“I don’t think he could manage being boring for long.”
“No, indeed.” Angelika smiled. “Lizzie is a playwright, and funny, and beautiful. Anyhow, we went to let her reject him, but found ourselves in a caravan following her acting troupe through some very remote parts of Russia. Her first play is The Duchess and the Bear. She forced Vic to wear the bear costume, night after night, while villagers threw sticks at him on the stage. My job selling tickets was much better.”
He let out a disbelieving laugh. “That bear costume in the corner of my room is his?”
“She’s the duchess. He’s the bear. Some things are just meant to be, even if falling in love with her was a catastrophe for him, on an intellectual level. To marry her, he has to declare himself a hypocrite. He’ll be a laughingstock. The anti-marriage man takes a wife. But he doesn’t care anymore.”
“I suppose you are hoping for something that dramatic yourself?” Will now looked at her like he was afraid. “I feel I am quite a letdown.”
“Please remember how we met and reexamine your statement.”
“I feel quite sure that I am a dull person in comparison. I cannot see myself traveling with a Russian troupe.”
“All my interesting stories feature my brother. I’ve merely invited myself along to anything I could. That is what it is like for a woman. I can’t wait to get out from under his wing. But anyhow! We are having our own adventure tonight.”
Will moved his mount closer to hers. “Your morgue outfit is quite special. That color suits you well.”
It was a turquoise riding habit, with swirling skirts. Heinously expensive, of course. Angelika preened her sleeve. “I always dress like I have a date with destiny.”
This was a reference to her husband hunt, and it did not please him. “Do the villagers say anything about how you ride astride?”
“If sidesaddle versus astride is what occupies their pathetic conversations, then I feel sorry for them. Be glad it was me who experimented upon you, my love. The villagers would have used your body for target practice.”
Will huffed in amusement. “Sometimes it feels like you do the same.”
“Alas, I do not use you for any kind of practice. Come now, before the place gets overrun.” She grinned at his expression and pressed her heels against Percy’s sides, urging him on. “What did you name your horse, by the way?”
His smile faded. “I cannot think of a thing to name him.”
They rode the rest of the way in companionable silence. She had a pistol in her saddlebag but suspected that Will would always make her feel safe. Victor usually rode on ahead, causing her horse to pull and fret, but Will maintained his mount level with her own and checked to make sure she had seen low-hanging branches or poor footing.
And the more truly herself she was, the more he looked at her. She had no need to pretend feminine incompetence, or to hold back a curse when Percy stumbled. A log in her way? She jumped it. He liked the wildness in her. She saw proof in the curl of his lip, and the glances he gave.
And one thing more: it felt like they were equals. They were a well-matched pair on some well-matched horses, riding in the falling dark through fragrant fields of cut lucerne hay. Being with Will felt like a dream she didn’t want to wake up from, and she cursed how close the village was. Up above, her favorite constellation appeared normal. She double-counted the stars. “Victor was right, as always,” she grumbled to herself. “I was mistaken on that.”
It was only when they reached a fork in the lane and he looked to her askance that she realized he was riding by her side because he did not know the way.
Ah, Angelika, she said to herself. Always making something out of absolutely nothing. When they arrived at the morgue, they tied their mounts. Will seemed spooked and hung behind to needlessly recheck some part of his horse’s tack.
Compassion swelled in her and she tucked her hand firmly into the crook of his elbow.
“You’ve been here before. Remember, not a word about the science that Victor and I undertake. We’ll be locked up as heretics. To this man, we are trainee doctors.”
Will pulled a face. “But that’s going to make things very difficult.”
“Be creative. Impress me with your quick thinking.”
“Not you again,” Helsaw said dourly when he saw her approach. “Ain’t you got enough bits and bobs for whatever it is you do?”
“That’s none of your concern.” She put a lace handkerchief over her nose. “How’s business, Helsaw?”
“Prices ’ave gone right up,” he warned, glancing to Will behind her. “But I deal with your brother on that. Who’s this geezer?”
“This is my good friend Will.” They had not worked out a surname.
Will covered smoothly. “Sir William Black. I’m here to ask you some questions, if I may.”
“You may not. You know I do not allow just anybody here, Miss Frankenstein,” Helsaw spluttered, until Angelika held up a shilling. “You may ask me anything you wish, Sir Black,” he amended in a much better tone. “If I know the answer, I will tell you honestly.”
“Are you the man who brings the bodies here?”
Helsaw nodded. “That I am.”
Will stepped closer into the bright lamplight. “Have you ever seen me before?”
Helsaw narrowed his eyes in thought. “Should I?”
“My identical twin brother died and was brought through here. We were estranged, and I have been searching for him for years. I tracked him down through Miss Frankenstein, and now I seek your records so I can bring the information back to our family, and to connect with his.”
Angelika was wordless with admiration of his quick mind, his rock-steady nerves, and the way the moonlight cut a shadow under his cheekbone and jaw. She could happily remain with her hand tucked into his bent arm for the rest of her life.
“A twin. I’ve heard of those, never seen one.” Helsaw thought over this explanation with one eye squinted shut. “I don’t go looking at the faces. I don’t keep records. I can’t even read. This is where the poor come through,” he explained patronizingly. “Your brother, if he was a gentleman, would have been held at his local church. These are working men.”
Will had truly expected a ledger of some sort to be produced. “You know nothing of where you collect each dead soul?”
“It was a day after the collapse of the mine shaft,” Angelika said to jog the man’s memory. “I checked through the newspapers.”
“Good thought. You’re so clever,” Will praised her, with a glow in his eyes that made her swell with pride.
Helsaw coughed and spat, spoiling the moment. “I didn’t get any out of that mine. They just filled the hole in. But it does help me remember the time,” he added as Angelika moved to put her coin back in her pocket. “There was a bunch of boys all died, up at Dunmore. Sometimes I wonder what they do up there,” he added conspiratorially.
For Will’s benefit, Angelika pointed in the general direction. “Dunmore Military Academy. I don’t know what they do, except march around, looking handsome in their uniforms.”
“They train, so they don’t lose the next war,” Helsaw clarified witheringly. “And they sometimes have gunpowder explosions.”
“Angelika said my brother’s body was completely mangled.” Will winced for himself now. “Would that fit the theory he came from the academy?”
“The Frankensteins are my premium buyers. They’d have just moved on to the next table if he was too bad. I bury the real damaged goods.”
“And would any of the bodies be wearing jewelry?” Will asked.
“Oh, sure, good sir. We dress our corpses with the finest gold and gemstones. Jewelry!” Helsaw looked at Angelika with eyes full of mirth. “Your new friend is not from around here, is he?”
“He’s rather naive,” she agreed acidly. “Well, we’ve taken up enough of your time. I might go down just to see if there’s anyone I can’t live without.” The doors were folded outward and blackness was all that could be seen. “I’m after someone exceptionally handsome for my research.”
“Of course,” Helsaw simpered as she gave him his payment; enough to feed his family for weeks. “I could even home-deliver, for a small amount more. Watch your skirts down the far end, but you know that. Floor gets wet,” he explained offhand to an appalled Will. “Take my lantern, my dear Miss Frankenstein.”
“Are you coming?” Angelika said to Will, who looked like he was about to mount his horse and kick it into a gallop. She thought of her bold brother and decided to impress Will with her bravery. She stepped in without expecting him to follow, but he did. He was breathing fast.
“Angelika,” he gasped in horror as she raised the lantern high. “This is something from a nightmare.”