Free Brilliance by Rosalind Laker Page A

help her finish everything in time. As Lisette was measured it was settled as to how much material would be needed for each garment.
    Although at the château her disappearance was probably only just being discovered, nervousness made Lisette acutely aware of the glances that she was receiving as she swished along in her silk coat among the shoppers. To add to her embarrassment a wagon driver whistled at her as she went by.
    At a draper’s shop she chose quite plain materials for her dresses before selecting a hat-veil and what she wanted for her mask. She found among some bargain offcuts a length of filmy black lace and another of black velvet. At the haberdashery counter she bought a sewing kit and a piece of fine canvas as stiffening for the mask, which would be lined with a scrap of silk she purchased very cheaply. In another shop she bought a shawl, more underwear, some extra stockings and a few other items she had forgotten to pack in her hurried departure. Lastly she purchased a larger, more cheap looking valise than her own to hold her new belongings and whatever else she might buy in the near future.
    Back at her lodgings after delivering the fabrics to the seamstress, she sat on her bed and made her mask, attaching to it a fall of the delicate lace that would hide the lower half of her face. Well-pleased with the result, she returned to Daniel’s venue. He was outside, talking to the cafe owner, and he nodded that she should go in and up the stairs. In the upper room, bare of everything but chairs, she saw that he had already set up the lantern on its stand and also the screen. Putting on her mask and tying its ribbons at the back of her head, she went across to the lantern to study it with interest, having barely given it a glance when she was at the show with Philippe.
    It was the tallest lantern she had ever seen, its polished wood gleaming and its brass-work highly burnished, and it was unusual in having three lenses spaced out one above another, each with a brass shutter and corresponding slots for slides at the sides. At the back were a curved pipe and a little door, which she opened to see the prongs within what was clearly a thickly insulated interior.
    Daniel grinned at her as he entered the room. ‘I like the mask.’
    Now that he had seen it she took it off. ‘This is a fine lantern, isn’t it? I’ve never seen one like it.’
    He came to stand by her side. ‘I bought it from a Liverpool company and it is the best available anywhere.’ He took up a small cardboard box beside the lantern and opened it to reveal what looked like short, grey square candles. ‘These are called limelight illuminants.’ He stuck one on to a prong within the lantern. ‘It gives a full force of light to any lantern. It is said that one of these illuminants lit in Scotland can be seen as far away as Ireland.’ A smile touched the corners of his worldly mouth. ‘But who conducted the experiment I’ve no idea.’
    ‘Why are there three lenses, Mr Shaw?’ she asked with interest.
    He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘I think it’s time we used Christian names, Lisette.’
    ‘Very well. Daniel,’ she replied.
    Just for a moment his gaze held hers and then he turned back to the lantern. ‘The three lenses enable me to create certain effects with two or even three slides showing at once, such as varying the colours of a fire. I can also make one scene fade into another by opening and closing the shutters in turn. I’m quick enough to have the top slide ready before I fade out the bottom one.’ He moved towards the screen. ‘Now I’ll show you what you have to do.’
    Behind the screen everything that would be needed was neatly arranged in rows on a folding table, which she had seen in his cart, and now a black curtain was hung at the front of it to hide the feet of the assistant. Patiently he showed her how to crunch up some special paper to simulate the devouring flames of a burning building and there was a hand-bell