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Blue dot
Meet Alexander Gerst
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was born on 3 May 1976 in Künzelsau, part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A scientist and explorer at heart, Alexander graduated in 1995 from the nearby Technical High School of Öhringen. During his school years, he volunteered as a firefighter and lifeguard.
Alexander’s interest in the environment around him and exploration of the unknown led him to choose an academic career in geophysics and volcanology. This relatively new scientific discipline offered the potential to explore extreme places, while the research has immediate benefits for people living near volcanoes.
Multiple field-trips to study volcanoes up close in Antarctica, Guatemala, Italy, Ethiopia and Indonesia followed for Alexander as he continued his studies at universities in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Wellington, New Zealand. Alexander’s Master’s degree and subsequent doctorate saw him developing new instruments to study and help predict volcanic eruptions.
Alexander never considered his chances of becoming an astronaut were very high – over 8000 people applied for ESA’s astronaut selection in 2008 – but he knew that he would try at least once, to give that dream a chance.
In one of life’s coincidences, Alexander found himself stuck at the Antarctic McMurdo base because of bad weather during a scientific expedition at the same time as NASA astronaut Cady Coleman. Talking with Cady about his plan to apply and hope for the best, she encouraged him to give it the best he had.
Alexander sees being an astronaut as a logical extension of his career as volcanologist, with similarities between the two professions. Both are relatively new, taking off in the 1960s, and his fieldwork studying volcanoes has prepared him for working in space. Volcanoes and deep space are hostile environments that are not easy on humans or equipment.
The Space Station is a first step out into space to find out what is around us in that big black sky above us.
As Alexander puts it: “Both professions seek scientific data that can only be found in remote environments but bring back immediate benefits for people back home.”
He sees the International Space Station as serving a double role. It is a place for doing unique science but it also offers humans a perspective on Earth that would not be possible otherwise. His goal was to share his astronaut perspective of Earth during his Blue Dot mission.
|
Q:
spring <c:foreach issue jstl java
I m doing a small spring project and I have an issue when I try toi show data iterating resultList, resultList is set and foreach loop over 4 times as items there are but giveme an exceptions, after going through I realize that items are retrive but if they were just Object instead of porper cast class Result for this reason It crash when I try to invoke getUrl() method (if I call toString works fine).
that's the controller
@RequestMapping(value = "/search", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public ModelAndView home(ModelMap model,@RequestParam(required=false,value="") String name) {
List<Result> result = googleSearchService.doSearch(name);
modelAndView.addObject("resultList",result);//<- after debub list is full of Result items
return modelAndView;
}
that's the view
<c:forEach items="${resultList}" var="item">
<li><c:out value="${item.getUrl()}"/></li>
</c:forEach>
Result class is a inner class:
public class GoogleResults {
private ResponseData responseData;
public ResponseData getResponseData() {
return responseData;
}
public void setResponseData(ResponseData responseData) {
this.responseData = responseData;
}
public String toString() {
return "ResponseData[" + responseData + "]";
}
static class ResponseData {
private List<Result> results;
public List<Result> getResults() {
return results;
}
public void setResults(List<Result> results) {
this.results = results;
}
public String toString() {
return "Results[" + results + "]";
}
}
static class Result {
public String url;
private String title;
public String getUrl() {
return url;
}
public String getTitle() {
return title;
}
public void setUrl(String url) {
this.url = url;
}
public void setTitle(String title) {
this.title = title;
}
public String toString() {
return "Result[url:" + url + ",title:" + title + "]";
}
}
}
Trace:
ava.lang.NullPointerException
javax.el.BeanELResolver.invoke(BeanELResolver.java:159)
org.apache.jasper.el.JasperELResolver.invoke(JasperELResolver.java:147)
org.apache.el.parser.AstValue.getValue(AstValue.java:157)
org.apache.el.ValueExpressionImpl.getValue(ValueExpressionImpl.java:187)
A:
The class Result should be marked as public
|
The number of films being produced by Hollywood is set to fall by more than a third as the major studios struggle against a twin threat, industry analysts say.
Their problems stem from a dearth of funding and from the digital revolution in the way people consume moving images.
Mark Gill, head of the Film Department, an independent film finance firm, predicted that last year's peak of 606 films to emerge from Hollywood would fall to fewer than 400 next year "and it may go lower than that in future".
The finances are in freefall, Gill said. In the wake of the financial meltdown, banks that had acted as the main funders of big- and middle-budget films have withdrawn their largesse, sucking $12bn (£7.4bn) out of the $18bn available to the top studios.
Other lines of income have also shrivelled, most importantly DVD sales, which have plummeted by up to 25% in some studios, partly as a result of piracy.
Digital downloads and video-on-demand are the new buzz technologies, but they still bring in tiny amounts compared with the dwindling DVD market.
As a third blow, the hegemony of English-language Hollywood films is being challenged around the world, with audiences favouring homegrown talent.
That's been a trend long pronounced in France, for instance, but it has now spread to places such as Greece and Japan, which a few years ago earned just 5% of its box office revenue from local language films but now has a figure of 65%.
The latest household name to draw attention to the crisis is Francis Ford Coppola, director of the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now. Speaking recently at the Beirut Film Festival, where he is showing his latest film Tetro, he warned that "the cinema as we know it is falling apart".
He told the Bloomberg news service that "it's a period of incredible change", predicting that two or three of the six big Hollywood studios were under such strain they would soon go bust.
That gloomy prognosis chimes with other industry analysts who claim that MGM in particular is on the edge, while other big studios are not far behind. Paramount Pictures registered a loss of almost $150m in the first half of this year.
With a sense of panic setting in across Hollywood, the industry has, in the past three months, seen the biggest shake-up of studio chiefs in 25 years.
In August, MGM ousted its chief executive Harry Sloan. Disney recently sacked its studio chief, Dick Cook, and Universal Pictures earlier this month dismissed its joint chairmen Marc Shmuger and David Linde following a string of box office disappointments, including the family film Land of the Lost and Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno which took in $60m – far short of his previous film Borat, which made $129m.
Paradoxically, while the world's movie capital is in turmoil, the appetite for its products remains buoyant. Ticket revenue has continued to climb by about 2% this year, a modest figure, but a striking achievement in the midst of a recession.
Film buffs are likely to be most distressed not by the overall cut in films on release, but by the quality and nature of what will be on offer. As cash for new movies dries up, a greater proportion of the shrinking resources is going into a tiny range of sci-fi, superhero and mystic titles.
Coppola said that even if studios survive the upheaval, they will "just make certain kinds of films like Harry Potter – basically trying to make Star Wars over and over again, because it's a business".
For cinema to survive, Coppola suggested, it would have to become much more interactive, with directors attending live performances of their work on a nightly basis "like the conductor of an opera. Every night it can be a little different".
|
Arkansas has executed Ledell Lee, the first of eight condemned prisoners that the Republican-controlled state had hoped to kill in the space of just 11 days.
Lee was pronounced dead at 11.46pm local time, just four minutes before his death warrant had been due to run out. The department of corrections had sprung into action shortly after 11.30pm local time (5:56am CET) on Thursday, after the US supreme court gave its leave for the killing to go ahead.
It is the first of a series of executions expected after the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling blocking the use of a lethal injection.
The prisoner was killed with a combination of three medical drugs: medazolam to sedate him, vecuronium bromide to paralyse him, and potassium chloride to stop his heart.
Lee did not make a final statement. Instead of a last meal, he asked to receive communion, an official said.
The state had planned to carry out eight executions in 11 days, before its supply of the lethal injection drug, midazolam, expired on 30 April.
The first three executions were cancelled due to various court rulings.
Lee, 51, was put on death row for the brutal 1993 murder of a 26-year-old mother named Debra Reese in her home in Jacksonville. He is said to have broken into the house and strangled her before beating her 36 times with a tire thumper. Lee always maintained his innocence of the Reese murder. Unknown fingerprints were found at the crime scene, none of them belonging to the prisoner.
The other inmate due to die on Thursday, Stacey Johnson, has been given a stay to make time for advanced DNA testing that his lawyers say could prove his innocence.
Johnson was convicted of the murder of Carol Heath, who was beaten and had her throat slit in her flat in 1993.
The ruling on Thursday paves the way for the series of executions the state had planned this month.
Like many US states, Arkansas has struggled to find the drugs it needs to carry out executions.
|
Good Samaritan’s quick actions save young boy’s life
A 6-year old boy pulled from a North Shore beach is alive, all because a Good Samaritan who knew how to perform CPR came to the rescue.
She is now sharing her story, hoping to inspire others to learn the life-saving technique.
Jodi Kealoha says she was working in Haleiwa at the time.
“It was a slow Sunday, Oct. 15. Can’t forget the day now,” she said. “I heard someone screaming at the beach, and then I looked over to water line, and there was a child being removed from the water and he looked like he was dead.”
Kealoha says she sprinted to the boy and checked for signs of life, but he had no pulse and he wasn’t breathing.
“He was purple in color and immediately I went into doing CPR,” she said.
Kealoha says her training as a certified lifeguard automatically kicked in. She performed two cycles of chest compressions and rescue breaths.
“I could only hear what was going on around me, but I only had tunnel vision for him and I just, once I heard shallow breaths, I continued chest compressions,” she said.
The boy started choking and Kealoha says she put him on his side in the recovery position.
“He began to throw up liquids and foam from his mouth. His color slowly started coming back from purple to a normal-looking child,”
she said.
Kealoha says he finally opened his eyes after about two to three minutes.
“I just stayed with him and asked people, ‘What’s his name?’ And they said Arman. I said, ‘It’s okay, Arman. Your mommy is here,'” she said.
She says she told Arman’s mother she was certified in CPR and he was going to be okay.
“I feel God took the wheel over and my training went into automatic,” she said.
Dory Clisham, training manager at American Medical Response, says learning CPR to save a life is easy.
“We don’t really need people to be certified. We just need them to take a class, a hands-only CPR class, which takes only a few minutes,” Clisham said.
Clisham says there is a 10-minute window to save a person’s life from the time they stop breathing, and 39 percent of people are saved when they collapse and CPR is administered.
“If you don’t do anything, you’re not going to save a life,” she said.
|
The impact of changes in practice in organ procurement on the satisfaction of donor relatives.
In the past decade several interventions have been undertaken to close the gap between demand and supply of donor organs. Family refusal is an important factor contributing to the shortage of donor organs. The importance of the quality of communication between staff and relatives has been underestimated. It is in the frontline of practice where decisions are made and behaviour of staff is critical. The current study, undertaken to explore if any changes had occurred in the behaviour of professionals involved in organ donation, took satisfaction ratings of relatives of donors in 1995, 1998 and 2001 as outcome measures. Our results show that relatives in 2001 are significantly more satisfied than those in 1995 and 1998 about staff behaviour. Changes all relate to specific interactions between key professionals and relatives. Results indicate that future interventions may be more effective if macro-oriented and regulatory policies are combined with competence-based educational programmes.
|
Q:
SQLite - Limit vfs file count
I have a directory structure of individual databases (around 500) that are accessed via individual connections. Processing queries can be quite slow however. Profiling has given me the hint that the reason is that every connection ( set up via sqlite3_open_v2 ) uses the default vfs which, after enough connections, has 500 entries and every sqlite function that searches through this list takes some time.
Now my question:
Would it be possible to speed up the process by creating an individual vfs for each connection since I never access more than one table from a connection? If yes, how can this be achieved?
Regards
A:
I also contacted SQLite support. The problem is known and a fix will go into a future release. Thanks anyways!
|
This invention relates to a type action for a power-driven typewriter and more particularly to a powered type action having a simplified type action construction.
Various attempts have been made to devise a simplified low cost type action for a power-driven typewriter. A successful attempt provides a type action which comprises a pawl coupled by a pin and slot connection to a type bar sublever connected to a type bar by a link and adapted to be pulled into the path of a tooth on a continuously rotated snatch roll in response to key lever depression and driven over an interval determined by the depth of pawl-tooth engagement to drive the sublever for typing operation of the type bar. The pin and slot connection uses a single piece key lever to pull the pawl into engagement with the snatch roll, provides a key lever bypass with economized parts, and also provides initial lost motion between the pawl and the sublever to assure the depth of pawl-tooth engagement of a preset degree. This type action, however, has been found to be imperfect in that the minimum depth of pawl-tooth engagement may cause the pawl to be moved by the snatch roll within a limit defined by the pin and slot lost motion connection between the pawl and the sublever in spite that the pawl is in general inclined to become engaged deeper and deeper with a snatch roll tooth once it is engaged therewith. Thus, the type action has a disadvantage that slow or incomplete depression of a key lever occasionally results in a misfiring or effects no printing of a character.
|
Two days later, it seems the golf world is still wondering what to think of Lucy Li.
The 11-year-old girl made history this week, winning a sectional qualifying tournament in Half Moon Bay, Calif., to earn a spot in the upcoming U.S. Women’s Open.
That makes her the tournament’s youngest qualifier ever and, for the most part, the sport is celebrating her achievement.
PGA Tour star Keegan Bradley tweeted that Li’s accomplishment was “so amazing and cool.”
“Trying to get this straight in my head,” tweeted Dottie Pepper, the former pro golfer turned television analyst.
But amid the social media buzz, there was skepticism, people wondering about the potential pressure on a schoolgirl playing among adults.
There was also concern about the state of women’s golf in the U.S., given that a sixth-grader could make the field in one of the nation’s most prestigious tournaments.
As of Tuesday evening, the only one who hadn’t weighed in on the issue was Li. She and her family were conspicuously absent from the media blitz.
This much is known: the Redwood Shores, Calif., resident already has an impressive resume. She qualified for the match-play portion of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship last year, losing in the first round. And she won her age bracket in the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National.
“She is still learning to play,” her swing instructor, Jim McLean, told the Charleston Post-Courier last August. “She makes great contact almost every time and she has improved her accuracy. It’s fun to watch her. I’m very proud of Lucy, the person she is, how mature, how smart and how nice she is. She’s a very nice girl.”
Previously, the youngest golfer to qualify for the Open was 12-year-old Lexi Thompson, who shot 86-82 and failed to make the cut.
Thompson, now 19, turned pro in 2010 at the age of 15 and a year later became the youngest winner of an LPGA event. She has won four LPGA tournaments, including the Kraft Nabisco this year.
Beverly Klass competed in the 1967 U.S. Open at 10, before players had to qualify.
The Open is scheduled to tee off on June 19 at North Carolina’s Pinehurst golf resort.
|
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In cases of family bother done with trustworthy people the patient may care to take in order generic tamoxifen,. acetylcholine receptors generic tamoxifen 10 mg.Tamoxifen is metabolized into compounds that also bind to the estrogen receptor but do.
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Q:
Four-function calculator with buttons for digits and operators
I would like make this calculator program more Object Oriented but I'm struggling with how to do it. The calculator works perfectly but I would like to have another class that does the calculations and then sends that information back to the main class to be displayed. Any tips? I'm not sure how to call the methods and return the calculations.
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
//Basic Variables
string input = string.Empty;
string op1 = string.Empty;
string op2 = string.Empty;
char operation;
double result = 0.0;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void btnOn_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
displayTextbox.IsEnabled = true;
}
private void btnOff_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
displayTextbox.IsEnabled = false;
displayTextbox.Text = String.Empty;
displayTextbox.Text = "Off";
}
private void btn0_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 0;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 1;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn2_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 2;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn3_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 3;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn4_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 4;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn5_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 5;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn6_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 6;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn7_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 7;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn8_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 8;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btn9_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += 9;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
}
private void btnClear_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
displayTextbox.Text = "";
this.input = string.Empty;
this.op1 = string.Empty;
this.op2 = string.Empty;
}
private void btnAdd_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op1 = input;
operation = '+';
input = string.Empty;
}
private void btnDivision_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op1 = input;
operation = '/';
input = string.Empty;
}
private void btnMultiple_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op1 = input;
operation = '*';
input = string.Empty;
}
private void btnSubtract_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op1 = input;
operation = '-';
input = string.Empty;
}
private void btnEquals_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op2 = input;
double num1, num2;
double.TryParse(op1, out num1);
double.TryParse(op2, out num2);
if (operation == '+')
{
result = num1 + num2;
displayTextbox.Text = result.ToString();
}
else if (operation == '-')
{
result = num1 - num2;
displayTextbox.Text = result.ToString();
}
else if (operation == '*')
{
result = num1 * num2;
displayTextbox.Text = result.ToString();
}
else if (operation == '/')
{
result = num1 / num2;
displayTextbox.Text = result.ToString();
}
}
}
A:
Some tips from me:
1) You should separate the UI logic from your main logic. In your case, the logic is the calculation, so you should make a class for it. Don't think about the UI, just code your logic. It must be completely independent of the UI. This way you could test your calculation logic without creating windows every time and you could use another UI instead of the current one. You could even use the console.
2) Your class shouldn't inherit from Window. Instead, give an instance of Window to your class. One reason for this is, that it will pollute your MainWindows interface with many methods which you probably won't need. In general, favor Composition over inheritance.
3) You could define operation as a lambda:
// instead of:
operation = '-';
// use this:
operation = (a, b) => a - b;
It would make your btnEquals_Click method shorter and easier by removing the if-checks:
private void btnEquals_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
op2 = input;
double num1, num2;
double.TryParse(op1, out num1);
double.TryParse(op2, out num2);
displayTextbox.Text = (operation(num1, num2).toString(); // don't check, just apply
}
4) You are repeating yourself multiple times:
this.displayTextbox.Text = "";
input += <some num>;
this.displayTextbox.Text += input;
Introduce a method that takes the number and does all this. It would reduce the amount of lines of code and generally: It's bad to have duplications because if it's wrong, you'll have to fix multiple places. See DRY.
5) I don't know what the initialize method does (used in the constructor), but I would advise you to stay away from this habit. A constructor should be lightweight and easy because as a user I don't want to get problems when I create your objects. I can understand that something might go wrong if I call a method because that's action and it can fail. But the creation of objects should be smooth and easy.
|
Horse Fence
The horse fence wire configuration is designed to prevent horses, cows and other hoofed animals from stepping through the wire. A tight 2”x 4” wire spacing is used to ensure the safety of the animal by preventing injuries and protecting against predators.
The “S” knot design uses a separate piece of wire that attaches the line wire to the solid stay wire assuring maximum strength and prevents the fence from buckling or sagging. This design is smooth to the touch so you won’t have to worry about injuries to your animals. The knot’s strength holds up to even the strongest impact while maintaining flexibility.
Our horse fence inventory consists of a variety of wires from Bekaert, Keystone and Deacero.
Code
Manufacturer
# Line Wires
Fence Height
Line Wire Gauge
Stay Wire Gauge
Fence Coating
Roll Length
1348BL
Bekaert
13
48"
12.5
12.5
Class 3
200'
1348BLB
Bekaert
13
48"
12.5
12.5
Black
200'
1348RL
Rangemaster
13
48"
12.5
12.5
Class 1
200'
1660B
Bekaert
16
60"
12.5
12.5
Class 3
110'
1660K
Keystone
16
60"
12.5
12.5
Class 1
100'
1660KL
Keystone
16
60"
12.5
12.5
Class 1
200'
1660RL
Rangemaster
16
60"
12.5
12.5
Class 1
200'
1972K
Keystone
19
72"
12.5
12.5
Class 1
100'
1348HZ
Bekaert
13
48"
12.5
14
ZA
100'
1348HZL
Bekaert
13
48"
12.5
14
ZA
200'
1660HZ
Bekaert
16
60"
12.5
14
ZA
100'
1660HZL
Bekaert
16
60"
12.5
14
ZA
200'
1972HZ
Bekaert
19
72"
12.5
14
ZA
100'
V-Mesh
V-mesh horse fencing is made with close, diamond-shaped spacing to keep predators out and prevent hooves and legs from getting caught in the fence. V-mesh is strong and flexible and is made of quality galvanized wire.
|
Licensing – FAQs
Why does the University patent, market and license inventions?
