Magnificent Devices, Tome 7 : A Lady of Integrity
Auteur
- Shelley Adina (Écrivain)
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Alice was not so incapacitated that she didn’t notice the very modest ring containing three pearls set in gold upon the fourth finger of Claire’s left hand as she returned the teapot to the low table. Since to her knowledge, the only jewelry her friend owned was her grandmother’s emerald ring and the St. Ives pearl necklace, this could only have come from Mr. Malvern. How long had they been engaged? And when was Claire planning to tell her?
Oh, she’d never had any hope of Mr. Malvern’s regard, except for a few brief hours during their adventures in the Canadas five years ago. Claire’s letters since then had not revealed much—but so much air had passed under her own hull in the intervening years that she was practically a different woman.
Or maybe hardship and experience had convinced her there were more important things for a woman to think about than a gentleman’s affection.
The cake fortified her enough to speak coherently, and promising smells coming from downstairs in the kitchen gave her hope that a proper meal would make an appearance soon.
“It was Count von Zeppelin’s idea.” She began at the end instead of the beginning, because the beginning was too painful to talk about just yet. “When it began to look like my troubles had followed me to Munich, it was either get rid of me or arm himself and the baroness as they went out in their landau. So he acted. He got me out to the airfield disguised as a member of his party, and when he asked for a tour of one of his new M7 cargo ships, two of his men popped me into an empty crate filled with straw. They made sure there was just enough space between the slats that I could lift the latches with my knife when we got to England. At Hampstead Heath, I simply climbed out and disembarked with the other members of the crew.” She leaned over and took another piece of cake, and Claire pushed the plate closer. “From there it was a matter of hitching a ride into town and finding your address.”
“You could have sent a note from the mooring station,” Andrew said. “We would have come to fetch you immediately.”
“But then someone might have seen you,” Alice said. “I came on the sly in hopes that no one would twig to me being on this side of the Channel. Not before we’re rigged and ready.”
“Ready for what?” Lizzie asked, her eyes wide, maybe at the thought of being shut up in a rifle case for all that time. Alice couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t an experience she wanted to repeat. “Who is chasing you?”
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Résumé
Lady Claire Trevelyan et le célèbre scientifique Andrew Malvern se réjouissent de la félicité domestique à Londres lorsqu'ils sont surpris par un visiteur inattendu. Alice Chalmers, désespérée et fugitive, cherche leur aide: son navire a été saisi dans le duché de Venise et, pire encore, son navigateur Jake a été jeté dans la redoutable prison sous-marine d'où personne ne s'échappe jamais. Même l'innocent.
Lady Claire est sur le point d'entamer sa carrière à Munich au Zeppelin Airship Works. Les Mopsies commencent leur dernière année à l'école. Andrew Malvern préfère voir sa fiancée choisir une robe de mariée ... mais quand l'aide est refusée par les autorités officielles, les liens étroits de l'amitié et de l'aventure partagée l'emportent sur toutes ces considérations avec une urgence qui ne peut être ignorée.
Mais il y a un mal qui les attend à Venise ... un mal qui mettrait un terme à l'interférence du troupeau une bonne fois pour toutes. Ajoutez à cela le retour d'un ami innocent, la confusion d'un jeune homme à propos de son avenir, et une paire d'agents secrets qui préféreraient que les femmes ne s'impliquent pas ... et la situation appelle clairement les ressources intérieures d'une dame intègre.
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