The Alchemist's Key (10 page)

‘Not at all,’ Hannah assured her, then, recalling she had some fashion magazines in her bag, she pulled them out for Grace to flick through. ‘Take
a look for yourself. These are the very latest fashions.’

Grace blanched at the images that passed before her eyes as Hannah arranged a few outfits for the maid to try on, and then seated herself down beside her. ‘You like him, don’t you? Andrew, I mean.’

‘I owe him much, ma’am,’ Grace defended. ‘I want him to think well of me.’

Again, Hannah laughed. ‘Because you fancy him,’ she teased.

Grace was taken aback by Hannah’s accusation, though she did have to suppress a smile. ‘I would never assume —’

‘It’s all right. I won’t tell,’ Hannah concluded, shocking the poor girl further. ‘Besides, I think he fancies you too.’ Grace was wide-eyed with disbelief at the comment. ‘Well, why else would he have braved bringing you back here with him?’

‘I think he was just being kind, ma’am.’ Grace simply could not accept the possibility. ‘After all, he hardly knows me.’

‘Well, I don’t know what men are like where you come from, but here, that doesn’t make any difference.’ As Grace was biting her lip and looking a tad worried, Hannah decided to drop the subject. ‘Anyway. Why don’t you try some of these on and see how they fit.’

When Grace braved leaving her room dressed in modern attire, Hannah led her to the kitchen to seek some of the older servants’ opinion. As it was Sunday afternoon, Talbot and Winston were at leisure, reading the papers at the servants’ dining table.

Grace was modestly dressed in a long black skirt, a white shirt and cardigan, yet she felt a little awkward, as the skirt seemed rather tight fitting.

‘What do you think?’ Hannah directed the two male servants to the young maid, whose cheeks were flushed as she awaited their opinion.

‘Much more suitable,’ Talbot stated frankly.

‘You look lovely, my dear.’ Winston assured.

‘Hey, Grace, is that you?’ Andrew entered via the back door, returning from washing the cars. ‘You look great!’

The girl’s cheeks went from flushed to deep red, and she strained to keep an awkward smile from her face. ‘Thank you. You are all too kind.’

As it was plainly obvious to old Talbot how uncomfortable the girl felt, he thought it best to take the focus off her. ‘Andrew, why don’t you show young Grace around the house and grounds? Get her familiar with the place.’

‘Good idea.’ Andrew went to take her hand, but Grace shifted both her hands behind her back
before he could.
Try not to be so forward
, he reminded himself, motioning her to follow him outside. ‘This way.’

Hannah was headed into the Great Hall on her way to find Wade, when she spied him at the front doors, saying goodbye to Louisa.

‘I am sorry I can’t stay longer.’ Louisa took both of Wade’s hands. ‘But I might be able to get back here a couple of weekends from now.’

‘Well, keep me posted will you? You still owe me a day at the races, don’t forget.’

‘I won’t.’ Louisa kissed his cheek in parting. ‘You be careful, now,’ she cautioned him. ‘I don’t want you getting lost in some other time zone.’

‘I’ll be careful,’ he told her.

‘Say goodbye to Hugh, wherever he is. Tell him I wasn’t ignoring him this time. I just couldn’t find him.’

‘Sure thing. He’s probably buried somewhere in the library.’ Wade gave her a wave as she descended the steps to her car.

As the sports car roared down the long drive that led to the front gates, Hannah joined Wade out front. ‘I think she has her eye on you,’ she commented, startling the Baron out of his daze.

‘Nah,’ he assured. ‘She’s just after my money.’

‘Did you work that out by yourself, Baron?’ Hannah was most impressed by his perception.

‘Of course,’ he assured, then changed his tune. ‘I didn’t … Hugh enlightened me.’

‘Smart man, your Mr Prescott.’

‘That’s why we hang out together. He’s the brains and I’m the looks,’ Wade stated, only half in jest.

‘You think so?’ Hannah smiled at the suggestion.

‘That’s just what I’ve been told.’ He waved away all responsibility for the claim.

‘I see.’ She turned, suppressing her amusement, and headed back inside.

‘You don’t agree then?’ Wade could only assume it was so by her reaction.

‘I don’t have an opinion either way.’ She attempted to discourage further comment.

‘But you must have. You’re not gay, are you?’

‘No, I am not gay.’ Hannah was moved to a smile by the query. ‘I just hadn’t given the matter any thought.’

