The Chemickal Marriage

stones that ringed – Chang was sure – Lady Axewith’s throat.
    Chang kept his voice as courtly as before. ‘With the confusion at the cathedral, how simple would it be for a man to bluff an entry and end this woman’s life?’
    He brought his heel down onto the teacup, grinding the shards. ‘Are you so very sure of yourselves – your network of intelligence? Did she tell you
nothing
?’
    Lady Axewith could not help but touch her throat. ‘She?’
    ‘Where is the Contessa?’
    ‘What Contessa? Who are you?’
    ‘Someone who has seen her face in a bride’s mask.’
    ‘What bride?’
    ‘Tell her. She will see me – her life depends upon it.’
    ‘I am afraid there is no
Contessa
–’
    ‘Do not lie! Where is she? The Contessa di Lacquer-Sforza.’
    Chang’s fierce pronouncement of the name was followed by a sudden hushed silence. Then the entire circle of women erupted with laughter.
    ‘
Her?
Why should anyone want
her
?’
    ‘That vulgar Italian? She is no one at all!’
    ‘Strackenz’s lap dog!’ called the woman with the ribbon, setting off a fresh cascade.
    ‘Dirty
Venetian
,’ said the woman with tangerine hair. ‘Mind like a
monkey
.’
    ‘Who gave you her name?’ asked another. ‘Pont-Joule? Some other rake with personal experience?’
    ‘One of the
guardsmen
?’
    ‘She skulks in the Palace as if it were an alleyway –’
    ‘Rubbish through and through!’
    ‘Low born.’
    ‘Desperate.’
    ‘Husbandless.’
    ‘Stained.’
    ‘
Diseased
. I know it for a fact!’
    ‘Truly, Monsignor,’ Lady Axewith observed acidly, ‘who knew the Church contained such wits? I am in need of more tea – though you have robbed me of my cup! Byrnes!’ A bald-headed footman arrived with a fresh cup and saucer and set to pouring around the room, a dutiful bee in a bed of overblown peonies.
    Chang did not know what to do. Their response was not, he was sure, put on for his benefit. To these women, the Contessa’s independence, her disdain, her association with outrageous figures such as the Comte or Francis Xonck, would inspire only resentment and ridicule. For the first time he understood that the women whom the Cabal
had
drawn to its inner circles – Margaret Hooke or Caroline Stearne – were not themselves high-born. Women of real social power had been targeted for
harvest
– their memories absorbed into a glass book – and then flung aside. But if he had guessed wrongly, if she had
not
organized these ladies to gather information for her … why
had
the Contessa gone to the Palace?
    ‘Tea, Monsignor?’ The servant hovered near, cup and saucer in one hand and a silver teapot in the other. The man was slender and the pot was heavy, his grip made unsure by pearl-grey gloves.
    ‘No.’ Chang restored the dagger to his stick, turning his gaze to Lady Axewith. Her eyes, above the veil, were animated, but the whites shot with blood. His gaze dropped to her fingers. Did they all wear gloves? No, only Lady Axewith.
    ‘Perhaps our false Monsignor will confess the
true
reason for his visit …’ This was the woman with the ribbon. ‘Which is to serve notice that our enterprise is
known
!’
    ‘Yes,’ said the woman with tight satin sleeves. ‘If we are to quiver in fear, should we not know by whom we have been
warned
?’
    ‘Is it the Archbishop?’
    ‘Is it the Ministries?’
    ‘Robert Vandaariff?’
    Lady Axewith shook her head. ‘Those parties would never send such an agent.’
    ‘Then who?’ cried the woman with tangerine hair. ‘Is he one of these rebels after all?’
    She was on her feet and tugging on a hanging bell-pull. Chang met the prim satisfaction in her eyes, and spoke calmly.
    ‘You take great pride in yourselves – and, no doubt, as an organ of intelligence, none can match you in the city. So, with respect, I tell you
this
. The explosive devices detonated across this city were packed with spurs formed of blue glass. These glass spurs were produced in quantities at the Xonck works at Raaxfall, a fortress – I assure you – your supposed rebels have
never
penetrated. The authorities know this. They have told no one. I leave you to your own conclusions.’
    By the time he rose from his bow, the butler stood waiting in the open doorway.
    At the end of the corridor, Chang bent his head to the butler’s ear. The butler’s silence transmitted disapproval, but he nevertheless led Chang to a tiny anteroom. Inside was a modern commode, and, above it, for