Chapter Six

Chapter Six

She pointed a finger into his chest.

“My crime, in addition to body-snatching, is that I’m lonely. I’m aging by the day. Twenty-four, never kissed, never touched. I cannot travel without my brother, and unless the destination has a fully stocked laboratory, he is not interested. I have money I can’t seem to spend because I am marooned on a hillside. I am a woman.” She raised her voice. “And a woman needs certain things, even if society tells her she should not.”

“I . . .” was all Will could reply to her negligee.

“Do you know what men call me in the tavern? My nickname that not even Victor knows?” Angelika paused and wondered if he might use it against her.

“You can confess it to me,” Will said. “I will keep your secret safe.”

“The barren-ness. A play on baroness. Because I am wealthy and barren, I suppose? But how could anyone know that? For all we know, I am infinitely fertile, given the proper treatment.”

Will was having a personal malfunction. “I . . .”

“Apart from that night we slept together, I have never lain with a man. Now if you’ll pardon me, sir, I’m going to lie on my bed and sulk. Unless you’d care to join me. My final offer to you, before I shrivel up and die from embarrassment.”

His entire body shivered. He took a step toward her. The pink of his tongue was obscene, licking at the corner of his mouth.

Now he was blinking, realizing, and lanced through the heel by reality. “I will be forced to belong to you. My pride will not allow me to be kept like a stray dog. Or worse, a mutt, but treated as a pedigree poodle. I am a man, and I am someone. I just have to find out who that is.”

Angelika thought that whoever he was, he had remarkable principles.

“You could be Will Frankenstein, richer than your wildest dreams. More exhausted from the previous night than you ever thought possible.”

“But I am not a Frankenstein. You can’t just open your home to a stranger and offer him everything like this. What if I am a bad person? A dangerous one?”

“You are not.”

“We don’t know when my true nature will reveal itself. I must find the life I left behind. Until I know who I really am, I can make no choices for my future. You will not distract me with your beauty, or how silk lays on your body.” He closed his eyes and swallowed. He appeared tormented. “You will not distract me with your perfume in every room of the house, or how you bounce up and down stairs.”

“It does sound like I am rather distracting.”

He saw her smile and turned dour. “I am quite resolved.” He turned on his heel, walked across the hall, and shut his door, audibly locking it. Was he anticipating she might slink in, during the night, as Mary had directed?

Her cheeks burned. “You didn’t need to lock it!”

A door opened, but not the one in front of her.

“You two, shut up,” Victor barked from his end of the hall. “Either bed each other or do not speak. Will, we are going to the morgue tomorrow night to sort this mess out, and maybe I will have some peace.”

“And maybe I’ll collect myself a new husband while I’m there,” Angelika snapped back. Neither man replied. Louder she hollered, “Mary, fetch hot water. I am having a long, distracting, and very naked bath, with my door unlocked.”

“Ugh.” Victor recoiled in horror and slammed his door harder than he ever had before.

* * *

“You both will have to go to the morgue without me tonight,” Victor said as he fastened his cloak with one hand, the other hand gripping the reins under the chin of his evil gray mare. “I’m sorry, but this sighting is too promising. Athena, stop prancing. Give me a leg up, Will.”

Word had come via messenger that a seven-foot man with a waxy pallor was spotted several parishes west, stealing cabbages.

“I will be two days, possibly three,” Victor said on a grunt as Will legged him up onto the horse. “Take care of my sister. The morgue is dangerous, but it’s not the dead ones you’ll have to worry about.”

“He can go alone,” Angelika said spitefully. “He has declared he has no need of me.”

“You must go, too, Jelly,” Victor said, circling his mount around them. “He has no proof of identity until I find my lost achievement. If Will gets into trouble, only you with your honorable Frankenstein name can keep him safe. There’s been news of thieves and highwaymen. Every stranger will be under scrutiny by the night watch.”

“Fine, I will accompany him,” Angelika said. “Even though he wishes to be a stranger.”

