Alden woke up feeling barely rested. He’d been awake long into the night, pondering everything he knew about the two murders and the full-blown conspiracy that seemed to surround them. Not even a month ago Alden’s concerns had begun and ended with money and tinctury. Now he was up to his neck in poisoning, espionage and intrigue. Admittedly, it had a certain thrill to it, but surely these matters were better left to an actual professional… But despite such heavy thoughts, his dour mood only lasted for about five seconds after he descended the stairs. “Good morning, Alden!” “Ah, Tiffany, good m…” Alden’s reply fell away into nothing as Tiffany once again caught him in a hug. And this time, she seemed perfectly happy to let the hug linger. Feeling rather unsure how to respond, Alden settled for gently petting the top of her head. “Good morning, Tiffany. I’m glad you’re in high spirits.” Tiffany made a happy little noise and took a step back, holding her hands cutely behind her back. It really was quite remarkable just how quickly she had been able to change her entire demeanour… Then again, she had probably been eager to make such a change for a long time. “So, what will you be doing today, Tiffany?” “Well, other than the usual work, I’m quite excited about a few experiments I’ve been planning. I ran across some information in a book about middle-African herbalism that seemed like it might form a sound basis for feminizing tinctury. Would it be acceptable if I started keeping mice in a back corner of the workroom?” “For animal testing?” “Just so. I know mice are far from perfect test subjects, but I figured it would be better than simply using my own body for initial testing as I have in the past.” The notion of Tiffany imbibing completely untested tinctures did not sit well at all with Alden, especially given the health problems she reported from her early attempts at counter-androgenic treatments. “I fully agree. Keep as many mice as you need. Just make sure you take proper care of them, and don’t let them escape into the store.” “Of course. Thank you, Alden.” As Tiffany once again practically skipped into the workroom, Alden couldn’t help but smile. Tiffany was so young, and still she was spearheading a brand new branch of tinctury all by herself. “That girl really is remarkable.” “And that’s the gods’ own truth.” Alden very nearly managed not to start when Miss Oxley spoke up from right behind him. “You really need to stop sneaking up on me like this, Miss Oxley.” “Maybe if you weren’t so utterly distracted by Tiff, you’d actually notice me coming in through the door.” “That’s not… No, I suppose that is a fair assessment.” “But if you can tear your mind away from our little ray of sunshine for a moment, there’s another girl here to see you. The Han child.” “Mei Jing is here?” “Is that her name? She said she wanted to meet with you, so I asked her to wait outside while I went to fetch you.” “You could simply have invited her in, Miss Oxley.” “But then I might have missed you going all stiff and awkward from Tiff’s morning greeting.” “…I believe you have work to do, Miss Oxley. I suggest you get to it.” Alden felt rather put-upon as Miss Oxley took her leave with a smug grin on her face. Letting out a small huff, he headed to the front door to see what Mei Jing had to report. Once again, Alden invited Mei Jing up to his apartment and offered her tea and biscuits. Since he had run out of ginger biscuits the other day, he had decided to take advantage of his newfound prosperity and purchased a tin of chocolate biscuits. Mei Jing clearly appreciated the rare treat, and had been so busy munching on biscuits she hadn’t managed to say a word since she sat down at the table. Alden was quite pleased to see that Mei Jing’s skin had gained a bit of a healthy sheen since the last time he saw her, even if she was still rather thinner than he would have liked. He decided to make sure he had a selection of tasty biscuits on hand going forward, to be ready for Mei Jing’s next visit. Purely as a matter of courtesy, of course. The fact that the girl looked absolutely precious with her cheeks bulging with biscuit certainly didn’t have anything to do with it. But even Mei Jing’s appetite had its limits, and that limit turned out to be half a tin of chocolate biscuits. Carefully setting her teacup back on its saucer, Mei Jing leaned back and looked up at Alden. “Thank you for the tea and biscuits. They were very tasty.” “You’re quite welcome, Mei Jing. I must say, your English is really improving.” “I hear much English working for you, and speak it much also.” “It’s impressive, nevertheless. But on to matters of business. What do you have for me, Mei Jing?” “The girls have been watching the people Wu Bo told us is loyalists. They have been telling me who they talk to, where they go, what they do. I put it all together, and then Wu Bo helped me make this.” She pulled a stack of fifteen or so papers out of her bag. Each one sported a simple portrait of a Han man, along with a breakdown of their schedules, contacts, workplaces, what places they visited… “Mei Jing… this is… impressive.” Mei Jing shook her head. “It is not complete. I will bring a new one when we know more.” “Well of course it’s not complete! It’s been four days, Mei Jing! I’m amazed you’ve managed this much.” “The girls are very hard workers.” “And you work even harder, Mei Jing. I can tell. Thank you for all your help.” Mei Jing looked away, a faint blush apparent on her cheeks. Despite being such an extraordinary girl, she clearly wasn’t used to receiving praise. Alden smiled softly, letting the surprisingly comfortable silence linger for a brief moment. Then, he took out his coin purse and pulled out a ten-pound coin. “This is for Wu Bo. Tell him I am very pleased with his work so far and look