The primary objective in developing a patenting and licensing strategy for an invention is to support the research, education and public benefit mission of the University.
What is included in most Stevens License Agreements?
A license agreement gives rights to use a technology for further development towards commercialization. License agreements typically include the following business elements:
Degree of exclusivity: Licenses are available as nonexclusive, exclusive, or restricted by field of use, depending on a company’s need and resources. Similarly, licenses can be issued world-wide or restricted to a particular geographic location
License Fee: License fees are paid once the license agreement is signed. The amount depends on the value of the technology
Patent Reimbursement: Patent reimbursement fees are paid to the University by a licensee in order to defray patent processing costs. Domestic and foreign patent filing fees, intellectual property attorney's fees, and any late fees are all captured by the patent reimbursement fee.
Development Period with Milestones and Payments toward Commercialization: When a technology requires extensive development, our license agreements will provide for a development period. This means the licensee will be asked to submit a development plan that outlines the work planning to be done during the development period. Thereafter, the OIE verifies to confirm progress towards the developments and milestones in the licensee's commercialization plan. Frequently, those milestones will specify milestone payments. Milestone payments help reduce initial license fees on high-risk projects since these milestone payments are made only when the milestones are achieved.
Royalties: Royalties are paid when products that use the technology are sold. Royalties may be calculated on a percentage-of-sales, gross or net sales of product, or fee-per-unit basis, depending on the standard in that market.
Minimum Annual Royalty: At the end of any internal or external development periods, we will expect an annual minimum royalty. Any royalties actually earned will be credit toward the minimum royalty, so the minimum royalty is normally not an additional fee. Minimums encourage active marketing of each technology.
Can Stevens accept equity in a License Agreement?
The university equity policies apply if the university receives equity in consideration of licensing the invention to the start-up company. University equity policies and guidelines generally state that the university may accept equity as partial consideration for technology licensing in appropriate circumstances. These policies are in place in recognition that small or start-up companies may find it particularly difficult to commit significant cash outlays for both developmental and licensing costs. In such cases the university may accept equity, in lieu of cash, for license fees. When accepting equity, the university seeks to hold a position of 10% ownership or less in a licensee at the time that the licensee becomes a publicly traded company. The university will not hold a position on the board of directors, and will not exercise voting rights, but may exercise observer rights on the board of directors.
Reasonable Expectations
In the end, many technologies patented by the OIE are never licensed and many of those that are licensed never pay royalties exceeding their patent costs. Part of this is because the OIE accepts a large percentage of the disclosures it receives for patenting provisionally. Many universities can risk patenting only the top 10 percent of the technologies they receive as disclosures...or not patent any of them unless a licensee can be found to pay the patent costs. Moreover, while some technologies are licensed within a relatively short time, others need more time to let the market catch up with the technology. Sometimes it is the second license negotiation that works for everyone.
How do inventors share in the benefits of licensing agreements?
Stevens inventors receive a share of the net royalties and fees from licensing (including equity), in accordance with the Stevens Patent Policy. Royalty payments to inventors are made annually based on the preceding fiscal year income, expense, and reimbursement. If you have questions about income associated with the commercialization of your invention, please contact the OIE and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.
Can I continue to do research on the technology on which my startup is based?
Yes, though there may be conflict of interest limitations on the research being conducted. Researchers are not permitted to use Stevens resources (e.g., laboratories, equipment, funding, personnel) to develop technology for the primary purpose of benefiting a startup. Subject to disclosure and review of a potential conflict of interest, Stevens researchers are generally permitted to receive research funding from their startups, pursuant to a Sponsored Research Agreement negotiated by OIE. Conflicts aside, Stevens will have the right to use the invention in research. In Stevens license agreements, Stevens always reserves the right to use licensed inventions for non-commercial research purposes. Once licensed to the startup, the invention likely can be used at Stevens for research purposes only.
Do I have to leave my position as a faculty researcher for a company to be formed around my technology?
No. In fact, most faculty members choose to remain in their positions at the University, doing what they do best—new research and teaching. Instead, faculty members typically take an advisory role or join the scientific advisory board (SAB) of the new company, once a management team has been formed. Often, an entrepreneurial student, technician, PhD, or post-doc who worked under the PI may decide to join the company full time upon graduating or completing his or her program, in order to carry forward the commercialization efforts of the technology.
How does OIE market disclosed Stevens inventions?
Once your invention has been disclosed to the OIE via an invention disclosure form, and some form of IP protection has been initiated, the OIE will help with:
Direct Personal Contacts Before a technology is licensed, your licensing officer will discuss the technology personally with the potential licensee. Frequently, the first meeting will be the result of a telephone contact and visit to the licensee. This helps to clarify interest early in the process and enables the licensing officer to meet many of the individuals who are interested in the technology from various perspectives.
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Multiparametric duplex real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay for mRNA profiling.
Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) is a sensitive isothermal transcription-based amplification method. We have developed real-time NASBA assays to detect mRNA coding for the estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) and the progesterone receptor (PGR) in breast tumors by means of duplex reactions using cyclophilin B (PPIB) as the normalizing gene. Both the ESR1/PPIB and PGR/PPIB duplex NASBA assays are highly sensitive, specific, and reproducible. Quantification is determined using external standard calibration curves and the ratio between the number of target and housekeeping gene mRNA copies. Amplification of the target gene in the duplex NASBA assay was disrupted when this latter was mixed with a large amount of the housekeeping PPIB gene, suggesting that it is preferable for the normalizing gene chosen to have an expression level comparable to the target gene. Sensitivity and robustness of the duplex NASBA assays were assessed in breast cancer cell lines. Such a rapid and easy-to-use multiparametric duplex real-time NASBA assay could also advantageously be set up for other mRNA profiling applications.
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Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for Nintendo 3DS delayed until 2012
There are two schools of thought on Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for Nintendo 3DS. One group believe that the PlayStation 2 game was never meant to be played on a handheld device, and that the evidence so far suggests that too little has been done to make the 3D update more friendly to those on the go. The other group can’t wait to have a portable version of the classic title, even if that means spending the entire length of one commute or another watching a single cutscene. It’s the second group that isn’t going to like today’s news: the release of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D has been delayed until 2012.
The news comes from Konami (confirmed by Kotaku), though that’s all the information we’ve got to go on right now. Other than knowing it’s coming at some point next year, there’s no indication of when that will be. Not even a window. You could argue that there’s a time limit on this release too; Kotaku correctly notes that an HD version of the game is coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The 3D presentation of the portable version might not be enough to sway fans away from playing instead on a console (especially with Achievements/Trophies in the mix) if the two re-releases come out too close together.
Fortunately for 3DS owners, there’s a solid lineup of games coming to the new platform this fall. First-party offerings like Super Mario and Kid Icarus: Uprising as well as third-party releases like Shinobi and Cave Story 3D. Lots to look forward to for the little handheld… just no Metal Gear yet.
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Clustering coefficients of protein-protein interaction networks.
The properties of certain networks are determined by hidden variables that are not explicitly measured. The conditional probability (propagator) that a vertex with a given value of the hidden variable is connected to k other vertices determines all measurable properties. We study hidden variable models and find an averaging approximation that enables us to obtain a general analytical result for the propagator. Analytic results showing the validity of the approximation are obtained. We apply hidden variable models to protein-protein interaction networks (PINs) in which the hidden variable is the association free energy, determined by distributions that depend on biochemistry and evolution. We compute degree distributions as well as clustering coefficients of several PINs of different species; good agreement with measured data is obtained. For the human interactome two different parameter sets give the same degree distributions, but the computed clustering coefficients differ by a factor of about 2. This shows that degree distributions are not sufficient to determine the properties of PINs.
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Q:
PostgreSQL streaming replication broken: invalid magic number, out-of-sequence timeline ID
For some reason, my PostgreSQL slave no longer streaming-replicates changes on the master. It was working before, for a while, but I recently noticed that the slave's database contents is old, and there are errors in the slave's log files, namely "invalid magic number 0000" and "out-of-sequence timeline ID 1 (after 2)".
Do you have any idea how can I troubleshoot this? Or why does it happen?
Details follow.
Log file error messages: (on the slave, pg_log/postgresql-Sat.log)
LOG: entering standby mode
LOG: redo starts at 0/1C78848
LOG: consistent recovery state reached at 0/1C7FA30
LOG: database system is ready to accept read only connections
LOG: invalid magic number 0000 in log file 0, segment 1, offset 14942208
LOG: streaming replication successfully connected to primary
LOG: out-of-sequence timeline ID 1 (after 2) in log file 0, segment 1, offset 0
FATAL: terminating walreceiver process due to administrator command
LOG: out-of-sequence timeline ID 1 (after 2) in log file 0, segment 1, offset 0
LOG: out-of-sequence timeline ID 1 (after 2) in log file 0, segment 1, offset 0
LOG: out-of-sequence timeline ID 1 (after 2) in log file 0, segment 1, offset 0
...
Transaction logs: (on the slave -- weird, log file 0...2...1 is from January 2012, but 0...2...2 is from December 2011!?)
-bash-4.1$ tree -D pg_xlog/
pg_xlog/
├── [Dec 6 6:27] 000000010000000000000001
├── [Jan 20 21:33] 000000020000000000000001
├── [Dec 21 5:29] 000000020000000000000002
├── [Dec 6 6:30] 00000002.history
└── [Dec 6 6:30] archive_status
└── [Dec 6 6:30] 00000002.history.ready
1 directory, 5 files
-bash-4.1$ cat pg_xlog/00000002.history
1 000000010000000000000001 no recovery target specified
Transaction logs: (on the master)
-bash-4.1$ tree -D pg_xlog/
pg_xlog/
├── [Dec 6 6:27] 000000010000000000000001
├── [Jan 21 8:55] 000000020000000000000001
├── [Dec 21 5:31] 000000020000000000000002
├── [Dec 6 6:30] 00000002.history
└── [Dec 6 6:30] archive_status
└── [Dec 6 6:30] 00000002.history.ready
-bash-4.1$ cat pg_xlog/00000002.history
1 000000010000000000000001 no recovery target specified
Config files: (on the slave)
---postgresql.conf---
wal_level = hot_standby
...
hot_standby = on
...
---recovery.conf---
standby_mode = 'on'
primary_conninfo = 'host=dw0azewdbpv11danny user=replicator password=...'
recovery_target_timeline = 'latest'
Finally, on the slave, ps aux shows that:
Jan20 0:01 postgres: startup process waiting for 000000020000000000000001
Update one week later:
There seems to be a replication bug for PostgreSQL builds with gcc 4.6.0.
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2011-07/msg00686.php
and
http://git.postgresql.org/gitweb/?p=postgresql.git;a=commitdiff;h=45d792f70272ed57b932816562f31c2f79426c2a
However I'd guess that that bug would not affect 9.1?
PostgreSQL versions should be identical on master and slave, and SELECT version() looks like this on both master and slave:
-bash-4.1$ psql
psql (9.1.1)
Type "help" for help.
postgres=# SELECT version();
version
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PostgreSQL 9.1.1 on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (GCC) 4.4.5 20110214 (Red Hat 4.4.5-6), 64-bit
(1 row)
Perhaps I should also mention that the current master was a slave, originally, and the current slave was the master, originally. -- I did one failover, to test that it worked okay.
(I'll ask this question on the Postgres mailing lists.)
A:
This doesn't sound like the same thing. The GCC version is different and your PostgreSQL version is different. IIRC it was an issue with GCC 4.6 optimizations and was fixed. I don't believe it should have impacted your setup.
More likely something changed which caused this. Perhaps the slave was promoted to a master briefly and then demoted again? That will create problems like this all the time.
The timeline issue suggests to me that this is in fact what happened. It doesn't matter whether you write to a db or not, just completing recovery and promoting is enough to break the timeline.
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Nike Dunk iD ‘Be True’ Samples
The ‘Original 7′ Nike Dunks forever linked Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, St. Johns, UNLV and Villanova with the expression ‘Be True to Your School’. No longer just a lesser single from The Beach Boys, ‘Be True’ stood for a certain style of two-toned colorblocking that’s been the Dunk’s default for over a quarter-century. And when that style collides with NIKEiD, not only can you pick whichever colors you want to use, but you can also define your own ‘school spirit’ with a new blocking pattern of your choice. The Nike Dunk ‘Be True’ iD features options ranging from classic BTTYS-style varsity colors all the way to glossy metallics and all of them can be personalized with heel detailing. Check out some samples below and let us know which palette you chose to build your ‘Be True’ Dunk iDs.
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//
// Generated by class-dump 3.5 (64 bit).
//
// class-dump is Copyright (C) 1997-1998, 2000-2001, 2004-2015 by Steve Nygard.
//
#import <AddressBookUI/ABChameleonCellBackgroundView.h>
@interface ABPadFaceTimeGroupedCellBackgroundView : ABChameleonCellBackgroundView
{
}
- (void)drawRect:(struct CGRect)arg1;
- (_Bool)isBottomCell;
- (_Bool)isTopCell;
- (void)setFrame:(struct CGRect)arg1;
- (void)setSectionLocation:(int)arg1;
- (void)setAbCellStyle:(int)arg1;
- (void)dealloc;
- (id)initWithFrame:(struct CGRect)arg1;
@end
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If you can't handle swearing, get off the internet. People suck, including me, and these are my rantings.
Virulent responses to God Is Not Great
If you head on over to Buzzfeed, you’ll see a post entitled 25 Ridiculous Reactions to #GodIsNotGreat. For those of you not on Twitter, the hashtag #GodIsNotGreat was trending shortly after the passing of Christopher Hitchens. People put it in their feed while expressing their condolences as well as the fact that it is actually the title of Hitchens’ last book, led to it trending on Twitter. Ironically, everyone who is bitching about #GodIsNotGreat trending is actually using the hashtag in their tweets, thus making it even more popular.
These are just two of the tweets out of many that either threatened to actually kill people or tell the people to kill themselves for #GodIsNotGreat. Ironically, #GodIsNotGreat was meant as a way for atheists to pay their respects to Christopher Hitchens, who had just died. So, for all the ignorant Christians who want to kill the person responsible for the phrase, he’s already dead. You all feel better now?
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape android:shape="oval"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<solid android:color="#fff5f5f5" />
<stroke android:width="1.0dip" android:color="#ffcc3131" />
</shape>
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#ShankYouPets week 29…
Hello everyone and welcome to #ShankYouPets! This is an Instagram community for those of us who love our pets like kids. Link up with me each week using the tag #ShankYouPets and I’ll post my favorites right here every Sunday. You’ll get to enjoy cute animal photos, attract new Instagram followers, and pick up a cool new badge if you are featured!
Lola loves to hold hands with her Daddybeast and watching television together at night on the couch. No one likes to sit with me because I twitch and fidget instead of sitting still.
MY FEATURED PHOTOS THIS WEEK
This week has gone to the dogs. Not a single cat or any species of animal joined our community! Gatsby is on the top right, enjoying a bone on a fine summer day. Bristol is on the bottom left, she’s loving her new home and canine brother. There’s also a human sister, no word on which sibling she favors. Bottom right is Mango, enjoying the sunshine and an wide open green space. I want to ask what she’s looking at in the distance, but it may be better that we humans don’t ask too many questions.
Grab the code at the bottom of the badge if you’d like to add it your blog. Or you can share the featured badge on Instagram by saving the photo!
Now, head on over to Instagram and check out all the adorable animals there. Make sure to follow the ShankYouPets hashtag, it’s a brand new feature in Instagram that makes it easy to see photos from the group without having to follow individual accounts. I would also appreciate you sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter so that more people can join us!
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You've never seen anything quite like Paramour, Cirque du Soleil's Broadway debut at the Lyric Theatre. In truth, that's both a good and a bad thing. While the Montreal-based circus behemoth has been thrilling New York audiences for years, it has never taken the Broadway plunge (coming closest with 2010's Banana Shpeel, a lackluster riff on vaudeville that played the Beacon Theater). Paramour arrives like a cannonball into the deep end, incorporating circus wizardry into a fairly traditional Broadway musical. With admirable ambition (but occasionally ham-fisted execution), Cirque du Soleil delivers a show that is acrobatic, operatic, and completely entertaining. This is musical theater as an extreme sport.
That's obvious from the very first number, "The Hollywood Wiz," in which tumblers do backflips around a chorus line of dancers who introduce us to AJ Golden (Jeremy Kushnier), the director prince of Hollywood's golden age. When he fires screen vixen Lila (Kat Cunning), he needs a new star. He finds one at an L.A. nightclub — Indigo (the delightfully named Ruby Lewis) — a fresh-faced chanteuse from Indiana. AJ recognizes her star quality and immediately casts her in a series of big-budget films. He wants Indigo all for himself, but she still harbors a secret love for songwriter Joey (Ryan Vona). This love triangle flimsily plays out amid some of the best circus performance on Earth.
Philippe Decouflé directs a stage show for a generation accustomed to viewing life with multiple tabs open: The juggling and contortion never seem to stop. This highly stimulating barrage of talent is undeniably entertaining. When it comes to telling a story, however, it's deadly.
For instance, as Lewis sings a fairly standard "I Want" song ("Something More"), our eyes are drawn to dancers on the tables, the bartender balancing bottles upstage, and a man with a Chinese yo-yo. There are at least five things happening onstage that are more interesting than Indigo's song, which is a real problem considering she's supposed to have, "It...That thing that makes the rest of the world look only at you." Not in this show, she doesn't.
Ruby Lewis plays Indigo, Jeremy Kushnier plays AJ, and Ryan Vona plays Joey in Paramour.
(© Joan Marcus)
By adopting so many elements of the Broadway book musical, Cirque du Soleil makes clear it fully intends to operate within the form to present a brand-new story, though not always to great success. While the "story" credit in the program is given to West Hyler, no one is taking ownership of the limp book, suggesting a team effort. This is probably for the best since the script overflows with cliché and the jokes are mostly ho-hum. With a straight face, Kushnier has to say groan-worthy lines like, "It was a speakeasy full of broken dreams and busted knuckles."
Matching the script, Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard's music sounds like warmed-over Phantom and Miss Saigon, made even cheesier by Andreas Carlsson's "good enough" pop lyrics. Lewis belts her face off singing, "Why does the girl / Who has Everything / Still have a heart / That's Questioning?" Meanwhile, drones disguised as lampshades fly overhead. Were this number entered into the Eurovision Song Contest, it would definitely win 12 points from Moldova…but it's unlikely to garner any Tony Awards.
Still, the moldy book and creaky score serve to obscure just how truly innovative this show actually is. We remember Show Boat and Oklahoma! for their revolutionary integration: the way they used acting, singing, and dancing in tandem to tell a story. Cirque du Soleil reaches for an exciting brass ring by attempting to add circus performance to that mix in a manner that goes far beyond Diane Paulus' auteur's revival of Pippin. Paramour was written and designed specifically with the intention of using circus performance to tell a new story, and occasionally, it succeeds in doing just that, to thrilling effect.
Martin Charrat, Myriam Deraiche, and Samuel William Charlton perform a trapeze love triangle in Paramour.
(© Richard Termine)
The most notable example comes in the second-act number "Love Triangle," in which the three leads sing about their complicated relationship while their acrobatic avatars perform a three-way dance on the trapeze. Shana Carroll choreographs every move to illuminate Indigo's tough decision. As circus Indigo (a fabulously flexible Myriam Deraiche) is practically torn in two by the muscular men (Martin Charrat and Samuel William Charlton), Lewis breaks out her "Queen of the Night" operatic soprano. All of the arts collide in a gorgeous explosion.
