The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann

Author:Karen Engelmann
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781444742701
Publisher: Hodder General Publishing Division
Published: 2012-10-09T18:34:29+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Disturbed Slumber

Sources: Various apothicaires, Bloom, Louisa G., M. F. L.

AFTER CASSIOPEIA WAS TAKEN, The Uzanne’s dreams were filled with chaos and haunted by the specter of a ruined nation, overrun by the ignorant and untitled. Sleep became impossible as summer changed to autumn, and the fervor of her patriotism took hold, with long and heated monologues into her dressing table mirror late into the night. She understood that if the nation were to regain its sanity, she would have to take action. She began with engagement on the highest level when November storms were at their height: Duke Karl came to her bed. But he required more of her night, and this ever-growing state of exhaustion was becoming a hindrance. She needed to be at her peak; she needed to sleep. By December, she was dependent on her newest protégée.

“Miss Bloom,” The Uzanne called out one night just after her first lecture. “The powder.”

Johanna hurried into the dark bedchamber, where only the night lamps were lit. The howling wind rattled the shutters of the house. She held a blue ceramic canister, its contents the refined result of several weeks of work. Johanna had never compounded a sleeping powder before but had watched her father make soporifics and knew which ingredients were effective. She tested several versions on Old Cook’s marmalade tabby, Sylten, blowing a pinch in his direction. It coated his face and whiskers for just a moment before it disappeared. The fourth variation had Sylten fast asleep behind the kindling box within minutes. Old Cook marked his absence from mousing duties after a day and tried to rouse him when a loaf of new bread was ruined by vermin, but Sylten could not be wakened; he was as limp as a damp pillow, and it took two more days for him to fully return to his senses. The next time Johanna tested Sylten, he woke in eight hours, just in time for breakfast.

But Johanna knew that a cat was a poor subject for a test. Alone in her room, she poured a penny spot of the fine-grained powder into her palm. When she bent her head toward her hand and took a deep breath, the scent of jasmine enveloped her face. After a minute or two, the tight muscles in her back relaxed, her vision softened, and the comforter on her bed beckoned. When she woke, the room was thick with night, and she felt a calm she had not felt since her early childhood in Gefle, before the deaths of her brothers, before Mrs. Grey’s religious fervor.

For several weeks after, Johanna visited the servants in the house, and asked if they would like to try her powder. She made note of the ingredients and amounts, method of administration, the size of the subject, the nature and duration of their sleep. She made adjustments until all who tried it wanted more. Louisa said it was like the rare taste of oranges: once you eat, you long for just one more slice.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.