Free Clockwork Heart: Clockwork Love, Book 1 by Heidi Cullinan

at market, and I was sent on a goose chase to meet a buyer who never showed. I’m certain now it was all a ruse to get me out of the house.”
    Cold seeped into Cornelius. “Valentin was here when I returned. In my rooms.”
    Félix waved this away impatiently. “That dandy couldn’t organize an afternoon tea. Besides, he’s too busy being jealous of you and your pirate lover to bother about clockwork hearts.”
    “Valentin doesn’t feel that way about me.”
    “So you say.” Félix tapped his glasses. “I may need these, but I still see.”
    Cornelius refused to think about that now. He put the bucket aside and reached for a cloth on the shelf to wipe grease from his fingers. “Louise said there was a letter for me and made it sound urgent.”
    “Oh yes, I quite forgot about it, with all the excitement.” He withdrew an envelope from his jacket and passed it over to Cornelius. “It came via courier, so I assume it’s from your mother. I didn’t open it.”
    It was from his mother—he knew it by the bright blue seal with EG embossed in the stamp Cornelius had customized for her. “Would you mind if I read it now, or should I wait until we finish?”
    “Go on. This will take all day, and she never writes unless it’s important.”
    Cornelius tucked the letter under his arm while he worked the lock, but he began to open it as he walked down the hall. Usually he read his mother’s letters with a glass of sherry in the library, but he didn’t feel like the indulgence today. After the first paragraph, however, he put it away and didn’t open it again until he had a snifter of brandy in his hand.
    May 29, 1910
    Derbyshire
    Dearest Cornelius,
    I pray this letter finds you in time. Please read it with a cup of tea and all your focus, for it is the most important letter I will ever send to you. Its contents are tricky to understand and require you to be brave and clever, as I know you can be. I have reason to believe you are in grave danger. You must leave Calais, for I’ve heard whispers the Austrian Army intends to kidnap you and hold you for ransom.
    I cannot go into details in this letter as to how I know, but I implore you to trust me. This is vitally important. I would never play you false. I have arranged passage for you to London with the same ship that brought you this letter. They can hide you so well you won’t know yourself. And you must tell no one where you are, not even friends. Do not doubt your carriers, though. Trust them as you would trust me or your father. You must stay away from France and remain in England until it is safe. I only wish I could say the war is over and nothing like this would be needed and you and I could be together. Pray God that day comes soon.
    Go to the dock tonight and seek the seafaring ship whose name you will remember from our childhood game. You will find the clue easily, I hope. I love you always, my darling tinker boy, and hope to see you again soon.
    Thinking of you always,
    Mama
    Cornelius drained his brandy and half of another snifter as he read the letter several times. Someone wanted to kidnap him? Why? His father loved him, after a fashion, and did his duty with a steady and generous allowance, but he wouldn’t pay overmuch for a ransom, and he’d give exactly nothing if this were a political play, for the archduke loved war and power far, far more than he loved any actual human beings.
    Except…what if they didn’t want Conny for ransom? What if the thieves hadn’t been looking only for the heart? What if they wanted the device…and someone who could make the pattern?
    With shaking hands, he put his mother’s letter back into the envelope and tucked it into his pocket. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to ask Félix, but his mother’s letter said he shouldn’t tell anyone what was going on.
    Should he try and find this ship? What if they caught him?
    What in the world should he do with Johann while he searched? Bring him along?
    What if