Page 38 of The Scent of Intuition
“If it’s incriminating you on my behalf, I don’t want it,” Felix said. “You don’t need to commit crimes to protect me, I never asked you for that!”
It went without saying that Alfie and Andre were upset about the fact Felix and their other Jewish friends didn’t have the same rights as the gentiles under British law. Even though England was more progressive than the nations on the European continent, they were all trained to see all people as equals—which they were, from a scientific perspective. Why not from a legal one?
“I didn’t offer it to you. And someone else asked.”
“But it serves Felix’s purpose?” Andre sounded exasperated and started to pace the room. “Please don’t tell me you’re taking on the baron.”
Felix froze and stared at Alfie, who lowered his head and poured plain alcohol into a beaker.
“Did the prince ask you to poison List?” Felix whispered.
“Prince Ferdinand… with the long name,” Alfie murmured.
Felix stared. Andre stopped by the window and turned to glare at Alfie.
“It’s something to do with gold. A trade route in the Black Sea involving the Pearlers and the Klonimuses… and the metal exploitation of Transylvanian territory.”
“The prince is seeking leverage to stop Nagy and List from ruining the suppliers of the gold?” Felix combed both hands through his hair. “Arnold and Caleb have a trade route for gems, so they are going after the gold.”
“Yes, they are going after the Jews’ Achilles heel—yours, too, Felix. Without gold from the Klonimuses, you can’t work.”
“And without gold, theCrown Jewelerswill lose their commission,” Andre said.
The Pearlers and the Klonimuses were a renowned Jewish family of jewelers, the Crown jewelers to Prinny. They had created the most distinguished and luxurious pieces and were now producing pieces for the Royal Grand Service. They needed gold and Baron von List intercepted it to weaken their position. Something wasn’t right.
“It’s not just about the golden goblets, platters, and tureens, is it?” Andre clenched his mouth shut so that the muscles of his cheeks protruded. He looked angry.
“If Prinny cannot maintain his honor and show off the English riches, England will lose its influence.”
“And the Russians can swoop in with the idea to segregate the Jews in constricted areas of the land, just like they do in the Pale of Settlement under the Czar?” Alfie knew, as the others did, that it would cut off their supply for gold and the ability to trade freely, a privilege Jews had under English law. If he were isolated, Felix didn’t need to explain it because Alfie knew just as well as Andre that Felix was the only Jewish doctor at their practice, and that he alone brought in more money with gold fillings than all the others combined.
“Yes. They want to undermine the entire path that fuels any chances the Jews have to establish a meritocracy. And international political stability might be the collateral damage.” Alfie arranged the bottle of alcohol and set a brass weight on his little scale. “I’m not ready to let that go by without doing something about it. The law has never protected Jewish minorities, nor anyone who’s different, you know that. Prinny can’t act either, without corroboration of the threat, and he would have to give other jewelers a chance to cater to him.”
“Without Felix’s income, we’d be quickly in debt and the practice would—” Andre inhaled sharply, unable to speak it. They had all worked too hard to lose their livelihoods and reputations.
“How can you get their consent to take the serum?” Felix asked. “Don’t do it without that.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“They have to want it,” Felix said.
“You have the right dosage?” Andre asked with the air of a co-conspirator. Anyone who’d met Baron von List wouldn’t question the need to poison him—he was the kind of entitled nobleman seething with venom, and possessing the self-centered smugness of a criminal who continued unpunished thanks to his title.
“I’ll be there to ensure the prince doesn’t go too far.” Alfie set another small brass weight on his scale and spooned a brittle dry mix of leaves on the other scale tray.
“I’ll be here if you need me,” Andre declared and left.
Finally, Felix’s shoulders drooped; he seemed to fight with himself a moment more before he raised his head and asked, “What can I do to help?” Without waiting for a response, he stepped around the counter and pulled a white apron from the shelf. He shook it, and the unfolding of the freshly starched white cotton produced a breeze in the apothecary—a breeze that brought on change.
And Alfie hoped it would be a good one.
Chapter Sixteen
Waking in afog, from bad dreams which featured a certain prince, Alfie gathered a wicker basket filled with large glass bottles of plain alcohol and a knife. His heart felt heavier than his shoes as he prepared to leave for Pippa’s orangery. Bea had invited him to pick some of the fragrant orange blooms, and as they’d discussed, that was best done in the early morning. If he waited another day, the blooms may be past the height of fragrance. The sun had hardly risen in the sky and the air was damp with dew. The perfect time for harvesting.
With a click of the door latch, he stepped onto Harley Street and waved for a hackney, pausing to glance back at his home. An odd sensation gnawed at him, like an undiagnosed ailment lurking beneath the surface. Others seemed to fit into their lives seamlessly, like doors closing gently into their frames. But Alfie felt misaligned as if his latch never quite engaged with the strike plate. Something didn’t click into place.
As he contemplated his situation, a painful churn twisted his stomach. If he helped the prince, he’d be betraying everything Nick, Felix, Andre, and Wendy stood for. Yet, aiding Felix and their Jewish friends when no one else would stand up for what was right—didn’t that count as heroism? The authorities wouldn’t help Jewish citizens; they had no protection under the law. List was on a mission to weaken even the little protection they had and stifle the supply of the precious gold they needed to earn their livelihoods and their prestige. It wasn’t right.
