“You fixed it!” Felicia’s eyes were bright, her expression radiant. “You did it!”
“We did it. I wouldn’t have thought about balancing things without you.” Grinning, William John dipped his head toward Rand and met his eyes. “And we’d never have had the funds to persevere if it wasn’t for Cavanaugh.”
Grinning back, Rand saluted the pair of them. Then his gaze fell to the engine. “What brought you down so early?”
“I woke to an epiphany.” William John whirled Felicia to a halt beside Rand, then stepped closer to the engine and pointed to several long tubes that now formed a web along each side. “I realized we needed to equalize all pressure directly, from the boiler on, and not just rely on our single pipe to deliver to both pistons. That also meant running equalizer tubes back from both drive shafts and both pistons to get the controls working correctly.”
Felicia had drawn closer to study the new tubes. She stepped back with an expression of relief. “Of course.”
William John grinned at her. “As I said, balance in all things.”
Rand smiled at William John’s exuberance, then he returned his gaze to the engine. After a moment, he sobered. “Have you completed the tests yet?”
William John regarded the engine with obvious fondness. “Not yet. I’ll do that today.”
Rand exchanged a sidelong glance with Felicia. “For the sake of our peace of mind, what’s say you run the tests twice?”
Transparently content, William John shrugged. “If you like.” His grin resurfaced. He drew out his watch and consulted the face, then, with evident satisfaction, tucked the watch back. “But it’s been chugging along sweetly for over half an hour, and it’s still perfectly in tune, perfectly aligned. Nothing’s going to blow now.”
“Nevertheless,” Felicia said. “Just to be sure, run the tests twice. How long will that take?”
“I need to let the boiler cool between tests, so I’ll get the first set run today, then we can perform the second round tomorrow, while we make the final preparations for seating the engine into the carriage.” Over Felicia’s head, William John met Rand’s eyes. “It’ll take us all of the next day—the day after tomorrow—to fix the engine into the carriage, then put the completed machine through its paces.”
Rand nodded. “We’re going to meet our deadline, but with no days to spare. We’ll need to leave on Thursday morning to get the carriage onto the exhibition floor by late Friday afternoon.”
“That’s when it has to be there?” Felicia asked.
Rand nodded again. “But as it appears Fate has finally decided to smile upon us, I’m increasingly certain we’ll make it.” He met William John’s, then Felicia’s eyes. “I believe we can look forward to seeing what Birmingham, Prince Albert, and the inventing world make of the Throgmorton Steam-Powered Horseless Carriage.”
* * *
The following days passed in a state of organized chaos.
Shields returned from Raventhorne Abbey while they were still at the breakfast table, with the entire household in alt over the news that the engine’s problems had been solved and it was finally working as it should. After confirming that the Marquess of Raventhorne would arrive with a goodly number of guards on Wednesday afternoon—Rand had asked Ryder to come on that day—Shields, along with Joe and Martin, followed William John down to the workshop for a demonstration of the magnificent machine.
Subsequently, throughout Monday, William John dutifully ran the first round of final tests. Felicia elected to serve as his assistant, pointing out that two pairs of eyes and ears were preferable to one, especially when they all had so much riding on the outcome.
Meanwhile, Rand took over the sitting room. He spread maps of the area on a low table, and, with Shields and Struthers, plotted the route they would take to the exhibition and planned where they would halt along the way, every decision made with an eye to being best able to protect the invention—and Felicia and William John, too. “In Birmingham, we’ll put up at the Old Crown. It’s on our road in, and it’s the most suitable place to accommodate us all.”
Rand scanned the list of roads and inns they would halt at—for lunch as well as for the night of Thursday. Then he held out the list to Shields. “Ride to Banbury and arrange for rooms there, then go on to the Old Crown and do the same. As Ryder will be with us, use his title—it never hurts.”
He exchanged a grin with Shields, who took the list and rose.
“I’ll take note of the roads as I go,” Shields said, “and look for places that might hide an ambush. If I leave now, I’ll be back by Wednesday morning, in time to help lift the engine into the carriage.”
“Yes—look for anywhere that might conceal an attack.” Rand got to his feet, along with Struthers. “Meanwhile”—he looked at Struthers—“let’s see if there’s anything we can do to help prepare the body of the carriage.”
He and Struthers spent the afternoon oiling and rechecking every moving part of the now-gleaming carriage.
Rand spent the evening with Felicia, Flora, and William John, all of them buoyed by the rising tide of excitement that had infected the whole household.
That excitement lent spice to his and Felicia’s later encounter, one that settled them both, in some indefinable way, drawing them even closer. As if with each passing day, they aligned just a little more perfectly with each other.
Tuesday saw the engine clear the final round of tests with flying colors, and the carriage readied in every way possible for the moment when the engine would be lifted and lowered into the cavity in front of the carriage’s forward driving board. That was one of William Throgmorton’s original modifications, placing the engine in front of the passengers, rather than behind.
That evening, Flora and the household staff organized a celebration. As Johnson, who proposed the toast, stated, the staff had lived with the invention through thick and thin, over all the months since their late master had commenced working on the project, and as they wouldn’t be at the exhibition to observe its moment of glory, it was only fitting that they drank to the success of the engine and its inventors here and now.
After a nudge from Felicia, William John rose to the occasion and thanked everyone for their forbearance, truthfully adding that success wouldn’t have been achieved without the help of everyone there, before concluding with the observation that those at the Hall today were the first to see history in the making, and that tomorrow, the future would be here.