Unfortunately, most pieces (including the ones we're likeliest to remember) are not so seamlessly incorporated: The show's most impressive act, Andrew Atherton and Kevin Atherton's aerial-strap routine, is shoehorned into the Cleopatra scene for lack of a better place. Still, it's such a magnificent display that we're glad it's there. The Atherton twins fly high above the audience, really giving a workout to the Spider-Man infrastructure that still pervades the Lyric. Their every move is lyrical and precise, as if they were operating with one mind. It's no surprise that, at the curtain call, the standing ovation arrives for them.
Decouflé attempts to marshal the design in a manner that is simultaneously spectacular and beneficial to the story, with varying degrees of success. Jean Rabasse cleverly disguises acrobatic equipment in his hulking art-deco sets. Costume designer Philippe Guillotel masterfully integrates breathable synthetic fabrics into credible period looks from Hollywood's golden age. Sadly, the mise-en-scène is undermined by Olivier Simola and Christophe Waksmann's hyperactive projections, which too often resemble an avant-garde bar mitzvah video. And while he does wonders with the Lyric's surround sound, designer John Shivers can't seem to eliminate a bothersome echo in the vocal amplification.
In the end, Paramour feels like something much older than Oklahoma!, but completely native to 42nd Street: the Ziegfeld Follies. With glittering costumes, beautiful performers, and monumental sets, Paramour is pure spectacle — and that should be perfectly welcome on Broadway.
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Removal of ammonium and phosphorus ions from synthetic wastewater by the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris coimmobilized in alginate beads with the microalgae growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense.
Coimmobilization of the freshwater microalga Chlorella vulgaris in alginate beads with the microalgae growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense under semi-continuous synthetic wastewater culture conditions significantly increased the removal of ammonium and soluble phosphorus ions compared to immobilization of the microalgae alone. In continuous or batch cultures removal of these ions followed a similar trend but was less efficient than in semi-continuous culture. It is proposed that coimmobilization of a microalgae with microalgae growth-promoting bacteria can serve as a tool in devising novel wastewater treatments.
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The first kiteboarding Youth Olympic Games qualification event for “The Americas” came to an end this weekend with what turned out to be an extremely successful and exciting regatta not only for the young riders from South / Central America and North America / Caribbean but also for the spectators along the shorelines of beautiful Cabarete, Dominican Republic.
The final day of competition was a good one as we saw our young athletes put on a tremendous final showing, with finishes rarely seen so far – not only on the race course, but also on the overall leaderboard. In many divisions it all came down to the wire in the final heat of the 11 slalom / boardercross elimination series completed for each region and gender.
Wind speeds increased to the highest we have seen this whole week, with most riders breaking out their 10 and 11m kites. With the wind being back to the normal side-onshore direction, the obstacles the riders needed to jump over during racing where brought into play again to mix things up a bit, and in the end, 4 young athletes clinched a spot in this year's Summer Youth Olympic Games.
In the South/Central boys division Argentina’s Geronimo Lutteral confirmed his strong form demonstrating that the host country will have a serious shot at the Gold Medal as he dominated heat after heat throughout the entire week. The strong wind conditions worked in favor of Brazil’s Manoel Soares Dos Santos Neto though on the final day, and the defending 2017 Vice-World Champion moved into second place, qualifying Brazil behind the already qualified Argentinian squad. Martin Errazquin Calderon, also from Argentina, completed the podium.
On the girls side, Venezuela’s Maria Valentina Alvarez Villarroel, who at 14 years old was one of the youngest riders competing in these trials, battled it out with Argentina’s Ona Romani the entire day, ultimately beating her and taking the event victory as well as the qualifying spot. Ona Romani finished in second place, and her teammate Adela Mendoza taking third.
The North American/Caribbean division proved the most intense as everything came down to the final race of the day. The top three riders went into the heat with only 1.1 points between them, and the so far leading Tiger Tyson from Antigua came to the first mark only in fourth. But with his fellow training partner Cameron Maramenides of the USA getting involved in a tangle (for which he was granted redress) with his teammate Jacob Olivier, he moved into second place after the Dominican Republic’s Adeuri Corniel and secured the event win and qualification place for Antigua by just 0.1 points. Corniel and Maramenides ended up tied for points, with D.R.’s Adeuri Corniel being awarded second place on count back, and it all came down to having won the last race over third place finisher Maramenides.
It was a proud day for the host country of these qualifiers as local girl Lou Marin, after dominating her division all week, won the North American/Carribean division and earning the spot in the Youth Olympic Games. It seems fitting that she, who has kited in the Dominican Republic all her life, will represent this country with such a strong kiteboarding heritage in the very first Olympic Games to include the sport. Her teammate, Paula Herrmann finished second overall, and Faviola Collazo-Velez of Puerto Rico finished in 3rd.
All qualification places are being sent to World Sailing now for confirmation with the respective National Olympic Committees.
With Antigua, Dominican Republic and Venezuela we see countries qualifying this time which are usually not on the list of those winning a direct ticket to the Games and it is great to see that in kiteboarding also the smaller and developing countries can have a realistic chance to make it to the world stage besides big names like Brazil and Argentina.
Cabarete supplied us with fantastic conditions throughout the whole week so these certainly will not be the last event we see here. The young athletes put in a lot of hard work this week and it showed. The first four countries (in addition to host Argentina) have qualified, and those who didn’t quite come out on top will have one more shot to qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympics at the 2018 TT:R Youth Slalom Worlds in Hainan, China, from May 3rd to 8th (tbc), where not only the best four of each gender can qualify, but places may also be awarded to second ranked countries in the continental qualifications if an already qualified country finished in the top 4 of the Worlds .
For now, congratulations to the very first Youth Olympic Kiteboarders, Geronimo Lutteral, Maria Valentina Alvarez Villarroel, Tiger Tyson, and Lou Marin. It was a pleasure to watch you all compete.
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In this work we show that the optimal digital communication strategy for transmissions over time-varying channels with spread function maximally concentrated along a line of the delay-Doppler domain consists in multiplexing the input symbol block with an IFFT, as in OFDM, and modulating the IFFT output with a chirp signal whose sweep rate is matched to the channel. We show how to allocate the transmit power optimally across the chirped subcarriers, derive the limits of applicability of the proposed chirped-OFDM scheme and compute the resulting BER curves
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Kyle VanHemert
Verizon says their super speedy next-gen LTE network will be in place in 38 major cities by the end of the year, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco, San Diego and a whole bunch more. Oh yes.
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# Prologue
# August 1853
_The Central Criminal Court
at the Old Bailey, London_
She should have been listening to the judge.
Instead, Mary's attention was focused on the flies swarming around her ankles in the prisoner's dock, and their primary interest: the pool of stale urine at her feet. It wasn't hers. Some poor fool must have lost control of his bladder earlier in the day, but the puddle would remain until... well, until long after her case was finished, at any rate.
It was odd, how her senses shifted. In the late afternoon heat, the flies' buzzing was the loudest sound in her mind. The judge's nasal tenor was far down the list, well after the persistent cackling of someone in the gallery. If she squinted in just the right way, she could make out a halo of loose, greyish hair. Mad? Or merely relieved that it was someone else in the dock?
The prosecutor – deformed by his wig, white powder drifting off it every time he turned his neck – had enjoyed himself hugely. He'd made much of her youth, "How much more depraved is one so young, who has already trod so far and so fast through the thorny thickets of evil...?", and her dangerous looks, "Such pitch-black hair is a token of her pitch-black soul. Such evil should be nipped in the bud" – and by that cliché, he meant to hang her. She had not spoken in her own defence. She had nothing to say.
The judge's voice, threading its way between the excited droning of the flies, loomed suddenly close and intimate. "For the crime of housebreaking, Mary Lang, you are hereby sentenced to hang by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul." The last sentence sounded like mockery. How could it not?
There was some minor shuffling in the room, but no murmurs of surprise. Mary lifted her chin and gazed steadily into the gallery, where the spectators looked uncomfortable in the late summer heat. Only one figure – a woman dressed in light mourning, her veil rolled back – met her eyes. And winked.
Mary blinked. When she looked again, the lady was gone. Then the wardress was dragging her from the prisoner's box and leading her out of the courtroom, down the long, dung-and-onion-smelling corridor towards the cool damp of the cellars.
The wardress flung a brawny arm round her shoulder and jostled her roughly. "Don't you faint now, young woman." Her voice was hoarse, with a West Country accent.
Caught off guard, Mary stumbled slightly. "I won't," she muttered, but the woman shoved down onto her shoulders again, hard enough to make her knees buckle.
"May the Lord have mercy on your puny weak soul, indeed!" Under cover of her petticoats the wardress kicked Mary's foot, sending her stumbling once again. "Lawsamercy, you scrawny brat, none of this nonsense!"
They had nearly reached the turnkey. Behind her back, the wardress administered a sharp twist to Mary's left wrist. The iron cuffs cut into her flesh, causing her to hiss in surprise. The woman shook her shoulders roughly, gabbling the whole time at the turnkey. "The bloody girl's fainting! I'm not having these fine-lady airs, that's for certain!" Her strident voice drowned out the responses of the nearby jailers. "A good ducking in the horse trough will sort her out!" cried the woman furiously.
Mary chose to go limp. What was another quarter of an hour's bullying to her? She was dragged outside and across the cobbled yard, the wardress still scolding and shaking her vigorously. The men clustered about the door, grinning at the spectacle. As she approached the trough in the corner of the courtyard, lugging Mary under her arm, the wardress produced a coarse handkerchief from her pocket and clamped it over Mary's nose and mouth. A new smell, sweet and cold, flooded her nostrils. She struggled for a moment, briefly bewildered by the expression in the woman's eyes.
And then the sky went black.
* * *
Was this death? Her mouth felt thick, as did her head. Her fingertips were numb. She twitched them experimentally, and realized with a small shock that her wrists were no longer shackled. Indeed, she was floating, swaddled in linen and soft blankets. She turned her cheek to one side and rubbed against the pillow, catlike. The scent was pleasant and totally unfamiliar. No lake of burning fire, so far. No heavenly choir, either. She saw no reason to move, or even to open her eyes.
"Mary?"
She hadn't considered that God might be female. Slowly, reluctantly, she raised heavy eyelids and focused on the speaker. The woman had changed her lavender mourning dress for something darker, but it was she: the lady who'd winked at her from the gallery. That meant this was neither hell nor heaven.
"How do you feel?"
The question seemed irrelevant. Mary let her gaze slide around the room – large, simply furnished, lit by candles – and back to the Winker. "I don't know."
"Your head might ache; chloroform sometimes has that effect, although we use as little as possible."
Chloroform: a fancy word for a dangerous substance. She'd heard whispers of potions that knocked one out, but always dismissed them as wishful lies.
"You must be thirsty." The Winker offered a glass of something pale and cloudy. At Mary's hesitation, she smiled. "It's quite safe to drink." To demonstrate, she took a sip.
Mary's first taste was tentative. Then, as the cool liquid filled her mouth, she guzzled it greedily. Lemonade: she'd had it once before, a couple of years ago. Now, she was sorry when it was all gone. Wiping her mouth, she looked at the lady. She still felt fuzzy-headed, but her curiosity was strong. "Why?"
"Why don't I begin with who and where? Then I'll get to why and how."
Mary nodded. She felt mocked.
The lady sat down beside the bed. "My name is Anne Treleaven," she began, "and I am the head teacher here at Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. Our founder was an eccentric and wealthy woman whose desire was to help women achieve a measure of independence. Education for girls in our country is generally very inferior, even for the rich, and many girls receive none at all. So Miss Scrimshaw founded a school."
She spoke quietly, but her eyes were sharp and they rarely left Mary's face. "We are a little like a charity school, since most of our students would not normally be able to afford our fees. However, we are a very unusual institution in that we often select our students, instead of waiting for them to come to us. We search for girls who would most benefit from the special training we offer." She paused. "We have chosen you."
Mary scowled. "I suppose you think that's generous. What makes you think I want to be chosen? Suppose I _want_ to hang?"
Instead of shock and outrage, Anne's face showed mild amusement. "Don't bristle. We don't intend to keep you here by force. You may leave at any time and go directly to the gallows, if you wish. But I hope you will at least listen to me for a few minutes before choosing."
Mary felt both churlish and childish. She shrugged.
"My colleagues have been watching you for some time. You know one of them as the wardress at the Old Bailey, of course; another observed you in Newgate prison during the weeks before your sentencing. They were both struck by your intelligence. They were also intrigued by the fact that you pled guilty, instead of insisting upon a trial. Most people charged with capital crimes insist upon their innocence, whether it is true or not. But you didn't. Why not, Mary?"
After a pause, Mary shrugged again. "Maybe I was fed up."
Anne's eyes glinted. "Of lying? Of stealing?" She refilled Mary's glass and passed it to her. "Or perhaps of living?"
Mary's blink was the equivalent of a full confession from another, less hardened, girl.
"You are surprisingly resigned to death, for one so young."
"Twelve years is enough for me," she said. Well-meaning strangers – women, especially – were forever trying to coax her into a tearful confession of her life's sufferings. She'd not fallen for that sort of gammon in years.
Anne raised one thin eyebrow. "That is what my colleagues suspected, and that is why we brought you to the Academy: in the hope you might find the prospect of a different sort of life more tolerable."
"As an honest little maid-of-all-work, you mean? So that fine ladies can have the joy of beating me, all for eight quid a year?" She spat on the carpet. "Not I."
Anne's expression hardened. "No, Mary, not that. Not ever that."
"You're mad, then. There's nothing else; not for my sort."
"You're wrong about that."
"Am I?"
"You're clever, Mary. And fierce. And ambitious. There are a few professions open to women; you might join any of these." Anne paused and inclined her head. "And there are one or two other possibilities available to women of exceptional abilities... but to speak of these now would be somewhat, shall we say, premature."
Absurd. Nobody ever got a second chance. She knew that much, at least. Oh, Lord – was the unexpected praise going to her head? "What's your dodge?" demanded Mary.
Again, Anne appeared unsurprised by the question, the rudeness. "As I explained before, our aim is to offer girls an independent life. Too many women feel forced to marry; even more lack that choice and resort to prostitution, or worse, in order to survive. We believe that a sound education will assist our graduates to support themselves." She paused. "Not all our pupils succeed. Few professions are open to women, which makes matters difficult. Some girls also prefer the idea of marriage to hard work, not realizing that marriage to a brute or a drunkard is more difficult than any profession. But they choose their paths. We cannot force our ideas upon our pupils.
"But I digress. My colleagues see that you have a taste for independence, and the desire to make your own way in the world. You are accustomed to taking decisions and caring for yourself. Here at the Academy, we can give you a better chance of achieving that independence. We can help you to escape your life as a thief – to reinvent yourself, if you like. A chance to improve your expectations... to become what you might have been, had fate been kinder in the first instance."
Mary swallowed hard. Anne's ideas were extraordinary – a giddy, improbable revelation. How was it possible for her feelings to revolve so quickly? Five minutes earlier, she'd been cursing the woman who snatched her out of jail and away from the certainty of death. Now, she was terrified that all this glowing promise might be merely a cheap confidence trick. "You still haven't answered my question," she said gruffly. She feared her voice was shaking. "What's in it for you? What's the catch?"
Anne's eyes, she noticed suddenly, were steel grey. "I hate to see girls become victims," she said with quiet intensity. "You very nearly were. That's what's in it for me." Suddenly, she folded her fingers round Mary's cold hand. "And the catch, my dear, is that you must be willing to work hard for it. That is all."
That handclasp shocked Mary more than a sudden blow. When was the last time she'd been touched? The wardress, of course, had knocked her about a little – all in a good cause, apparently. Men tried to grope her skirts in the streets. Drunks reeled against her in mobbed alleys and public houses. Small children bumped against her as they careered through crowds. But the last time someone had touched her, Mary, with affection... that had not happened since her mother died.
Shaken, she pulled away her hand. _This can't be true. This must be another dead-end. There is no hope. You learned that years ago, you little fool._ She drew a steadying breath and opened her lips to snarl all this. Instead, one word came out in a faint voice.
"Please..."
# One
# Good Friday, 2 April 1858
_Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls
St John's Wood, London_
Mary took the attic stairs two by two. It was tricky, in a steel crinoline and buttoned boots, but she needed some sort of outlet for her nervous energy. Since requesting a meeting with the head teachers earlier that day, she hadn't been able to concentrate on much. Her first attempt at a knock was shaky, her knuckles barely scraping the heavy oak door. She overcompensated with a pair of rugged thumps and cringed again. It sounded as though she was trying to break down the door.
"Come in," came the crisp command.
She swallowed, wiped her palms on her skirts, and turned the polished brass knob. The door glided silently on its hinges, revealing a bland scene: a pair of middle-class women taking afternoon tea. While the ladies looked conventional enough, Mary had quickly learned that between them, they controlled everything about the Academy. "G –good afternoon, Miss Treleaven," she managed to murmur. "Mrs Frame."
Anne beckoned her forward. "Come in, Mary. Do sit down."
"Th–thank you." She dropped into the nearest seat, a slippery horsehair chair that immediately attempted to deposit her on the floor. She didn't normally stammer. Never had. This was a devil of a time to begin.
Anne poured a third cup of tea and handed it to her. It was a very warm day, especially up in the attic. As a curl of steam reached her nostrils, Mary blinked, her nervousness doubling. She was holding a cup of lapsang souchong, a tea Anne generally reserved for special occasions.
"Would you like a slice of cake?" Anne indicated the seedcake on the tray at her elbow.
The idea made Mary's stomach clench. "Thank you, no." The more she tried to steady her nerves, the more her cup rattled in its saucer.
"You wished to speak with us." To Mary's surprise, Anne rose and began to pace restlessly before the cold fireplace. Mary's glance flicked towards Felicity Frame, who remained seated. The two women seemed opposites in all ways: Anne was thin, plain and quietly serious, while Felicity was tall and curvy, a striking beauty with a rich laugh.
Mary moistened her lips. "Yes." When they remained silent, she supposed there was nothing else to do but begin. "I am very grateful to you for rescuing me from the gallows, and for the education you have given me. I owe you everything, quite literally. But I have been thinking of my future, and – I wish – that is, I do not think..." Mary faltered. Her carefully rehearsed speech was evaporating before their grave, curious faces.
She took a scalding sip of tea. _Why serve a special tea today_? A strong sense of guilt prompted her to speak quickly and bluntly. "What I mean to say is, that for some time, I have been questioning my position as an assistant teacher. While I enjoy living here at the Academy, I know that I'm not very good at the work. I do like the girls, but I lack the patience to be a teacher."
She hurried on without looking up. "I'm afraid it gets worse. Two years ago, I took lessons in shorthand and typing, but I do not find the repetitive life of a clerk appealing. Last year, I began preliminary medical training with the idea of becoming a nurse. But the matrons did not have confidence in me, and I was not invited to continue." She swallowed, the taste of that humiliation still strong in her mouth. "Recently, I have been wondering: is it not possible – is it even reasonable – to expect something more from my work?"
Anne looked mildly curious. "What do you mean, 'something more'?"
Mary writhed inwardly. "It sounds foolish, I know... I mean a sense of pride and active interest in work... even enjoyment. Perhaps satisfaction?" There. It was out. Ungrateful as she was, it was out.
There was a short pause, but not a flicker of surprise or disappointment showed on either face. Anne spoke first. "How long have you been teaching the junior girls now, Mary?"
"For a year; I began when I was about sixteen."
"And you have lived here at the school since you were twelve, of course."
"From the day you rescued me from the Old Bailey." Mary flushed. "At least, I was roughly twelve... as you know, I've no birth certificate. But I'm certain I was born in 1841."
"Nearly one third of your life, then, has been spent with us."
Mary nodded. "Yes. I know I must sound terribly selfish."
