“I was grateful for your discretion, John.”
“Given when I was unaware of your actions.”
“Would you not have helped me had you known?”
“Well, I … that is not the point.”
“Forgive me, but I believe it is entirely the point,” she said, putting her hand on his. “I do not believe either of you would have condemned my actions. Not if you fully understood their necessity.”
Edward puffed pointedly on his pipe before demanding that she give them the name of the unscrupulous key cutter who would undertake such illegal work.
“Before you pass judgment on him, Father, hear what I have to say. Mr. Sadiki is no ordinary locksmith. His family have served Hekate for centuries. He recognized my brooch, heard my name, and only then agreed to help me.”
“Or so he would have you believe!” John suggested. “How convenient for him, to be offered an excuse to make money from…” He hesitated, quietened by the look Hecate gave him.
“Two things render your thinking on this redundant, John. The first is that he would accept no payment, even though he furnished me with a number of keys, and at short notice. The second is that he had knowledge beyond anything he might have ordinarily come by.”
“Such as?” Edward asked.
“Such as how you came to buy my brooch. Where you were when you bought it. Who sold it to you. And how the second you took possession of it, you could do no other than name me for the goddess who I also now serve.”
“Good Lord! He knew of the tinker woman?”
“Her name was Phoebe. She, too, was one of Hekate’s followers.”
John reached over and took her hand in his. “You say you serve her, my dearest Hecate.…”
“Do not fear for me. I am not lost to all Christian hope. I am as I have ever been. The girl you both know. The only difference is, now I know myself better.”
The astonished silence that followed her revelations was broken only by the rumbling of the carriage wheels and the hoofbeats of the horses. When the men did speak again, they did so together, their questions overlapping, their exclamations and reactions competing for her attention, their looks of amazement colored with concern, sometimes with hurt, occasionally with anger.
Edward waved his pipe to underline his sentiments, his care for her safety fighting with his wish that she had consulted him before acting. “To open that cabinet alone…”
“I was not alone, Father.”
“… am I no longer to be trusted with your confidence, daughter? Why did you not come to me, share with me your intention?”
“I am sorry.…”
John spoke up. “Why spurn help from those who you must know would give their support if asked?”
“It is precisely because I knew neither of you would refuse me. Had I asked, John, I think you would have helped me make copies of those keys and gain access to the library, and in doing so you might have ended your career, were our actions discovered. Might have lost your position at the cathedral. I would not put you in such a situation, not for my sake. And you, Father, you would have assisted me in actions that could have ruined your professional reputation, a renown you have spent your life building, only to be tainted by an illegal act. I would not have you remembered for one misdeed on my account, all else you have strived for forever forgotten.”
Both men considered her answer in silence. Hecate seized this pause to move the conversation onward.
“I am truly sorry if my actions have disappointed you. Either of you. These were not … ordinary decisions to make.”
“We do indeed find ourselves in extraordinary times,” Edward acknowledged. “And times of great peril.”
Hecate moved to take the seat beside him. “Which is why I need your help now. Today I believe we beard the lion in his den. What we learn here could answer some of our many questions. It might put us on the right path to stopping Lord Brocket’s plans with the Essedenes and the Resurgent Spirits. Mr. Sadiki said there is a cursed family—the de Furches—who summon the dead using the Essedenes’ words every hundred years. We know someone with access to that cabinet is using the banned book and we suspect they are acting on the earl’s instructions. Two unconnected families, or is there a connection between the two? Could it be that the earl’s family are related to the one responsible for the desecrations at Piedmont Abbey? This is our chance to find the truth. We must present a united front.”
Her father placed his hand on her shoulder.
“My dear daughter, you know you always and ever have my full support. It could never be otherwise.”
John looked at her. “It is because of you I am here, Hecate. You must know you can depend on me.”
Her father’s mind had already turned to practical matters.
“Of the utmost importance is that we have access to that book. I share your belief that it contains the words that summon the dead, and is therefore most likely to contain the counter curse or spell.”
“Spell,” John muttered the word. “How strongly that speaks of witches.”
Hecate tried to read his expression. “I am being guided by the Goddess of Witches.”
“If your Mr. Sadiki is to be believed.”
“We have no reason to disbelieve him,” Edward said.
“And what of the brooch?” Hecate pointed out. “It was the serpent that saved the griffin. Hekate’s serpent. Whichever way you look at it, Father is right when he says I must overcome that book’s defenses.” She sat back in the seat. “The question we must put our minds to is, how is that to be done?”
Her father was quick to offer the contents of his own library again, or another trip to London and the British Museum. “We have scoured both for references to the Essedenes themselves, and to necromancers in general. What if we were to search for assistance in countering enchantments that guard dark magic?”
“I cannot imagine there would be many books in such a category,” said John.
Hecate’s face lit up. “That’s it!” she said. “Of course!”
“What have I said?” John asked.
