Page 79 of The Scent of Intuition
Chapter Thirty
List stood andsurveyed the room. “Where’s thediener?” He’d mixed English and German, calling the servant a “diener.”
“You haven’t finished the round,” Alfie said, playing another card. He needed to see if List could still follow the rules of whist.
A footman came to the card table and picked up the decanter.
“Another!” List commanded.
The footman reached for the decanter and lifted the stopper out with a “pop.”
Fivedoses? No, no, no.
There was nothing else to be done. He needed to keep the baron from receiving another dose. Alfie downed his glass in one large gulp. “I haven’t had my second yet!” He held his empty glass out to the footman.
The servant froze, and his gaze darted to the earl who, as the host, decided who should get the last precious pour of the drugged digestive.
Violet’s hand came to the earl’s shoulder, gripping it tightly. “Isn’t there enough to split the last bit?”
“No!” Stan rose and buttoned his coat. “I’ve had enough, and I think the baron should get it all.” Then he turned to Alfie. “I’m sorry, but he’s a visitor from abroad and ought to enjoy the remainder of his time in London.”
“No.” Alfie took the decanter from the footman. List’s hands were purple, which meant that his blood was not pumping enough blood through his body. He was sweating profuselyalready; his pupils were large, but he didn’t blink. Any more and he could—and probably would—die.
“How dare you?” List thundered, trying to rip the bottle from Alfie. But Alfie was swift and withdrew it from his grasp. “I want that!”
Oh no. List had begun to slur audibly and bowed over the card table, propping himself up on his arms like a tiger gasping for his last breath.
“I’m sure he doesn’t mean to overstep.” Bea came to Alfie’s side and tried to take the decanter from him. “Here, let me pour.”
But Alfie shook his head when Bea’s eyes caught his.
“Do it,” the prince insisted, his eyes hard and unyielding.
Alfie hesitated, his hand trembling as he clasped the decanter. “No!” He was a healer, not a murderer. The weight of his Hippocratic Oath pressed heavily on his conscience. Finally, he made his decision. With a swift motion, he lifted the bottle to his own lips and drank the remaining serum.
The room fell silent, the only sound the crackling of the fire. Alfie’s pulse quickened, not from the serum, but from the realization that his career—the one thing he had always clung to—now felt like a consolation prize. Bea was unattainable, and the truth of her feelings eluded him. Surrounded by the luxury at the Langleys and next to Prince Stan, Alfie felt meager. Yet, he wasn’t going to let his shattering heart stand in the way of his career—nor could he let his mixture be the cause for a man’s death—regardless of how much he knew List deserved to suffer.
The delicate intricacies of the political landscape were daunting, but Alfie had been privy to plenty of his aristocratic patients’ secrets not to underestimate the power of gossip among the Ton. Yet, Bea and Violet were surely better-versed at making the connections.
“I don’t know what any of this has done for you, but I’m finished,” Alfie said as he jumped up and made for the door. The others followed close behind, leaving the baron slumped over the table. When he got out of the baron’s earshot—not that the man was capable of listening and comprehending at this point—he said, “Don’t come back to me for any other sort of hocus pocus. I’m a man of science and none of this is part of what I usually do.” He saw the butler approaching but couldn’t get out of there quickly enough.
“When you get to your practice, let Felix know that he can expect new shipments of gold,” Bea said quietly. “I know where the friction point is and can resolve it.”
Alfie froze and turned to her slowly. All eyes were on her.
“What do you mean?” Violet asked.
“He gave away too much.” Bea smiled. “Didn’t you catch what he said?”
As if on cue, everyone narrowed their gazes, but Stan was the only one who gave a slight shake of his head. “What exactly?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Austria under the Habsburgs and Prussia under the Hohenzollerns vied for Central European dominance for so long and now that Napoleon’s threats are gone, they are engaged in every sort of power struggle.”
Silence followed, and Alfie tilted his head back. During his time in Vienna, he’d heard all the names of the royal line that was the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. The head of the family and the ruler at that time was Emperor Francis II. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, he became Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria, reigning since 1804.
“The Vienna Congress?” Stan asked.
Bea nodded slowly. “My father was there. It shifted everything.”