A faint smile passed over Anne's lips, but it was gone in a moment. "Let us leave the question of gratitude to one side. You have reached the age of seventeen. You find yourself... stifled... by the routine of the schoolroom."
Mary nodded. "Yes."
"Do you wish to return to your life as it was before you were imprisoned? Housebreaking and picking pockets?"
"No!" Mary realized that she had half shouted the word. She moderated her voice. "Not in the least. But I long for a little independence... for a different sort of work."
"Ah." Again, that satisfied gleam passed over Anne's features. "What sort of work do you envision?"
Mary shook her head miserably. "That is what I do not know. I hoped you would be able to advise me."
Felicity spoke for the first time. "Are you quite certain that you wish to work at all? Many girls try to marry, in order to escape poverty."
Mary shook her head firmly. "No. I have no desire to marry."
"Other women find lovers to provide for them."
Mary nearly dropped her teacup in amazement. "Mrs Frame? You are surely not recommending..."
Felicity smiled faintly. "I am not recommending anything. But I wish to set aside conventional morality and speak of practical possibilities. You are not beautiful, but you are intelligent and rather... striking. Exotic, even. Being a mistress is a possibility."
"I hate being looked at! People are forever asking whether I'm foreign, just because I haven't got yellow hair and round blue eyes."
"That's my point: unusual looks are sometimes better than mere prettiness."
What a preposterous thing to say. And just what was Mrs Frame suggesting, talking about her "exotic" looks? Did she suspect...? Mary struggled to find her point. "Besides, a mistress is just as dependent as a wife." As the words left her mouth she remembered, long ago, hearing a rumour about Mrs Frame's own colourful personal history... but it was too late to retract. Were she so inclined.
Felicity arched one eyebrow. "You have been well trained in the philosophy of the school, Mary. We do not encourage girls to build their lives on the whims of men."
Anne spoke again. "Very well. That is your view. Tell us, now, about your early life and your family." At Mary's look of surprise, she smiled. "We do know the details, but I should like to hear it from you once more."
So this was a test of perspective... "I was born in east London – Poplar," she began. She spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. Could she trust Anne and Felicity with the full truth about her past? About her family? How would they respond? They thought they already knew everything about her...
"Is everything all right?" asked Felicity.
Mary blinked, unaware that she'd halted. "Of course." She took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "My father was a merchant sailor and my mother an Irish-born seamstress. Although my father was frequently at sea, I remember that my parents were happy together. Their only real grief was that my two younger brothers both died in infancy." She paused and swallowed hard. "When I was seven or eight years old, my father's ship was wrecked and the entire crew reported dead. The shock and grief made my mother very ill, and she lost her job as a seamstress through her illness. She was expecting another child at the time, and she lost that, too.
"When she was a little better, Mother tried to get piecework so that she could work at home. But the piecework paid next to nothing. She then tried going out as a charwoman, cleaning houses, but she only got twopence a day for the work. It wasn't enough to keep us both." Her voice was detached now, toneless. "Mother didn't care about herself, but she had me to look after. She soon had no choice: she became a prostitute. Late at night, when she thought I was asleep, she brought men back to our lodgings. That is how I learned to steal. Sometimes they would fall asleep, and I would take coins from their pockets." She drew another long breath and looked up at the two women defiantly. "It was never very much; I never took notes – only coins. I must have thought..." She shook her head. "I don't know what I thought.
"It's an old story, I suppose. Mother soon became ill. We didn't have enough money for medicine from the apothecary, and the neighbours kept away. All I know is that even with the bits I'd stolen, we hadn't enough money to live." She paused. "I don't remember much about the time immediately after Mother died. A few months later, I had learned how to pick pockets properly, and then someone taught me to pick locks, as well. I dressed as a boy; it was easier and safer.
"I became quite good at housebreaking, for a time. Then I began to take larger risks, foolish risks, really, and I was not terribly surprised that I was caught. The only mystery is that I was not caught earlier. And you know the rest – that I was sentenced to hang." Mary flashed Anne and Felicity a grateful look. "You saved me."
There was a minute's pause. When Anne spoke again, her tone was unusually gentle. "Thank you, Mary. It is to your credit that you are able to tell the story of your early life so clearly, and without extreme bitterness." She half smiled. "As you know, we at the Academy place great emphasis on strength of character.
"Well, my dear?" Anne turned to Felicity, her voice crisp once more. "How do we assess Mary's professional prospects? That she is intelligent and ambitious is evident."
"She is loyal, and capable of great discretion," Felicity added with approval. "She is also brave, tenacious, and decisive. And she strives to do what she believes is right."
Mary glowed under their warm and wholly unexpected praise.
"However. She has a bad temper," Anne noted coolly. "She dislikes correction and goes to great lengths to avoid being in the wrong. She is shy of strangers, and particularly men. That is understandable, given her childhood, but a fault nevertheless."
Mary's proud glow became a flush of shame. They were all too correct.
"Mary, you look heated," observed Anne. "Do you wish to continue this conversation?"
Mary swallowed hard. "Yes," she whispered.
"Very well. We understand your philosophy and know your character." Anne looked at Felicity, who nodded once, very slightly. "As it happens, Mary, we have a post in mind that we think will suit your abilities very well."
Mary looked up eagerly.
"But before we continue," said Anne sternly, "you must give me your solemn word that you will never reveal any part of our conversation, or hint thereof, to any other living being. Do you understand me?"
She swallowed and nodded. "Yes."
"Swear it."
"I give you my solemn word that I will never reveal any part of what you are about to tell me to another soul."
Anne's features relaxed slightly and she nodded with satisfaction. Stepping to one side of the fireplace, she slipped her fingers behind the polished oak mantel. There was a barely audible click. Then, on the wall to Mary's left, one panel of faded wallpaper swung aside to reveal a dark, narrow opening in the wall.
Mary's mouth dropped open in amazement and she dragged her fascinated gaze back to Anne's face, which wore a small, triumphant smile.
"Let us enter the headquarters of the Agency."
Shaking with excitement, Mary rose and followed the women into the narrow opening and through a short tunnel. Although the tunnel was not lit, its bricks were dry and free of cobwebs – evidence of regular use. They emerged in a large, plain room containing a round table with four straight-backed chairs. Anne and Felicity set down the oil lamps they carried. The yellow light flickered over the exposed bricks and rough wooden floorboards, making the room seem oddly cosy.
The women each took a seat round the table and Anne smiled at Mary warmly. "I always hoped you would come to us one day, my dear – and you did. But I have talked too much already, perhaps giving you the impression that I am in charge. I am not; the Agency is a collective, although only two of us are present this evening. Mrs Frame, would you care to explain to Mary what we do here?"
Felicity cleared her throat; she had been unusually quiet thus far. "As you know, the goal of Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls is to give young women the means to achieve some form of independence. Marriage is an uncertain gamble, and the primary types of work open to women depend upon the good nature of one's employer. That is why most governesses and domestic servants are so shamefully abused."
Anne vigorously nodded her agreement. "Precisely. Although professional opportunities for women are few, it is our aim to train women to do more than teach children and serve meals. But you know this already, and you have been helping to prepare young women in this way, too." She paused and glanced at Felicity. "I beg your pardon, Flick. Do go on."
Mary bit back a smile on hearing the affectionate nickname. She had never before heard the grave, thoughtful Miss Treleaven speak so informally.
Felicity turned her marvellous eyes on Mary, her gaze almost hypnotic now. "The Agency complements the Academy. Here, we turn the stereotype of the meek female servant to our advantage. Because we are believed to be foolish, silly, weak women, we are in a position to observe and learn more effectively than a man in a similar position. Our clients employ us to gather information, often on highly confidential subjects. We place our agents in very sensitive situations. But while a man in such a position might be subject to suspicion, we find that women – posing as governesses or domestic servants, for example – are often totally ignored."
She permitted herself a small smile. "We also find that well-trained women tend to be more perceptive, as well as less arrogant, in their observations. They are often, shall we say, less prone to error – not because they are cleverer or more fortunate, but because they make fewer assumptions and take less for granted. And, contrary to stereotype, they are often more logical." She looked at Mary keenly. "Have you any questions thus far?"
Mary nodded. Her fingers clenched hard on either side of her chair. "How many members has the Agency? Do your clients know that your agents are female? When was the Agency founded? And by whom? Is Miss Scrimshaw involved?"
They laughed at her eagerness, and again it was Felicity who answered. "The Agency was founded some ten years ago, and Anne and I were among its first operatives. We are now its official heads and daily managers, although major decisions are made collectively. However, for reasons of security, you will almost never meet other agents face to face.
"We do not discuss our operatives with our clients. They are attracted by our reputation, but we disclose to them very little beyond the information they seek. We find that to be in the best interests of all involved. We are also highly selective in our clients. We decline to work for criminal organizations, or those whose activities we find undesirable or dubious. And no, Miss Scrimshaw is not involved with the Agency... although we believe she would approve of our actions."
Mary's eyes were wide. "And you really think I might be fit for this sort of work?"
Felicity's voice was deep and rich. "We had been debating for some time whether or not to approach you. We were each convinced that you had the potential to become an agent, but we were equally concerned that the work might remind you too much of your past. We had no desire to make you unhappy, and we did not want you to attempt the work simply to please us." She smiled brilliantly. "But you have come to us, instead."
"Let us not congratulate ourselves prematurely," announced Anne in her usual brisk manner. "Mary, you must still listen to the assignment we propose and decide whether or not you wish to undertake it. And before that, we must turn to the question of skill."
"Skill?"
"We are interested in your skills of observation, Mary. Close your eyes and picture the room in which we received you. Can you tell me how many lamps there were?"
Mary found it easy to summon a detailed image of the room and her employers. "Three," she said with confidence.
"What are the dimensions of that room?"
"Roughly eighteen by twelve; the ceiling is about ten feet high, and plastered smooth."
"And the table that was to your left?"
"It is round, and made of walnut – about three feet high and eighteen inches in diameter. It has three legs. There was nothing on it."
"What jewellery am I wearing today?"
Mary paused to consider. Again, a mental image of Anne clicked into place. "An oval brooch made of gold and amber. It has a filigree border."
"And what time do you estimate it to be, now?"
"I came to meet you at half past four. It must now be a little after five o'clock."
"Thank you, Mary." Anne nodded, as though checking off an item on a list. "You did well; unusually so. I also believe you know something of the art of pugilism."
"Boxing?" Mary smiled at her employer's delicate phrasing. "I have no technique, and I fight dirty. But growing up near the docks, I learned to protect myself. I believe that all young women should know how; that is why I began teaching some elementary manoeuvres to the older girls."
Anne nodded briskly once more. "The first phase of training, involving observation skills, self-defence and a few other useful techniques, normally lasts for several months. However, given your background, this may feel like unnecessary repetition. Mrs Frame and I have agreed that you may – if you choose – compress the initial training period into one month. It will mean a great deal of intensive work, and you may prefer to undergo the usual training period, which allows for a little more leisure and a greater margin of error. The choice is entirely yours."
Mary paused, suddenly dizzy at the prospect. In the space of an hour, her entire life had been transformed by these women, much as it had five years ago. She gazed at them, but couldn't read their expressions. Felicity appeared casually unconcerned. Anne's gold-rimmed spectacles hid the expression in her grey eyes. And Mary thought she understood: their expectations didn't matter. It was entirely her decision. "I should like to begin as soon as possible," she said, her voice firm and clear. "I choose the intensive, one-month training."
"If we start tomorrow morning," said Felicity suddenly, "you'll be ready to commence practice field-work in May. The timing is excellent!"
Mary sat bolt upright. "Why is that?"
A look of amused resignation rippled across Anne's face. "Mrs Frame is getting ahead of herself..."
Felicity bit her lip. "I'm sorry; I thought we talked about this: that if Mary knows what she's training towards, she'll be better able to focus and prepare."
A sharp tingle ran up and down Mary's spine, making her scalp prickle.
There was an appreciable pause. Then Anne began to speak, her voice dry and dispassionate. "During the mutiny in India last year, a number of Hindu temples and homes were robbed of precious jewels and sculptures. In at least two instances, these very unique items have made their way into private British collections. We have been asked to investigate a merchant who is believed to have handled a significant number of the smuggled artefacts. He is suspected of selling them to crooked antiquities dealers in London and Paris."
Mary frowned, disciplining her thoughts away from the sheer excitement of the situation and towards the problem described. "This task is beyond the scope of the police?"
"Yes and no," said Felicity. "These crimes did not occur on English soil and there is still no evidence linking our suspect to them. As such, Scotland Yard cannot act. Instead, the Yard has engaged us to find the connection and retrieve the evidence. It is a freedom available to us, as an independent agency.
"Our suspect's name is Henry Thorold. He is connected with the East India Company, the Far East Trading Company and a number of American interests. Although he has warehouses in Bristol, Liverpool and Calais, his operations centre primarily in his London warehouse, located on the south bank of the Thames.
"Thorold has, in the past, been suspected of financial crimes – evading stamp duties, some eight to ten years ago and, more recently, defrauding his insurers – but nothing was proven. We believe that our agent will be more effective. She describes it as a straightforward job that is likely to take a month or so. Of course, international trade is always precarious and subject to extreme weather conditions; ships might be long delayed, and our priority is to collect a significant and conclusive amount of evidence."
Mary nodded, trying to appear calm and patient. "I see. But you – you did mention that there might be a role for me in this case?"
Felicity smiled. "Not a major role, certainly. We already have an agent on the case who is conducting the bulk of the investigation. But there is a second post we thought might serve as a training ground for a new agent." Felicity glanced at Anne. "Perhaps, Miss Treleaven, you could describe the post?"
"Certainly. Mrs Thorold is an invalid who believes that her daughter, Angelica, requires a companion. She would prefer to engage a younger woman – not so much a chaperone as a paid friend, close to her daughter's age. The daughter, I gather, is rather spoilt and accustomed to having her own way." Anne paused, a glint of humour in her eyes. "I expect your classroom experience will prove useful to you, in that respect."
A month's delay! "But won't the post be filled by someone else in a month's time?" protested Mary.
"I think not. I'm due to meet Mrs Thorold next week, in my capacity as head teacher at the Academy. The negotiations will take some time, and Mrs Thorold appears to be fairly slow-moving, in general."
Hmm. It sounded as though Anne and Felicity had been thinking of her, all along... "And if I hadn't chosen the one-month intensive training...?"
"If, at the end of the month we deem you unready, another agent will take the post and you will meet with an equally useful training assignment once your training is complete," said Anne firmly. "You mustn't think that this assignment depends upon you; that would be a gross overstatement of the importance of your role."
Mary nodded, blushing.
"However," said Felicity a little more gently, "you may train with this particular assignment in mind. It will be an opportunity for you to practice being insignificant and meek."
Mary digested that. The Academy trained its pupils to think rationally, to carry themselves with confidence, and to stand by their opinions. Presumably, a stereotypical lady's companion would have little use for those skills. "May I know more about the assignment?"
Anne studied her for a moment. "I don't suppose it could hurt. You'll receive a more thorough briefing before you begin the assignment – _if_ you receive the assignment. But, in essence: the agent posted in the Thorold household will listen for news of a particular shipment coming from the Malabar Coast. There is a secretary living in the house – a young man who has been with the family for less than a year, named Gray. There is a chance that Thorold and Gray might discuss illegal business at home."
Mary nodded. "That seems straightforward enough. Is there anything else I – that the agent, I mean – should do as well?"
Anne smiled at her disappointment. "You did mention that you're impatient. No, Mary: this is to be your first experience of fieldwork. We've chosen it precisely because it's a safer place in which to learn your craft."
"I understand," Mary murmured. "I'm a quick learner."
"I am sure you have further questions, but before we continue..." Anne leaned forward, her eyes intent. "Mary, at this time, you are still free to choose your course. You may leave us now, and attempt to forget that this conversation tonight ever took place. Or you may choose to join the Agency. But should you choose to enrol, we must know that you are fully committed to the Agency and to its principles."
Felicity folded her long, shapely hands together. "The Agency is a covert organization, and we require absolute discretion from each of our members. Being a secret agent carries with it many known risks, as well as the constant possibility of unknown threats. Think carefully before you choose." She straightened her posture, seeming to grow more majestic with each moment. "In becoming a secret agent, Mary, you become part of a new family. When you are on assignment, we will be the only people who know where you are and what your purpose is.
"We will support and assist you in any way possible, and we will never ask you to go against your conscience. But there are times when you will feel very alone indeed. Don't rush, Mary, and consider carefully. We will not think less of you if you choose to return to the schoolroom."
Mary took a deep breath and sat tall. Her decision was already made. Her voice was perfectly steady as she said quietly, "I am ready to choose. I accept your terms, and I will carry out all assignments to the best of my abilities."
There was a moment's silence. And another. And a third. Then came the sound of chairs scraping against wooden floorboards as Anne and Felicity stood and clasped Mary's hands in theirs.
Anne beamed, pride ringing in her voice. "Mary: welcome to the Agency."
# Two
# Tuesday, 4 May
Number twenty-two, _may-dams_." The carriage juddered to a halt and the cabman tipped his hat with an ironic flourish to the two primly dressed women who descended.
Anne paid him with fussy precision, counting out the tuppences and ha'pennies under her breath. The coachman rolled his eyes: _bloody spinster governesses_. Once he was gone, Anne shot a small, encouraging smile at her companion. "Ready?" she murmured under her breath.
Was she? Mary felt a surge of nausea. It seemed as though all the vigorous instruction of the past month was evaporating before her mind's eye. All the physical training – self-defence, disguise, fitness – seemed irrelevant here, a short flight of whitewashed steps away from her first assignment. And what sort of spycraft could she need? Would there be scope for lock-picking and knot-tying, not to mention sleight of hand and questioning suspicious parties? The assignment entailed only listening and tea-drinking. Perhaps she wasn't prepared at all...
But Anne was still looking at her with a steady, watchful expression.
Mary lowered the handkerchief she'd raised to her nose. "Ready." Here, beside the river, the smell of putrefaction was so strong she could taste it. Vegetation. Flesh. Sewage, both human and animal. All rotting. Add to that coal smoke and, beneath it all, the tang of salt water.
Anne pressed her lips together. "Ghastly, isn't it? Once this hot spell lifts, it ought to be quite a lot better."
"I hope so," she muttered. Her attention was focused on the house. Number twenty-two, Cheyne Walk, was a strange choice for a businessman. The Chelsea district was famous – perhaps notorious – for its bohemian residents, especially the scandalous painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. But despite its artistic allure, Chelsea was still rather seedy.
The house itself was a tall slice of Georgian wedding cake. Being so close to the Thames – it was literally across the street from the embankment – its whitewashed façade was an uneven grey, frescoed with lumps of bird guano and soot. The steps, however, had been scrubbed that morning and the door was promptly answered by a footman. Mrs Thorold was expecting them; would they walk up?
It took several moments for their eyes to adjust to the dim stuffiness of the interior. The staircase leading up to the second floor was lined with oil portraits: a golden-haired girl, pretty but overdressed; a pallid boy in a sailor costume; a portly middle-aged woman displaying a splendid ruby necklace; and lastly, a middle-aged man with puffy eyes and the jowls to match. Mary studied this one with special interest.
The drawing-room was at the front of the house. Its large windows were swathed in elaborate velvet drapes that excluded all daylight and any possible breeze. The air inside, still and stale, nevertheless held a definite suggestion of the river's stench, overlaid with rose potpourri.
"Misses Treleaven and Quinn, madam." The footman's voice was rather nasal.
Anne advanced and bowed. "Good afternoon, Mrs Thorold. May I present to you Miss Mary Quinn? She is the young woman I mentioned in my last letter."
The lady's voice was flabby and slightly tremulous. "I hope you will excuse my not standing, my dears. I feel rather weak today."
