Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) (3 page)

By the time eleven o’clock approached, and
they had completed their third circuit, the sky was clear and Henri was content
they had not been followed around the famous road.

Henri scanned the area alongside
Rathaus
Park as he pulled the horses to a gentle stop. He was reluctant to wake Sofia as
she’d had no sleep the previous evening. She had worked with society matrons
all day, before attending the musical soiree.

He shook his head, no matter how tired she
was, his mistress was always kind and calm, and he held a deep affection for
her. He glanced over at her, deep in sleep, her silver blonde hair fell in
ringlets onto her bare shoulder and her pale skin was accentuated by the deep
ruby of her velvet gown. Four small rubies were inserted in each ear, in a line
following the curve of her ear.

Henri stepped down and entered the carriage
and shook her gently, smiling as she stretched and her pale blue eyes widened
in surprise.

“Are we there already, Henri?” Sofia
yawned.

“We have done three circuits of the
Ringstrasse
,
madam. It is just before eleven.” He stepped out and took her hand and they
strolled together across the park, looking as though they were a father and
daughter out for a late evening walk.

They entered a dark lane at the back of the
university and Henri pulled her into a dark corner beside the building as he
scanned the wide lawn lit brightly by the full moon, for any sign of activity
or observers.

“All appears well, madam.”

He led her across to the next building and
they walked along a winding path to a small wooden door set into an ivy covered
brick wall.

Henri gave four short knocks, paused and
then tapped two more short raps on the concealed door, constantly looking
around as he checked there was no one following them.

The heavy wooden door groaned as it opened
slowly and they entered a dimly lit foyer.

“Welcome, madam, it is good to see you
again. Good evening, Henri.” Johann, one of the doctoral students, ushered them
into a larger room. The light was brighter and Henri looked around as he
escorted Sofia to the table. Pulling out a chair, he glanced to the side of the
room and Sofia nodded.

“Yes, please, Henri. I will need coffee to
keep me alert. I fear this may be a long meeting.” As Henri poured Sofia’s
coffee, he observed the others already seated at the long table.

Professor Ernst Schmidt who led the project
at the university listened gravely as Sofia spoke to him in a quiet undertone.
The two research assistants, Johann and Genevieve sat on the other side of the
table, Henri placed a glass of coffee in front of Sofia and he sat at the
table, ever alert, even though they were in a safe room.

* * * *

Sofia finished her coffee and pushed the
empty glass to the side of the table as she looked around the room. Candles in
sconces provided a soft light and the rich aroma of the coffee took away the
musty smell of parchment that usually overwhelmed the senses in this old
meeting room in the basement of the university laboratory. She looked around at
the four people in the room and smiled.

People she would trust with her life.

Professor Ernst Schmidt sat at the head of
the table, muttering softly to himself in his native German as he flicked
through a pile of papers. Ernst had worked with her father in London, prior to
his death in 1840 and had sought her out when she had moved to Vienna. He and
his brother, Henri, had become like surrogate fathers since the professor had
continued her father’s moonflower research. Ernst had published many papers on
the science of the nature of matter and its transformations, but the moonflower
research was known only to the select few inside this room.

She caught Henri’s eye and he smiled back
at her, although she could sense the tension in his body. He had been on edge
since the incident at the station. Henri was the indispensible assistant in her
household and salon activities, and Sofia allowed him to think he fulfilled the
role of her bodyguard.

Johann, a brilliant young doctoral student
from the university at Bologna, sat across the table from Sofia, impatiently
clicking his pencil on the side of his glass, obviously eager to start the
meeting. His assistant and the chief illustrator for the project, Genevieve,
sat still and silent, taking in the scene around the table.

“I would like to thank you all for being
here at this ungodly hour. I am very grateful,” said Sofia

“We didn’t stay back, Sofia. We are so
close to success, we have been working through the night for two weeks,”
replied Johann.

She frowned “It is imperative you take the
utmost care. Any unusual interest in your work must be reported to Henri…immediately.”

Sofia quickly filled them in on the events
of the previous night at
Westbahnhof
.

“I am sure it is related to the shipment on
the train.” She shrugged. “Somehow, somewhere there is an awareness of what we
are doing.” The three scientists all tried to speak over each other,
protesting.

“But—”

“We haven’t—”

“There is no way—”

Sofia held up her hand. “I trust you all
implicitly. However, it has happened, so there is no doubt. Somehow, word has
spread of what we are close to…”

She paused. “I will not say immortality as
that is tempting to the Fates.”Let me say, we are close to discovering a
life-giving elixir that may prolong human life.”

Professor Schmidt nodded sagely.”No,
madam…we will not be presumptuous.”

Sofia placed her hands on the table in
front of her and turned to the professor. “Now I want a full report on what you
are up to. Did the cargo come in from the station last night? Was it intact?”

“Yes, madam. All was well.”

Sofia turned to Johann. “Henri tells me
there has been a significant development in your research?”

Johann inclined his head and reached for
the illustrations in front of Genevieve.

“Indigo’s research has confirmed the stamen
is vital in the healing properties of the passion flower, but our research
indicates it is the petal of the night blooming moonflower that provides the
catalyst for the elixir. If we are to successfully propagate the flower in a
controlled environment, it must be planted at full moon and bathed in moonlight
until the full moon wanes. Any plant germinated at other times of the cycle and
harvested without the requisite moonlight has not had the life-giving
properties once the elixir has been reduced in the laboratory.”

Sofia was intrigued. “How did you establish
that?”