forward to his continued cooperation.” This was followed by another two of the large, golden coins. “These are for the girls. Good coin for fine work.” And finally one last coin. “And this is for you.” Mei Jing’s head snapped up as she gave him an incredulous look. “Ten pounds, all for me?” “You’ve earned it, Mei Jing. And I’m sure you’ll continue to impress. Besides…” Alden glances at the stack of papers Mei Jing had handed him. “I rather suspect I’ll have more money coming my way in the very near future.” Once he had bid Mei Jing a good day, Alden made his way to the Baines residence. The fine townhouse was starting to feel rather familiar to him by now, and he was certainly fitting in better with the residents of the upper-class neighbourhood since he updated his wardrobe. Knocking on the door, he was once again greeted by the same old woman as always. “I’m looking for Lucille Baines.” “She’s working in the basement. I will guide you there.” Alden nodded and followed the woman through the house, bringing him to a rather sturdy metal door. After unlocking the imposing structure using both a key and a combination entered on a dial, she pulled the heavy door open with some difficulty. “I am not allowed entry into the basement, but Mistress Baines has instructed me that you are allowed to come and go from here as you please.” “I see. Mrs. Baines must really trust you, if you have access to the key and combination to an area you are not allowed to enter.” “I have been in the service of the Baines family since I was just a child. It is a trust built on an old and very stable foundation.” “Understood. Well, thank you for guiding me. I will make my own way from here.” The old woman gave a curt nod, and Alden descended the stairs as she closed the door behind him. At the foot of the stairs, he found a corridor with doors leading off to each side. The first door opened up into a small private library, which seemed to be deserted at the moment. As for what lay past the third door and beyond, Alden never found out, because he was rather distracted by what he found beyond the second door. “Ada!” The young woman looked up, clearly startled, but her startlement was quickly replaced by a bright smile. She was seated at a desk surrounded by stacks of papers, open books, no fewer than eight different abaci and slide rules and a large number of crumpled up and discarded bits of rough notepaper. Behind her gleamed an analytical engine almost as large as the one in Dr. Rawleigh’s laboratory. And next to her, looking even more startled than Ada had, was a pale, lanky young man dressed in an old-fashioned scholarly robe and the thickest spectacles Alden had ever seen. “Mr. Stowe! It’s so good to see you, sir! Did you come to visit me?” “Had I known this is where Mrs. Baines squirreled you away, I certainly would have, but I’m actually here to visit Mrs. Baines herself. That can wait, though. How have you been, Ada?” “I’m doing very well, sir. Mrs. Baines is very keen on seeing Dr. Rawleigh’s work continued, so we have been working together. Although just between you and me, I feel she might be overpaying me a little.” “While I certainly know the feeling, I suspect you’re selling yourself short, Ada. Your work never fails to impress.” “Thank you kindly for saying so sir. But I…” “No buts, Ada. You have a gift, and you shouldn’t be scared to admit. Now, who’s this likely lad?” The young man blinked owlishly, and Alden couldn’t help but suspect that he had never been referred to as a likely lad before in his life. “This is Mr. Boole. Mrs. Baines hired him to assist me and teach me my letters.” The young man finally seemed to find his tongue as he stepped up to Alden. “Theodore Boole, sir. Pleasure to meet you.” Alden gave the lad a firm handshake. “Alden Stowe. I work for Mrs. Baines. Thank you for looking after our Ada.” “Frankly, sir, it’s my pleasure to do so. Miss Waller has an amazing head for numbers, and she’s an absolute joy to work with.” “Good lad! I’m glad to see young Ada is getting the recognition she deser…” “Oi! You two! If you keep on like that my head’s gonna swell ‘til it don’t even fit in the room no more. Mr. Boole, stop talking sweet and enter this set of equations into the engine.” “Of course, Miss Waller. At once!” As the two youngsters got too absorbed in their work to pay much attention to him, Alden simply stood back and watched them. Ada sure had come a long way in just a few short days. “Such a talented girl…” “I fully agree. She is quite the find.” Alden spun around to find Lucille Baines standing behind him. She was wearing some sort of lightly stained and partially singed protective clothing, and her hair was slightly matted with sweat. Her silver earrings, however, were just as bright as ever. “Why do people keep sneaking up on me today?” Lucille smiled almost impishly. “Presumably because you keep letting yourself get distracted, Alden. Now, am I right in assuming that you came here to see me?” Lucille’s office hadn’t changed much since his last visit, although the desk was rather messier than Alden remembered. Lucille sat down and shot him a welcoming smile, somehow managing to look rather radiant despite how sweaty and dirty she was. “So, have you come to drop more suspects into my lap, like the lads that used to work for Dr. Rawleigh?” “In a sense. I’ve brought some information about confirmed Han loyalists living and operating in London. It’s still incomplete, but I will keep you updated as I find out more.” Alden handed over the stack of papers Mei Jing had given him, and Lucille took them with a raised eyebrow. Scanning them quickly, she made a thoughtful humming noise. “This is some very useful information. And here I thought you said you weren’t a spy, Alden.” “All I did was hire the right people. If anyone is worthy of