Chapter 14
Felicia had had no idea that viewing inventions had become such a popular pastime with the general public.
When she, Mary, and Ryder, along with Shields and the other guards, arrived at the Town Hall a few minutes before one o’clock, it was to discover an eye-openingly large crowd thronging the foyer before the exhibition hall’s doors.
There were ladies in bonnets leaning on the arms of gentlemen attired for a day about town.
There were merchants in their best suits, their wives sliding glances at other ladies’ gowns, as well as many men Felicia took for tradesmen, in less well-fitting jackets and with many sporting flat caps.
She spotted more than a few apprentices in their coats; along with everyone else, their expressions stated they were eager to get through the doors and look upon what lay inside.
“Good gracious!” Mary blew out a frustrated breath and came up on her toes to peer around. Then she tugged at Ryder’s sleeve and pointed to the side. “There’s a secondary door over there. Perhaps we can slip in.”
Tending grim, Ryder obliged, and, with a glance commanding their men to follow, he escorted Felicia and Mary in the right direction. “I don’t like this,” Ryder stated. “Rand will need our men in place before these people, one and all, descend.”
It transpired that Rand had had the same notion. As they approached the secondary door, it started to open.
From the other side, still out of their sight, some man squeaked, “Lord Cavanaugh—I must protest! Everyone is supposed to come through the main doors so that we may count heads.”
“Indeed?” Rand’s tone was even, yet chilling. “Am I to take it that the committee is prepared to assume full responsibility for any damage the crowd may do before the guards I have organized, who are somewhere in the foyer, reach our exhibit and get into place?”
An irascible mumble came in reply.
“I thought not.” Rand hauled the door fully open.
“We’re here.” Ryder drew Mary and Felicia to one side and waved the men in. “Go and get into position.”
Rand held the door open and pointed. “That way. You’ll find the steam carriage and Mr. Throgmorton close to the end of the aisle.”
The men ducked their heads and streamed past Rand and on down the hall. Felicia, Mary, and Ryder brought up the rear.
Just then, others outside noticed them vanishing into the hall. There were cries and people came running.
Rand slammed the door shut, and Ryder whirled to help him throw the heavy bolts.
Ignoring the thuds on the door and the muffled demands for it to be opened—that it was almost time—Rand turned to the official, now distinctly choleric and inclined to view them all severely. Coolly, Rand waved at Ryder and Mary. “The Marquess and Marchioness of Raventhorne.”
The official goggled, then paled.
Felicia glanced at Ryder and Mary and struggled to swallow a laugh. She’d never seen either look so coldly and arrogantly aloof. They both looked down on the official—quite a feat for Mary given her lack of height—then Mary glanced at Rand. “I take it the inventions are farther along.”
Dismissing the official with an extremely distant nod, Ryder placed his hand at the back of Mary’s waist. “I believe that’s correct, my dear. Shall we see?”
As they stepped toward the central aisle—and the officious official exhaled with poorly concealed relief—the clock in the Town Hall’s tower chimed, tolling for one o’clock. To their left, other officials hauled open the main doors, and the crowd streamed in.
Just ahead of the first wave, Rand, with Felicia’s hand tucked in his arm, followed by Ryder and Mary, swiftly strode down the aisle to where their men had taken up their positions in front of and flanking the Throgmorton Steam-Powered Horseless Carriage.
The four of them halted before the exhibit.
Felicia took in the gleaming steam carriage, with William John, remarkably neat and wearing a spotless gray coat, standing proudly before it, and felt tears prickle.
She blinked rapidly. She clutched Rand’s hand; her gaze on the sight before her, she said, “Papa would have been so very proud.”
She felt Rand’s gaze on her face, then he ducked his head and murmured, “You should tell William John.”
She swallowed the lump emotion had set in her throat, drew her hand from Rand’s, stepped up to her brother, and did.
William John’s face creased in a fond smile. He met her gaze, and for just a second, she glimpsed the big brother who had played with her in the workshop all those many years before.
Then two well-dressed gentlemen came forward, clearly wishing to speak with William John.
Felicia smiled at the pair and stepped back, releasing her brother to them; she supposed this was one of the major purposes of such an exhibition—to spread word of the invention far and wide.