“So, in summary, I wish for you to look after each other,” Victor advised them both, but his eyes were on Will. “You are in charge of protecting the house in my absence.” Athena spun in rearing pirouettes, skittering gravel on their shoes.

Will was uncomfortable. “How could you let me have that role?” He looked back at the house, perhaps noticing its faded grandeur for the first time.

“Because my sister trusts you.” And with that, Victor allowed some rein and galloped down the wide carriageway, arched over by yew trees. He called back, “My sister created you, and that counts for something, brother.”

The impressive exit was slightly undermined by Belladonna chasing after him, tailed by her runt piglet.

“Brother,” both Angelika and Will echoed cynically, but he did look pleased. Then he remembered something. “What did Victor mean just now? He said we have no proof of my identity until he finds his creation.”

“I never know what he is talking about,” Angelika evaded. The image of the ring flashed behind her eyelids, but it was soon blinked away as she noticed how handsome Will was in this fading afternoon light.

She wasn’t the only one distracted. Will had not recovered from seeing her in a negligee. Every time they saw each other, he obscured his lower half. A hat. A bunch of carrots. A hunting trophy. Anything that came to hand, he’d utilize it. They’d had a bland discussion about the smoking fireplace in his bedroom while he stood behind the bust of her great-great-grandfather Leonard Frankenstein.

This much was painfully clear: Will’s brain abhorred her, but his body adored her. It was a pity that his upstairs faculties always won out.

He tore his gaze away from her. “I should have accompanied Victor.”

“We have no idea if you can even ride,” Angelika reminded him.

“I’ve actually got a good seat. Victor gave me a fine gelding; it was most generous. And I am honored beyond measure that he, and you, trust me enough to remain here to man the house. Without you both I’d have nothing. Not even life. It’s most humbling.”

It was a fine apology, but Angelika did not want it. It had the first echoes of a goodbye.

He tried again. “You’re a scientist. Surely you can understand the intense curiosity to know everything, rather than making assumptions?”

She had to confess a partial truth, because the urge to put hope in his eyes suddenly outweighed her own selfish aspirations. “The big man Victor seeks has your transplanted hands. You were wearing a ring when we found you. Now he wears it.”

He was filled with energy now. “A ring. Describe it to me.”

Angelika could anticipate what his reaction would be if she admitted the truth: that the Frankensteins were so careless with trinkets of pure gold that neither of them had paid it much notice. She had wanted to forget the possibility of a wife, and Victor had been too lazy to walk two minutes to fetch cutters. The possibility of a crest or engraving might raise his hopes, only to be dashed if it were gone forever.

“It was dark, so I have no idea of the particulars. That’s why we are trying so hard for you, even though you do not realize it. Victor will locate his fine achievement and bring him home, and in turn, you may find a clue to your identity.”

He nodded now, beaming. “I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult. So, could we try to be friends? And you’ll help me tonight at the morgue?” When happy, he was illuminated.

“Yes,” she said, thinking ahead. “If you’ll take me to the tavern for an ale after. I’ve always wanted to. Saddle your new horse and we shall ride out at sunset.” She smiled at the direction Victor had left by, hoping to appear cool and unaffected by Will’s close presence. “Maybe I will have some fun at last. I’m not being facetious. I think I might search for a new husband while I’m there.”

He didn’t like that. “Where? The morgue or the tavern?”

“Don’t you know me at all?” Angelika laughed and walked away. “I’ll search both.”

* * *

They rode their horses over the crest of a hill. Angelika pointed with her crop.

“I will give you a tour of Salisbury. It is a fine village, with much history. Victor says we are ideally situated, only a day’s carriage ride from London, and we can easily ride to the plains to see the big stone druid temple. We can take a basket of food and a bottle of wine. It is a marvelous day out.”

“I am sure it is all very nice,” Will said. “You do not have to be nervous that I won’t like your home. I already do.”

