Page 93 of Her Majesty's Necromancer
"So have you," he said. "You should rest."
"I slept most of the night away. I might have been unconscious, but either way I don't feel tired."
"Jesus, Charlie. You were unconscious? We should get a real doctor in to look at her," he said to Lincoln.
"I feel fine," I told them both.
Lincoln nodded at Seth, and Seth rose. "I'll fetch one now."
I sighed as he left. "I feel perfectly all right." I wiggled my foot as best as I could. "Thank you. It doesn't hurt nearly so much."
"Then why did you wince and tense every time I touched it?" Lincoln asked.
"I didn't think you noticed."
"I noticed."
"I suppose you notice everything." I bit my lip, aware of how that sounded. "I…I don't mean your instincts, your gift, I meant—"
He placed a hand to the side of my face. I was so shocked that I stopped talking. "I know what you meant." His thumb stroked my cheek before he lowered his hand and stood.
"Lincoln—Mr. Fitzroy—I need to get something off my chest."
He glanced at the door. Was he looking for an escape route or to see if anyone was nearby? He sat. "Go on."
I clutched the arms of the chair to anchor myself and sucked in a deep breath. "You had every right to be angry with me—"
"That matter is over. We won't speak of it anymore."
"We have to, or things will never be right between us."
"You're wrong. What's between us…it's not that. I don't want you to trouble yourself over it anymore, Charlie. It's not your fault."
I clicked my tongue and stretched my fingers then forced them to be still in my lap. "Let me explain. You don't know all of it." I waited and he nodded at me to go on. "A few days ago, after visiting the orphanages on the other side of the river, I stopped at the General Registry Office. I thought there might be a record of my birth, with Frankenstein listed as the father. I doubted it, but decided that since I was near, I might as well try my luck. While I was there, I realized I could also ask them to check for any records of your birth." I looked down at my fingers, twisted into knots in my lap. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "It was a decision made in a moment, and I regretted it immediately. But I couldn't call the fellow back, so I resolved not to ask him for the information when he returned. Unfortunately, he gave it to me before I could stop him."
"And what did you find out?"
"Nothing. There were no records under your name."
"And about yourself?"
I looked up at him and shrugged. "Also nothing."
"So it was a wasted effort and you tripped the trigger the ministry has placed on my name there."
I gawped at him. "What trigger?"
"The ministry has triggers set up on certain official files, not only within the General Registry Office but in other government offices too. When someone asks to look at them, a particular member of the committee, or myself, is notified. The General Registry Office trigger is set to alert Lady Harcourt. You're fortunate it wasn't Lord Gillingham."
"I don't feel particularly fortunate."
"I imagine not."
As always it was difficult to tell with Lincoln, but he didn't sound angry with me. Perhaps he was too happy to have me back and would never be angry with me again. A girl could hope, couldn't she?
"At least I now know how she convinced you to go through with it," he said.
"You were furious with me when you learned I'd summoned Gurry. Why aren't you angry over this?"