‘What? So you’re not interested in any guy that doesn’t wear tights?’ Wade ribbed her about her dance partner.

‘Look.’ She paused before ascending the stairs, realising Wade wasn’t going to drop the subject.
‘If you really must know, I found Mr Prescott more attractive upon first meeting.’

Wade pulled his head in, trying not to look too offended. ‘And now?’

Hannah rolled her eyes, embarrassed by his persistence. ‘I’m here to see your computer skills, Baron, not to feed your ego.’ She motioned upstairs.

‘Feed my ego you do not,’ he agreed, leading the way to his studio.

‘I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.’ She shrugged, trying not to laugh at his dejected expression. Wade was acting it up to a degree.

‘No, if you’ve got a thing for Hugh, I understand.’ Wade covered his face to hide his smile, making out that he was going to cry.

‘That’s not what I said.’ Hannah took the bait, hurrying up the stairs to catch up with Wade.

‘You’re more attracted to Hugh.’ He twisted her quote, to tease her.

‘Upon first meeting,’ she added, frowning, as that didn’t really fix the misquote.

‘But you’ve changed your mind now, is that it?’ Wade brought the conversation round full circle.

‘No, that is not it.’ Hannah took a step away from the Baron, and was unable to look him in the eye for a moment. ‘It just so happens that I am
already seeing someone.’ She lied to put an end to his inquisition.

‘Oh.’ Wade didn’t know what to say to this, as it hadn’t occurred to him that Hannah might already have a boyfriend. ‘Not Ivan, I hope.’

‘Hardly.’ She shuddered at the thought. ‘I can’t stand him on a professional basis, let alone —’ She cut herself short. ‘Could we please just drop the subject, and get back to the matter at hand.’

‘Sure.’ Wade accepted defeat, and headed off towards the studio.

In the little spare time Wade had found since arriving at Ashby, he’d been working on a 3-D model of the mansion.

‘It’s incredible!’ Hannah gasped at the amazing graphics.

‘It just started out as a project, but now I think I might actually develop it into a game. You know. Follow the cat, get caught in another time zone, that sort of thing.’

‘Based on a true story,’ Hannah added with a smile. ‘But how did you make it look so real? All the paintings and everything are so exact, it must have taken you ages.’

‘Nah.’ Wade handed Hannah his digital camera to look over. ‘I just photographed the artwork,
and then loaded the images straight into the computer. Now the only problem I have is creating the house in its different stages throughout history.’

‘Well, why don’t you just take the camera with you on your next trip through time,’ Hannah jested, but Wade was excited by the idea.

‘Good call.’ He hadn’t thought of that. Still mulling the notion over, he placed the camera aside. ‘I started on the proposal for the college this morning. Want to see?’

‘Yes please.’ Hannah took a seat to make herself more comfortable.

‘It’s only two-dimensional at this stage, but I’ll have a 3-D format in no time.’ Wade opened up the file where the plans were stored. ‘Now … all the existing buildings are in black, the new wing is in red.’

‘Wow.’ Hannah marvelled at the size of his vision. ‘It’s huge!’

‘You see that building there.’ Wade enlarged the structure in question. ‘This is your school of modern dance. I based the design on the existing ballet studios, although I thought we’d enclose the rooms in glass at observation level. That way you won’t have the same problem of sound spilling over into the surrounding studios.’ He turned to
catch her reaction, to find Hannah leaning forward over his shoulder to view the image, and she was therefore closer than he’d expected.

‘It’s beautiful.’ She looked at him fondly, making no attempt to withdraw.

‘The real thing will be far more amazing,’ Wade said softly, afraid of scaring her off.

‘I’m sure it will be.’

‘I found a connection!’ Hugh announced as he barged into the studio, and noticed Hannah and Wade abruptly move away from each other. ‘Sorry, am I interrupting something?’

‘No.’ Hannah and Wade insisted at once.

‘What did you find?’ Wade spun around on his chair to face Hugh and be enlightened.

‘I finally realised what the symbols in the mosaic on the dining room floor relate to.’ Hugh came forward and placed a huge old book on Wade’s desk. ‘It’s not freemasonry, it’s alchemy.’

‘Alchemy?’ Wade was none the wiser. ‘What’s that?’

‘Alchemy is the science of altering the structure of an object to a different vibrational frequency. It’s an ancient art dealing with the control of mutations in and transmutations of matter, substance, energy, and life itself. It especially dealt with changing baser metals into gold.’

