Life settles very nicely with the threat of the Master taken care of.
Vincent plays his part and teaches Lord Douglas and Lucy, spending the rest of his time on family and friends.
Catherine reads everything she can lay her hands on and continues to observe Victor's experiments, taking notes and making drawings. Adison treats her patients, sometimes helping nature a teeny bit with a little magic, but always very careful not to give the game away by miraculously curing deadly diseases. Let the people take some medicine for a few weeks, and feel sick while their body battles the rest of the disease Adison has weakened magically, they'll live, and they will not have a clue it was not the medicine that did the trick.
Still, the survival rate of her patients goes up all the time, but how can Adison let people die that she can save? So many already die despite their best efforts, even on their excursions with Lukas. With March still cold and the city still covered in snow, Lukas' work does not let up, and he works on doggedly, never complaining where Adison or Mina can hear it, always tireless.
Whenever they see something truly heart-rending, he insists on detaching all of them from it, and rightfully so or they would have quit this task long before now.
Mina goes out every other night, but Adison doesn't want to burden Victor with babysitting too often so she accompanies them once a week. Lukas himself is out every afternoon and evening, with all his friends taking turns to guard and assist him, a lot more careful these days to keep his cures as subtle as Adison makes them, letting medicine, medical practice and good food do some of the work for him, though the food continues to be a problem.
When the snow finally starts to melt, Vincent and Lord Douglas ride out to the Nomes' estate, to meet with Lucy for a ride across the grounds. As they cross half of London on their spirited horses, they finally have the chance to really talk, and the news from Bosie is disheartening.
Mr Wilde has really sued Bosie's father, who is now very busy gathering evidence to escape conviction. If he can prove that Mr Wilde is indeed a sodomite, he will not only go free himself, Mr Wilde will be prosecuted by the state, for sodomy is actually punishable by two years in prison.
'Do you think your father will be able to find evidence to clear himself and incriminate Mr Wilde?' Vincent asks.
Bowing his head, Bosie has to admit, 'I'm quite sure he will, I've been a bit careless with some of Oscar's letters to me, they may have ended up in the wrong hands. They were probably thrown out, but if anyone held on to one, it's worth a fortune to my father, and he has a fortune, so he can buy any proof he likes.
Also, Oscar has been unwise in his contacts, you know my circle includes several lower class friends, like Steve, but we take care of our own and their loyalty lies with us. Testifying for my father would gain them nothing, it would only cost them their income and our protection. But Oscar has sometimes looked outside our circle, and I'm afraid some of those boys will say anything for a few bob.'
'Bosie, do you realize that if he is convicted, you will be in danger, too?'
'I do, Vincent, I do, but what can I do? My friends are urging me to go to France, but I'm not ready to take flight just yet. I need to stand up for Oscar, I love him and I want to be with him. Is our love such a bad thing? I cannot deny him, not to save my own skin.'
Once they have reached the gate of the manor, Vincent speaks to the gate-keeper, and they are let in, making their way towards the house.
'This is magnificent, Vincent, last time I was here I never saw the extent of the grounds, it was dark, and I was quite distraught with what had happened.'
'I imagine you were, and we only talked of the mundane things that happened, never of the magic you witnessed. Did it scare you?'
'It did, you know I couldn't see any magic being used, but somehow I felt things were happening around me. I was glad those thugs stormed in, they gave me the opportunity to just do something.'
'You were incredible, and believe me, you had a large part in ridding this city of a dangerous leach. This Mr Quesnet must have taken hundreds, if not thousands of innocents from the streets to further his own ends.'
'I'm glad he didn't manage to steal your body, I like you, not just because of the lessons, but also because you don't judge me, I can always find some comfort in talking to you.'
'You know, Bosie, you can always talk to me if you are feeling oppressed. Even at St James' there are plenty of rooms where one can have a private conversation. There are difficult times ahead for you, don't suffer by yourself.'
'If I have to flee to France, I'll miss you, Vincent.'
'I hope it won't come to that, Bosie, but if you do have to go, I'll miss you, too. Please keep me informed, and if there is anything I can do for you, you'll let me know, won't you?'
Lucy is already waiting for them, she's not relaxed with a rather handsome man riding straight towards her, but Vincent is with him, and he has told her this man is like George, without the slightest interest in girls.
And indeed he is polite, but rather distracted, as if he has unpleasant business that has nothing to do with Lucy.
Vincent confirms this by saying, 'But hey, let us leave these matters beyond those gates, and have a little fun right now, what do you say, Bosie?'
They don't even get off their horses, Vincent merely gives her a supporting look, he sits that horse really well, he told Lucy he used to have a horse, and he is very good at martial arts, but his build is so stocky and he is usually so placid around her, and well...rather old, it is just hard to picture someone like that as an athlete.
But many people take fencing lessons from him, and she's heard he is a really good swordsman, so she probably has to believe that. Well, they're going to push those horses, and then Lucy will see with her own eyes whether her favourite is as old and as tranquil as he pretends to be, Catherine did brag a lot about her dad being the best fighter in town, killing that gytrash all by himself, and so on and so forth.
Lucy takes the lead, she knows the grounds best, and since Suzy doesn't see the use of a walk as a gait for a horse, she starts out at a trot, towards the hills on the furthest end of the family's property. The men are keeping up well, balancing nicely in a jarring trot, until they reach the first safe stretch to really let go. George insisted on Lucy riding alone for half an hour before meeting up with unknown riders with unknown horses.
