Had she thought to improve her knowledge since leaving the Crimea? How would she have gone about it? No medical school accepted women. The idea was unthinkable. What private study was there? What might she learn without a teacher?

Some hazy memory of his own youth intruded into his mind. When he had first come down to London from Northumberland, desperate to better himself, absorb every piece of knowledge he could, and arm himself against a busy, impatient, and suspicious world, he had gone to the reading room of the British Museum.

Hastily he turned on his heel and walked back the twenty yards to Guildford Street and increased his pace past the Foundling Hospital toward Russell Square, then Montague Street and the British Museum. Once inside he went straight to the reading room. Here she would find all manner of books and papers if she were really as thirsty for learning as her father had said.

He approached the attendant with a sense of excitement that was wildly out of proportion to the importance of his quest.

"Excuse me, sir, may I interrupt you for a little of your time?"

"Good afternoon, sir. Of course you may," the man replied with a civil smile. He was small and very dark. "How may I be of service to you? If there is something you wish to find…" His eye roamed in unconcealed awe around the vast expanse of books both visible and invisible. All the world's knowledge was here, and the miracle of it still amazed him. Monk could see it in his eyes.

"I am inquiring on behalf of the friends and family of a young lady whom I believe used to study here," Monk began, more or less truthfully.

"Oh dear." The man's face darkened. "Oh dear. You speak, sir, as if she were deceased."

"I am afraid she is. But as so often happens, those who mourn her wish to know anything they can of her. It is all there is left."

"Of course. Yes, of course." The man nodded several times. "Yes, I do understand. But people do not always leave their names, you know, particularly if it is newspapers and periodicals that they come to read. Or the sort of thing young ladies usually seek-I'm afraid."

"This young lady was tall, of a determined and intelligent manner, and would in all likelihood be plainly dressed, perhaps in blue or gray, and with few, if any, hoops in her skirts."

"Ah." The man's face lightened. "I think I may know the young lady you mean. Would she by any chance have been interested in medical books and papers? A most remarkable person, most serious-minded. Always very pleasant, she was, except to those who interrupted her unnecessarily and made light of her intention." He nodded quickly. "I do recall her being very brisk indeed with a young gentleman who was rather persistent in his attentions, shall we say?"

"That would be she." Monk felt a sudden elation. "She studied medical texts, you say?"

"Oh indeed yes; most diligent, she was. A very serious person." He looked up at Monk. "A trifle daunting, if you know what I mean, that a young lady should be so intent. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that someone in her family suffered a disease and she thought to learn as much of it as possible." His face fell. "Now it seems I was wrong and it was she herself. I am most deeply sorry. For all her solemnity, I rather took to her." He said it with a slight air of apology, as if it needed some explaining. "There was something in her that… oh well. I am very sorry to know it. How may I help you, sir? I have no recollection of what she read now, I am afraid. But perhaps I can look. It was very general…"

"No-no, that is not necessary, thank you," Monk declined. He had what he wished. "You have been most generous. Thank you, sir, for your time and your courtesy. Good day to you."

"Good day, Mr. er-good day, sir."

And Monk left with more knowledge than when he went in but no wiser, and with a feeling of success which had no basis at all in fact.

Hester also observed Callandra, but with a woman's eye and a far greater and more subtle sensitivity as to the cause of her distress. Only something deeply personal could trouble her so much. She could not be afraid for herself, surely? Jeavis would not suspect her of having murdered Prudence; she had no possible reason. And Monk had made no secret that it was Callandra who had hired him to investigate further.

Could it be that she knew, or thought she knew, who the murderer was, and feared for her own safety? It seemed unlikely. If she knew something, surely she would have told Monk immediately and taken steps to guard herself.

Hester was still turning over unsatisfactory possibilities in her mind when she was sent for to assist Kristian Beck. Mr. Prendergast was recovering well and no longer required her presence through the night. She was tired from too little sleep, the uncertainty of not being able to rest until she woke naturally.

Kristian Beck said nothing, but she knew from the occasional expression in his eyes that he was aware how weary she was, and he merely smiled at her occasional hesitations. He did not even criticize her when she dropped an instrument and had to reach down and pick it up, wipe it clean and then pass it to him.

When they were finished she was embarrassed at her ineptitude and eager to leave, but she could not forsake the opportunity to observe him further. He also was tired, and he was far too intelligent to be unaware of Jeavis's suspicions of him. It is at such times that people betray themselves: feelings are too raw to hide and there is no strength for the extra guard upon thought.

"I do not hold a great deal of hope for him," Kristian said to her quietly, regarding the patient "But we have done all we can."

"Do you wish me to sit up with himT' she asked out of duty. She was dreading his reply.

But she need not have been worried. He smiled-a brief, illuminating, and gentle gesture. "No. No, Mrs. Flaherty will assign someone. You should sleep."

"But-"

"You must learn to let go, Miss Latterly." He shook his head very slightly. "If you do not, you will exhaust yourself-and then whom can you help? Surely the Crimea taught you that the first rule of caring for others is that you must maintain your own strength, and that if you come to the limit of your own resources your judgment will be affected." His eyes did not leave her face. "And the sick deserve the best you can give. Neither skill nor compassion are enough; you must also have wisdom."

"Of course you are right," she agreed. "Perhaps I was losing my sense of proportion."

A flash of humor crossed his face. "It is not hard to do. Come." And he led the way out of the theater, holding the door open for her. They were in the corridor, walking side by side in silence, when they almost bumped into Callandra as she came out of one of the wards.

She stopped abruptly, the color rushing up her cheeks. There was no apparent reason she should have been flustered, and yet it seemed she was. Hester drew breath to say something, then realized that Callandra was looking only at Kristian; she was scarcely aware of Hester to his left and half a step behind.

"Oil-good morning-Doctor," Callandra said hastily, trying to regain her composure.

He looked a little puzzled. "Good morning, Lady Callandra." His voice was soft and he spoke the words very distinctly, as if he liked her name on his tongue. He frowned. "Is all well?"

"Oh yes," she replied. Then she realized how ridiculous that was, in the circumstances. She smiled, but the effort it cost her was plain to Hester. "As good as we may hope, with police all over the place, I suppose. They do not seem to have achieved anything."

"I doubt they would tell us if they had," Kristian said ruefully. Then he gave a thin answering smile, full of doubt and self-mockery. "I'm sure they suspect me! Inspector Jeavis keeps on asking me about having quarreled with poor Nurse Barrymore. I've finally remembered it was over a mistake she felt one of the student doctors had made, which I overruled. It makes one wonder just what was overheard, and by whom." He shook his head a little. "I never before worried greatly what people thought of me, but now I confess it is in my mind more and more of the time."