Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter 2)

I glanced at Balthazar. “I daresay not.”

Montgomery gave me one final look. “You’re quite certain the professor can be trusted?”

“With my life.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Balthazar, throw some clothes into a bag for us. I’ll have to devise some reason for why the professor should let Balthazar and me stay in his home to keep an eye on you.”

Once he was quite certain I could walk, and Balthazar had packed a small bag for them, we descended the stairs. The moon was already sinking, meaning it was well past midnight. I hated to think of how frantic the professor and Elizabeth would be over my disappearance.

“How was your voyage?” I asked Balthazar, partly as a distraction and partly because seeing him again made me realize how much I had missed him. “Did you see much of the world?”

“Yes, miss. I rode a camel.”

Montgomery leaned close and whispered playfully, “Nearly broke the poor thing’s back.”

We chatted on the way, and as much as it warmed my heart to see Balthazar, his presence in London unsettled me. Father’s creatures were never meant to exist at all. On a forgotten island in the South Pacific they had been dangerous enough, but here, in the capital of the western world, where the most powerful organization in the world’s greatest city was after my father’s science . . .

But Montgomery loved Balthazar, and I didn’t blame him for sparing his life and continuing to give him treatments. It wasn’t so different from how I was risking so much to help Edward. But what fate was there for an ungodly creation like Balthazar, kind though he was?

At last we turned onto Dumbarton Street. The moon cast light over the wide street and sidewalks. My feet moved faster the nearer to the door—and safety—that we grew. How strange it felt to have Montgomery real by my side, when for months he’d been nothing but a daydream.

I glanced at him sidelong. His body was here, but where was his heart?

My feet slowed when the brownstone came into sight. Every light was blazing, which made it stand out unnaturally from its neighbors. I scanned the ground, looking for Sharkey, hoping he’d returned after I’d lost him, but he was nowhere to be found. My muscles still felt weak, but Montgomery’s serum had helped, and I ran the rest of the way and pounded on the brass horsehead knocker.

The door flew open, with Elizabeth’s worried face filling the space. At the sight of me she let out a strangled cry of relief and pulled me into her arms. I heard shuffling footsteps on the stairs and saw the professor descending, a dark red dressing gown over his pajamas.

“Thank god you’re home,” he said. “Elizabeth told me what happened at the Radcliffes’. We feared you’d disappeared in the panic and we’d never find you again.”

His big hands kneaded my shoulder, as his eyes searched mine behind his wire-rim spectacles.

“I’m quite all right, just a bit shaken,” I said. “And I’m relieved to see you made it back safely, Elizabeth.”

“I scoured every inch of the ballroom looking for you. I found Lucy, and she told me a young gentleman had practically dragged you to safety.” Her eyes slid to Montgomery, taking him in with an analytical stare. “I assume we have you to thank for this, young man.”

“This is an old friend,” I said. “He is—”

“Montgomery James,” he introduced himself with a cordial nod, and then took my hand in his own, which hardly seemed proper, and pulled me next to him so he could wrap one arm around my shoulders.

“I’m Juliet’s fiancé.”

TWENTY-FOUR

HIS HAND TIGHTENED OVER my shoulders. If I looked surprised by his words, it was nothing compared to the professor’s and Elizabeth’s faces.

The professor made as if to speak, but no words came out. Elizabeth’s beautiful blue eyes scoured every inch of our hand-holding, my muddy dress, Montgomery’s loose hair. Both of their mouths were folded hard, their deep-set eyes peering at us like a pair of birds from the cuckoo clock.

“It seems this evening’s surprises just keep coming,” she said. “Perhaps you should come inside, Mr. James.”

“There is one other thing,” Montgomery said, and looked over his shoulder to where Balthazar stood half hidden in the shadows. The moonlight had a way of highlighting the deformity of his back and darkening the shadows under his eyes, so he looked the very picture of a monster.

“I have a friend with me,” Montgomery continued. “We’ve been traveling together for some time, and I’d be much obliged if he could warm himself by your fire.”

As Balthazar lumbered up to join us on the front stoop, Elizabeth’s eyes went even wider. The professor seemed ready to slam the door in his face.

“Good evening,” Balthazar said with his lopsided grin.

The professor remained speechless. It was only after Elizabeth cleared her throat and mumbled something about good manners that he let us inside.

Though the cuckoo clock chimed one in the morning, we soon found ourselves sitting in the library around a pot of tea Elizabeth had insisted on making. Montgomery sat next to me on the loveseat, his hand tightly around mine. He hadn’t let go for a moment since making the announcement.

“Just play along,” he’d whispered as we’d settled on the sofa. “I have my reasons.”

The cuckoo clock ticked, and the steam rose from the pot. I think as shocked as they were by Montgomery’s announcement, it was Balthazar’s presence that had truly rendered them speechless. Now he sat awkwardly on a too-small stool near the fireplace, half cast in shadows, so quiet he might very well have fallen asleep.

“Well. The tea.” Elizabeth broke the silence at last and stood to pour. She eyed Montgomery carefully. “You’ll imagine our surprise to see you, Mr. James. Juliet neglected to tell us you were in London, nor news of any engagement.” Her eyes slid to mine, and I shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m afraid I worried what you’d say. Montgomery is the one who took me to Father’s island last year.”

“A servant!” the professor said suddenly, but there was no disdain in his voice. “That’s where I recognize you from, yes, of course. You were a servant for the Moreau family.”

Montgomery nodded.

The professor settled back into his chair. “I recall you as a quiet boy. Loyal. Hardworking. Though I can’t say I approve of your proposing to Juliet without first seeking permission from her guardian.”