright red while the other two ladies guffawed at her expense. I sipped more brandy, pretending not to notice.
When we arrived at the Crystal Palace, the weather good for walking the short distance from the station, I was pleased to see a crowd. Fountains played in the gardens, and the interior of the Palace was lit by gaslights, rendering it a shining beacon in the night.
The walkways inside looked odd at night without the sun beaming on them, as we made for the space in the nave where Mr. Thanos and others from the Polytechnic would lecture.
We reached the south end of the building near the natural history exhibitions. A platform for the speakers had been erected in front of the screen of the kings and queens of England that adorned the very end of the Palace, the statuary making a regal backdrop. Rows of chairs had been placed before the platform, though a long fountain rather butted into the space, and seats had to be divided around it. Potted plants and live trees framed the dais, as though the lecturers sat in a slice of jungle.
I spied Lady Covington and family. They were already seated in the front, which told me they must have arrived by an earlier train. Lady Covington sat upright, with Erica beside her. Jonathan lounged on Lady Covington’s other side, with Harriet fidgeting next to him. George sat next to Erica, a look of disapproval on his face as he studied the crowd around him. Sir Arthur Maddox lingered near the platform, bouncing on his toes as he waited for the program to begin.
Mr. Thanos, his dark hair combed flat, his spectacles flashing in the lamplight, stood with a clump of gentlemen similarly clad in dark suits. Mr. Thanos clutched some papers, possibly his speech, and was crumpling them absently. He brightened when he caught sight of us, lifted his hand in greeting, dropped his papers, and scrambled to retreive them.
Miss Townsend led us to a row behind Lady Covington’s family. As I filed in to my seat, apologizing to those I passed, I caught sight of a man in the back. No mistaking his neatly trimmed beard, clerical collar, and beatific expression. Mr. Fielding. I was busily wondering why he’d come when the man beside him turned around.
I stopped, treading on a older gentleman’s foot, and my skirts, which I’d held out of the way, fell from my slack hands. The gentleman I’d tripped over bit back a curse and glared at me.
The man next to Mr. Fielding was Daniel. He saw me—I know he did—but he looked right through me as he turned to speak to a gentleman on his right. That man was the unnamed aristocrat from the newspaper, the one who might have something to do with the brutal murders in Dublin.
9
After a hasty apology to the gentleman I’d stepped on, I took my seat between Cynthia and Miss Townsend, my hands trembling.
I forced myself not to look back. I knew I’d seen Daniel, and he’d very carefully not acknowledged me.
What on earth was he doing here? He’d known I planned to attend Mr. Thanos’s lecture, and that Cynthia and the others would be here too. Perhaps this aristocrat he followed about had decided that listening to lectures from tutors in the new Polytechnic was just the thing. I chafed with my ignorance. I hoped James would visit me soon and let me know more about what Daniel was up to.
The presentation began. Sir Arthur Maddox stepped up to the platform, where the lecturers now sat in a line of chairs behind a podium. The iron girders of the Crystal Palace soared above him and the medieval-style screen lent the scene dignity. The Palace’s dark glass reflected gaslights that winked like stars.
Sir Arthur cleared his throat and spoke loudly.
“My friends, I welcome you. We stand in a cathedral of learning, originally built to exhibit the many scientific wonders of the world. It was rebuilt to show us not only natural marvels but also cultures of exotic places and historic sites such as Pompeii and ancient Egypt. All the learning of the globe, placed into one magnificent building.”
He indicated the arched glass and vast space around us with a sweeping gesture. We applauded. Even Jonathan pounded his gloved hands together and shouted, “Hear! Hear!”
“London’s new Polytechnic, funded by generous donors, while not housed in such a magnificent building as this one, will also encompass the science of the world, the newest findings and theories put into practical use for the benefit of all ladies and gentlemen of Britain.”
More applause. Jonathan added a loud “Huzzah!” before his mother admonished him to silence.