Mary bowed, then raised her eyes cautiously. Despite the heat, Mrs Thorold was wrapped tightly in a lace shawl, her face pale beneath an old-fashioned lace cap. Her blue eyes blinked short-sightedly at Mary and Anne. She was like a faded version of the woman in the oil painting, except that the painter had tactfully ignored her pockmarks. They were quite pronounced.
"This heat must be very trying for you, Mrs Thorold." Mary's voice was hesitant.
"Yes indeed," the older lady nodded. "Enervating, that's what my medical men say." Her gaze wandered over Mary's face and plain, unfashionable dress. It was unclear just how much those unfocused eyes could make out in the gaslit gloom.
"Do sit down." Mrs Thorold indicated the sofa immediately facing her armchair and turned to the footman. "William, you may serve tea. And – and tell Angelica I wish her to meet Miss..." She struggled briefly.
"Quinn," Anne suggested. It was Mary's mother's surname, adopted during her early days at the Academy. "Mary Lang" was still a wanted woman, having escaped her fate at the gallows – and besides, Mary preferred a less conspicuous surname for reasons she refused to name, even to herself.
Anne skilfully led the small talk, describing Mary's abilities as a paid companion – letter-writing, reading aloud, good French, genteel taste in literature – and providing Mrs Thorold with opportunities to quiz Mary on these subjects. Mary was just describing her current reading (a collection of sermons) when the drawing-room door opened and Mrs Thorold's face brightened.
"Angelica, darling. Come and meet Miss Treleaven and Miss Quinn."
It was the girl from the portrait – still pretty and still overdressed, although the eyes were now narrowed and hostile. Her gaze swept from Anne to Mary. "So you're _it_?" she demanded.
"I should like to be your companion, if your mother thinks it suitable," Mary replied.
"I don't want a companion." Stony blue eyes raked her over, taking in her meek posture and unflattering dress. "Especially a foreigner. Where are you from?"
"London."
Angelica snorted. "With those eyes and that hair?"
Mary couldn't prevent a defensive blush. "My mother was Irish. Some Irish people have dark eyes and hair."
"Only half English..." Angelica twisted her mouth in distaste. "How old are you?"
"Twenty." The lie felt strange in her mouth. Mary knew she looked nothing like twenty, but no one was going to hire a seventeen-year-old.
Angelica's obvious disbelief was pre-empted by her mother's anxious quaver. "My sweet girl, where are your manners? Miss Treleaven will think you so rude."
The sweet girl dropped her gaze to the carpet and muttered a barely audible, "How d'you do."
"It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Miss Thorold," murmured Anne. "I understand you're a musician."
Mary took her cue and jumped in with a gentle question about music. Between them, she and Anne cajoled Angelica into something like an ordinary conversation, and eventually persuaded her to play for them. Mary braced herself for a syrupy popular ballad, executed with a simper; instead, Angelica gave them a Bach prelude, very fast and very stormy, and then pretended not to hear their startled expressions of admiration.
When the tea tray arrived, Angelica took charge automatically. She dealt out the cups with a clatter, deliberately stirred too much sugar into Anne's cup, and all but hurled the plate of biscuits at the guests. One or two tipped onto the carpet, but Mrs Thorold seemed not to notice.
Despite the efforts of Mary and Anne, tea was drunk mainly in silence. Mrs Thorold settled drowsily into her chair, smiling absently from time to time, while Angelica simply shoved a biscuit into her mouth and shrugged whenever a remark was directed at her. Through persistent questioning, though, they learned that Angelica was eighteen; had left her finishing school in Surrey last year; did not miss her schoolmates, as they were a dull and stupid lot; had no particular friends in London; took pianoforte lessons twice a week at the Royal Academy of Music; and otherwise filled her time with boring parties. It was difficult to tell whether she disliked Anne and Mary especially, or if she was angry with the whole world.
When the tea tray was removed, Mrs Thorold seemed to awaken. She struggled to sit upright in her armchair, and sighed, "Well, my sweet girl?"
Angelica flicked a glance at Mary. "No."
Mary tensed. She had failed, just like that? She fought an impulse to look at Anne.
Mrs Thorold blinked twice, then sighed again. "Oh, my dear. We cannot continue this indefinitely, you know. It is so very tiring, for one thing."
"We can. Until you understand that I don't want a bloody companion."
Mrs Thorold blanched. "Language, my darling!"
"Mamma, I will not have a paid companion. Do you understand me?"
The silence stretched for several seconds, with all four women frozen in their chairs. It was Anne who finally broke the impasse. "Mrs Thorold, I shouldn't like to force Miss Quinn's company upon Miss Thorold; that would be most uncomfortable for both."
Angelica visibly smirked.
Mary inwardly slumped.
"But perhaps," continued Anne, "Miss Thorold would appreciate a different sort of companion? Someone older, perhaps, who could act as a steadying influence? I have in mind a senior teacher at the Academy who is—"
"Oh no," interrupted Angelica. Her eyes flicked from Anne to Mary to her mother. "Not an old biddy."
Anne turned her cool gaze on to Angelica. "It's merely a suggestion, Miss Thorold. But as your mother wishes you to have some sort of companion, and knows your best interests..."
Angelica scowled. "Oh no you don't." She turned to her mother. "Mamma, tell her! Tell her we're not having anybody at all!"
A slight gleam appeared in Mrs Thorold's faded eyes. She gingerly moistened her lips. "Er... that is, Miss Treleaven... I see the wisdom in your suggestion."
"Ma–MMA!" It was more a howl than an exclamation. Mary half expected Angelica to throw herself onto the carpet and beat it with her fists.
Mrs Thorold glanced at Anne. "Yes... I see now. Angelica, you must choose. Will it be Miss Quinn, or an older chaperone?"
"You can't be in earnest!"
"But I am, my dear." Her voice was still soft, but Mrs Thorold seemed to gain conviction from Anne's lead. She met her daughter's angry glare with a placid blink. "Miss Quinn is the eighth candidate we have considered for this position. She seems entirely suitable, and very pleasant as well. You must choose, unless you wish me to choose for you."
Angelica was still sulking. Did she get that temper from her father?
Anne turned to her. "Perhaps a trial period might be best," she said calmly. "To see how you get on. If at the end of, say, a month's time, you find that you cannot tolerate Miss Quinn's company, I shall introduce you to Miss Clampett. She's a very brisk, efficient lady with many years of schoolroom experience. She's a great proponent of early morning constitutionals, and cold baths."
"You're only trying to frighten me." But Angelica didn't sound certain.
Anne merely shrugged slightly and consulted her watch. Turning back to Mrs Thorold, she said, "I have enjoyed our meeting, madam, but regret that I must be on my way." She paused, then asked casually, "Shall I try to keep Miss Quinn disengaged for a few days? We've another client who requires a young lady companion, but I _might_ be able to put her off..."
Three heads swivelled towards Angelica, who threw up her hands in disgust. "Oh, very well! I suppose even Miss Quinn is preferable to an old bag who plunges one into cold baths."
Mary reduced a triumphant grin to a demure smile. "Why, thank you."
The speed of her installation at Cheyne Walk was breathtaking, even by Anne's standards. Within a quarter of an hour, Mary's salary was negotiated, her duties reaffirmed, and the delivery of her small trunk arranged for later that evening. She would begin on the spot. As Anne took her leave, Mary felt a wave of sheer panic. Although her assignment was clear in her mind, she would have given much for five minutes' private conversation with Anne. Instead, she dredged up a shaky smile and made a modest bow. It wasn't as though she was completely adrift, Mary reminded herself. There was a simple letter-writing code by which she and Anne could exchange information. And above all, she had asked – pleaded, even – for this new task. This new challenge. This new life.
Before the drawing-room doors had closed on her so-called former employer, Mrs and Miss Thorold had relapsed into what seemed their normal state: Mrs Thorold dozed in her chair while Angelica practised the pianoforte.
The music ended only with the appearance of the men. The sound of footsteps on the staircase made Angelica put away her sheet music, and even Mrs Thorold appeared to wake up when the drawing-room door clicked open.
"Here you are, my dears, hallo, hallo..." A small, moonfaced, great-bellied man bustled into the room, dropping his hat on one side table, his gloves on another, and smoothing down a few wisps of combed-over hair that had come unstuck from his bald crown.
"You're rather early this evening, Papa," said Angelica sweetly, coming forward to have her forehead kissed.
"Hope I'm not interrupting your feminine chitchat," Thorold said, patting her cheek. He bowed respectfully to Mrs Thorold and continued talking to Angelica. "Had a good day?"
"Yes, Papa. Shall I ring for your whisky?"
"That's my girl." He turned to Mary politely. "I don't believe we've met, Miss...?"
"Quinn. Mary Quinn." She bowed. "I've just been engaged as companion to Miss Thorold."
"Bless me, of course you have. I'm Henry Thorold, of course, and this is my secretary, Michael Gray."
Mary bowed again to the young man who trailed in Thorold's wake. "A pleasure to meet you, sirs." The secretary was good-looking in a pretty way, but it was to Mr Thorold that Mary's gaze returned. The man was instantly recognizable from the portrait on the stairs, of course. But his undignified energy and good humour came as a shock. She must learn to avoid stereotypes: there was no reason on earth why a ruthless merchant who evaded taxation and smuggled Hindu artefacts could not also be a jolly paterfamilias.
Drink in hand, Thorold lowered himself into the armchair beside Angelica's with a deep sigh. Michael chose a place on the sofa while Mrs Thorold remained in her chair, rather outside the conversational triangle made by the other three. There was a silence. Finally, Thorold stirred himself to ask, "Anything to report, then? What has my darling been up to today?"
A short silence followed the question.
"Conversation and music, Papa." Angelica's voice was mild. So she behaved nicely in her father's presence, only letting loose with her mother.
Michael Gray smiled politely. "My congratulations, Miss Quinn. You must be exceptionally well qualified, if Miss Thorold has taken a liking to you."
Mrs Thorold cut in unexpectedly. "Angelica and Miss Quinn will get on charmingly." It was definitely a command, despite her quavering voice. "And Miss Quinn will be useful at the party this Saturday."
"Party?" Thorold looked perplexed for a minute. Then he slapped one hand to his forehead. "But of course! The party!"
Angelica made a face. "About that party, Papa... Don't you think it's rather poor weather for a garden party? This – this – " Her voice trailed off as she searched for a polite word for "stink".
"Miasma?" suggested Michael.
She ignored him. "This unseasonable heat is too much. Our guests will be most uncomfortable."
Mary looked at Angelica curiously. Why would a rich, bored young lady want to cancel a party?
"It is impossible to cancel now, Mr Thorold," said Mrs Thorold firmly. "The invitations went out three weeks ago."
"Our guests will understand our reasons for postponing," insisted Angelica. "They can hardly be eager to crowd into a drawing-room twenty feet from the Thames."
"Then there are the preparations to think of," continued Mrs Thorold, as though Angelica had not spoken. "All that food ordered, and the band booked, and all those extra footmen and maids engaged. Not to mention the marquee for the garden."
Thorold was looking from wife to daughter, as though at a tennis match. "You have a point," he said, vaguely addressing both.
"We cannot possibly cancel now; it's far too late," said Mrs Thorold firmly.
"What about your health, Mamma? It's so delicate," said Angelica simultaneously.
Both women turned to Thorold, awaiting a judgement. The silence stretched out for several long seconds. It was so quiet in the room that Mary heard him gulp. After an age, he delicately cleared his throat. "Er... well, the thing is... we did – er – hum. There's the matter of..."
"Mr Easton," said Mrs Thorold crisply. All heads swung to look at her, and she slumped a little in her chair. "He's an excellent prospect for Angelica," she continued in a weaker voice, "and very much taken with her."
Thorold frowned. "It would be a shame to disappoint Easton. I saw him just today, and he told me how much he looked forward to the party."
"A suitor with money," pronounced Mrs Thorold, "will make a pleasant change from the packs of fortune-hunters swarming the house."
Thorold looked agreeable. "Told me he was after a contract in India! Clever chap... land of opportunity, at the moment."
Mary leaned forward slightly, but that was all he said.
Angelica sighed heavily.
Michael looked at the ceiling.
Thorold nodded once. "Very well, then. The party must go on!"
# Three
# Saturday, 8 May
By midnight, all the Thorolds' guests had arrived with their ladies' maids in tow. Due to the weather, they avoided the marquee in the beautifully lit but foul-smelling gardens, and the house was consequently a crush. Despite the extra footmen posted with large fans in the corners of every room, the air was thick and stale. The bouquets of hothouse flowers massed around the room already looked somewhat wilted, as did the footmen.
The heat aside, however, it was a beautiful gathering. Dozens of long wax candles combined with the gaslights to make the room midday-bright. The young ladies wore frothy white dresses, lavishly trimmed with ribbons and flowers. Married and older women wore more colours, but for all ladies it was a season for dramatic décolletage, and showy gemstones glittered from a few dozen bare breastbones. In their black dinner jackets and white ties, the gentlemen provided a dramatic contrast.
Gazing about the laughing, chattering, flirting, tipsy throng, Mary found it difficult to believe this polished luxury was built on creaking wooden ships and the backs of merchant sailors. International trade and dangerous labour had no place here, except as an unacknowledged, invisible source of wealth.
A fierce impatience knotted her gut. She'd spent four days living with the Thorolds. Four days keeping Angelica company. Four days absorbing hostile remarks and pretending not to notice sulks. Four days trapped in this dark, airless house while Mrs Thorold went out in the carriage each afternoon. And all for what? The only bits of information she'd heard were sadly commonplace. For example, Thorold had no obvious heir. His only son, Henry Jr – the sickly boy in the portrait – died several years ago, transforming the ambitious company of Thorold & Son into the more subdued Thorold & Co. And last month, the parlour-maid had been sacked for "immorality". She'd been six months pregnant at the time, and word in the kitchen was that Thorold was the father.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that Thorold and Gray never discussed business at home – at least, not before the women. And there was so little time remaining: Anne and Felicity expected the assignment to end in just over one week. They'd sent her no additional instructions or information, which meant that they had no news – at least, nothing that concerned her. She'd had no contact from the primary agent, which meant that her assistance was not required there. She was not to communicate with either the primary agent or the Agency unless she learned something concrete. And – completing the circle – the only way she'd discover anything would be actively to look for evidence of smuggling, etc. And – oh dear – it would be so much more interesting than wearing itchy dresses and fetching fruit ices for rude matrons.
She wouldn't. She should carry out her instructions to the letter.
And yet... what was the harm? There were, after all, only nine days left on the case.
She didn't know where to begin.
Oh, yes she did.
The party was at its peak. No one would miss her for a mere quarter of an hour. She slipped past a knot of men near the entrance of the drawing-room. Dressed as she was, in a modest grey gown, most of the guests looked straight through her. Except—
A white shirtfront, rather wilted from the heat, suddenly loomed in front of her. "Where's the fire?"
She looked straight up into Michael's eyes. Green eyes. "I beg your pardon?" She sounded startled, breathless.
"You've been dashing about all evening. Avoiding someone?"
She laughed at that. "I don't know anybody to avoid."
"You know me."
"I suppose I do, slightly," she said, sounding a little surprised.
He made a comical face. "'Slightly.' How very humbling, when I've been lying in wait for you all evening."
Was he flirting with her? Surely not. And how did one go about flirting back? Assuming one wanted to flirt back...
He seemed to enjoy the confusion written on her face. "Speechless?"
"I suspect you of trying to make me speechless."
He was really very handsome when he smiled like that. "Perhaps. But I'd like to try conversing with you, as well. Will you grant me the next waltz?"
"Oh, I couldn't..."
"Don't tell me your card is full..."
"Of course not." She didn't even have a dance card. "But I shouldn't dance."
He looked amused. "Is it forbidden?"
"Of course not. It's only that – I'm not..." Mary gestured helplessly.
Michael's gaze travelled over her lightly, admiringly. "You look well equipped for dancing: female, two arms, two feet... that I can see, at any rate."
She had to laugh at that. "You are being difficult on purpose. I mean that I am not one of the young ladies. You ought to dance with – someone else."
"I'm not an eligible bachelor. It's practically your responsibility to dance with me, you know."
"On the contrary... there seems to be a shortage of male partners. If you're so intent on dancing, you'd better ask one of the younger girls. That should be perfectly safe."
"I say, Gray!" commanded one of the men in the doorway.
"Coming!" Michael called. "This conversation is not finished," he warned her smilingly. "I'll be waiting for that dance."
She flashed him a cheeky look as she stepped around him. "You may wait all you like." Rounding the corner, she slipped down the corridor with a smile lingering on her lips. Perhaps flirting wasn't as difficult as she'd thought.
Both the noise level and the temperature fell somewhat as she neared the back of the house. The only room at this deserted end of the corridor was Thorold's office. The servants were below, feverishly producing more iced drinks, more food, opening more champagne.
Mary tried the door handle. Locked, naturally. She extracted a sturdy hairpin from her bun and crimped it deftly. Picking locks had always been one of her favourite parts of the job: looking out for intruders while simultaneously listening to the tumblers of the lock required immense focus. During her training sessions at the Agency last month, she'd been pleased and surprised to find the old knowledge flooding back. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the talents she'd acquired as a young thief were all still there while she'd struggled more with new skills, like code-cracking. Now, however, her nerves were unused to the pressure after all these years of ladylike respectability and her hands shook in an alarming fashion. She stopped and forced herself to draw five deep breaths in succession. If she didn't calm herself, she'd only scratch the lock, lose her hairpin and have to go back to the drawing-room empty-handed. It was a sobering thought that helped to steady her fingers.
Her second attempt was much better. Almost immediately, she could feel the inside of the mortise lock – visualize the tenons revolving in their neat patterns. A brief burble of laughter from down the hall made her freeze, but its source didn't appear, and she continued her work. The last lever snicked into place and she grinned. So satisfying.
The handle was well oiled. A quick glance inside confirmed that the room was empty and she slipped inside, closing the door silently behind her. The heavy velvet curtains were open and a blend of moonlight and garden torches half lit the room. She wouldn't need the stub of candle tucked in her pocket.
At last, she turned to survey the office. To her right was Thorold's desk, square and massive and completely bare. Behind the desk sat a pair of filing cabinets, a tall wardrobe, and a drinks table with several well-filled decanters and a set of glasses. To her left was a series of glass-fronted bookcases filled with leather-bound books with gold-embossed spines. The windows were against the back wall.
She frowned and chewed her lip. She couldn't expect a miraculous discovery. Indeed, she told herself sternly, it was quite likely that Thorold kept all his trade-related documents at his warehouses. But she had to begin here, in order to rule out the obvious.
She began on the left, with the bookcases. They had been recently dusted, so there was no way to tell if some volumes were more frequently used than others. Indeed, although the names were venerable – Milton, Shakespeare, Johnson – the books looked perfectly new. She pulled out a volume of Donne's sermons and smiled to herself: the pages were still uncut. Clearly, this library was purely for show. The rows upon rows of books were all like that – immaculate, respectable, untouched.
Until... as soon as she opened the door of the last bookcase, the one closest to the windows, she knew something was different. The pleasant odours of new leather and paper gave way to dust and... cigar smoke? She ran her eyes over the rows of books, and began to realize that despite their elegant bindings, these were a very different type of book: _Aretine's Postures; The House of the Rod; Fanny Hill._ She selected one of the most worn and opened it: a tangle of naked bodies, some pink and white, some brown-skinned... some smiling, others—
Mary slammed the book closed, shaken. She wasn't an innocent. Growing up on the streets, she had seen obscene pictures before. But she'd never seen anything like this. The women in these pictures were African slaves, and the white-skinned men their owners.
She fought a wave of nausea. Put the book back in its place. Swallowed a surge of bile that left a bitter taste in her mouth. She longed to wrench open the window and fill her lungs with the night air. Filthy as it was, it couldn't be worse than what she'd just seen...