Everything Hugh said was going straight over Wade’s head, but he allowed Hugh to continue his rambling, hoping he’d grasp the concept somewhere along the line.

‘The accomplished alchemist was also said to have the ability to transform his own state of consciousness to a higher vibrational frequency by the purification of the atoms in his own body. This supposedly allowed the alchemist to dematerialise his purified body into an invisible vibrational frequency, the etheric world and even into a different time zone.’

‘But how was this purification achieved?’ Hannah asked; she seemed to be following Hugh’s spiel.

‘Good question,’ Wade added, pretending he was also understanding it.

‘Via an elixir of life, which has been called many things throughout the ages. The Philosopher’s Stone, the Keys of Solomon, the Manna, the ORME, the Alchemist’s Mercury, and White Powder Gold or Ghost’s Gold.’

‘So where did they find this Ghost’s Gold?’ Wade asked.

‘No, it wasn’t something they found. They made it, using a long process of reducing mercury to its essentials by separation and distillation. It is
said that this Ghost’s Gold was a skillful, perfect equation of all the elements. Which is exactly what the symbols in your mosaic represent.’ Hugh flicked through the pages of the old book until he came to the one that laid out the different triangular shapes that were featured at each point of the cross on the dining room floor. ‘See, they represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water. If the element is fixed, as with Water and Earth, the triangle is upside down. Therefore, the elements of Fire and Air are volatile, and are represented by triangles that are upright.’

‘So what does it all mean?’ Wade also recalled seeing these images in his dreams, though he dared not mention that to Hugh.

‘I wish I knew.’ Hugh confessed.

‘And what about the shape that is featured in the middle of the mosaic?’

Hugh raised his brow at the question. ‘I can only assume that that represents the fifth element, which, according to Aristotle, was ether, or space.’

‘Well …’ Wade leant back in his chair, ‘that makes everything much clearer. Thank you, Hugh.’

‘Look, old son, I said that I had found a connection. I didn’t claim to know what it meant.’ Hugh closed the book and tucked it under his
arm. ‘It does seem to indicate, however, that if John Ashby was into alchemy, perhaps he found a way to employ these strange vibrational principles in a more practical sense.’

‘Into a time machine, you mean.’ Wade smiled, knowing he was right.

‘Now I didn’t say that.’

‘But it’s a possibility, right?’ Wade pushed for confirmation.

‘Anything is possible.’ Hugh gave in. ‘May I borrow this?’ He referred to the book tucked under his arm. ‘I’d like to do some more research but I’m running out of time. I really should think about getting back to Oxford.’

‘I feel sure it will be of more use to you than me,’ Wade granted.

Later that evening, when all at Ashby had retired for the night, Andrew awoke from a peaceful slumber to hear Grace screaming in horror.

‘Peggy, what are you doing?’ Andrew heard the maid say as he raced into the hallway towards the next room.

He found Grace huddled against her bedhead, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably as she stared at the empty void in the centre of her room.

‘Grace, what is it?’ He touched her shoulder,
whereupon she sprang from the bed, crying out in dismay. ‘It’s all right, it’s me, Andrew.’ He hesitated to approach Grace as she still seemed alarmed, looking from him to the centre of the room and back again.

‘Don’t you see?’ Grace pointed to the empty space.

Please don’t let her be perceiving her own suicide,
Andrew prayed on the quiet.
But how could she, if it hasn’t happened?
he reasoned logically. He was about to assure her there was nothing there, when he heard the wail of a third party.

‘Peggy, stop, you don’t —’ Grace gasped suddenly, and turned away horrified by what she’d witnessed.

After a moment, Andrew ventured closer to the distraught girl. ‘Grace? I want to help you. I know you’re upset, but …’ He didn’t know what to say next.

Slowly Grace turned to find that the source of her dismay had vanished. ‘Oh God,’ she uttered, ‘Peg hung herself. Why, why would she do that? Lord Frances Ashby,’ she answered herself, her voice full of spite as she sank to the floor. ‘That could have been me.’ She looked at Andrew, realising he had saved her from more than losing her virtue.

Andrew came to kneel beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder in comfort, whereby Grace collapsed into his embrace and wept with relief.

‘Is everything alright?’ Talbot appeared at the door, having heard the girl’s cries.

‘Yes,’ Andrew assured his father. ‘It was probably just a nightmare.’