Title: The Tank: Chapter One, Part Two
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Chapter One, Part Two
It took a moment for Anton to muster his ability to speak, his
surprise was so strong. “Caroline!” He moved toward her without thinking, his
body overcome by instinct. She stepped toward him at the same time, and a moment
later they were wrapped in each other’s arms.
“Caroline,” he said again, softer, and she hummed and hugged
him more tightly. The S-bend corset beneath her blouse dug into his abdomen,
but Anton didn’t care. If she could take it for a day, he could take it for a
minute.
She looked beautiful, like she always had. A bit older,
perhaps, but the time had only served to enhance her allure. Her dark blonde
hair peeked out from beneath the brim of her very broad, ornately decorated hat,
and her figure was as sleek as ever, despite giving birth to a baby boy only eight
months ago. Perhaps the corset has something to do with that. Anton didn’t
know, and he didn’t care. In a world of change, a world of ever-increasing political
fear and uncertainty, he was so grateful to be with someone whom he could rely
on again. He knew Caroline, knew her like he knew himself, and loved her far
more than that.
“Anton,” she murmured. “Darling, I can’t tell you how
wonderful it is to see you again, at last. Two years.” She pulled back and
pressed her hands to his face. “Two years! How is it even possible? We
haven’t been apart for so long in our entire lives! And in your last
letter you didn’t even hint that you were coming back, and that’s just—Anton, I
thought you never meant to stay away permanently! London is your home!”
The words hit him like a rain, drenching him in care. It
didn’t matter that they weren’t entirely positive—Anton basked in knowing that
he was with someone who loved him enough to chide him again. “London will
always be special to me, you know that,” he said. “But I can’t live on air, and
I can’t support my mother with it either. London is not interested in hiring me
for what I am worth.”
Caroline disengaged one of her hands to wipe discreetly her
eyes. “No one could pay you what you’re worth, darling, but surely someone
there must be able to tempt you to return. Heavens, I would pay you to come and
work in my lab if it was possible.” Caroline was spearheading a massive
research initiative for the University of Edinburgh—a compendium of arcane
ingredients and their various uses across the entire body of work that would utterly
revolutionize spell symbology for thaumaturges. The key to her funding,
however, was that she employ only those thaumaturges who could get approval
from the Board of Masters. Anton was not one of those practitioners, and
likely never would be.
Anton shook his head. “It’s all right, truly. I may yet
return someday, but for now I’m contemplating several different options here on
the continent.”
“Anton…” Caroline looked at him closely. “It isn’t like you
to dissemble. When you say ‘options’ do you mean that you have offers in hand,
or that you’re going to hunt about for an employer the same way you hunted for
a school that would accept you?”
Anton pulled back, stung. “Forgive me for not being born
into a class that allowed me to step into any university I wanted and get a
position there.” That wasn’t fair—Caroline had fought, and was still fighting,
against significant and ingrained social bias against the fairer sex. That she
had her own laboratory, her own staff and a project of such magnitude, was a
testament to her incredible skill.
“I—” Even as he opened his mouth to apologize, Caroline was
already waving it off.
“No, that was my fault, I knew better than to simplify
things in such a silly way. Of course you did everything you could to stay, I
know that.” She sighed. “It’s just frustrating, not having you nearby. You’re
one of the best people in my life, and I hate that you’re so far out of reach.”
Her words both touched and saddened him. “But you’ve got
your work, and your husband,” he reminded her. “Not to mention your little
Sean. How is he these days?”
Caroline beamed. “He is delightful, thank you. Quite a
handful, and probably giving his grandmother fits right now, but I couldn’t be
happier with him. It’s a relief to have provided an heir as well, honestly, for
both Daniel and myself. He is free to spend his time hunting and riding, and I
am free to focus on my work.”
“And that makes you…happy?” Anton ventured. It wasn’t really
his place to say anything, but the fact that Caroline was settling for “relieved”
with reference to her husband spending little to no time with her or their son
was upsetting to him.
“It’s my preference,” she said calmly. “Daniel and I are a
better match on paper than we are in person. He is a good man in many respects,
and he offers me a degree of independence that many husbands would balk at, so
I’ve nothing to complain about there. But we have little in common on an
intellectual level. It’s better for both of us that we allow each other our own
occupations without reservation.” She tilted her head a bit as she looked at him.
“And you? Have you found a good match for yourself?”
Caroline knew Anton’s predilections, and it was only for the
sake of their habitual discretion that she refrained from being more blunt. Anton
was a bit surprised at himself—had he really kept Camille a secret from his
dearest friend for two years now? Not in every respect, but he certainly hadn’t
divulged their more intimate connection. “No one to marry, I’m afraid,” he said
at last.
“Hmm.” Caroline looped her arm through his, passed him his
jacket from where he’d abandoned it earlier, and turned them both toward the
door. “I think you should allow me to take you out for a meal, as a graduation
gift, and speak to me about someone you would not marry for a while. It
might do you some good to share.”
Anton smiled and tipped his top hat onto his head. “I think
that sounds perfect.”
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