She walked the few paces to where Rand, Ryder, and Mary stood a little to the side; the brothers, both tall enough to see over most heads, were apparently scrutinizing the security arrangements of other exhibitors.
“The cordons help,” Rand said.
Felicia looked and saw that most exhibits had been cordoned off by thick gold-colored ropes suspended from metal stands.
Ryder humphed. “Looks like you were the only one able to get your guards in ahead of the crowd.”
In front of many of the larger exhibits, guards were still pushing their way out of the body of the crowd and climbing over the golden ropes to take up their positions.
“Obviously,” Mary said, “all inventors take the business of protecting their inventions seriously.” She glanced inquiringly at Rand. “While I can understand the threats to the steam carriage, I hadn’t realized the problem was widespread.”
“It can be a cutthroat business,” Rand replied.
He’d been watching William John deal with the gentlemen who had approached, and who had now been joined by several others; Rand and their group were close enough to hear William John’s confident explanation of the improvements made to Russell’s design and the changes to the controls.
Felicia shifted closer to Rand and murmured, “He’s in his element.”
Rand smiled, then looked down at her. “If you’ll wait here for a moment, I’ll just have a word with him.”
She nodded. Mary and Ryder were looking at the next invention in line.
Felicia watched as the gentlemen who had been speaking with William John moved away, and Rand stepped up to William John.
They spoke, then William John smiled a smile of transparent happiness and nodded—although the nod was delivered in her brother’s usual vague way.
William John turned to another group of gentlemen, along with one lady, who were waiting to approach, and Rand returned to her side.
“He said he’s happy to deal with all the inquiries for the next hour or so.” Rand took her arm. “I thought we might take a quick look around, and then I’ll return to spell William John.”
Felicia laughed and slid her arm into Rand’s.
“We’re talking of William John—he’s in his version of heaven when speaking of his inventions and explaining how they work.
He so rarely gets a chance to speak with an audience of interested people, I very much doubt you’ll prevail on him to let you take over. ”
Rand acknowledged the comment with a wry smile.
“There’s no denying he’s earned his moment here.
If it weren’t for him and his never-say-die pursuit of success, we’d never have got the steam carriage here.
But I’ll at least offer him the chance to take a break—whether he takes it or not can be his decision. ”
After they collected Ryder and Mary, who had been fascinatedly studying the printing machine that was the twenty-fifth exhibit, the four of them eased into the swelling crowd.
As the bulk of the crowd seemed to be heading down the central aisle toward them—presumably following the numbers on the exhibits—they went in the other direction, crossing the wide central space to examine the inventions numbered twenty-six and on.
While Rand and Felicia dallied to more closely examine the latest steam-powered loom, Ryder and Mary continued up the line.
Felicia asked several technical questions of the loom’s inventor, much to that older gentleman’s discomposure; that a lady would know to ask of valves and pressures thoroughly rattled him, and he struggled to answer.
Felicia wasn’t impressed; as she moved away on Rand’s arm, she murmured, “I hope you haven’t put any money into that invention.”
“No. I haven’t.” After a moment, he added, “There are too many decent steam-driven looms about already.”
She humphed. “I doubt he’s run his engine for longer than ten minutes. Fifteen, and I would expect it to blow a pipe or a gasket—his configuration suffers from the same problem the Throgmorton engine originally had.”
The reason he hadn’t invested in the steam-driven loom was because of the established competition—not because he’d known it wouldn’t work.
The idea that had quietly wormed its way into his brain regarding one aspect of his and Felicia’s joint future grew clearer, taking more definite shape.
They strolled on, pausing here and there to more closely question various inventors.
Rand met and stopped to chat with several investors, mostly competitors of sorts.
All congratulated him on his prescience in supporting the Throgmorton project at such an early stage; several inquired whether there might be a chance to buy in at some point.
Rand smiled easily, said he would let them know, and left it at that.
Now they’d had a chance to see the steam engine and consider its points, that more investors were declaring interest suggested that they, too, thought the Throgmorton Steam-Powered Horseless Carriage had a definite and lucrative future.