“Your mother is quite right. Being an apprentice at the Imperial Personifate Guild of Medlock affords you the highest esteem from the Sovereign Chancellery, but if they start to lower their entry standards it’ll soon falter,” said Mr Duval.

“Well, for now, it will secure your future and the good name of the family. If you think for one minute you can make any sort of future from your own ridiculous notions!” said Mrs Duval.

“But Larkin is the one who’s good at all this invention nonsense!”

“And so are you.”

“She’s not that good,” said Larkin.

“I hate it there.”

“You don’t have a choice and that’s the end of it. I paid good money to Governor Watson-Wentworth to secure your apprenticeship.”

“Listen to your mother, Cora. You are a Duval and you will do as you are told, young lady.”

There was a screech of a chair and Cora stormed past inches from where Prue was hiding.

Prue almost felt sorry for her. Her parents hadn’t wanted Prue to come to the Guild, but they respected her choice when she ran away. It sounded like Cora wanted to do something else and didn’t actually want to be there at all. She hurried back to her table with the Youngs.

“Everything all right, Frances?” said Mrs Young.

“Yes, thank you,” she said.

*

On the way back, Prue, Edwin and Agapantha bumped into Craftsman Primrose on the steps of the house.

He opened the door ahead of them. “And what have you three been up to?” he asked, having a quick look at his pocket watch.

“We’ve just had dinner with Agapantha’s parents,” Prue said.

“How lovely.” The door shut behind them and Craftsman Primrose stopped and looked at them all curiously for a moment. “I was hoping to catch you all, as a matter of fact. I received an interesting note this week. It was anonymous.”

Prue could practically feel the warmth of Agapantha’s guilty red cheeks beside her. Edwin shuffled his paws.

“You three haven’t been in the forest when I expressly warned you not to after the incident with Sollentude and the trap, have you?”

They didn’t say anything.

“Of course not,” he said narrowing his eyes a little. He headed for the secret door to the pneumerator, then stopped and turned back to them. They paused on the steps.

“But, if it was, I would certainly like you all to know that it’s likely one of the more formidable-looking guards that Master Woolstenbury has deployed. There’s rather a lot of valuable qwortzite being held at the factorium at the moment, you see. However, the note is being taken seriously, and I am personally making sure it’s thoroughly investigated.”

The three of them remained silent.