Page 55 of Infamous

Chapter Twenty

‘All I’m saying,’ a very intense-looking man was shouting in Eddie’s ear, ‘is that the Corn Laws should concern each and every one of us. I mean, do you not believe in the principles of free trade?’

Two ladies ran past screaming, followed by a third, masked person with two swords raised aloft, a manic glint in their eye.

‘Er .?.?. Yes. I think so?’

‘Youthinkso?’ the man said, looking terribly disappointed. ‘You’re not aTory?’

‘Good Lord, I should think not,’ said Eddie. ‘But I am .?.?. I’m afraid I’m very thirsty. Would you excuse me?’

She had managed to get herself entangled in quite a few conversations that had demanded an escape, and had now excused herself to fetch a drink on three separate occasions. She was keeping her glass carefully half-full for any future altercations. Her friends seemed to have vanished entirely, and she was somewhat desperate to find a familiar face. Rose, she thought darkly, was probably still giggling about her withMiss Cliffe, somewhere in the far reaches of the house. It stung more than it ever had when Rose was off cavorting with her society friends, because Eddie had never looked at Ava Forester or Sophie Newport and fervently wished tobethem.

Eddie washed the feeling down with a large sip of wine and then continued on her way.

The trouble with parties full of great, important and subversive minds, she was quickly discovering, was that they often wanted to have great, important and subversive conversations with her, when she was simply trying to ask the time, or if any of them had seen their host.

It was with great relief that she finally sighted Valentine and Kitty standing on the west stairs, deep in conversation.

‘Oh, thank God,’ she said upon reaching them. ‘I have been terribly lost.’

‘Were you with the pagans?’ Kitty said with vague interest. ‘Apparently they have taken up the chalk and done something truly vulgar in the armoury.’

‘No,’ said Eddie. ‘I was with a man who was quizzing me about whether I was a Tory.’

‘Good Lord, I should think not,’ said Valentine. ‘Besides, everybody knows that Tories drinkport. We Whigs only demean ourselves for claret.’

‘Brigands!’ somebody shouted; they looked down to see that Nash had appeared and was pointing up at them. He was wearing a light daubing of rouge, and had at some point lost his fur; Eddie wondered if the pagans were doing something sacrificial with it. ‘Knaves! Scoundrels! Charlatans!’

‘Oh good,’ said Kitty under her breath. ‘We’re doing synonyms.’

He darted through the crowd and up the stairs towards them, surprisingly nimble for somebody so clearly drunk.

‘Come hither and redeem yourselves.’

He led them up two flights, to the half-rotten second floor. It was dark and quiet, a single candle burning at the far end of the corridor, a world apart from the rest of the party.

‘What are we doing up here?’ said Kitty.

‘All will be revealed,’ Nash said ominously, striding ahead; there was a single figure already standing silhouetted by the candlelight, and as they drew nearer, Eddie realised that it wasHenry,of all people. He looked mortified to be there, and gave the new arrivals little half-bows of greeting and cleared his throat twice before staring fixedly down at the assortment of oddities that Nash had clearly assembled on the floor.

There were alotof unlit candles, so many that they looked like a waxy audience, crowding palely around a central bowl which was full of fronds of evergreen. Alarmingly, there was also a human skull, thin and brown with age. Nash sat down right in front of it with no qualms at all.

‘Come on. Sit. You have beenchosen.’

‘Could you not choose me for something else?’ Valentine said wryly. ‘Nominate me to fetch more libations, perhaps, or to take a nap?’

Nash just smiled pleasantly up at them until they all arranged themselves in a small circle on the protesting floorboards.

‘First, we burn the cedar,’ Nash prompted, pushing the bowl towards Henry, who reluctantly lifted the little bundle of needles and held it over the flame. Eventually they started to smoke and crisp around the edges. ‘Excellent, very good job, Henry. And now .?.?. we light the candles.’

He took up the candle and lit another with it, which he handed to Kitty; she sombrely did the same, and soon their circle blazed with light.

‘Oh. Well, that’s too many, it’s as light as day in here. Hardly scary at all,’ Nash said, blowing around half of them out. He closed his eyes and composed himself with utmost solemnity. ‘All right. Esteemed friends – tonight, we are attempting to reach into the beyond .?.?. to snag the fraying trail of a lost soul and bring them here to commune with us. To whisper secrets and tell us bawdy jokes, et cetera.’

‘Whose skull is that?’ said Valentine.

‘Shush, Valentine.’