The Doomsday Machine (Horatio Lyle) Read Online Free PDF Page B

lowered it to her height. As she read, her mouth silently moved with big words like ‘the’ and ‘and’. The letter read:
    Dear Mrs Cozens,
     
    I am safely arrived in America, and settled well. My work is going well. I hope all things are good with you in Britain. I deeply miss the country of my birth but business has called me away. Please ensure that the house is kept in good condition during my absence, and forward the correspondence attached here to the relevant addresses.
     
    Yours sincerely,
    Berwick
     
    Lyle quickly held the paper up to the light, then lowered it again with an innocent expression as if he hadn’t taken even that small action. He looked up to find Mrs Cozens’s eyes fixed firmly on him. ‘You can see the letter is in his hand, Mister Lyle,’ she said sharply.
    ‘Could there be any reason to doubt that?’ Lyle replied. He added, ‘There was other correspondence with this?’
    ‘Indeed.’
    ‘To whom?’
    ‘A few people to whom Mr Berwick owed money, tying up business affairs. I’m afraid I didn’t keep a comprehensive list.’
    ‘That’s somewhat lax of you, Mrs Cozens.’
    ‘I do my best, Mister Lyle.’
    ‘Has anyone else been enquiring about Mr Berwick’s location? ’
    ‘A few friends have called. I’ve told them what I’ve told you, sir.’
    ‘Of course, of course. Naturally. Tell me, what has Mr Berwick been working on lately?’
    ‘I believe he was attempting to develop a safer form of loom. He is very entrepreneurial.’
    ‘A loom?’
    ‘Indeed.’
    ‘That hardly seems a useful employment of his skills. When last I heard, he was still absorbed in material properties.’
    ‘I believe he found such study unsatisfactory.’
    ‘He must have left a forwarding address, some other way of contacting him?’
    ‘Yes, I can give it to you, if you wish.’
    Lyle seemed taken aback, then smiled and shrugged. ‘Where ’s the harm?’ And in the same breath, ‘I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused, and if my tone has in any way been inappropriate.’
    ‘Not at all, sir. It was a pleasure.’
    ‘Nevertheless, I do feel I have been less than cordial in my manner - please, accept this.’
    He opened up his palm, and Tess’s eyes widened at the sight of a big, shiny sovereign. An indignant squeak tried to crawl out and she put her hands over her mouth to trap it.
    Mrs Cozens looked uneasy. ‘Truly, sir, there ’s no need ...’ ‘If you do not take it, Mrs Cozens, I shall be greatly offended,’ said Lyle.
    She looked him in the eye, and saw nothing out of keeping with the flat tone of his voice. Hesitantly, she closed her fingers around the sovereign and slipped it into a pocket. Lyle beamed, and said, ‘Good day, Mrs Cozens. I trust you’ll give my regards to your master when you see him. Tess, Tate.’
    Tate shuffled after Lyle with a bored expression, and Tess followed. However, at the last moment, she hesitated, turned and executed an inelegant curtsey. ‘Evenin’, ma’am,’ she said, holding out one small hand to be shaken. Taken aback, Mrs Cozens shook it and Tess’s eyes lit up. Brushing within an inch of Mrs Cozens’s wide skirts, she scampered after Lyle and out of the front door.
     
    The three of them walked in silence down the street for a long minute, until they reached the gateway into Gray’s Inn, with its stately buildings and throngs of lawyers. Entering the Inn, Lyle, not taking his eyes off the people passing back and forth, said quietly, ‘All right, what did you find?’
    ‘Don’t know what you mean, sir,’ said Tess sweetly.
    ‘In Mrs Cozens’s pocket.’
    ‘I never!’
    ‘Teresa, I would never give anyone a sovereign in your sight unless I was sure you were going to steal it off them within a minute.’
    ‘You imp ... impu ... you sayin’ as how I’m all thievin’, like?’
    ‘Yes.’
    Tess hesitated. So long as it wasn’t actually moving by itself, there was indeed very little in this life that Teresa Hatch wasn’t