up a stand and placed several display boards atop it, while another removed a stack of papers from a case and distributed them to the council members.
Mystified, Alexander looked from the men to Lydia. Not fifteen feet away, she stood watching him, color still flushing her pale cheeks but her blue eyes soft. She started a little as their gazes met. Alexander swallowed hard, clasping his hands together to prevent himself from going to her, grabbing her around the waist, and hauling her against him.
An unmistakable heat flared in her expression, as if the same thought had occurred to her.
Lydia. Lydia.
She gave a quick shake of her head and reached for a pointer. She turned to the board, which was covered with a map of some sort, and delicately cleared her throat.
“This, gentlemen,” she said, “is a diagram of the first floor and gallery of St. Martin’s Hall on the night of the riot. My colleague Dr. Sigley has conducted extensive research on the dynamics of crowds, and he will explain how it is impossible that Lord Northwood could have incited a crowd to riot.”
She smacked the pointer against the map. The audience shifted, rumbling a little with both bafflement and curiosity. Alexander leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
Lydia nodded at Dr. Sigley. “If you would, please, sir.”
“Delighted, Miss Kellaway.” Sigley stepped forward to address the crowd. “Dr. Edward Sigley, gentlemen, FRS, DCL, FRSE, Lucasian professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, and editor of the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal.”
He paused as if to allow everyone to absorb the illustriousness of his accomplishments. Silence filled the room, then was followed by murmurs of approval. Sigley nodded with satisfaction.
“I have conducted numerous experiments regarding the dynamics of crowds in relation to a flow-density relationship,” he continued. “This can be written as…” He paused and scribbled an equation on the board.
“I beg your pardon, Dr. Sigley.” Hadley held up a hand, a frown creasing his forehead. “If I may speak for my own colleagues, I would venture to suggest that we are about as interested in flow density as we are in women’s fashion.”
Several men barked out a laugh. Irritation flashed across Lydia’s face. A large man with a bushy beard stood in the center of the room.
“Here now, my lord,” he called. “Plenty of Society members are interested in mathematics, or at least know something about it. Part of the Society’s division of subjects for the examination, isn’t it? The professor here is talking about applied mathematics, isn’t that right, Professor? We ought to listen to what he has to say.”
A rumble of agreement rose from the audience. Alexander twisted around to see the man who had suddenly challenged the president of the Society on behalf of the mathematicians. Then he turned back to look at Lydia. She winked.
“Quite,” Sigley replied with a nod of appreciation to his supporter. “Applied mathematics is pure mathematics, such as geometry or the properties of space, applied to establish the principles of statics and dynamics, which is what I speak of here.”
“Good God, man, get on with it!” shouted a voice in the crowd. “What’s this got to do with Northwood?”
The audience shifted again, more restlessly this time. Alexander and Sebastian exchanged glances. Sebastian looked rather worried.
Alexander returned his gaze to Lydia, who stood stiffly with her hands clasped, her white teeth biting her lower lip.
Look at me.
She did. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her beautiful mouth. Alexander allowed his eyes to sweep across the slopes of her shoulders encased in her stiff black dress, down to the curves of her breasts and waist. Even that first night, he’d known how lush and supple she was beneath her layers of clothing. Even then, he’d known he wanted her.
He hadn’t, however, known how much he would love her.
Lydia flushed again, as if his gaze were a caress. Her hair was smooth and shiny beneath her hat, every strand pulled into an impeccable knot. Alexander wanted to yank all those pins out—damn them for confining Lydia’s beautiful hair—and then feel the sweep of all that polished silk against his skin.
Christ. He shifted in his chair and tried to focus on the other mathematicians. That, at least, worked to dampen his arousal, but his awareness remained fixed on Lydia.
Dr. Sigley turned to his colleagues, and two of the other mathematicians stepped forward with charts. A third unrolled a scroll of paper covered with calculations.
“First,” Sigley said, “in these studies, I have observed