Page 73 of Black Widow

“You called it a giant and in some respects, that is true,” she elaborated so quickly her words almost ran together. “I remembered something I had read, a legend about a rabbi creating a man made of earth to protect his people after the sitting pope ordered they be expelled or killed. I couldn’t recall the details, but fortunately for us, one of your predecessors was an ecclesiastical scholar with varied interests, for these were inyourlibrary.”

Gideon nodded, leaning forward. “That would have been Edwin. He was earl a few decades ago—the Duchess of Marlboro’s particularfriend.”

“Edwin, bless his heart, may have saved us all,” Amelia said, sitting at the table. “This book details the story of the Golem ofPrague.”

“A golem? What is a golem?” Lord Worthing asked before Gideoncould.

“It’s a creature made of earth or clay, animated by magic. It’s a part of Hasidic folklore,” Clarkesaid.

Heads turned to him in surprise. He shrugged. “A few of my informants are Jewish, though they don’t advertise the fact. I dined at the house of one once. He told his misbehaving children the golem would punish them if they did not stop making noise. But he didn’t mentionPrague.”

Amelia shoved another book toward them. “I found the pope I was thinking of in this one. It was Rudolf II, the Holy Roman emperor and the rabbi in question was named Loew. The rabbi brought the golem to life through rituals and secret incantations and kept it alive by placing holy words on a piece of paper either in its mouth or forehead. In some accounts, the holy words are written on theforehead.”

“Our golem definitely does not have words on its forehead,” Gideon growled. “If this creature is meant for protection, why in the bloody hell is it bedeviling us—and why did it touchyou?”

Amelia blushed, but she had been the one to insist their friends know all the disturbing details so she didn’tprevaricate.

“Protection was its purpose in Prague, but there are many tales where it was simply used for labor. These are usually framed as cautionary tales because the golem follows instruction letter by letter. For example, if it was supposed to dig a ditch, but never told to stop, it keeps diggingendlessly.”

“So it followsorders?”

“Yes, and very literally. And they must be simple instructions. That is the salient feature of golems. There are many tales about them, some even outside the Jewish tradition. You tell a golem what to do and it obeys, even if your orders are nonsensicalor…”

“A perversion?” The flames in Gideon’s eyes could have set fire to the curtains. “I still say Sir Clarence is our chief suspect, especially considering the way it behaved the last time, but heisdead. I saw hisbody.”

“You did?” Ameliaasked.

Gideon hadn’t told her that before, but after what had just occurred, there was little point in protecting heranymore.

He nodded. “I was summoned as his next of kin. The body had been removed from his home by then. It was at the local icehouse, but I did see him and he is most assuredly deceased…so he can’t be controlling thismonster.”

Frustrated, he threw up his hands. “Where would he even learn about such a thing? There was never a bigger prig in the whole of England than Clarence. How would he know about rituals andwitchcraft?”

Amelia hummed and looked away. He narrowed his eyes at her. “What isit?”

“Er…Sir Clarence might have had occasion to learn about the occult. Not a golem per se, but he encountered magic long ago if my guess isright.”

“When? Andhow?”

“I can’t explain in too much detail because I’d be revealing the confidence of someone I love, but Sir Clarence witnessed a demonic possession and encountered a witch yearsago.”

He gaped at her. “It’sIsobel. Bloody hell, she’s awitch!”

Amelia blinked and smacked him on the shoulder. “How did youguess?”

Gideon stared at her incredulously. “The only other people you love are in thisroom.”

“Oh.” Her abashed expression was so adorable he couldn’t stop himself from leaning close and stealing akiss.

His cousin Matteo’s wife was a witch.Imagine that. “Tell me everything,” heordered.

“Later,” she promised. “What’s relevant here is finding who is controlling the golem. Though he knew about witchcraft and spells, I don’t believe Sir Clarence could create them on his own. Isobel would have said if that was thecase.”

“That is reasonable,” Worthing said. “But who else could it be? Is it possible he commissioned it, the way you would have a builder make something? And now it’s running loose, out ofcontrol?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” Amelia replied. “There are tales of golems breaking down and going on a murderous rampage. However, that doesn’t explain who created it in the first place…and to me, the answer isobvious.”

She paused, flicking her eyes from him to the other twomen.

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