The Tea Machine Read Online Free Page A

you.” She placed her hands behind her back and stood up straighter.
    “There’s a difference between being mulish and being an ass. Will you take the swab if I promise to tell you all I know to the best of my ability?”
    “Deal.” Sangfroid took the swab from her and brusquely rubbed her knee through the tear in her pant leg. “So? Where’s the pod?”
    “I’ve no idea,” she answered. Sangfroid glared at her. She’d cheated. She was supposed to have the answers! But, in all fairness, she continued her explanation with genuine frustration on her face. “We materialized in the parlour, sans pod. I didn’t mean for you to come all the way home with me. If you hadn’t interfered everything would have gone to order. It’s all your fault.”
    “My fault? Lady, I think you’ll find I was minding my own business, blasting squid, when you popped up and started bossing me about.”
    She sighed as if Sangfroid were the problem and set the carbolic bottle back into its slot in the cabinet. “Hubert will explain everything just as soon as he’s freed from Sophia’s requirements.”
    “Who’s Hubert?” This Hubert was obviously important. Both women had mentioned the name with something akin to reverence. Maybe this was as good a place as any to start. She had to unpick this mystery somehow. “You mentioned a Hubert before. So did Sophia.”
    Millicent blinked at her in surprise. “Oh, I am sorry. Of course, you haven’t met him yet…this time around, I mean. Hubert is my brother. He’ll be along shortly, except that he has to set up the accoutrements for Sophia’s little gathering. Sophia and Hubert are betrothed, you see.”
    Sangfroid nodded, as if this was a pertinent fact, which it wasn’t, but any little piece of this crazy puzzle was welcome.
    “What do you mean by this time around—” A loud crash interrupted her next question.
    “That will be Hubert now.” Millicent hurried into the hall, and Sangfroid immediately followed. Millicent Aberly was the key to this mystery, and Sangfroid wasn’t going to let her out of sight for one second.

CHAPTER 3
    “Hubert! You’ve broken my eggs.” Sophia’s scolding voice floated down the hallway.
    “Only the shells, dearest,” came Hubert’s cheerful answer.
    An egg rolled along the Persian runner and came to rest against the toe of Sangfroid’s boot. She picked it up and examined it. It was dyed cerise and had a lurid face painted on it. Cerise hardboiled eggs lay all over the floor. A man of a similar age to Sangfroid was scooping them up into a beribboned wicker basket.
    “Sorry, dearest. The leg of the lantern caught on the handle.” He scrabbled around the floor collecting pieces of shell.
    “They were for the orphanage.” Sophia wailed, clearly distressed.
    “What is this?” Sangfroid asked quietly, showing the egg to Millicent.
    “An Easter egg,” she said. “Sophia had arranged a basket for the orphanage.”
    “What’s an easter?” Sangfroid guessed it was probably a festival for chickens, much like the bull festivals back home. Millicent tutted distractedly at the question and turned her attention back to her brother. Hubert had finished rescuing the eggs and re-shouldered his optical lantern. It was a beautiful affair of polished brass lens and mahogany casing with collapsible tripod legs, and it was almost as tall as Hubert. Sangfroid had seen similar items in science museums. It was interesting that this man owned a working example.
    “The hall carpet is a mess. My ladies can’t see it this way. Where’s Edna?” Sophia wasn’t about to be placated. “Millicent, for goodness sake, call for the maid.”
    “Edna’s busy preparing the refreshments for your ladies. I’ll clean it up. It won’t take a moment.” Millicent stepped forward, a hint of exasperation in her movements. “Hubert, let me introduce Decanus Sangfroid, first class ,” she gave a gracious nod with the slightest hint of condescension towards