Devil in Spring (The Ravenels #3) - Lisa Kleypas Page 0,92

Irish that had been slow to fade. Which was a shame, in Pandora’s opinion, since the hundred thousand peaceful Irish-born residents of London shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a few.

Once a respectable middle-class area that had fallen to hard times, Clerkenwell bristled with tall, densely crowded buildings sandwiched between tumbledown properties. New road construction would someday ease the warren of congested alleys, but for now the ongoing work had created a series of detours that made parts of Farringdon Street difficult to access. Fleet Ditch, a river that had devolved into a sewer, had been covered by the roadway, but its ominous slushing could occasionally be heard—and unfortunately smelled—through grids in the pavement. The rumbles and whistling of trains cut through the air as they approached the temporary terminus of the Farringdon Street station and a large goods depot that had been built by the railway company.

The carriage stopped in front of a utilitarian red-and-yellow brick warehouse building. Pandora’s heart skipped with excitement as she saw the double-fronted shop faced with segmented windows and a carved pediment over the entrance. O’Cairre Print Works had been painted on the pediment in elaborate gold lettering.

Dragon was quick to open the carriage door and reach in for Pandora’s valise before pulling down the step. He was careful not to let Pandora’s skirt touch the wheel as she emerged from the carriage. Efficiently he opened the shop door, and closed it after she entered. However, instead of waiting outside the shop as a footman would, he went inside and stood beside the door.

“You don’t need to wait in the shop with me, Dragon,” Pandora murmured as he gave her the valise. “My appointment will last at least an hour. You can go somewhere and drink some ale, or something.”

He ignored the suggestion and remained exactly where he was.

“I’m visiting a printer,” Pandora couldn’t resist pointing out. “The worst thing that could happen to me is a paper cut.”

No response.

Sighing, Pandora turned and went to the first in a row of counters that extended across the large interior and divided it into several departments. The print works was the most wonderfully cluttery, colorful place she had ever been in, except perhaps Winterborne’s department store, which was an Aladdin’s cave of sparkling glass and jewels and luxury items. But this was a fascinating new world. The walls were liberally papered with caricature prints, cards, playbills, engravings, penny-sheets, and toy theater backdrops. The air was perfumed with an intoxicating mixture of fresh paper, ink, glue, and chemicals, a smell that made Pandora want to snatch up a pen and frantically start drawing something. At the back of the shop, machinery clacked and clattered with a start-run-stop rhythm as apprentices operated hand presses.

Overhead, prints had been hung up to dry on hundreds of lines strung across the room. There were towers of mill-board and card stock everywhere, and high columns of paper in greater quantities and varieties than Pandora had ever seen in one place. The counters were piled with trays of printing blocks carved with letters, animals, birds, people, stars, moons, Christmas symbols, vehicles, flowers, and thousands of other delightful images.

She loved this place.

A young matron approached. She was tidy and slender and bosomy, with curly brown hair and long-lashed hazel eyes. “Lady St. Vincent?” she asked, and curtseyed deeply. “Mrs. O’Cairre.”

“A pleasure,” Pandora said, beaming.

“I’ve never been so intrigued as I was by your letter,” Mrs. O’Cairre said. “Your board game sounds very clever, milady.” She was a well-spoken woman with the musical hint of a brogue. There was a lively air about her that Pandora liked exceedingly. “Would you like to sit with me and discuss your plans for it?”

They went to sit at a table in a sheltered spot at the side of the room. For the next hour, they talked about Pandora’s game and what components it would require, while she unearthed sketches, notes, and prototypes from her valise. It was a shopping-themed game, with pieces that moved around a track that wove through the departments of a whimsically detailed store. It would include merchandise cards, play money, and chance cards that would either help or hinder the players’ progress.

Mrs. O’Cairre was enthusiastic about the project, making suggestions about various materials to use for the game components.

“The most important issue is the folding game board. We can do lithograph printing directly onto the board with a flat-bed press. If you want a multi-colored game board, we could create a metal plate