CHAPTER FOURTEEN
For the next five days, Mary buried herself in her father’s journals. Whenever Ryan came to call on her, she sent him away. She was determined now, more so than ever, to solve the puzzle about her father, and while Ryan had offered to help in that regard, their recent argument had brought Mary crashing back to reality. She knew now that they would never see eye to eye, and though the fact that he would not accept her for who she was pained her, she was now too busy to give it much thought.
It wasn’t until Alexandra grew thoroughly exasperated with her solitary confinement that Mary even realized how many days had passed by.
“You need to get out,” Alexandra told her firmly one early afternoon. “Staying cooped up like this for days on end cannot be good for you.”
“It is raining again,” Mary told her, unwilling to give up her reading.
“Yes, I know. But that does not mean that we cannot go to Gunter’s for tea. If you like, we could visit the Hunterian first.”
Mary looked up. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? I should hate to subject you to an endless display of surgical instruments for my benefit alone.”
Alexandra grinned. “I think it might be interesting. Shall we agree to meet downstairs in fifteen minutes? That should allow you enough time to finish up and get yourself ready.”
Mary nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, thank you, Alexandra. I shall just get my spencer and reticule.”
“So tell me, what happened between you and my brother?” Alexandra asked a short while later as they rolled along Oxford Street in Alexandra’s carriage. “He seemed a bit put out when I spoke with him yesterday, and every time he has tried to call on you, you have turned him away. Did you have another disagreement?”
“You could say that.” Mary sighed. “He insisted that I give up practicing surgery, and I disagreed. In fact, he told me quite plainly that he would not allow me to jeopardize my reputation or his, to which I replied that if that were the case, then I would not have him.”
“You called off the engagement?”
“Not exactly; I gave him an ultimatum. Either he can accept me for who I am, or I shall publically refuse him at the altar.”
“Good heavens,” Alexandra muttered. “No wonder he was in a foul mood.”
She studied Mary for a long moment before continuing. “You do know that he cares a great deal for you?”
“I am not at all sure that he does, Alexandra. If he did, he would not try to take the one thing that I am truly passionate about away from me. He would not suggest that it is merely a hobby to me and that I might easily replace it with painting or botany.”
“He said that?” Alexandra might have laughed if it weren’t so tragic. Mary, who was looking quite glum, merely nodded. “I am sure he is only trying to protect you.”
“Well, he will not have to worry about that anymore. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing left to be said about the matter. We are of two different opinions, and neither one of us is willing to budge.”
Alexandra chose not to pursue the issue any further, but she decided that it was time for her to have another talk with her brother. Clearly, he was in desperate need of some pointers on how to handle a woman like Mary. One thing was for certain: he wouldn’t get anywhere by threatening her freedom.
After paying a penny to view the exhibit, the two women walked alongside the display cases together, stopping every few feet to admire the contents.
“Oh, would you look at that,” Mary remarked as she pointed to a tiny lizard that had been suspended in a jar of alcohol. “Fascinating how life has evolved so differently in different parts of the world, is it not?”
“Yes,” Alexandra agreed. “I should love to travel as far as Australia one day and see one of those bouncing animals that I have heard so much about, or fish larger than a carriage. Can you imagine?”
Mary nodded her head thoughtfully. She’d been as far as Istanbul with her father. He’d given her a taste of what the world had to offer and an eagerness to see more. She sighed, wondering if that would be yet another dream she’d have to sacrifice if she chose to marry Ryan.
“I don’t want to rush you, but I must confess that I’m terribly eager to see the Irish giant they have on display. Would you mind if I go and have a look? I’ll only be a moment.”
Mary grinned, acknowledging that few people were as interested in reptiles and insects as she was. “Not at all,” she said, upon which Alexandra left Mary’s side.
Mary moved on to a collection of butterflies. It was almost as if they’d simply paused for a moment, their bodies suspended in midair. In fact, she half expected them to flap their wings at any moment. But as fascinating as all of these things were, what she’d really come to see was the vast collection of surgical instruments.
She was just about to turn and follow Alexandra when she felt herself grabbed firmly by the arm and shoved through a narrow archway. A door banged shut behind her, leaving her in complete darkness.
Her pulse raced, and her breath came quickly as she reached for something, anything at all, that might allow her to get her bearings.
“You have an unfortunate habit of being too inquisitive for your own good, Lady Steepleton,” a deep voice told her. It was not one that she recognized, though she suspected that the speaker was attempting to mask himself by lowering his tone.
She backed away from it, hitting the wall and knocking something metallic over in the process. It clanged loudly against the stone floor. “Who is there?” she asked in a voice far calmer than she felt. “What do you want?”
