"Cook knows I don't have a large appetite. And since when do you care if he's offended or not?"

We passed the costermonger's cart, the one I had been caught stealing from. The scruffy fellow watched me from beneath his hat, a frown on his face. Surely he didn't recognize me now. I frowned back and he quickly set about rearranging a pile of wilting lettuces.

Fitzroy and I walked back toward the house in the sunshine. It was a pleasant day, although clouds crowded on the horizon. I found it difficult to appreciate the sun, however. My mind still felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.

"I wonder if I'm an orphan or if my parents are alive," I muttered, more to myself than him.

"If they are, it's likely they couldn't care for you. Mothers have to give up their babies all the time. Some don't want to."

"Poor, unwed mothers, you mean."

He stared straight ahead with hard eyes.

"Are your parents still living?" I asked.

After a moment, he said, "I believe so. Like you, I never knew them."

"You're adopted too?"

"No."

I frowned. How could he not know his parents but not be adopted? And yet he did know that his parents lived, so he was a step ahead of me. "Who raised you? General Eastbrooke?"

"He had a hand in my upbringing."

"Were you his ward?"

"I was nobody's ward."

Nobody's ward and nobody's child either, it seemed. Lady Harcourt had told me Fitzroy was specifically chosen to be leader of the ministry from birth. Did that mean the committee had raised him? "If I ask any more questions, will you answer them?"

"Will any of those questions be about lunch?"

"No."

"Then it's unlikely."

I sighed. "You say I'm stubborn, but you are positively obstinate."

We walked back to the house in silence, slowing down as we drew closer. Four carriages were stopped in front of the steps, two of which I recognized as belonging to Lady Harcourt and General Eastbrooke. The other two escutcheons were new to me, although I wouldn't be surprised if the one with the serpent coiled around a sword belonged to the snakelike Lord Gillingham.

"I'd hoped they wouldn't be here yet," Fitzroy said, his face dark.

"You invited them?"

"A meeting of the committee has been called. Not by me."

"You sent word about the man known as Dr. Frankenstein?"

"Not yet. I haven't had time. This meeting is in response to you agreeing to help."

"Ah. It seems you'll have a lot to discuss then. What a lark."

"You'll be present too."

I pulled a face.

"After you've eaten, of course."

I sighed. "Very well, I'll eat. If I indulge too much, however, Lord Gillingham will only have you to blame when I vomit over his shoes."

"I'll have Cook double the quantity on your plate."

We got no further than the front steps when the door burst open. "You found her!" Seth stood with hands on hips, alternately smiling and frowning at me as if he couldn't make up his mind if he were pleased or mad. "Are you all right, Charlie?"