The Curious Steambox Affair Read Online Free

is located deeply underground. Below a basement. Reached only by a wide, creaking set of long wooden stairwells, which made me begin to fear that we were headed for the depths of Dante’s Inferno itself. Deeper and deeper we went, past closed doors of, I assume, other boarders. Mrs. Mitchell informed me, with a grating cheeriness, that these were coffin staircases, constructed so that a coffin could easily be carried up and down them without difficulty. This did little to comfort me as we descended.
    Upon rereading this missive, which has turned out far longer than I anticipated, I fear you will be annoyed by my incessant ramblings. I apologize, and have lost track of time entirely, sitting at my small desk in front of the sputtering candle. Speaking to you with the quill moving against the parchment. I found comfort in my Spartan quarters, writing you, and hope that I have not caused offense at such conversational wanderings.
    Please know that I await a response with bated breath. If I might be so bold, the thought of receiving a reply from you, of knowing that you are truly willing to conduct correspondence, thrills me beyond measure. I have, therefore, made arrangements with both the Edinburgh Air Station and the Inverness Air Station to have our letters transported by that method. There is no reliable post at my quarters, and so I have set up an address at the Edinburgh Air Station, in my name.
    Forgive me, but I have also set up an account for a Miss Campbell, Inverness Air Station. The Air Station Attendant has posted a letter to you, notifying you of your personal account and lockbox at the station. I know that you go into town weekly, and if it is acceptable to you, then my letters will be waiting for you there, should you wish to retrieve them. All posting costs will be addressed to my account, so please write whenever you wish. I can only hope that you wish to do so often.
    For now, I will regretfully close. Again, I apologize for the delay but have spent the past few days attempting to acquaint myself with the maze in which I live. I intend to post this on my way to the Council tomorrow morning, and it should reach you the day after.
    Tomorrow, I am to finally meet with Hyde. I must admit that my curiosity is boundless. I have yet to encounter him at all, or scarcely anyone from the Doctoral Council. In all likelihood, I will rush home to my tiny quarters, far below the city streets, and will describe to you what should be a most interesting meeting.
    Regards.

Chapter Two
    September 3
    Mitchell Boarding House
    Dear Miss Campbell,
    My curiosity today was centered, as expected, on the mysterious Dr. Ian Hyde.
    It was with excited determination that I set off early this morning, intending to not only have my first meeting with the Doctoral Council but to finally introduce myself to the man I would be working alongside for these next few months. By now, I have achieved a modicum of success navigating the perilous steps that lead me to and fro my underground dwelling. I have become acquainted with the businesses closest to me, and have a rudimentary understanding of which narrow close leads where. A grocer! A bookstore! A coffee stall! All a few dangerous steps from my humble abode. And all necessary to my daily happiness.
    I have made acquaintance with a large number of my fellow boarders, some of whom are more pleasant than others. I find it surprising that so many of us are tenants at the Mitchell house, but the Mitchells are intent on providing themselves more income than comfort of living. That is nowhere more evident than at mealtimes, when there is hardly any meat offered and stale ends of bread. A thin gruel masquerading as soup is the normal offering, at any time of day. Again and again, I find myself reminiscing about the splendor of your father’s table, and the meals I enjoyed during my time at the boarding house in Inverness. But the grocer has been found, so I am of half a mind to start a necessary