They halted their mounts and looked at the village lanterns in the distance. The sky was peach and lavender. Turtledoves cooed in a hedgerow, and honeysuckle perfumed everything. The horses sidestepped, causing their riders’ legs to brush. It was a moment steeped in romance, but only in Angelika’s imagination. She looked sideways at what was indeed a fabulous riding seat. That horse was a lucky creature.

Will broached a new topic with care. “Victor used my hands for his monster, but you said my body was not salvageable due to an accident. Can you explain this to me, so I can stop wondering about it?”

“He is not a monster. I wanted to test my skills in transplanting body parts, and as a scientist, Victor needed to prove his superiority to Jürgen Schneider.” Science was something Will rarely argued with.

“The way Victor rants about that man is unhealthy. I think he would gain peace if he could just forgive his past offenses. Whatever they are.”

She shrugged. “It fuels Victor. It goes beyond science. Schneider was once a potential suitor for Lizzie. Victor is a beast when he is jealous.”

“How did they meet? Please do not tell me that Lizzie is also . . .” He gestured vaguely to his own neck area, where his cravat hid his stitches.

“Goodness, no. Victor has been betrothed to Lizzie since they were children, but when Papa died, he forgot about it. He got drunk and wrote a manifesto of sorts, denouncing the institution of marriage. ‘Opting Out of England’s Elite Breeding Program’ is what he titled it.”

“I saw it on your dressing table. I read it. I’ve felt terrible for prying.” Will did look guilty.

“Hardly prying, when it has traveled the world ten times by now. Victor has always wanted to be famous; now he most assuredly is. Lizzie’s father was livid. Threatened to expel him from his secret society. We traveled to Russia to handle the situation. His grand plan was to be so boring that she rejected him.”

“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.”

She saw it through his eyes and had to agree. Without Victor’s brash apple-chewing presence, it seemed far worse. There were rows of motionless bodies stretched out on tables around them, and rats were at the edges of her vision. Fear began to tighten her limbs, until she could hardly take a step.

“I’ll be quick,” she told Will, but her eyes were unseeing as she went to the first table. There was no other face she could be interested in when Will stood behind her so close. When his hands slid around her waist, her grip on the lantern shook.

“Don’t let the candle burn out,” Will cried in terror, clinging to her. “Don’t leave me here.”

She put her hand over his and squeezed. “Haven’t I already proved that I will never leave you here?”

His arms hugged her, tighter-tighter-tighter. Was this emotion, or his newfound strength? To have someone hold her so desperately was worth having no air in her lungs. They fit together exquisitely, tall and small. When he spoke, it was with an endearment. “My love, show me where I was when we met.”

“This table.” They walked as a pair and then looked down at the mottled-gray middle-aged man laid out before them. “I saw you and I thought . . .”

“What?” Will prompted after seconds passed. He put his face into her hair and inhaled deeply. Proof of his ardency nudged her bottom. “Your hair smells incredible.”

Romance happened in unexpected places for Angelika Frankenstein.

She continued after a swallow. “I saw your face and you looked so indignant. Like your final thought was How bloody dare they! I lifted your eyelid, and I thought you looked at me.”

“Perhaps I did.” Will sounded like he was smiling.

“I got the fright of my life and had to check you for breath. Victor’s theory is you were not long dead, and that’s why I got you back. That night I . . . asked you something.”

“What did you ask?”

“If you wished to come back.” She turned in his arms, the lantern swinging by their knees. “I felt like you said yes, somehow.”

“Of that, I am certain I did. I finally understand the magnitude of what you did for me. I am indebted to you for the rest of my life.”

He caught her chin gently in his cool hand, lifted her face, and pressed a kiss on her mouth. It felt like that moment all over again: a magical swirl of wind and a deep surety that this was right.Yes, yes, yes. Love me back. Just as surprise parted her lips, he broke their kiss and said, “Thank you for choosing me, when you could have anyone.”