“Excellent questions, my lady,” the voice drawled. “As for the first one, I cannot tell you the answer to that. If I did, you would have to meet the same fate as your father much sooner than we had intended.”
“We?”
“Hm. . .yes, I would keep an eye on my back at all times if I were you. I am not the only one who wants your father’s journals, you know.”
Mary clenched her jaw tightly shut and took a deep breath to stop her voice from quivering. “The only one I had was stolen from me. I do not know where the rest of them are.”
“And I do not believe you,” the voice purred. “You see, I think you have them with you at Trenton House, where you have been staying for this past week.”
Mary gasped.
“Oh, come now, you didn’t seriously think that we wouldn’t figure that much out, did you?” He sighed. “A smart move, though, on your part—placing yourself under the protection of the Summersbys and Lord Trenton. But we will get to you eventually, and those journals will be ours sooner or later, Lady Steepleton, no matter what you do to try and stop us. The only question is, how much are you willing to sacrifice?”
There was a clicking sound, followed by complete silence. Mary waited, her arms wrapped tightly about her torso to stop herself from shivering, but eventually she realized that whoever had spoken to her just now was no longer there. Feeling her way along the rough edges of the brick wall, she eventually found a door handle. She pushed down hard on it and gave the door a shove. It met with a bit of resistance, but when she put her full weight behind it, it finally gave way with a squeak.
Stumbling back out into the museum, she leaned against the wall and began taking deep breaths to steady her hammering heart. She felt like vomiting.
“Mary, where on earth have you been? I couldn’t find you anywhere and. . .good heavens, are you all right? You look terrible.” Alexandra put her arm around Mary’s shoulders and led her toward a bench. “Please sit down and tell me what has happened.” She then watched Mary with great concern as Mary told her about her encounter. “Was there anything at all familiar about this man?” Alexandra asked. “Did you recognize his voice?”
Mary shook her head feebly. “No.” She met Alexandra’s eyes. “I am sorry, but I just want to go home.”
“All right,” Alexandra agreed, feeling quite miserable herself. She’d failed to protect her friend when she’d needed her the most. Clearly, something had to be done; they had to get to the bottom of this.
Having returned from their eventful excursion in town, Alexandra and Mary were quietly enjoying their tea together in the conservatory, where several of the plants were already in full bloom, when Alexandra’s butler appeared. “Mr. Summersby is here to see you, my lady,” he announced in his typically affected tone.
“Thank you, Collins,” Alexandra replied. “You may show him into the study.”
Alexandra turned to Mary as soon as Collins had gone. “It appears as though I have a guest. I don’t suppose that I can convince you to join us.”
Mary gave her a sad smile. “Thank you, but no. I think I will just wait for you here, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Alexandra said, accepting her friend’s need for solitude. “Feel free to water the roses if you like. I think they might be feeling a bit neglected.”
Leaving Mary to look at the flowers, Alexandra made her way to the study, where she found Ryan waiting for her. He was dressed in a smart pair of light beige trousers and a dark brown velvet frock coat with a matching waistcoat beneath it. His cravat was tied to perfection as always.
“Ah, I am so glad that you were able to see me,” Ryan remarked rather jovially as Alexandra came toward him. “Considering all the times I have been shown the door here recently, I was not at all sure of my success.”
“Well, you can hardly blame Mary for not wanting to see you anymore after what you said to her—painting and botany, indeed—and in spite of the advice I gave you,” Alexandra admonished, shaking her head with a great deal of disapproval. “You really do have a talent for mucking things up.”
“I should have known that you would be the last person to understand. Hell, you probably think it would be a wonderful idea for my wife to be the instigator of the greatest scandal this country has ever seen. Can you imagine? A female surgeon without the right to practice, riding off in the dead of night, disguised as a man. . .the papers will have a field day, Alex, and I shall have my work cut out for me, keeping her out of Newgate, or worse even, Bedlam.”
Alexandra rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed with clear exasperation before slumping down onto a caramel-colored velvet armchair. “Look, I know that Mary’s occupation is not exactly acceptable, but you need to show a little understanding if you hope to have any future with her whatsoever. Think of a way in which to compromise, Ryan, and while you are at it, try to consider this: do you want to retain the fiery, carefree nature that you fell in love with, or do you wish to demoralize her in every way possible?”
There was a short moment of silence as Alexandra let that sink in before she continued. “I suggest you think very carefully about how you handle the situation, Ryan. You have found a unique individual who stands out from the crowd, but if you would prefer a more sedate woman who will jump at your every command, then I suggest you leave Mary and pick one of the typical brides this season has to offer.”