Page 89 of The Designs of Lord Randolph Cavanaugh

Mary and Felicia echoed, “And me.”

“And,” Felicia continued, “quite obviously, Rand has decided you’re to be excused your transgressions.”

Mayhew seemed to squirm. “As to that, his lordship and I confronted my uncle, and the upshot was that he—my uncle—will cover my debts as he promised and also pay me a stipend.” Mayhew appeared not entirely comfortable with that result, but added, “My uncle also agreed to retire from this arena of investing—henceforth, he’ll send any of his clients interested in investing in inventions to Lord Cavanaugh.”

Ryder grinned. “It seems my brother has ensured that Winthrop pays appropriately for his sins.” Ryder regarded Mayhew, then smiled. “I believe we can consider the incident dealt with and put it behind us.”

Being of much the same opinion, Felicia nodded. She looked to where Rand and William John were still surrounded by the curious.

Mary slid her arm in Ryder’s. “We’re going to stroll some more—I want to take a look at that pen device Rand mentioned.”

Felicia nodded. “I’ll stay here in case they need relief.”

With a smile and a nod, Ryder led his wife away.

Mayhew shifted. When Felicia glanced his way, he somewhat diffidently asked, “I wonder if I might take another look at the engine? I only caught the briefest glimpse before, and I was too tense to take proper notice.”

She studied him for a moment and decided they owed him too great a debt not to let bygones go. With a smile, she tipped her head to the steam carriage. “Of course. Come on.”

She led him past the cordon and a still-suspicious Shields—there would have to be more explanations later—and she and Mayhew walked around the steam carriage to the side away from the crowds. She opened the side flap to the engine compartment so Mayhew could crouch and look inside. Still explaining to other inventors, William John had the opposite flap as well as the top cover open, allowing light to stream in and illuminate the gleaming pipes and tubes, the heavy gears and cogs, and the silvery steel housing of the pistons.

Felicia looked at the engine and felt proprietorial pride bloom within her—something she’d never thought to feel over any invention.

Smiling at herself, she shifted her gaze to Mayhew and studied his expression as he gazed at the engine. She sensed the moment something took hold, and Mayhew caught his breath.

Unmoving, he stared as if committing the sight to memory, then, slowly, he straightened his legs and rose. He glanced at her. “Thank you.” He hesitated for a second, then said, “Lord Cavanaugh suggested that to repay you and Mrs. Makepeace for your forbearance and understanding that I should present you with some of my sketches of the Hall—which I intend to do.” He drew breath and, with rising enthusiasm in his voice, went on, “I would also like to do a series of sketches of the steam carriage and especially the engine as a gift.” He caught her eye. “If you’ll permit it?”

Felicia knew that William John and Rand would lodge registrations of the improvements made in assembling the Throgmorton engine, and a pictorial record of the work would certainly not go amiss. Slowly, she nodded. “That sounds like an excellent idea. We’ll need to consult with my brother and his lordship, but once the steam carriage is back at the Hall, I’m sure we can arrange a viewing for you.”

As the words left her lips—to be greeted with eager acceptance by Mayhew—Felicia was thinking of the quality of Mayhew’s sketching and how that would translate if his subjects were inventions… All in all, she thought sketches of that sort might be a unique and valuable resource and getting first call on Mayhew’s skill might prove to be a very good thing.

Mayhew’s face had lit with enthusiasm. “If we can get the light just so⁠—”

She let him ramble. From the other side of the carriage, she could hear William John talking, and Rand was still fielding questions from newspapermen and investors.

Ryder and Mary returned, joining her and Mayhew in the relatively uncrowded space behind the exhibit.

As she exchanged a smile with Mary, Felicia felt a sense of peaceful calm—a recognition of pending contentment—steal over her. They had done it—they’d succeeded in all they had come there hoping to achieve. After all the ups and downs, the near-disasters, and after staring down looming failure, they’d made their mark in a way none of them had even dared to dream.

Despite Winthrop’s attempts at sabotage, everything had turned out resoundingly, amazingly, astonishingly well.

Twenty minutes later, the urgent interest in the Throgmorton steam carriage had abated to a level such that Rand felt able to leave William John to handle the inquiries on his own.

After asking Shields for her direction, Rand found Felicia with Ryder, Mary, and Mayhew behind the steam carriage. When he insisted he needed to spend some time examining the other exhibits with Felicia, the other three waved them on, then fell in behind them, ambling and chatting in their wake.

They avoided the knot of people still gathered about the Prince, who had almost completed his circuit of the hall. As Rand steered Felicia toward the inventions Albert had examined before reaching the Throgmorton display, he heard Mary quizzing Mayhew. It appeared that, having understood that Mayhew was talented—both Felicia and Rand had mentioned the quality of his work—Mary had also realized that Mayhew was in need of a patron.

Rand glanced over his shoulder and met Ryder’s gaze and was allowed to briefly glimpse an expression of long-suffering resignation. Grinning, Rand faced forward. Both he and Ryder knew where Mary was heading, but, all in all, there was no reason to rein her back.

Rand had his own female brain to pick; he guided Felicia to an invention he’d glimpsed earlier—a novel alteration to a printing press. “What do you think?” he asked.

She moved forward to examine the exhibit.

The inventor recognized Rand, but was quick enough to sense that Rand was waiting on Felicia’s opinion; despite her being a lady, the inventor sidled closer and, when she pointed and asked questions, gave her his undivided attention.

Eventually, Felicia smiled and thanked the older man, then rejoined Rand.

She took his arm and surreptitiously pushed; he nodded to the inventor and led her on. Once they’d left the exhibit behind, he dipped his head and asked, “No?”