Magnificent Devices 6: A Lady of Spirit by Shelley Adina

Author:Shelley Adina
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.
Published: 2013-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

*

If Maggie could have invented an illness and taken a tray in her room that evening, she would have. But the possibility of Grandmother inspecting her throat and chest was a consequence too terrifying to contemplate, so she put on her dinner dress, arranged her hair, and presented herself downstairs with Lizzie and Claude as the gong sounded.

The dining table seemed even glossier and much larger without the rest of the London party, unrelieved as it was by so much as a bowl of flowers. But one thing had changed.

“Lady Claire and Mr. Malvern lifted safely?” Grandfather inquired of Maggie, who was so surprised at being thus directly addressed that she nearly inhaled a mouthful of asparagus soup.

“Yes, thank you,” she managed as soon as she could speak. “We were a little worried about the force of the wind, but then it changed and they were able to lift without trouble.”

“I do not hold with young people gadding about the skies in these airships,” Grandmother said. “When I think of the danger they put themselves in so needlessly, I wonder at their parents allowing it.”

“Lady Claire has been independent for some years now,” Lizzie said. “And she is to work on airships in Germany, you know, so her familiarity with them will be to her advantage.”

“Papa made sure I knew how to fly so that I could travel independently in Victory,” Claude offered. “And it’s not so hard, you know, once you get the hang of wind and steering. When we came down earlier in the summer, even the girls had a go at the tiller.”

Grandfather’s face flushed. “Claude, you know my feelings about any mention of your father in my house.”

“I know, Grandfather, and I apologize. But it is difficult. Up until two months ago, I believed him to be a good man. He was certainly good to me.”

But Grandfather was not willing to allow Charles de Maupassant Seacombe any shred of humanity or family feeling, for which Maggie for once was inclined to side with him.

“How did your day go at the office, Claude?” she asked him, since a change of subject was most definitely in order.

Claude heaved a sigh, caught his grandfather’s eye, and straightened. “I am finding it a very complicated beast. No wonder so many minds are required to make the company run properly. A single brain cannot hold it all—mine in particular.”

“You are not required to know everything, only the important points,” Grandfather told him. “Having the right men working for you is one necessary part. A knowledge of politics and economics is another. And a working knowledge of accounts is helpful, too, so that you may understand what others tell you.” Grandfather’s eye fell on Maggie, and like the clouds massing in the west, she saw a storm coming. “While we are on that subject, Margaret, I feel you ought to know that Mr. Polgarth has been released from his employment with us.”

He might as well have turned the pitcher of water at his elbow over her head.

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