Hawthorn by Carol Goodman

Author:Carol Goodman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

19

“ENGAGED TO VAN Drood!” Daisy shrieked. “But he’s old enough to be her father!”

“No one seems to mind that very much,” Raven said. “Mrs. van Beek appears to be quite happy with the arrangement.”

“Helen’s mother is there?” I asked.

“Yes. She and Helen are both staying at Drood’s townhouse in Belgrave Square. They go out each day shopping for Helen’s trousseau.”

“Can’t you get to them when they’re out?” I asked.

“We’ve tried. Sirena posed as a shop girl at Selfridge’s and tried to talk to Helen, but she kept humming some preposterous wedding tune and nattering on about orange blossoms and lace veils.”

“It’s like the musical mesmerism spell van Drood used on us last year,” Daisy said. “It drives out every thought but the ones he’s implanted. Poor Helen. She always was afraid that her mother would marry her off to some ancient specimen.”

“Is Mrs. van Beek mesmerized, too?” I asked.

“It’s difficult to say,” Raven replied. “She wouldn’t talk to Sirena. She said shop girls should hold their tongues. Sirena overheard her remarking to another lady that her daughter was marrying the richest man in New York. She’s either mesmerized or . . .”

“Seduced by van Drood’s money,” I finished for him. “We have to stop this. Mr. Omar could break the spell.”

“Agnes wired for him last week. He should be arriving in London by this afternoon.”

“But what if van Drood tries to marry Helen before he gets to London?” Daisy asked.

“Marlin would kill him first—or die trying. And then there’s Nathan. He arrived in London two days ago. At first we thought he was there to rescue Helen but then we watched him sit down to tea with Drood. I listened at the window and heard him say he had something Drood wanted—”

“The location of the third vessel,” I said. “That’s why he ran off—to bargain for Helen. Did he give it to van Drood?”

“Not yet. He told Drood he had a map with the location, but it was hidden and that if Drood wanted it he’d have to bring Helen to Victoria Station at noon on June thirtieth.”

“That’s tomorrow,” Mr. Bellows said. It was the first time he’d spoken since Raven had handed him Agnes’s letter, which he’d been engrossed in reading. “Today is June twenty-ninth. I’ve been a fool to lose track of time while we were running around in the maze. Agnes wrote this yesterday, on June twenty- eighth.”

Something about the date pricked at my memory. “Something was supposed to happen . . .” I began.

“The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,” Mr. Bellows said, holding up the letter in a trembling hand. “Because of your warning the Jagers were there to stop it. They telegrammed to Agnes in London yesterday reporting that they managed to foil three attempts to bomb the archduke’s motorcade. Beatrice convinced the first assassin not to throw his bomb. Dolores mesmerized the second assassin. The third assassin threw his bomb but Professor Jager threw himself at the assassin and the bomb bounced off the

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