Page 36 of The Clockmaker's Cottage
The room again erupted into applause as Theo strolled towards Miriam, who switched off the microphone and placed it back in the stand. Pippa noticed that Theo had a small microphone attached to his jacket.
Theo smiled towards the audience and waited for the applause to die down. He looked very at ease in front of the crowd. ‘Thank you, Doctor Bowes, and thank you all for coming.’ He took a breath as Miriam left the stage.
Pippa felt her heartbeat quicken. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for.
‘It is a singular honour to introduce a man whose contributions to the field of timekeeping span more than seventy years. He is a master craftsman, an inventor, a mentor, and… if I may be so bold, a bit of a legend. Please welcome to the stage… Doctor Horace Vale.’
There was a pause and then, slowly, from the left of the stage, came the man himself. Horace Vale. Every last person rose to their feet, clapping and cheering. Everyone, that is, except Sebastian, Pippa noticed with a tiny flicker of disdain. She cast him a look. Why wasn’t he up on his feet? What exactly was his problem?
Horace walked with careful, deliberate steps. He leaned on a carved wooden cane, its handle polished from years of use. His grey waistcoat was crisply pressed, a silver pocket-watch chain glinting where it looped through a buttonhole. He wore thick spectacles and had a stoop to his shoulders, but his presence was commanding nonetheless. Time had not diminished him; it had simply weathered him into something rarer.
He waved, nodded, smiled faintly. When he reached Theo, Theo extended his hand, ready for a handshake, but Horace surprised everyone by pulling him into a one-armed hug.
All around there was warm applause. Pippa was stunned. She hadn’t expected such a public display of affection, certainly not from a man as traditionally reserved as Vale, but Theo didn’t seem fazed. He waited until Horace had taken a seat before sitting in the chair opposite him and waiting for the applause to fade.
‘Before we begin, Doctor Blake,’ Horace said, ‘I would like to share a story.’
Theo nodded graciously. ‘Of course.’
Horace turned to the audience, surveying the hall with his unusual blend of authority and warmth. ‘Many years ago,’ he began, ‘our company, the Vale Brothers, took on an apprentice. A young man who showed promise beyond his years. He had a mind like a metronome– precise, inquisitive, and endlessly patient– and he threw himself into the work with a dedication that made him unforgettable.’ Horace paused. ‘Life, of course, has a way of testing even the most talented, and this young man faced an accident in the workshop, a small but terrible mishap with one of our machines. His finger was severed– an injury that could have ended his career. Many would have given up, but not him. He was someone who refused to be defined by circumstance. He inspired everyone around him, apprentices and masters alike.’
The audience was silent, utterly still. Even the journalists at the back had stopped fidgeting. Horace scanned the room, his eyes sparkling. ‘That young man…’ He let the suspense linger. ‘…Was Arthur Blake, Doctor Theo Blake’s grandfather.’
A collective gasp swept the hall like a gust of wind. Pippa’s jaw literally dropped.Arthur Blake. Theo’s grandfather.Pippa had of course come across Arthur Blake’s name in a couple ofher father’s magazines when she was growing up, but no one had ever talked about the apprentices much; all the attention had gone to the Vale Brothers themselves, their names in headlines, their faces in documentaries. The apprentices had just been employees. Background faces. Even when they were mentioned in articles years ago, it had been buried in the small print. So she’d never joined the dots. Why would she have?
‘My gosh, he never told any of us,’ Pippa mumbled in awe. Theo could have fuelled his own ego and career over the years with this bit of information, but he’d decided not to ride on the coattails of his grandfather, and that impressed her. ‘Can you believe that?’ she asked as she turned towards Sebastian.
His posture had stiffened, his jaw tightening, and by the look on his face he was getting angrier by the second, though why exactly, Pippa had no idea.
‘Theo, I believe your love of clocks may have come from him. And to be clear, your grandfather was more than an apprentice; it was an honour to call him my friend.’
Theo nodded.
‘I’m sure he is so proud of what you’ve achieved,’ Horace added, with a faint tremor to his voice.
Theo cleared his throat. ‘I grew up surrounded by cogs and springs and half-disassembled mantel clocks. And you’re right, I think my love of clocks came from both my grandfather and father. Grandad built them, Dad broke them, and I just… kept trying to put the pieces back together.’
A soft wave of laughter rolled through the hall.
Beside Pippa, Sebastian gave a dramatic sigh. ‘Milking it for all he’s worth.’
She ignored him. Her heart was firmly elsewhere, ticking in rhythm with the man who hadn’t just studied time… but had also carried its legacy in his bones. And not once had he ever said a word about the stock he’d come from.
Horace’s eyes gleamed. ‘I knew the love of clocks had been passed on when I read one of your papers about escapement evolution in the twentieth century.’
‘The connection is not something I’ve shared publicly before,’ admitted Theo. ‘I didn’t want to trade on my grandfather’s history. I wanted to earn respect on my own merits.’
‘And you have.’
The warmth that glowed between them was almost tangible.
Beside her, Pippa felt Sebastian shift.
‘He never used it,’ she murmured, almost to herself.
‘What?’ Sebastian said under his breath.
‘Theo,’ she said, eyes locked on the stage. ‘He never used the fact that his grandfather was Horace’s apprentice.’
