Page 96 of Her Majesty's Necromancer
"I don't blame you, Lincoln. I know the man you are…the man you're trained to be…and I accept that side of you. But it is only one facet of you. There are many others, and together they make up someone I like. Someone I want to get to know better."
I stood to go to him, but he shot to his feet at the same time. He swallowed heavily and placed his hands at his back. He gave me a firm nod, then turned and walked out. Just like that.
I stood there, blinking at the doorway, debating whether to go after him or not. I might have trouble catching him, bandaged up as I was.
"Charlie!" Gus scowled when he saw me standing. "You were supposed to wait until I brought you these." He handed me the crutches. When I continued to stare dumbly at the doorway, he took my hand and placed it on the horizontal bar. "Let me adjust the height for you."
***
I spent most of the day in the library, reading. The men disappeared at different times to nap, then would return to keep me company. The only one who didn't was Lincoln, and I missed his company terribly. I sent Seth up to his rooms to ask him to join us for a game of cards, but he still didn't come down.
"What's he doing?" I asked.
"Pacing."
"Pacing?"
He nodded as he dealt. "Stop worrying about him, Charlie. He knows his own mind."
He did, and that was partly the problem. His mind was always working, always remembering. What was he thinking now? I would have thought telling me about Gurry would be a weight off his shoulders, but it seemed to have made him more agitated. I was contemplating venturing upstairs to see him when he strode into the library dressed in coat and hat. He handed some letters to Gus.
"Deliver these to the committee members tonight. They're messages informing them of what transpired with Captain Jasper. They'll want to know the outcome, even though it wasn't a ministry matter."
"Can I have a game first?" Gus asked.
Lincoln nodded then walked off without another word, and without even glancing at me.
"Where are you going?" I called after him.
"For a walk." The front door opened and closed.
Gus tapped the cards in front of me. "He'll be all right. He won't get himself kidnapped."
Seth rolled his eyes. "You say the stupidest things sometimes."
"That right? I happen to know stupidest ain't a word."
"Neither is ain't." Seth threw down a card. "Stop dandying about and have your turn."
***
General Eastbrooke arrived late the following morning. I was ensconced in the library once more and heard his arrival. Lincoln answered the door. It was the first time I'd seen him all day, and I hadn't heard him come home the night before.
They came into the library and the general greeted me with a thin smile. "You're in one piece," he said. "That's the main thing."
I suspected that was all the sympathy I would get. I expected nothing else from a man who allowed his employees to beat children.
"I was going to send this last night when I received your message." He handed Lincoln a piece of paper. "It's a list of disgraced doctors dismissed from the military in the last ten years. Jasper is there." He pointed to the paper. "Unfortunately, I didn't get this in time for it to be of use."
Lincoln folded it and handed it back.
The general pocketed it. "According to his file, he was dismissed for keeping the dead bodies of some of the soldiers and performing tests on them."
I pulled a face. "He'd given them his serum before their deaths and needed to test its effects afterward to see how it performed."
"That what he told you, eh? Sounds like a madman to me."
"He was."