“You can thank your own handsome face for catching my eye. In all the trips I’d made here, you were the only one to take my breath away.”

“I’m handsome enough to inspire you to make a husband? How kind.” He gently wound some hair away from her face. The clean smell of his wrist was a welcome relief. “I apologize that your plan did not succeed.”

How easy it must be for him to be so assured of her devotion, while simultaneously telling her that she meant nothing. He was standing very much like an adoring husband right now, when the fact was, he probably belonged to some other lucky wench.

Not noticing how stiff she’d become, he added, “Our trip was not a complete waste. Now we can investigate the military academy.”

Not a complete waste?She’d just had her first kiss. The desire to hurt him made her say: “You weren’t my first attempt at a suitor. You were number four.”

Will removed his hands from her. “Fourth?”

“What does it matter?” She paced away, pinching her nose against the smell. He did not move to follow. “You thought you were my first and only, and it flattered you.”

“I am fourth?”

“In reality, you are at the back of a long queue of men who would not take me on. You know that good feeling you just had? How nice it felt to be special to someone? Please realize I have never experienced that feeling in return.”

Uncaring if he was following, she marched to the doorway to relinquish the lantern. There were several students leaning against the wall, waiting their turn. “Anyone good this evening, Miss F?” Davey Gurney asked around his pipe.

“There’s not, for she carries nothing in her hands,” the man behind him said bitterly. “The Frankensteins get first pick of everything.” He fell silent when Will appeared behind her.

“I am going to the tavern. You may do as you wish, Will.” Angelika untied her horse, wrestling with her emotions. “Leg me up.” He did, and she had half a mind to canter off before he could follow.

“Careful, miss,” Davey called. “Rogues out tonight in the village.”

“They’d be more scared of her,” someone shouted, and the entire queue roared with laughter. Angelika was near tears, and she pulled on her riding gloves. Will’s words echoed louder in her ears. Our trip was not a complete waste.

“I daresay you should be frightened of her, for her intellect is more than all of yours combined,” Will said, and the queue fell silent. “The things she can achieve will change the world.”

“Seems like she’s changed your world,” someone said. More raucous laughter followed.

“Undoubtedly.” Will mounted his horse, and in his profile, Angelika saw a well-bred, powerful man. “What a pathetic lot you are. Show some respect to Miss Frankenstein.”

“Brave enough to court her, are you, guv?”

“I’m not remotely worthy of her. Nobody is.” With that, Will overtook Angelika’s horse and they trotted together for some time without speaking. “We are returning home,” he said to her shortly. “I’ve had enough for one night. Do not even think about going to the tavern.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Still, she turned her horse to follow his. “Tell me more about your identical twin brother. Is he unmarried? Could I persuade him to kiss me, or would that be a total waste of an evening?”

“Ha,” Will replied with no humor. “You like having a ready replacement.”

“It hurts you to know you were not the first man I made,” she told him as she pushed Percy to a canter. “Lie in bed and think about why that is.”

“I lie in bed and think about you, wearing silk.” His words echoed across the fields, but there were only foxes and owls to overhear him. Their horses, headed toward home, began to pull and increase their pace. Both riders loosened their reins at the same time, and now they were racing.

Whyever not?Angelika thought as they pounded up the laneway. The horses want to run so badly, what’s the point in holding them back? It’s in their nature. And it was exhilarating, taking the inside position on corners, letting her smaller, nimble mount gain strides in those sharp, dangerous moments. She was furious with Will. He’d kissed her mouth as though he’d done so a thousand times before, an unthinking, instinctive thing; and she wasn’t even sure if he realized he’d done it. Her world had changed; his had not.

He was so measured, even in this dangerous race, it drove her mad. It was in the straights that Will’s horse made significant ground. As they were galloping up the wide carriage drive to the manor, he overtook her, and Angelika saw torchlight in the bushes on the library side of the manor.

“Will,” she called, reining her horse in. Everything was forgotten now. “There’s someone at the house.”