Instead, she gave herself a sharp mental shake. Playing the delicate young lady was not an option. She was here to find information. Mary closed the bookcase firmly and turned to the rest of the room. The lock on the first filing cabinet was very simple. With a couple of twists of the hairpin, the catch released and she felt that tingle of excitement again as she eased the top drawer open. It slid quietly, revealing rows of neatly tied dockets, each clearly labelled by year and subject. _1836: The Americas; 1836: Bermuda and the West Indies; 1836: India._
What was that sound? Mary glanced around the room. She distinctly heard something... but, straining her ears, she could hear only the distant voices of guests, punctuated by rumbles of laughter.
She returned to the filing cabinet. It didn't take long to learn that the files were old ones, ending in the year 1845. The second cabinet contained files from 1846 to 1855, but nothing more recent. Mary chewed her lip. The active files must be elsewhere. She peeked inside a few files at random just to be certain, but things seemed to be in order: filed by docket number and date, without large gaps or other irregularities. Barring some sort of elaborate secret code, the files looked harmless. It seemed she would have to try the warehouse.
Again, that noise – like a small scraping. She paused to listen. Again, nothing but remote party noises.
Then, suddenly, something – footsteps clicking down the corridor, and drawing closer. She slid the drawer closed – no time to lock it – and glanced about. Thought wildly about crawling under the desk, but as the footsteps neared, changed her mind. The wardrobe was near by and – thank God – unlocked! She bundled herself inside, grateful for a narrow crinoline that allowed such freedom of movement. Pulled the door closed just as she heard the office doorknob click and rotate.
For several moments, Mary couldn't hear anything over the violent pounding of her pulse. She tried to draw a slow, deep breath. Then a second. A degree of calm returned with the third breath, and she blinked in the warm dark of the wardrobe. Her cheek brushed against a rough woollen garment – a coat? – and she could smell something like the blend of tobacco and male cologne that scented the bookcases.
Her mouth was dry. What was that sound in the room? Oh, why hadn't she taken the time to lock the door properly behind her? _Impatient_ , she chided herself.
Slowly, a new noise entered her awareness, so gradually that at first she thought she'd dreamt it. It sounded almost like... quiet breathing. Yes, breathing. Not her own. And it was... behind her?
Preposterous.
Wasn't it?
Instinctively, she caught her breath – and the other breath stopped, half a moment later. After counting to five, she exhaled very quietly – and heard a faint echo, a fraction behind hers.
Poppycock. She could not afford to indulge in this sort of panic. If she began now, where would it end? Right. She would have to demonstrate to herself, once and for all, that her imagination was getting the better of her.
Calmly, slowly, she reached behind with her left hand and came up against – yes, fabric. Fine linen, to be precise. So far, so good: she was inside a wardrobe, after all. The only problem was that this linen was oddly warm. Body warm. Beneath the tentative pressure of her palm, it seemed to be moving...
With terrifying suddenness, an ungloved hand clamped roughly over her nose and mouth. A long arm pinned her arms against her sides. She was held tightly against a hard, warm surface.
"Hush," whispered a pair of lips pressed to her left ear. "If you scream, we are both lost."
She couldn't have screamed even if she'd chosen to. The sound was lodged at the back of her throat.
Her captor tightened the seal over her mouth and nose. "Understand?" His tone was level, his hand warm and dry. He could have been asking if she took sugar in her tea.
She managed, with difficulty, to nod once.
Long seconds slid by. The footsteps in the office came closer, then receded. The swish of metal on metal – once, twice – suggested that the curtains were being drawn.
Tears pricked at Mary's eyes and she forced them back, her jaw tightening with the effort. She would not, would not, _would not_ give him the satisfaction of knowing she was frightened. Instead, she tried to evaluate what she knew about this man in the wardrobe. The voice was educated. _Michael Gray_? No. This man's scent was different – cedar soap and a trace of whisky, instead of the faint aura of macassar oil and pipe tobacco that clung to Michael. She surprised herself with her certainty on that subject.
The footsteps made another circuit of the room. Their owner emitted a dissatisfied "humph". Then, at long last, the door reopened, reclosed, and a key turned firmly in the lock.
Mary and her captor waited. She could feel his heartbeat, steady and slow, at her back. She counted to ten. Twenty. And then to thirty. Was he never going to let her go? She considered biting his hand.
Then his voice again, in her ear. "You will not scream or cry."
She shook her head weakly.
He waited several seconds before slowly uncovering her mouth.
She drew a long, shaky breath. Tried not to gasp as she did. She tried to move her arms, but his left arm was still locked round her.
After another pause, he released her arms, again slowly.
With trembling hands, she pushed open the wardrobe door and all but fell out. Strong hands caught her and set her upright – not harshly.
Slapping them away, she whirled round to face him. The room was almost completely dark with the curtains drawn, but she could make out a tall, lean figure.
A match flared brightly in his hand, giving her a glimpse of dark eyes and a harsh, uncompromising mouth. He produced a short candle and lit it, holding the light closer to her face. Its glare was almost painful after such prolonged blackness. They inspected each other for a long moment, then the corners of his mouth twitched. Did he find this _funny_? He looked as though he wanted to ask her a question, but seemed to think better of it.
She glared at him defiantly. Her own questions crowded her mouth, but she was determined not to speak until he did. After the heat of his body, her back felt cold.
He strode to the door, produced a key from his pocket and unlocked it. Seeing that the corridor was unoccupied, he turned back to her and made a courtly gesture with his other hand. "After you." It was that same, damned, conversational tone.
Mary stared at him. What the devil...?
He glanced into the hall again, then back at her impatiently. "Quickly, now."
Standing her ground, she shook her head slowly. "No. After you."
"Come, now – are we really going to squabble?" His tone was distinctly patronizing.
"I have no intention of squabbling," she said loftily. Now that he was talking, she felt more certain about holding her ground. "If you wish to leave, I wouldn't dream of stopping you."
He closed the door again and glared at her. "My dear girl, just what are you playing at?"
She looked at him haughtily. "You are hardly in a position to ask such a question."
The corners of his mouth twitched again. What an odd gentleman. _"Touché."_ He paused and stared at the ceiling, as though for inspiration. "Very well, then. Might I propose that we leave the room simultaneously?"
Mary considered this. They could hardly remain. Apart from the risk of someone returning to the office, she would soon be missed at the party. He might be, as well – assuming he was actually a guest. She inclined her head graciously. "An excellent idea," she murmured, mimicking his polite tone.
She glided towards the door, which he silently held open for her. They slipped out into the corridor and she watched while he locked it again, then pocketed the key. It was a proper house key. How had he pinched that?
He glanced down at her, eyebrows rising arrogantly. "Well? Hadn't you better run along to the drawing-room?"
Mary suppressed a powerful urge to hit him. With as much dignity as she could muster, she turned on her heel and walked quickly down the hall.
# Four
Why hadn't she screamed bloody murder in that closet? As he stalked through the crowds in the drawing-room, considering his next move, James Easton spotted his mystery lady assisting Angelica Thorold in the pouring of tea. They made a lovely contrast: Miss Thorold, with her blonde ringlets and pink-and-white complexion, and Miss Closet (as he'd come to think of her), with her black hair and fierce eyes. What colour were those eyes – hazelnut-brown? It had been difficult to tell by candle-light. It was a distinctly un-English look that set off Miss Thorold's doll-like beauty to great advantage. Which was almost certainly the point.
Miss Closet must have paused to re-pin that hair. It was scraped back severely now, when a few minutes ago it had been tumbling round her shoulders. Her scent came back to him – clean laundry, lemony soap, girl. He'd been surprised by the absence of perfume, and then grateful for it in that small space.
He considered her from the opposite end of the room. Her gown, plain and high-necked, made it clear that she was not a debutante. And her hair was wrong, too: the fashion for young ladies this season was a cascade of ringlets pinned high over each ear. Her role at the tea table seemed to confirm all that. Miss Closet kept back slightly, her gaze lowered, and poured cup after cup of tea. Miss Thorold, in contrast, stood forward, daintily adding cream and sugar to the cups and passing them to a string of guests – mainly admiring bachelors. James's elder brother, George, was part of the pack.
As though she could feel his open stare, Miss Closet suddenly raised her head and met his gaze. A prickle of energy, both pleasant and startling, rippled up and down his body. He had to force himself to remain still and expressionless. Her look was defiant when it should have been ashamed. She gazed at him a moment longer – taking his measure? – and then looked away haughtily, as though she had seen all she required. He bit back a grin. Arrogant brat.
The girl was rather attractive for a governess. She was no fool, either – her behaviour in the closet suggested as much. A lesser woman would have screamed or struggled, or at least begun to cry silently. But her reaction had been quick, disciplined and pragmatic. Not an ordinary young lady, then. Perhaps she was a poor relation? Finally, there was the question of what the devil she'd been doing poking around that office. Alone. In the dark.
James edged his way round the room, towards the open balcony doors. At this point, he'd take stench over stifling.
"Young Mashter Jamesh – what a surprishe!"
He blinked and focused on the man who'd popped up beside him. "Mr Standish. Evening." Warner Standish was an old family friend, a pompous fool, and a shameless gossip.
Standish's pointy ginger beard parted to reveal the cause of the lisp: a magnificent set of new wooden dentures. "Didn't think I'd run into you here, young fellow. Nearly time for your beddy-byesh!"
James shrugged. Was it worth pointing out that he was nearly twenty? Probably not.
"Are you at Eton or Harrow? I forget."
Neither. "I left school a few years ago, Mr Standish."
"Ah. Then you're up at Oxford."
"No; working with my brother." James gritted his teeth.
"At that bridge-making thingy? How very peculiar!"
"Civil engineering is the family business." _As you perfectly well know, you old sot,_ he added mentally.
"Where'sh your brother, then?" demanded Standish. "Not sheen him tonight."
"You must be the only one," said James through gritted teeth. Good Lord, George was embarrassing. Tonight, he'd made a complete fool of himself over Miss Thorold, monopolizing her conversation, following her about with glasses of punch and plates of cakes, and trying to dance every waltz with her, even though her dance card was full. Everyone had been laughing at George.
"Eh? Whashat?" hollered Standish.
James indicated with his chin. "Tea table."
"Ah. Awaiting hish audiensh with Mish Thorold, hey?"
"He's likely on his fourth cup by now. By the way," he added casually, "who's that pouring tea with Miss Thorold?"
"I think it'sh rather a queshtion of what, not who, dear boy."
James raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I ashked about her earlier. Thorold _shays_ she'sh hish daughter'sh new lady companion... name of Quinn. _Mish_ Quinn."
"'Says'...?"
"Given what jusht happened, it'sh hardly shurprishing, ish it?"
James shook his head. He was generally ignorant of gossip. "You'll have to explain it to me, I'm afraid."
Standish smirked. "One of the parlour-maidsh ish on leave... for about nine monthsh, if you follow my meaning. Replashement's got a face like a horshe'sh arsh. Thish one turned up a month later."
James's jaw tightened.
"Thorold'sh a clever devil. Although I shouldn't have tried to pash her off ash a paid companion, m'shelf... rather obvioush, don't you think?"
"In his own house?"
Standish sniggered. "What could be more convenient?" He turned and looked across the room at Miss Quinn, still pouring cups of tea. "Tashty morshel, if you ashk me. Shomething exshotic about her... remindsh me of a Shpanish danshing-girl I once knew. Or wash she Egyptian? Mmm – p'rapsh even shome short of half-cashte?" He sighed happily. "Damned if I can recall, but quite a houri, she wash."
James tried hard not to picture this. But the rest of Standish's argument made perfect sense. The girl was attractive, well spoken, unmarried. And she was young: sixteen or seventeen, at a guess? It explained her low profile in this gathering. It also explained her unusual composure in the wardrobe, and why she chose to remain silent and hidden with a stranger over being discovered with him and rescued. Yes, it was by far the most logical explanation for the mystery of Miss Closet.
"Is this generally known?" He kept his voice casual. "Or is it your theory?"
"Not pershuaded?"
James shrugged. "If there's no proof..."
Standish lowered his voice. "Don't you shee the ice between her and Mish Thorold? The young lady doeshn't like having her in the houshe."
James had, in fact, noticed the strain between the two young women. "Hmm."
Standish grinned at him broadly. "You're quite taken with her, aren't you?"
Tearing his eyes from Miss Quinn, James fixed him with a cold look. "I'm merely surprised that Thorold would introduce his mistress to his wife and daughter."
"Gone all high-minded and moralishtic, have you?"
"Merely wondering why they haven't clawed each other's eyes out by now."
"Perhapsh they've already had a go. I shay, if you're going to the bar, get me a whishky and shoda, will you, young Jamesh?"
But James was already out of earshot.
Who could have guessed that so many guests would require tea on such a hot night? Mary discreetly wiped a trickle of perspiration from her forehead and hefted the steaming kettle. Pouring tea was an excellent opportunity for Angelica Thorold to display her charms – a soft voice, dainty fingers stripped of gloves, a glittering web of diamonds at her breast. And it worked: the table was thronged with men, many of whom were either bachelors or widowers. It wasn't that Mary begrudged the girl her social triumph, but after nearly an hour, this tea business was getting distinctly monotonous.
It was also embarrassing. Although Mary tried to keep her head down and stand behind Angelica, she was still the target of lingering looks and invasive stares. She had always hated being stared at. While most of it was harmless, there was always the danger that someone might look at her and guess the truth... and she couldn't afford to be spotted for what she really was.
She overheard odd snippets of conversations in which guests enquired about her. One or two of these had been deliberately loud in their speculations, making the blood rush to her cheeks and her hands clench round the teapot. She forced herself to calm down; temper and bone china were a poor mix. Mechanically, she poured another cup of Darjeeling.
"Hello again, Miss Thorold!" said a stocky, pink-cheeked man. He was about thirty, with light brown hair, a fulsome beard, and a bright sheen of perspiration coating his face.
Angelica laughed in disbelief. "Mr Easton! This must be your sixth cup of tea this evening!"
"Indeed, Miss Thorold, but I find I'm terribly thirsty this evening! It must be the heat!"
"Indeed?"
"Or the smashing tea! Or – " he leaned close, "perhaps it's the lovely lady who – ouch!" He yelped, pivoted and scowled at the man behind him. "Stop elbowing me!" Then his voice flattened. "Oh. It's you, James."
James ignored him. "As my brother was trying to say, Miss Thorold, it's a lovely party."
In the act of handing a cup and saucer to Angelica, Mary's hand jerked with surprise and her head snapped up: the second voice. It was that man from the wardrobe! The cup wobbled in its saucer, then recovered. A moment later, however, one of George's more extravagant gestures tipped it again, sending a flood of scalding tea over Mary's left hand. At least her gasp of recognition was covered by a louder hiss of pain. She managed to lower the cup to the table without breaking it, although she did spill tea all over the table and floor.
Angelica jumped back with a little shriek. "You clumsy thing!" she cried, inspecting her dress for damage.
"I beg your pardon," muttered Mary through clenched teeth. "It was an accident." She fumbled about for a napkin with which to mop up the mess.
James was more efficient. Beckoning a passing footman, he said, "Clean up this spill." Glancing at Angelica, who was still fussing about her dress, he added dryly, "And fetch Miss Thorold's maid. Quickly."
"Miss Thorold, are you quite all right?" asked George Easton. He took the opportunity to seize Angelica's hand. "What a nasty accident." He looked at Mary in accusation.
Angelica's shriek created a scrum of fussing guests: sympathetic young ladies, openly relieved that their own dresses were unstained, and gallant young gentlemen who continually reassured Angelica that she looked perfectly lovely, really she did. A clutch of middle-aged matrons bustled through and in their rush towards Angelica, pushed Mary out of the way and towards the balcony doors. She didn't mind. Better to be ignored than scolded.
"Show me that burn."
The quiet voice made Mary start once again. She tilted her head back and looked up into James's dark eyes, expecting mockery or contempt. What she saw instead was... concern? She held out her hand. "It is not very painful."
He frowned. The back of her hand was covered in angry red blotches. "Scalds are always painful." He lifted a glass of punch out of a surprised guest's hand and scooped the bits of crushed ice into his handkerchief. "Here." His voice was brusque but his fingers careful as he folded a makeshift icepack and placed it gently on Mary's hand.
"Thank you." Mary stole another look at him. He behaved like an older man, but in the bright lights of the drawing-room, he was clearly much younger than she'd first thought. Why, he couldn't have been more than twenty!
"I apologize for my brother's clumsiness." James was tall and angular, George stocky and broad-faced. There was absolutely no family resemblance, unless one counted pushy behaviour.
"No apology is necessary."
There was a lengthy pause. Then he said, "A physician ought to look at that."
"It's nothing," she insisted.
"Will the Thorolds think to call one for you?"
"My hand is fine." Her burned skin throbbed at the lie.
"Very well, then," he said, after a pause. "If it's fine, dance the next waltz with me."
She gaped at him. A long second passed. And then another. "I beg your pardon?"
"The next waltz. Dance it with me." He sounded impatient. "You _do_ waltz, don't you?"
"I can't—" Mary choked, and tried again. "I can't dance with you!"
He leaned in, slightly menacing. "Why not?"
Glaring at him, she stood to her full height – not that it counted for much – and enunciated clearly. "A gentleman does not command a lady to dance; he asks. If rejected, he leaves her presence."
The corners of his mouth definitely crooked upwards this time. "That's all very well, but I believe you gave up your status as a lady when you climbed into that wardrobe with me."
"Hush!" Mary blushed and looked around guiltily. "You make it sound as though..." Her voice trailed off.
He raised one dark eyebrow. "Didn't you?"
They locked gazes for a long moment. James's expression was unreadable; Mary's openly hostile. Then she took a deep breath. "I can't dance with a guest. It would be inappropriate."
"Not as inappropriate as being rude to a guest," he said smoothly. "Isn't it your job to do as you're told?"
"You ought to dance with Miss Thorold," said Mary through gritted teeth.
"Her card's full." Then, as though a new thought had just occurred to him, he added, "It's not that I long to dance with you for your own charming self, you know. But we must discuss the incident in the office, and that is the easiest way."
Mary didn't want to dance with James Easton. She didn't like James Easton, not even a little. But her pride stung, all the same. "I never imagined that your interest was personal," she said stiffly. "And there is nothing to discuss. Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me..." She took a dignified step to the right and nearly walked into Michael Gray.
"My dear girl!" He caught her gently, his hands folding round her elbows to steady her. "What on earth has happened? I could hear the uproar from the billiards room."
He was heaven-sent. Mary resisted the impulse to stick out her tongue at James Easton. "I spilled some tea. By accident," she added hastily. "I think I splashed Miss Thorold's dress in the process. Her, ah, friends are rather concerned about her."
Michael glanced briefly at Angelica, who was now being led from the room, bravely blinking back tears. His expression froze, then hardened. "Good Lord, is that all? It sounded as though someone was being murdered."
He was still holding her arms. Mary shifted slightly and he released her with a teasing smile. "I am glad to see that you are unharmed and unhysterical." Then he caught a glimpse of her left hand and let out a sharp exclamation. "But you didn't mention seriously burning yourself!"
He seized her fingertips and, ignoring her protests, lifted away the improvised icepack. The burns, which covered the back of her hand and wrist, did look violent: bright red and swollen, from both the scalding tea and now the ice.
"It looks much worse than it feels," Mary said, squirming under his scrutiny. She could feel James watching the two of them. "Truly, Mr Gray, it'll be fine."
Michael shook his head. "That's a shocking falsehood, my girl. Come: let's go to the kitchen to get some salve for this burn. And call me Michael."
She hesitated. She didn't want salve. She wanted to be left alone to think about what this evening's events meant. And she ought to check on Angelica. Yet going with Michael would at least get her out of the drawing-room and away from the scrutiny of James Easton.
