Shelley Adina - Lady of Devices: A steampunk adventure novel

LADY OF DEVICES, a steampunk adventure novel

Shelley Adina

Magnificent Devices, Book One

Copyright 2011 Shelley Adina Bates. All rights reserved.

Nook Edition.

Cover design by Ann Bui Nguyen.

Cover illustration Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Phat Puppy Art used under license.

Discover other titles by Shelley Adina at www.shelleyadina.com .

License Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Summary

If you like steampunk stories by Cherie Priest and Gail Carriger, youll love Shelley Adinas Lady of Devices! After her family is ruined, instead of the sparkling debut she expected, 17-year-old Lady Claire Trevelyan finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. Its not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices, head of the cleverest gang in London ...

A brave and talented author who looks at the darkness as well as the light. Mary Jo Putney

What a relief this volume is. Steampunk without zombies. An amusing, touching, steam-exhausting, Crystal-Palacing romp. Timons Esaias

Dedication

For Timons Esaias, with special thanks to Spencer Bates

Lady of Devices, a steampunk adventure novel

Chapter 1

London, 1889

To say the explosion rocked the laboratory at St. Cecelias Academy for Young Ladies might have overstated the case, but she was still never going to hear the end of it.

Claire Trevelyan closed her eyes as a gobbet of reddish-brown foam dripped off the ceiling and landed squarely on the crown of her head. It dribbled past her ears and onto the pristine sailor collar of her middy blouse, and thence, gravity having its inevitable effect, down the blue seersucker of her uniforms skirt to the floor.

Shrieking, the other students in the senior Chemistry of the Home class had already flung themselves toward the back of the room and away from the benches directly under the mess. Ladies! Professor Grnwald shouted, raising his arms as if to calm the stormy waters, there is no cause for alarm. Collect yourselves, please. His gimlet eyes behind their gleaming spectacles pinned Claire in place like a butterfly on a board. Miss Trevelyan. Did I not, just moments ago, tell you not to add the contents of that dish to your flask?

Yes, sir. She could barely hear herself over the squawking of her classmates.

Then why did you do it?

The truth would only net her another grim punishment, but there was no other answer. To see what would happen, sir.

Indeed. I seem to remember you gave Doctor Prescott the same reply after the unfortunate incident with the Tesla coil. His jaw firmed under its layer of fat. He addressed the back of the room, where the others huddled against the cabinets in which he kept ingredients and equipment. Ladies, please. A compound of root beer and peppermint will do you no harm. You may adjourn to the powder rooms to rearrange your toilettes if you must.

Several of the girls stampeded from the room, leaving behind Lady Julia Wellesley, Lady Catherine Montrose, and Miss Gloria Meriwether-Astor, who watched her humiliation with as much wide-eyed delight as if it were the latest flicker at the theater. Claire straightened her spine. She should be used to this. Fortitude was the key.

Another gob of foam landed on her shoulder. Behind her, Lady Catherine stifled a giggle.

And are you satisfied with your newfound knowledge? Professor Grnwald was not finished with her yet.

Yes, sir, Claire said with complete truth.

I am delighted to hear it. In future, when I tell you not to do something, I would like the courtesy of obedience. You are here to learn the chemistry of the kitchen, not to engage in silly parlor tricks.

But sir, it would be helpful if you had told us why the compounds should not be mixed.

In the ensuing moment of silence, she heard an indrawn breath of anticipation from the gallery.

I am sorry to have incommoded you in your quest for information. His sarcasm dripped as unpleasantly as the substance now forming a sticky mass on her clothes. By tomorrow morning, you will provide me with one hundred lines stating the following: I will obey instruction and curb my unladylike curiosity. Repeat that, please.

Claire did so in a monotone as faithful as any wax recording.

Thank you, Miss Trevelyan. You will now go and inform the cleaning staff that their assistance is required here.

Yes, sir.

And you will stay for the remainder of the period and help them.

Claire clamped her molars down on the urge to further defend herself. Yes, sir.

Ladies, class is dismissed. Thank you for your patience.

Patience? He was thanking them? Claire kept her face calm above the storm in her heart as she turned toward the door, the heel of her boot slipping several inches in the foam. Lady Catherine giggled againClaire suspected she couldnt help herself, being the nervous sortand the other girls followed her out, careful to keep their clean skirts from touching hers.

Nicely done, Trevelyan, Lady Julia Wellesley whispered. We have a half period free thanks to you.

I must say, that brown substance suits you. Lady Catherines overbite became more prominent as she smiled. Its the exact color of your hair.

Next time, perhaps youll be less inclined to show off your superior intellectual powers, Gloria Meriwether-Astor added, her flat vowels emphasizing a colonial drawl.

Claire tried to keep silent, but this was just too much. She turned to glare at the new heiress from the American Territories, who had fit in with the other girls from the moment of her arrival like an imperious hand in a kid glove. I dont show off at all. I

Oh, please, Lady Julia waved her fingers. Spare us the false humility. But tell me, how on earth do you expect to attract a husband looking like that?

Shes trying to impress old Grnwald. Lady Catherine giggled. Hes single.

He was also forty if he was a day, overweight, and his receding hairline perspired when he was under pressure, which was nearly all the time. Besides which, marrying anyone below the rank of baron was out of the question, never mind a man forced to earn his living by teaching the next generation of societys glittering lights.

Not that these particular glittering lights wanted to be taught anything but how to embroider a handkerchief or pour a cup of tea. Though if there were a class devoted to the art of landing a titled husband, she had no doubt every one of them would sign up for it and never miss a moment. Of course, Lady Julia could probably teach such a class. Rumor had it that as soon as she descended the platform on graduation day next week, Lord Robert Mount-Batting would go down upon one knee on the lawn and propose. Claire rather doubted that rumor had its facts in order. Lady Julia would never miss her presentation at court in two weeks, nor any of the balls and parties to be held in her honor afterward. If there were to be lawns involved, it would probably be the one at Ascot, or the one at Wellesley House, sometime before the shooting season began in August.

Julia, Catherine, and Claire herself were to be presented to Her Majesty during the same Drawing Room. Claires imagination shuddered and refused to venture there. Who knew what fresh humiliation those girls could dream up in that most august company?