“They are?” William John blinked, looked around to confirm that, then reluctantly conceded, “I suppose they have to take the best of care.”
“Indeed.” Felicia linked her arm with his and drew him inexorably away.
They returned to the horses and traveling coach. Rand and William John joined Felicia and Mary inside the coach, and their now-much-less-impressive party headed back into the town, retracing their route to the Old Crown Inn.
The inn was crowded; it was fortunate that Rand had sent Shields days before to reserve rooms for them. As Shields had used Ryder’s title, the rooms they were shown to were among the best the inn had to offer, well-appointed and comfortable.
Their party gathered for dinner in a private dining room. Ryder had ensured that all the men had been summoned to join them.
At Rand’s suggestion, they applied themselves to the tasty meal served by their hosts; only when the plates had been emptied and jugs of ale had done the rounds of the long table did he and Ryder turn to the task of organizing the watches on the steam carriage during the exhibition and on leaving the hall at the end of the event.
Seated beside Mary, the pair of them flanked by Rand and Ryder, Felicia listened as Rand, Ryder, and William John discussed the potential weaknesses in the organizers’ arrangements.
“The official guards will be there until the end of the day, but there are only so many of them, and exhibitions such as this are always crowded,” Rand said. “There’ll be streams of people—not just inventors and investors, but all sorts of interested members of the public, even children—passing up and down the room and milling around the inventions.”
William John, seated opposite Felicia, frowned. “Not in the morning, though.” He screwed up his face in concentration. “I can’t remember.” He looked at Rand. “Is that right?”
Rand nodded. His expression serious, he glanced around the table at all the men. “Although it’s the organizers’ responsibility to keep the hall and all the inventions in it secure until the end of the exhibition, once the doors open to the public at one o’clock, I strongly suspect the organizers’ guards will be overwhelmed. However, I believe we can place our faith in the organizers and their guards until one o’clock. In addition, the exhibitors—in our case, William John and me—must report to the hall at ten o’clock. Between ten and twelve, the organizers and their team of assessors examine the inventions, and William John and I need to be present throughout that time.”
“But you don’t need extra guards through those hours.” Ryder looked at Rand for confirmation.
“No, we don’t. We’ll both be there, beside the steam carriage, waiting to show the assessors around it and demonstrate how it operates, and while some of the other inventors might leave their exhibits and mill around, there won’t be so many that, between us, we won’t be able to keep an eye on them all.” Rand glanced at William John. “Between twelve and one o’clock, William John and I will remain with the steam carriage, just to be sure.”
Sober and serious, William John nodded.
Rand turned to survey Ryder’s men. “After that, however, immediately the doors open to the public at one o’clock, we will need you—about five or even six at a time—to stand guard around the steam carriage.”
Shields glanced at the other guards. “Right, then.” He looked at Rand. “We’ve enough of us to stand six at a time. We’ll rotate so that we each get a chance to take a gander at the other machines on show, if that’ll suit?”
Rand inclined his head. “Indeed.”
“So,” Shields went on, “we’re to keep all the punters away from the steam engine?”
“They can look,” William John said, “but you’ll need to keep them sufficiently far back that they can’t touch.”
“Either William John or I will be there throughout the exhibition,” Rand said, “standing before the steam carriage to answer any questions.” He paused, then went on, “Even though, prior to the public viewing, the steam carriage will have been examined by the assessors and demonstrated to them, establishing that it works, the most critical point at which our invention must shine is when we have our chance to present it to Prince Albert—so tampering or sabotage remains a real threat until the steam carriage is successfully presented to the Prince.” Rand glanced around at the men. “Albert is scheduled to arrive at half past two. After the usual welcome speeches, he’ll start examining the exhibits, commencing from the first exhibit on the left and progressing down that side of the hall to the end, before returning along the other side.”
Rand looked at William John. “We’re number twenty-four, and I believe there are fifty exhibits in all.” Looking at the men, he said, “I managed to get a glimpse of the plan of the exhibits. The hall is a long rectangle, and the exhibits are arranged against the two long sides, leaving a wide central aisle. The steam engine’s spot is almost at the end of the hall on the left side.”
The men all frowned, envisaging the hall in their minds’ eyes.
Ryder asked, “Are there any side halls or annexes opening from the main hall?”
“None that were marked on the organizers’ plan.” Rand frowned faintly, then offered, “I’ve been in the hall before, and as far as I recall, it’s just one large rectangular hall. There may be doors here and there, but no other spaces open from it.”
Ryder sat back. “If the exhibits are arranged more or less against the walls, that makes protecting them from any interference from the passing crowd easier.” Touching a finger to the condensation on his ale glass, he drew a line on the wooden tabletop. “Here’s the wall, and here”—he drew a rectangle beside it—“is the steam carriage. If we place a cordon of men in a shallow arc extending to either side, virtually to each of the neighboring exhibits, then we’ll block anyone approaching the steam carriage from either side. No one will be able to slip behind it, even if the two of you are distracted by others asking questions.”
Rand, William John, Ryder, and the other men fell to discussing the precise placement of the guards. Watching them, Felicia felt a seductive sense of relief—surely, with so many focused on protecting the steam carriage, nothing would go wrong.
The knowledge that, in the matter of failing, they were approaching the last hurdle hovered at the back of her mind.
Beside Felicia, Mary murmured, “Ryder and I are acquainted with Albert. It would likely be some sort of royal solecism were we not to present ourselves to him at some point in the proceedings.” She glanced at Felicia and met her eyes. “The question is, what would be the most useful point at which to step forward and make our presence known?”
Much struck, Felicia arched her brows. “What would you suggest?”
At that moment, the placements of the guards was resolved to all the men’s satisfaction. Mary leaned forward and asked Rand, “What happens after the Prince arrives? You said there would be the usual speeches, then he’ll speak with the exhibitors—there must be some sort of protocol in place.”
Rand shrugged. “From what I’ve seen in the past, Albert speaks with each inventor, and they explain their invention to him. He’ll move down the line, but he will linger if some invention catches his eye. Then he’ll spend longer, asking questions and examining the machine.”