Michael smiled – pure flirtation. "First you won't dance with me, and now you won't accept assistance from me. I assure you, Mary – may I call you Mary? – I don't bite."
Risking a glance at James from under her lashes, she saw his frown deepen. He had one of the most forbidding faces she'd seen in some time, better suited to an inquisition than a party.
"Salve?" she said sweetly. "What a clever idea, Michael." Placing her uninjured hand in the crook of his arm, she permitted him to lead her away.
# Five
# Sunday, 9 May
Throughout the morning, a steady parade of footmen delivered a series of floral bouquets to the house. They were for Angelica, tokens of her status as a rich and attractive potential bride. There were so many that the drawing-room looked like a greenhouse or a florist's shop, with vases balanced precariously on every possible surface. Instead of being pleased, though, Angelica seemed bored and even unhappy. When the ladies gathered in the drawing-room after luncheon, she curled herself into an armchair and stared out the window. Even after Mary encouraged her to play something on the pianoforte, she only got as far as riffling through her music books before slumping back into her seat.
"Where is Mr Easton's bouquet, my dear?" asked Mrs Thorold.
"I've no idea, Mamma."
This was Mary's cue to seek it out and bring it to a position of prominence.
"Very nice," was Mrs Thorold's verdict. "China roses and yellow jasmine against a background of ferns."
Angelica sighed and rolled over in her chair. "Delightful." Her sarcasm was unmistakable.
Mrs Thorold blinked slowly. "What does it signify, darling?"
Angelica rolled her eyes and recited mechanically. "Roses represent beauty. Yellow jasmine signifies grace and elegance. Ferns speak of the gentleman's fascination. Therefore, the blossoms represent me, surrounded by the dark greenery of his admiration."
Mary bit her lip to keep from grinning. At the Academy, she'd heard of the language of flowers. Somehow, though, she'd never imagined it being taken so literally.
"A very delicate compliment," said Mrs Thorold. "Mr Easton is a fine prospect, my dear. Ambitious, of a good family, and it's obvious he's quite taken with you."
Angelica appeared to wake up slightly. "He is rather attractive, in spite of those fierce features." She seemed to consider. "I would have thought he was too young, Mamma."
"He is one and thirty, my dear, and a good match for you, in every sense."
"Oh. _George_ Easton."
Mrs Thorold's eyes widened. "You can't think I meant – really, Angelica!" She seemed genuinely annoyed. "A _younger_ son? Have you learned nothing?"
Angelica made a sour face. "I don't see that it matters, Mamma. They're businessmen, not aristocrats with inherited titles."
Mrs Thorold ignored this piece of logic. "You will forget about other candidates. This afternoon, you will encourage _George_ Easton. Miss Quinn, you will ensure she does so."
"I take it you'll be in your room resting, Mamma?" Angelica's jaw was tense.
"I'm going now, dear." She paused in the doorway and fixed Angelica with a sharp look. "Sit up straight and behave prettily. Or else..."
The moment the door closed behind Mrs Thorold, Angelica sprang from her chair. "Behave prettily!" she snarled. "I suppose you'll be taking notes, Miss Quinn?"
Mary blinked. "I – well, no."
"And reporting every word to your kind employer?"
"What?" Mary asked faintly. Angelica couldn't be referring to the Agency...
"Permit me to teach you a lesson, Miss Quinn." Angelica leaned over Mary's chair, her scarlet face just inches from Mary's. The effect was rather grotesque.
Mary tried to sound calm. "What is that, Miss Thorold?"
"My mother may pay your salary, but I'll make your life a living hell if you cross me!"
Angelica was very convincing. However, Mary was mainly relieved that her "kind employer" meant Mrs Thorold, and not Anne Treleaven.
There must have been something in Mary's expression that Angelica didn't like. She glared at Mary for a moment longer. Then, without warning, she seized Mary's burned hand, her sharp fingernails digging deep into the pink, blistered skin.
Mary sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes watered with pain, but she managed not to scream.
Angelica stared into her eyes, daring her to move.
Mary remained perfectly still, choking down the urge to fight back.
After several seconds, Angelica let go. Her fingernails glistened red at the tips. "You've been warned."
The bloodletting seemed to improve Angelica's mood. When her callers began to arrive a few minutes later – there was one for each bouquet sent – she had achieved a reasonable degree of good humour, and there was still a faint pink flush on her cheeks. Mary returned to the drawing- room, hand bandaged, in time to hear the footman announce, "Mr George Easton. Mr James Easton."
George led the way with quick, eager steps. He was immaculately turned out in a silk waistcoat and patterned cravat, his boots were brightly polished, and his watch chain gleamed as brilliantly as his smile. He'd even waxed the ends of his moustache! James, a few steps behind, was very soberly dressed: grey waistcoat, plain cravat. His mouth had a slightly cynical twist to it, visible because he was clean-shaven.
Very properly, Angelica greeted the elder brother first. "Mr Easton! I must thank you for that exquisite bouquet... how did you know that I adore China roses?"
George bowed ceremoniously over her hand, then straightened and glanced around the room. "I am impressed that you remember which bouquet is mine, Miss Thorold."
She gave a tinkling laugh and presented her hand to James. "I must confess that I remember only my favourites." Settling herself in the middle of an unoccupied sofa, she glanced over her shoulder and said carelessly, "Ring for tea, Miss Quinn." With a graceful gesture, she invited the brothers to join her.
They sat.
Mary rang the bell pull.
Tea arrived.
From her place in a straight-backed chair near the window, Mary was in a good position to watch them manoeuvre and flirt. Angelica's manner was girlish and playful, and focused very much on James. She tossed an occasional remark to George to prevent him from wandering away, but her preference was obvious. Whether this was to spite her mother or because she genuinely preferred James was uncertain.
Mary kept her mouth shut and pretended to knit. Her hand throbbed. For someone who played the pianoforte, Angelica had very sharp fingernails. After a little while, though, the conversation took an interesting turn.
"What I object to," said James, "is the way Florence Nightingale has become a sort of modern-day saint. Nursing soldiers was one thing, but she's now the centre of a ridiculous cult. When you think of those foolish young ladies leaping on to the first train bound for the Crimea... it was dangerous and utterly irresponsible."
Angelica tinkled with appreciative laughter. "Oh, how true!"
"Every bored old maid in England now thinks herself fit to play battlefield surgeon," he continued, with lazy disdain.
"Without those 'bored old maids' in the Crimea, English losses would have been much greater." Mary managed to surprise herself: that clear, caustic voice was hers. Was she mad, intruding into their private conversation?
All three pivoted towards her.
James merely elevated his eyebrows. "True. But I am speaking of the tendency to romanticize the nursing profession... it is a messy, ugly business, and so very few young ladies seem to understand that."
Mary raised her eyebrows back at him. "Certainly, the newspapers made Miss Nightingale and her nurses into heroines. They also romanticized the soldiers, and plenty of foolish young gentlemen still manage to buy commissions."
He sighed patronizingly. "When men enlist, they know they are risking their lives. When gently bred young women flock to a military encampment, they not only endanger themselves, they also distract those who must look after them, and who ought to be thinking of other things."
"And males are only too eager to blame all their shortcomings on the distraction represented by females," Mary retorted. "As though nurses are the only women in an encampment!"
George's jaw dropped at her rather obvious reference to prostitutes.
James grinned.
"I had no idea you two were so well acquainted," snapped Angelica, her eyes small and hard.
James seemed not to notice her tone. "Indeed," he said blandly, "I have not had the pleasure of a proper introduction."
George's face was rigid with disapproval.
Angelica could hardly refuse, although her voice was icy. "May I present to you Miss Mary Quinn. Miss Quinn, George and James Easton."
George shook her hand as briefly as possible. "A pleasure," he mumbled, his face suggesting anything but.
James bowed deeply over her hand, his lips not quite touching her fingertips. " _Enchanté_ , Miss Quinn. I delight in meeting dangerous radicals."
She muttered something and snatched back her hand.
"Speaking of nursing... I hope your hand is beginning to heal nicely."
Her right hand was on fire. "Yes, thank you."
"Did the special salve help at all?" His tone was vaguely... insolent, she'd have said, except that he was her social superior.
Mary's chin lifted a fraction. "Indeed it did." If anything, the greasy ointment seemed to make everything worse.
"Such a relief to hear that," he murmured. "And how very kind of that gentleman to assist you so promptly... One of the family, is he?"
What was he driving at? "Mr Gray is secretary to Mr Thorold," she explained in her starchiest voice.
"Ah. I thought I'd seen him before. Have you known him long?"
"Only for a few days, since I was engaged by Mrs Thorold."
He raised one eyebrow. "I'd no idea you were so recently engaged... you seem so very familiar with the house."
Mary gritted her teeth. "You, too, seem to know the house – and the family – quite intimately."
His lips twitched in a familiar way. "Intimacies can spring up so quickly, can't they? That between you and Mr Gray, for example..."
Angelica's expression underwent a sudden change from bored irritation to avid interest.
Mary frowned at him repressively. "I'm afraid 'intimacy' is entirely the wrong word, Mr Easton. Mr Gray merely showed polite concern for my injury."
"Mr Gray's 'polite concern' was extreme," James persisted. His mouth curved in a mocking smile. "Few husbands show such tender care to their wives."
Angelica's smile was hard and brittle. "Michael Gray fawns over all young females," she snapped. "It is his greatest fault. Papa says so," she added, as though that settled the matter.
George turned to her immediately. "I hope he does not tire you with such cloying attentions, Miss Thorold."
"He wouldn't dare!" Angelica tossed her head like a rebellious heroine in a novel. "He knows his place."
"I'm relieved to hear it."
"I hope you, too, know your place, Miss Quinn," drawled James.
Her face flushed with anger. "Are you lecturing me, Mr Easton?"
"No, I am merely observing that young women in your... position... sometimes find themselves in rather awkward situations." He managed to make the word "position" sound particularly offensive.
Mary drew herself up in her chair, spine like a plumb line. He was alluding to more than the wardrobe incident. Fragments of last night's conversations came back to her: he was accusing her of being someone's mistress. But whose? Thorold's? Michael's?
James lounged back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other knee. "Merely that governesses and paid companions occupy such a delicate place in the social hierarchy... If a secretary – or another male – behaves inappropriately towards them, what recourse do the poor things have?"
Mary was livid. "You have a distinct interest in the powerlessness of women, and strong ideas of where they do and do not belong."
Angelica suddenly spoke, her cheeks scarlet. "Are you – are you casting aspersions on my family, sir?" From the quaver in her voice, it seemed that she, too, had heard something about the former parlour-maid.
The cursed man looked amused at the reaction he'd created. "Oh dear, I seem accidentally to have offended both of you. I beg your pardon, Miss Thorold."
Once again, Mary fought the urge to punch him.
Angelica still looked vexed.
George jumped in anxiously. "My dear Miss Thorold, my brother was speaking generally; no reflection upon you or your household was intended." He turned to his brother ominously. "Isn't that right, James?"
"That's right, George." James's tone was mild and suggested that all this fuss was someone else's doing.
Angelica's neck remained stiff for a moment longer, but in a few moments she relented. "I suppose it is a compliment that you respect my intelligence enough to discuss such matters with me."
"Naturally, my dear Miss Thorold." James's voice held a suspicion of laughter, but Angelica seemed to enjoy his use of "my dear". He turned that dark, persuasive gaze on to Mary. "Miss Quinn, I do hope we understand each other?"
She widened her eyes in mock innocence. "I believe we do, Mr Easton."
"I am so relieved." Quite suddenly, James stood up. "I've been enjoying myself so much that I nearly forgot my next appointment. Thank you for the tea and the delightful conversation."
George looked startled. "What appointment?"
James smiled. "No need for you to rush off, Brother. I'll see you this evening."
Angelica blinked, her little pink mouth agape. It may well have been the first time a gentleman had left her company before she dismissed him. "Oh. I see." She blinked again, then rallied. "Goodbye, then. Until next time?"
"Until then. I'll see myself out. Good afternoon, Miss Thorold." He was at the drawing-room door when he turned to glance over his shoulder. "And Miss Quinn..."
She arched one eyebrow.
"Dare I fear you'll say, 'good riddance'?"
# Six
# Monday, 10 May
The letter was addressed to G. Easton, Esquire, but when James saw the postmark, he tore it open anyway. A brilliant grin lit up his face and he went tearing across the main office to his brother's private room.
"We got it!" he bellowed, bursting through the door. "We're in!"
George jerked upright and scowled. "Bloody hell, James, can't you learn to knock?"
James thrust the letter in his brother's face. "Look! The railway contract. In India. We're going to build railways in India. We break ground in September, which means – my God – you'll have to leave by the end of the month! Earlier, if possible." He began to babble on about booking passage and quinine tablets, but soon ground to a halt. "George? Are you listening?"
George looked up from his blotter. "Mm?"
"This is the biggest contract Easton Engineering has ever won, and you're going to go to India, and you look like someone's just stolen your accordion. What's wrong with you?"
George heaved an enormous sigh. "She has, in a way."
"I don't follow. Who's 'she'?"
"Miss Thorold, of course. At the party, I told her that I was a musician, too, and she seemed interested, but when I said I played the accordion, she – she _laughed_!"
James hid a smile. "Well, perhaps she was laughing sympathetically."
"It's no use. She thinks I'm a clown."
"That's not true," lied James valiantly. He noticed, for the first time, that George's desk blotter was covered in doodles: _Mrs George Easton. Angelica Easton. George & Angelica_. The most popular was simply _Angelica_ , surrounded by curlicues and hearts and arrows.
George rubbed his face. "The poets are right: it's a disease. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't work... she's all I can think about."
"You ate a big dinner last night."
"That was different."
"Because it was roast chicken?" James tried not to laugh. "Come on, George. There are dozens of girls who'd marry you. Why Miss Thorold?"
George glared at him. "That question shows how tragically little you know about love."
"I'm rather relieved, if this is the other choice." James indicated the blotter. "You'll be writing poetry, next." George flushed from his hairline to his collar and James began to laugh again. "No! Really?! Oh dear."
"Are you quite finished mocking me?"
"Never, old chap. But let's talk about this new railway in Calcutta."
"What about it?" George sounded miffed.
"What do you mean, 'what about it'? You're going to be building it in a couple of months' time! In fact, it's just what you need. It's been too long since you've taken the lead role on a job, and it'll take your mind off Little Miss Whosit." James was genuinely enthusiastic. "In a fortnight's time you'll be on a boat, bound for the beautiful, spice-laden East, and all thoughts of Miss What's-her-name will have vanished from your thick skull."
George sat up straight. "Two weeks?"
"Well, you'll want to —"
"But that's plenty of time!" His eyes brightened and he smiled at James for the first time. "I can easily manage it in a fortnight!"
"Of course you can," said James, relieved. This was more like the old George.
George looked him straight in the eye. "Do you really think so?"
"Yes."
He sprang over the desk and shook James's hand enthusiastically. "Thank you! Your confidence means a great deal to me. I know you're not terribly interested in the matter yourself, and for a while you were downright dismissive of the whole thing, but it's smashing to know that my baby brother supports me —"
Not interested? Downright dismissive? Of the India job? James suddenly had the uncomfortable sensation that they were talking at cross-purposes. "Er – my confidence in what respect, George?"
"Why, for my marrying Miss Thorold and taking her to India with me!"
Oh no. Oh no. " _That's_ what you meant?"
But George had stopped listening. "She's a healthy girl, not like her mother. The climate will pose no threat to her. And the romance of India – the beauty of it, as you said – will help me to win her!"
James sighed inwardly. Worse and worse. He'd been quietly opposed to the Thorold connection from the start, having heard some unsavoury rumours concerning Thorold's business. However, he'd also been confident of ferreting out the truth before George got as far as a proposal – hence that search of Thorold's study. But a whirlwind courtship was a different matter. Even if Angelica seemed lukewarm, her parents were enthusiastic. They could force her to accept George's offer. James had very little time in which to act. And so far – thanks to Miss Quinn – he'd learned nothing.
"Here, before you go, tell me what you think of this!" George scrabbled about in a desk drawer and pulled out a sheet of lavender notepaper, decorated with flowers.
James took the page and scanned it. "Would you like my honest opinion?"
George's face dimmed. "That bad, hey? It's bloody hard work, rhyming the name Angelica, you know."
James took pity on him. "I'll write you a better poem." _But poem or no poem_ , he added mentally, _you're not marrying into a family of crooks_.
_Tuesday, 11 May_
"HOY!"
James didn't react to the first bellow. Adams, the foreman, tended to be excitable.
"M'SR EAS'N!"
That, however, he couldn't really ignore. James mopped his forehead and the back of his neck and turned reluctantly to investigate the most recent catastrophe that had befallen the building site. This job – the construction of a new tunnel beneath the Thames – had been a headache from the day they'd begun. It should already have been completed. Now, the blinding stench of the river threatened to prolong it even more, as many of his best workers were fearful of catching disease from the evil smell. James wasn't convinced that the stink itself made one ill, but he'd still sent the workers home yesterday because they were retching too violently to work safely. If this weather continued, they'd have to work by night. It was either that or postpone the project until the autumn.
"I dream of the day," said James as he located the senior foreman, "that you address me as something other than 'Hoy'."
Adams grinned and shoved his cap back on his head. "I b'lieve I called you 'oi' the other day, sir."
"And what is this?" He motioned to the scrawny little boy Adams held by the throat, muddy boots dangling in midair.
"This here lad—"
"Is strangling. Set him down."
Adams dropped the boy abruptly, but kept a firm grip on his shoulder. "He's trespassing. He won't go away! I turned the little bugger out not ten minutes ago, and now it's back. Shall I chuck it in the river, sir?"
The boy drew breath to defend himself and immediately launched into a coughing fit that doubled him over. When he straightened, eyes watering, he turned to James. "Message for Mr Easton, sir."
"That's what he keeps saying, but he won't give anyone the message! Says he has to speak with you, personal." Adams sounded irritated.
James sighed. "Go on, then."
The boy had regained some of his breath. "It's about – " He hesitated and looked at Adams suspiciously. " – about that job in _Chelsea_ , sir."
There was no job in Chelsea. James narrowed his eyes. "Chelsea."
"The _house_ , sir."
Oh, good God. This was what came of hiring off-duty coppers to watch the Thorold house: they farmed the work out to little boys, for a pittance of the fee he'd paid them to do the job properly. He should have known.
"Oh – that job." James nodded to Adams and beckoned the boy to follow him. As they strolled round the perimeter of the site, he looked sharply at the lad. "How old are you?"
"Ten, sir."
Old enough to be working, then. "How did you find me?"
"Didn't think I would, sir. Inspector Furley said something about a tunnel under the river, but he's dead drunk and I thought he was talking rubbish again," the lad said, rubbing his nose energetically. "I wouldn't have come to you direct, but it's a matter of urgency. I take full responsibility, sir."
Despite his irritation with Furley, James was tickled by the boy's manner. "Well, then – give me your news."
The boy's narrative was clear and swift. The young lady he was assigned to watch had left the house at half past nine and taken a hackney cab to the customs house, where she sat watching its doors. After a quarter of an hour, Mr Thorold emerged and melted away into the crowds. Instead of following him, however, she dismissed the cab and entered the building.
James frowned. "How did you follow her?"
"On the back of her cab, sir."
A grubby boy hitching a ride on the back of a cab – it was a common sight. "Good. What time was this?"
"Quarter of an hour ago, sir, p'raps a touch more. I watched the door for a few minutes, but she didn't come out. Since it's so close by, and p'raps a longish visit, since she paid off the driver, I thought you'd like to know."
James blinked in surprise. "Good thinking – er..."
"Quigley, sir. Alfred Quigley."
"Right. A sound morning's work." James tossed the boy a crown and turned on his heel. Then he paused and looked back at the boy. "Er – Quigley."
"Sir?"
