The Cogspeare Conspiracy (The Cogspeare Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free

door.
                  If Magnus’s office was the antithesis of a law office, this was the quintessence. It was panelled with hundreds of bookshelves, all filled to bursting with law books and files strewn across a large table in the corner. What little wall was left was painted a deep burgundy, and covered in dark oil paintings of famous men, long since dead. The whole room emanated a feeling of centuries past that, apparently, clients felt very reassuring. It made Magnus feel incredibly claustrophobic.
                  The chair slowly turned.
                  Sir Nicodemus Grimsby was by any society’s reckoning a silver fox. Tall, with thick silver hair, a decided chin and deep blue eyes, the brilliant young barrister that he had been had morphed into the stunning, charismatic leader of the law world, who had recently been given a knighthood for his services to justice. He encapsulated everything Magnus wished to become in thirty years, minus the oppressive office.
                  “How are you, my boy?” he greeted his protégé warmly.
                  “Fine, thank you sir.”
                  “And I heard about your brilliant work on the Ballaster case. Very creative, just the kind of thing we like around here.” Grimsby was, of course, using the royal ‘we’, since he was the only partner at his own firm.
                  “Thank you very much, sir.” Grimsby beckoned Magnus to sit down in one of the two armchairs before him.
                  “After five years working for me, Magnus, there’s no need to call me ‘sir’.” Magnus nodded.
                  “Would you like to come over for dinner sometime this week? I know that Susan enjoyed your company immensely the last time you came.”
                  Ah. Now this was a tricky point. Naturally, the first time Magnus had been invited over to the Grimsby mansion, he had been incredibly flattered. Their house was grand- though, it must be said, not as large as the Cogspeare place. Lady Grimsby was also a lovely little woman who was an excellent hostess. But Susan Grimsby, well…she had a reputation of throwing herself at anything male that moved. And that night, and the two other nights he was there, the moving organism had been Magnus.
                  In any other circumstance, it would be totally natural and even favourable that the brightest young man in a firm should marry the boss’s daughter and keep it all within the family, so to speak. But, as hard as he tried, Magnus was not, nor ever could be, like other young men. And he knew that, with his little eccentricities (alright, alright, they weren’t that little- in fact, getting worse by the day was more accurate), he could never marry and have a normal family life. Besides, with his upbringing, what would he know about a ‘normal’ family?
                  “Um, yes sir. I would indeed, but I am currently in the midst of hiring new staff, so my schedule isn’t as flexible as it would otherwise be.”
                  “Of course, of course,” nodded Grimsby sagely, “Totally understand. Some other time, then. You know, that’s why it’s so important to have a wife at this time in your career, my boy, so important. They’ll take care of the household so you don’t have to deal with all those menial duties, and you are free to pursue the more important things in life.” Magnus just nodded.
                  “And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
                  “Marriage?” Magnus managed to gasp out, about three pitches higher than usual.
                  “No, no. Although, if that were to come up one day…well, we’ll see,” he replied with a matchmaking twinkly in his eye. “No, your career.”
                  Magnus tensed.
                  “You see,