Johann looked over at Genevieve and
smiled.”It was serendipity, madam.”

Sofia turned to the young woman.
“Serendipity?” she asked.

“I had an idea when I was illustrating the
report on propagation for Professor Schmidt.” The young woman blushed. “I was
sketching and as I was drawing the petals, the shape of the petal reminded me
of a new moon and I got carried away and illustrated the botanical with the
background of a night sky.”

Johann interrupted and his words spilled
out excitedly. “When I saw it, it gave me the idea of experimenting with
different stages of light…you know how Indigo’s passionflower uses luminiferous
aether to stay vital, well… we put the moon flower through the monthly lunar
cycle and transformation was almost instantaneous.”

Professor Schmidt interrupted, his head bobbing
in excitement. “And what we had spent years trying to create artificially by
the transformation of the botanical matter, occurred naturally in one night
under a full moon.”

Sofia was delighted to hear of the progress
made since her last visit.

“So, where are we up to… do you need more
flowers? Do we need another trip to the Alps to harvest more seeds?”

“Yes, Sofia,” replied Johann. “Now we know
the moonlight is critical to the process, we can propagate each crop in the
laboratory from the seeds.”

“It will be the final trip,” agreed the
professor. “So one final trip to collect the plants in midsummer when the
flowers turn to seed will be enough to continue our research.”

Sofia smiled.

“I shall organize a trip in midsummer. I believe
my twin nephews may like an expedition to the Alps. Having the boys with me
will provide good cover.”

The professor frowned. “Do you really
believe, Sofia, there is a need for all this subterfuge? Do you really think
the incident at the station was related to our research?”

Sofia shook her head slowly. “I honestly do
not know. However, I am not prepared to take the risk. Although I do not
believe it can be the fool Lorca who causes my sister so many problems in her
ventures.” She smiled grimly “Although since Captain Thoreau has become Sheriff
and is a highly respected representative of the queen, Duke Lorca has pulled in
his little head considerably.”

Sofia walked over to the window and stared
into the darkness for a few minute before continuing. “There was something much
more sinister behind the incident at the railway station. The dirigible and the
automatons indicate this is a very well funded operation.

Whilst you are waiting for the new seed, Johann—”
Sofia turned to the young man “—I have a mission for you. I would like you and
Genevieve to take a trip together and undertake some research on automatons and
dirigibles for me.”

She smiled as the blush spread up the young
scientist’s neck. She had long suspected he harbored a secret passion for his
colleague who remained blissfully unaware of the esteem in which the young man
held her.

“I will meet you in Cornwall at my sister’s
holiday biomes in late July when I return from the Alps and you can report your
findings to me then. I am sure by combining two intellects such as yours, you
will discover the source of this operation.

“Remember to take care and pretend you are
simply on holiday. I will deposit funds into the Professor’s account for you.”

The professor turned to her, eyes
twinkling. “When do you intend travelling to the Alps, madam?”

“I will collect the twins in their summer
holidays and bring them back to Austria in middle of July. I shall have your
seed for you by the end of the summer. In the meantime, if there is anything of
concern or you make a breakthrough, send a message to Indigo that says...”
Sofia put her finger to her cheek.

“Invite her to the opening of the new wing
of the chemistry department mentioning that it is to be named after our father.
An innocuous message, but if either of us receives such a missive, we shall
know all is not well.”

She crossed the room and placed her arms
around the professor.

“Take care, Ernst. Do not work such long
hours. We have waited many years for this moment and we need to be assured all
is safe before we continue.

Sofia turned to the young couple and smiled
as Genevieve glared at her.

Hmmm…maybe she is not as unaware as I
thought.

“Now, I want you to be extremely careful. I
suspect there are forces at work here, which, if we let our guard down, may
mean the end to our research. At the moment, they are unsure of the progress we
have made. We need to challenge them and ensure that they do not discover our
advances. We will send them off on a wild goose chase.”

She bid them all farewell, feeling
confident once again.

“Come, Henri… I really need some sleep. It
has been a very long day.”

The sun had taken on the dull burnished
copper of coming dusk as Dougal, Earl of Rothmore, rode away from Castle Dean,
one mile northeast of Kilmarnock. Since Lady Lucy Cavendish-Bentinck, married
Charles Ellis, the 6th Lord Howard de Walden and moved to his family estate in
London, Castle Dean had been empty but was now maintained by a small resident
chapter of the ancient Scottish Order of the Knights Templar.

Even though he was a peer of the Kingdom of
Scotland, Dougal was a lowly steward in the order, having inherited the
position on the death of his father, when he became Earl of Rothmore, before
his fifteenth birthday. His castle was on Little Rothmore, some twenty miles
west across the Firth of Clyde, and it was his duty to prepare the Great Hall
for the meeting of the Council of the Great. An urgent missive had been
received from the Grand Conclave of Knights in Edinburgh and there had been
little time to prepare for the meeting.

The gelding was unused to a road wide
enough for several horsemen to ride abreast, being used to the deer trails and
the rugged terrain of the island. Dougal held the reins tightly as a carriage
passed them on the outskirts of the small town that was Kilmarnock, reaching
down to pat and reassure the skittish young horse.

“Just a few more minutes and I will water
you at the brook while I collect some ale from the inn for this evening.”

The more ale, the better, he mused. He was
also a little curious as he had been instructed to collect a small vat of wine
for the gathering tonight. It was the first time since he had inherited on the
stewardship of the order that such preparations had been put in place for a
meeting, and at such short notice
.