praise in this case, it’s the girls who actually gathered the information.” “Girls that you recruited?” “I suppose so, but frankly, that was largely a combination of connections and luck.” “So you say, and yet you keep outperforming my expectations for you.” “Well, I suppose anyone can produce fantastic results with the help of a large number of exceptional girls.” Alden conceded. “And a number of professional gentlemen.” He added, almost as an afterthought. Lucille gave Alden a thoughtful look, and Alden was thoroughly unsurprised when she reached down and opened a desk drawer. He was rather surprised, however, when she tossed him two of her usual little coin purses. “This seems like rather a lot.” “Up until now, I have been acting with the understanding that I was paying a single intelligence agent. But it is becoming increasingly clear that I am in fact funding an entire spy network.” Alden briefly considered arguing against that statement, but he couldn’t think of an elegant way to do so that didn’t feel like he was making light of the efforts of all the people who were helping him with his investigation, so he remained silent. “There is a condition attached to this payment, however.” Lucille added. “And what is that condition?” Alden asked, half-dreading what the answer might be. “You will accompany me to the Blue Blood Club for lunch tomorrow.” Alden started. “What? Absolutely not! Out of the question! I am neither a Darling nor a royal! I know full well that I’m not allowed to set foot within those halls.” “Mostly true, but there are exceptions. There are certain rooms of the Blue Blood Club where members are allowed to bring guests. With prior reservation, of course. Tomorrow, you will be joining me for lunch at the Rose Room.” “Whatever for?” “Because I think it’s high time for you to meet with my patron, Alden Stowe.” Alden stumbled home in a bit of a daze, his mind still stuck on the notion of meeting with Lucille’s patron. It had to be a member of the royal family! It just had to be! Hel, it might even be the queen herself, for all he knew! It probably wasn’t, but Alden didn’t feel like he could fully rule it out. If not the queen, it might be the crown princess or her sister, though Alden frankly had trouble imagining either of them being involved in intelligence work. Word on the street was they were both very forthright and honest to a fault, so they were probably a poor fit for anything remotely skulduggerous. And the queen’s mother was pushing 80, so she seemed an unlikely candidate as well. The queen consort or king consort were a possibility. The fourth and fifth child of the previous king of Alba, they had married the then crown princess of England at a fairly young age. Or, well, if gossip was to be believed the crown princess of England had fallen deeply in love with the Alban princess, and the two of them had essentially badgered her younger brother into joining the union as their third to secure the royal succession. And of course, there was the queen’s younger brother. Prince Wallace was a reclusive character, and even the street gossips didn’t know much about him. He rarely appeared in public, and the few times he was seen at ceremonies and the like he supposedly always seemed annoyed or distracted. That, along with the fact that he apparently used to dote on his older sister when they were little, was all Alden really knew about the prince. Of course, there were also all sorts of royal cousins and uncles and what-have-you, but none of them lived in London, and quite a few of them had long since been married off to various foreign royals and left the country. So it was unlikely to be any of them. Not that he knew much anything about them in the first place. Hel, his knowledge of royalty in general was limited entirely to street gossip and whatever ended up in the newspapers. Alden stopped on his way home to eat a late lunch in a pub, but he hardly even tasted the food. All he could think about was his appointment at the Blue Blood Club tomorrow. Never before in his life had he felt quite so unprepared for a meeting. In a peculiar daze, he made his way back home. He briefly considered just heading up to his apartment for a bit of a lie down, but in the end he decided to head into the workroom. There, he found Tiffany clearing some space in a corner to set up a pair of large glass-panelled boxes, presumably for keeping mice in. She turned around with a smile when she heard him enter, but the smile faded when she saw the look on his face. “Alden, what’s wrong? You look like… Well, you look troubled.” “I am fairly certain I will be having lunch with royalty tomorrow.” Alden wasn’t really sure what reaction he expected from such a statement. Shock? Disbelief? Jealousy? Whatever he may have expected, though, Tiffany’s actual reaction certainly wasn’t it. “My goodness! What are you going to wear?” Alden could practically feel his brain grinding to a halt as his train of thought was quite thoroughly derailed. “I… I Don’t know. I hadn’t actually thought that far. I suppose I’ve bought some nicer clothes lately, but I’d hardly go so far as to say it was fit to wear among royalty…” “Well then, it’s a good thing it’s so early still! If we head to Westminster we should be able to find a suitable tailor before they start to close! Just give me five minutes to finish up some work and I’ll be right with you.” As Tiffany practically pulled Alden out the door on her sudden quest to find him some clothes fit to wear among royalty, he realized that his mounting nervousness had been quite thoroughly gutted by her enthusiastic response. “Honestly, my girls really are amazing…” “What was that, Alden?” “I said thank you, Tiffany. I truly appreciate it.” Tiffany shot him a cheerful smile even as she hailed a cab. “Happy to help, Alden.”