Charlotte, all smiles once she realized that Dare hadn’t intended on foisting his butler on her as a maid, allowed her dimples free rein as Dare unburdened himself of a brief lecture to Batsfoam about what consisted of proper duties and what didn’t, ending with the order to hire Charlotte a female lady’s maid in the morning.

“I will draft a letter to the agency this very moment, my lord.”

“If you do not return within ten minutes—” Dare growled.

Batsfoam assured him the note would take but the merest moment to complete.

“I’m sure Patricia’s maid will help you tonight with…er…” Dare frowned at Batsfoam and Wills, waiting until they had left before gesturing toward Charlotte’s midsection. “…with your gown and such.”

She nodded and waited for him to make reference to his participation in the activities on the schedule for later. She waited in vain.

“Would you like me to show you what I’m working on now?” Dare offered. “It’s just the air pump and a condenser, but you might find it interesting.”

Charlotte thought that was hardly likely, but mindful of the newly born desire to make her husband happy, she bent forward to look at a collection of tubes, valves, and other assorted mechanical devices that Dare indicated.

“It’s part of my double-acting engine. What you see here is just part of the engine; the whole thing is made up of a steam cylinder, a stern wheel, the boiler, and the air pump and condenser. Working together, they turn the connecting rod connected to a paddle wheel, and that propels the boat without it having to recourse to manual labor or wind.”

Charlotte, first inclined to yawn at the sight of the unintelligible mass of metal, couldn’t help but notice the excitement in Dare’s voice when he described—in terms she couldn’t even begin to understand—the basic principles behind steam engine travel. She watched him closely as he talked and pointed out various bits and pieces to the condenser, explained how an air pump worked, and detailed the dangers involved in designing an engine meant to work with salt water. She listened and nodded, but all she really saw was how much regard he held for the project.

“This is important to you,” she said in dawning awareness. “Very important, isn’t it?”

He bent an admonishing eye upon her as he took another rag—clean, she noticed—and polished the glass face of a gauge. “It’s important to both of us, Charlotte. The success of my engine means our success, no more, no less. Without it…well, without it our future is dark.”

“Oh, you’re overexaggerating.” She smiled. “How can our future be dark? You are an earl, an important man, you have a lovely and charming wife who is sure to take the ton by storm, thereby doing great credit by you. I am sure to give you handsome children, assuming, that is, that your manly instrument is agreeable, and I see no reason why it should not be, not that I ever understood why Antonio’s wouldn’t even twitch for me, but truly, that is neither here nor there. We have a perfectly glorious future—what could possibly threaten it?”