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“Not me. But isn’t it delightful you made such a lucky discovery on a public street?” The woman had a slight accent, which he didn’t recognize.
Moseley nodded.
“You have a kind and charitable nature. You were sympathetic to my Joe. And you are trustworthy—uncommon traits in a city and age such as this. But fortune has dealt you a poor hand.”
Moseley did not reply.
“I understand that my various disguises and activities must seem eccentric to you, or perhaps even criminal. And so before we continue, I’d like to give you the chance to ask me any questions you’d like. Although I must tell you it’s quite possible I’ll refuse to answer.”
Moseley was still conscious of a dreamlike sensation, similar to that brought on by the first puff from ayen tsiang—as if everything was familiar and yet foreign at the same time. Nevertheless, he’d certainly banked up several questions over the last few days.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“You may refer to me as the Duchess of Ironclaw. Privately, you may call me Livia.”
A duchess.Could it be true? She certainly acted like one. He nodded, wondering if he could ever bring himself to call this formidable woman Livia.
“The person you met in the Rathskeller only existed long enough to free Joe Greene from an unjust imprisonment.” She paused. “The truth is, I come from far away—very far away. My history there, and my real name, are of no concern in this place.”
Moseley took all this in. He had sensed from the beginning she was a person of fierce intelligence and strong will, a person with the confidence and self-possession to care little for what others thought.
“What are you doing here?” he said, feeling emboldened by her openness, and by the comforting weight of the gold coins inside the pouch.
“I’m here to rescue certain family members from a grave danger. I’ve just accomplished that with Joe.”
“But…why did you choose such a method to free Joe? Surely someone with your money could have found an easier way.”
“The situation is complicated. If I explain the reasons why, I’ll be placing the safety of myself and those I care about in your hands—never forget that. Do I have your assurance of absolute discretion?”
Moseley realized that, for better or worse, he was about to enter a secret world…if he was willing to take what amounted to an oath of silence. He hesitated, then nodded.
The young woman continued. “One complication is that Joe and my other relatives do not know who I really am. Their parents died some years ago, and they have lived an impoverished existence in the streets ever since. They’ve learned through harsh experience to trust no one.”
“They’re your relatives? In what way?”
“Let us just say I’m their distant aunt, from Galicia by way of Transylvania, and have only recently learned of their desperate circumstances. My attempts to help them will be complicated by their ignorance of my relation to them.”
Moseley nodded. “And the danger you alluded to?”
“There is a man, a brilliant and esteemed physician, living here in New York City. He is keenly interested in my relatives. His motives—” she paused, and for a moment Moseley saw a crack in her polished veneer— “are vile, inhuman, cruel beyond imagining. If he learns of my existence—and my attempts to save my relations from his grasp—it will put all of us in danger. Including you.”
“Why is he interested in them?”
“He is working on a medical experiment. But that is all I can say at the present time.”
On that note she stopped. A long, thoughtful silence filled the room. It sounded melodramatic.A medical experiment?He wondered if the woman wasn’t just a bit…touched.
“I had you brought here for two reasons. I wanted first to thank you for your help in freeing Joseph.”
She stopped again.
“And the second reason?”
“To offer you employment.”
Moseley had already begun to think this might be in the cards.
“You realize, of course, that you’re wasting your life on Blackwell’s Island. The reasons you didn’t complete medical school can be rectified. You need to renounce opium, of course—and keep my confidences.” She paused. “You are free to refuse my offer. The money you found on the street should be enough to see you through two years of existence—less if you take again to the pipe. But I’m offering a ladder out of the pit.”