"I won't be able to observe the lady all day. Follow me, and continue to watch her."
"Yes, sir."
"And from now on, you report directly to me."
The boy's eyes widened slightly. "What about Inspector Furley, sir?"
"I'll sort things with him. From now on, you're on my team."
James's timing – or rather, Alfred Quigley's timing – was excellent: his hackney cab drew up outside the gates of the customs house just in time to see a familiar figure emerge from the heavy double-fronted doors. She was heavily veiled and dressed even more plainly than usual, but he recognized her by the brisk certainty of her movements. With a light step, she let herself out through the gate and hailed a passing cab.
Feeling rather foolish, James muttered to his driver, "Follow that cab."
The cabman guffawed. "I've heard that one before, guv."
The roads were choked with people, animals and rubbish of every sort and it took a full quarter of an hour just to reach the end of the street. But the driver followed her through the chaos and finally over the Thames at London Bridge into Southwark.
The cabs drew up near the West India Dock and James watched her emerge, glance around briefly, then step down to complete her journey on foot. He watched from the privacy of his vehicle for minute or two, as her progress was slowed by her obvious desire to keep her skirts out of the muck. She kept them raised as high as decency permitted, to the tops of her narrow buttoned boots. Although it was midday, a moderate layer of fog blanketed the streets. As she disappeared into its depths, James calmly paid his driver, tilted the brim of his hat low over the eyes, and stepped down. There was no need to rush; he knew precisely where she was going.
Just round the corner, the warehouses of the merchant trading company, Thorold & Co., occupied half an acre of reclaimed marshland on the south bank of the Thames. The red brick buildings were squat and square, with tall, narrow windows. They were likely only a couple of decades old, but already clad in a thick layer of dark grime.
Keeping back a bit, James leaned against a streetlamp – burning in a futile attempt to light the fog – and watched her pace slow even more as she neared the main entrance to the warehouses. She kept her veil down, but her head was turned towards the buildings.
What the devil was she after?
The area was busy enough – the movements and cries of errand boys, vagrants, a match girl, dock labourers, sailors ashore, men in tweed suits and the odd early prostitute made it easy for him to watch her – but it was hardly a place for a lady. Especially one without a servant hovering two steps behind. Even with her veil lowered, she was attracting looks and the occasional remark. If she came to a halt, she would be harassed. James might be forced to go to her rescue. He wondered whether he would oblige.
Immediately after their encounter in Thorold's study, he'd begun enquiries about her. Although he was new to this cloak and dagger business, he did have some contacts. All he'd learned was that she had previously been a junior teacher in a girl's school, and before that, a student there. The school apparently took a lot of charity girls, and she seemed to have been one of them. At least, he had not been able to discover family members or someone who'd paid her fees. The trail ended there. Miss Quinn had no friends outside the school, no one she visited regularly and no other connections.
If anything, those few details were more perplexing than ever. Last night, he'd stayed up late, unable to sleep, staring at the meagre details of her life: Mary Quinn, schoolteacher and paid companion. Date of birth: unknown. Birthplace: unknown. Parentage: unknown. Childhood: unknown. It was preposterous. According to his source, more information ought to be available, even concerning orphans raised by the parish. Either the girl was a spectacularly neglected orphan or she was living under a false name. Neither possibility made much sense.
James studied her as she inspected the warehouses. Her prim garments and graceful movements didn't suggest criminality or guilt. Yes, he knew that appearances were sometimes deceiving, and that the mildest features could mask cruelty or vice. But he found it difficult to believe that she was an ordinary thief or an aspiring blackmailer – or Thorold's mistress. Lying awake in bed last night, he'd considered one preposterous scenario after another: she was Thorold's illegitimate child; or searching for the evidence of the inheritance Thorold had stolen from her; or an innocent girl forced (by whom? Gray?) into searching the office, or...
Mary crossed the street and continued to walk slowly near the Thorold compound. She seemed to be examining the high iron fence, topped with spikes, which ran round the perimeter of the property. Her innocence was looking more improbable by the minute. James knew that his own actions were suspicious, of course. But his motives were straightforward enough.
He knew full well what he ought to do: forget about her, except when her actions affected his own quest. He knew, equally well, what he ought _not_ do: he ought not waste his time – and lose sleep – wondering about her motives. He ought not worry about the dangers to which she might expose herself. He ought not waste time bandying words with her when he called on Angelica. And he most certainly ought _not_ admire the slim elegance of her figure, just a hundred yards ahead of him.
Certainly not the last.
And speaking of wasting time... he consulted his pocket watch. He'd now seen what Mary was up to, if not why, and he had to meet with a client in half an hour. James inclined his head slightly and stopped at a quiet street corner.
Mary drifted slowly from view.
"Sir?" Alfred Quigley popped up.
"Report to me this evening at my office. I shall be there until eight o'clock." He murmured the address.
Quigley nodded once and skipped off, immediately losing himself in the throng.
At seven o'clock the same evening, James was the last man at work at his offices in Great George Street. He generally was, although this evening he was distracted and unproductive. He had just resolved for the ninth time to stop thinking about Mary Quinn when a light scratching at the door made his head snap up. "Enter."
Alfred Quigley slid noiselessly into the room. "Evening, Mr Easton."
"Well, Quigley?"
The lad's report was straightforward enough. Miss Quinn spent another ten minutes casing the warehouse grounds, then took an omnibus back towards town. She stopped on the way in Clerkenwell and purchased a number of items, including several yards of strong rope and some boys' clothing, paying cash for these items. Alighting again in Bond Street, she bought some ribbons and silk thread, which were charged to the Thorolds' account. The rest of her day was spent indoors.
James's expression darkened as he listened to Quigley's report. "What do you suppose she intends doing with this rope and costume?"
"Seems like she wants to get into the warehouse, sir. Although it's an unusual lady who can tie knots and things."
"Indeed."
He brooded for a few minutes longer. The silence was broken only by Quigley's attempt to stifle a yawn.
"I'm keeping you," James said abruptly. "You'd best get home and to sleep."
"D'you need me to watch the lady tonight, sir?" It was a heroic offer: his eyes were nearly crossed with fatigue.
"No. I'll go." James paused. The boy was only ten. "Do you have far to go home?"
"No, sir. I live with my mother nearby, in Church Street."
"Good. We'll speak tomorrow."
As Quigley disappeared, James's conscience jabbed him again.
"Quigley!"
"Sir?"
"Have you eaten?" Good Lord, he was turning into a nursemaid.
A broad grin appeared on Quigley's small, freckled face. It was the first truly boyish expression he'd displayed. "Eel pie and mash. They was beautiful, sir."
# Seven
It was a quarter to one when Mary arrived at the warehouses of Thorold & Co. for the second time that day. The street seemed still and vacant except for a couple of vagrants she'd passed, curled up in doorways for a fitful night's sleep. Proper darkness never really fell on this part of London. The river reflected a great deal of light from the moon, domestic fires and street lanterns, although this in turn was smothered by the dense fog. Tonight, Southwark was in the clutches of a pea-souper so thick it was like a physical presence. When, as an experiment, Mary held out her hand at arm's length, her fingers looked ghostly and not quite solid.
It was more than five years since she'd worn boy's clothing. She'd almost forgotten how comfortable and practical trousers were. And with her cap pulled low over her eyes, the cabman hadn't betrayed a flicker of interest in her destination or her purpose: he'd been more worried about whether she could afford the fare. Once the investigation was finished, she would have to do this again, just for fun – although she could do without the trespassing and the stinking river.
For now, though, she needed to stay focused on finding the evidence. Thus far, she'd spent exactly one week with the Thorolds, and had absolutely nothing to show for it. With the case closing in six days' time, she had to come up with something to help the Agency solve the case – didn't she? She'd debated the point with herself all day. Her original orders were only to watch and listen. Technically. But Anne and Felicity had good reasons for posting her within the household. It wasn't as though she was acting from personal nosiness or a desire to compete with the primary agent; she had the Agency's interests in mind. And she couldn't contribute if she didn't act. After all, what good was an agent who knew nothing, heard nothing, did nothing and failed to use her brains?
That, at least, was what she'd been telling her conscience all day. Now, it was too late to dither.
Shrugging off a lingering sense of being watched, she sidled up to the iron fence and experimentally inserted her head between the bars. It was a tight fit, but just about possible. In her days as a housebreaker, one of her mottoes had been, "Where the head will go, the body will follow." She dropped her bag of equipment through the railings and waited. If a guard dog were on the prowl, it would shortly make itself known.
A minute passed. Nothing... except that nagging suspicion that she was not quite alone. She spun round: still nothing, of course. Ninny. With a swipe at her perspiring forehead, Mary squeezed through the railings with a slight grunt of discomfort. "Where the head will go..." In those days, she'd been flat-chested.
The cobblestones in the courtyard were slick. She found her equipment and picked her way carefully through the yard, alert for voices and footsteps. At the main building, someone had left the door near the loading bay unlocked. Honestly! Thorold needed better security. Mary realized that her uneasiness had vanished; if anything, she was enjoying herself. Her senses were heightened. A surge of exhilaration sped through her veins that had nothing to do with the justice or value of her enterprise, and everything to do with being on the prowl once more. She'd lost sight of the pure, concentrated thrill of danger until now.
She eased inside, into tarry blackness. Without vision, other senses slowly asserted themselves. The quality of the silence was cavernous – even without a sound to create an echo, she knew the room was vast. It smelled of sawdust and salt, of pitch and resin. The floorboards were rough planks, gritty with sand and grime.
In the dark, it was easier to crawl than to walk. On all fours, she crossed that enormous floor, moving slowly and cautiously from pallet to pallet, all stacked high with crates. The gargantuan proportions of the room were confusing: when she reached the standard-sized door at the other end, it felt oddly miniaturized. This one was locked, but with a lock so simple Mary had to smile. Why bother?
She eased the door open a crack and listened again. A faint shuffling sound resolved itself into footsteps. Pressing the door closed again, Mary flattened herself against the wall, keeping her ear by the keyhole, her breathing slow and shallow.
A sentry, trudging.
Coming to a halt, just outside her door. The bright glow of his lantern cast a little beam of yellow light through the keyhole.
A sigh.
A pause.
A fart.
And then the footsteps receded.
She waited an additional three minutes, then slowly opened the door a fraction. Pale illumination came from a series of skylights cut into the roof of the building, revealing a broad flight of stairs. The moon was asserting itself, even through the fog.
Mary stayed close to the walls, testing each tread for creaks before placing her full weight on it. It was slow going. When she finally reached the top floor, she glided past the smaller doors towards the end of the hall. The imposing mahogany door at the end was obviously what she wanted. The brass nameplate confirmed it: H. Thorold, Esq. With a smile, she gently touched the doorknob. Locked, of course.
As she fitted a skeleton key to the lock, a faint growling sound seemed to emerge from the door. She paused, peered into the corridor behind her. Nothing. But the growl began to rise, from a faint rumble to a distinctly animal sound.
A dog. She nearly fumbled the key. A guard dog.
"Sssshhh..." she began hesitantly.
The growling continued, ending in a snarl. It couldn't be long before the beast exploded into full-fledged barking.
"Be quiet," she said with as much authority as she could muster. "I need you to be silent, dog."
There was a momentary lull in the rumbling.
"That's a good boy," Mary continued, wiping her perspiring palms on her trousers. "Very nice," she murmured encouragingly, as the growling slowly subsided.
When all she could hear was its steady panting, she began to turn the key in the lock, speaking quietly and soothingly the whole time to the animal inside. The lock opened with a distinct clicking noise. As Mary tentatively pushed the door ajar, she continued to croon nonsense to the dog.
A pair of eyes gleamed at her from the darkness. Wolf eyes.
Her breath hitched in her throat. "Good evening, my dear," she managed to croak. "You've been a very good dog so far."
The eyes seemed to glow eerily. They didn't blink.
"I'd like to come into your office," Mary murmured, hoping she sounded calmer than she felt. "I'll begin very slowly, all right?" Crouching low to the floor, she inched across the threshold.
The animal actually seemed to pause and consider what to do.
A sudden recollection flashed through Mary's mind. With slow, careful movements, she groped in her satchel for a few moments. When her fingers closed round the cloth-wrapped object, she heard the animal snuffle with curiosity. She unwrapped the item under its shining gaze: a chunk of cold boiled mutton. She'd taken it from the larder earlier this evening, anticipating just such a moment. She simply hadn't expected to meet the guard dog _inside_ Thorold's office.
The animal sniffed once, then lunged at her. She felt a blast of hot, doggy breath, a cool paw. And then the dog retreated with its prize, gnawing at it with eager greed.
Mary slithered into the office, closed the door and went limp with relief. Her back was damp with perspiration again, and when the dog came back to inspect her prone figure, sniffing at her with open curiosity, it was all she could do not to laugh aloud.
She struck a match and lit her candle. Girl and dog surveyed each other curiously. It – no, he – was a massive black mongrel. Short-haired, with big, floppy ears and an alert expression. Not at all the usual sort of guard dog, but she liked his ungainly looks.
"What's a man like Thorold doing with a lovely dog like you?" she murmured.
The dog seemed to shrug in reply.
They spent a few minutes getting to know each other before Mary reluctantly pushed her new friend aside. The clock on Thorold's mantel showed twenty-five minutes past one o'clock. "I must ask you to excuse me," she said apologetically, locking the office door. "I have a great deal of work to do."
Thorold's office at work was much like his study at home – no stray papers lying about, plenty of massive filing cabinets. Probably no obscene pictures, although one could never be certain. The procedure was simple enough: skim through the files, check randomly to ensure that they were correctly labelled, and replace as found. It was also quick work, since they were written in a clear hand.
As quarter-hours and then half-hours slipped away, however, Mary grew frustrated. Once again, she hadn't expected to find stacks of incriminating information in the first file. Yet all these files were neatly numbered and docketed, and they correlated with other documents she'd noticed. There was no sign of the scrappy, informal type of documentation she associated with illegal trade. Then again, what did she know? Perhaps there wasn't any written evidence whatsoever. What then?
"What am I doing here, Dog?" she asked ruefully. "It could take me weeks of nights to sift through all this."
The clock on the desk made a clicking sound, drawing her attention to it. Four o'clock! At Cheyne Walk, the servants would soon rise. She replaced the furniture as she'd found it and said a regretful goodbye to the dog. Any worries she had about his creating a fuss vanished when she unlocked the door. He seemed to understand the need for silence. After licking her hand affectionately, he crept back under the desk and lay there quietly.
Retracing her steps, Mary nearly ran into one of the night-watchmen in the stairwell. Fortunately, he was so sleepy that he failed to notice the slight bulge in the shadows on the third floor landing. In fact, she'd had uncommon good luck all night, apart from the matter of the files themselves. As she slid through the uprights of the iron fence, once again mashing her breasts in the process, it was still greyish dark outside. She would make it, she thought happily. She hadn't yet found what she was looking for, but she would—
Damn.
Absorbed in self-congratulation, she had forgotten the cardinal rule of housebreaking: stay alert and don't let your mind wander.
"Hail, fellow, well met," drawled a voice from the fog.
Large hands clamped around her upper arms. She sucked in a breath so sharp it hurt. She could discern only the general outline of her captor: tall, broad-shouldered, male.
Instinct took over when fear might have paralyzed.
Mary struck out, stamping on the man's instep, using her elbows as weapons, twisting hard and fast out of his grasp. His face loomed indistinctly in the grey mist and she attacked again, landing a hard punch on his nose.
He grunted, cursed and stumbled back a step.
She took that as her cue to run. Sprinting towards the nearest bridge, she could hear his footsteps pounding after her. He had a significant size advantage; unless he was quite injured, he would catch her. She dropped her satchel in favour of speed.
Even as she fled, wisps of fog brushing her face like so many cobwebs, something tugged at her memory. Her assailant seemed vaguely familiar. Not that she was tempted to turn round to check.
The voice?
The shape of his head?
Something tugged hard at the back of her jacket – his hand, perhaps. She let it slide off her shoulders without breaking stride.
Just before he caught her, she had a moment of sick premonition. It had been the same way the first time – the last time – she'd been caught. A flash of dread, of knowing. And then it happened.
A hand seized the back of her shirt, hauling her up short with a ripping sound. The seams cut into her underarms and she went flying backwards, landing with a thud against a hard, angular body.
"You damned fool!" snarled a familiar voice. "Stop fighting and I won't hurt you."
Mary froze, elbow poised in mid-jab. She couldn't decide whether to be grateful or appalled. "Let me guess," she said weakly. "You'd like to waltz?"
# Eight
James had never before experienced the urge to wring a girl's neck. It was a powerful one, however, and he kept his fist clenched round her coarse cotton shirt in order to avoid acting on it.
"You and I," he growled, swinging her round to face him, "are going to talk."
"Perhaps later," she suggested. "After supper and the charity raffle."
For all her flippant words, her eyes were wide with fear. Good. At this moment, he wanted her to be _terrified_. He kept a firm grip on her shirt – she could hardly run off without it, could she? – and marched her alongside as he retraced their steps and retrieved her scattered belongings. Jacket. Bag.
They kept marching back towards the warehouse until they saw, looming in the mist, a large black carriage.
She stiffened as soon as she saw it. "Oh, no."
"Oh, yes."
"I am not getting in that with you."
"Why not?"
She squirmed against his grip. "It's... not proper."
He would have laughed, except that she'd knocked his sense of humour sorely out of joint along with his nose. "But running around London in the middle of the night, dressed as a boy, is."
She had no reply to that. A minor miracle.
He opened the door and tossed her inside like a bundle of laundry, then climbed in and barred the door.
She moved immediately towards the door on the other side.
Lunging forward, he pinned her to the bench, one hand clenched on each narrow shoulder. "Don't bother trying. You'll not get out until I tell you to." Glaring at her, he rapped the ceiling of the carriage twice. The vehicle lurched into motion.
Her hair had come loose during her flight. She looked ridiculously young. And she'd lost most of the buttons on her shirt – they must have popped off when he'd grabbed it. Colour flooded her cheeks and she clutched the shirt closed with a sudden movement, making him blush and avert his eyes. "May I have my jacket?" she whispered.
He passed it to her but couldn't manage an apology. His tongue lay like a stone in his mouth. Instead, he busied himself with drawing the curtains on both windows.
An awkward silence ensued. It was Mary who broke it, in the end. "Your nose is bleeding."
James blinked and touched it experimentally. "So it is." He fumbled for his handkerchief.
"Is it... broken?"
He couldn't help it: the corners of his mouth turned up. "You sound hopeful."
She began to laugh, then quickly stifled it. "Not at all," she said hurriedly. "I didn't intend to – that is, I meant to punch you that hard, only I didn't know that it was you..." Her voice trailed off.
"Does it look broken?" He lifted the handkerchief and leaned towards her.
Slender fingers traced the bridge of his nose, so lightly he could scarcely tell she was touching him. "Possibly... at the very least, you'll have a bruise."
"As long as it's not pointing to one side, I'm not worried."
She drew back her hand uncertainly. "You ought to see a physician."
He grinned suddenly, then winced. "That's what I said to you. Did you?"
She waved dismissively. "It's healing."
James was startled to find that he was enjoying her company. The glint in her eyes, her saucy attitude, the intimacy of the carriage... It was high time to return to the matter at hand. "So, Miss Quinn, what is your interest in Henry Thorold's private affairs?"
All warmth drained from her face as she straightened her spine. "That is none of your concern."
"Ah, but it is," he insisted. "My family might soon be linked with the Thorolds. As such, I must know why you broke into his warehouses tonight, and what you found."
"Is that why you're sneaking about? Spying on your future relations?"
He tried to look ashamed, but failed utterly. "A sad commentary on our modern times, isn't it?"
"Tragic," she snapped. "I'll leave you to mourn in private." She banged the roof twice, sharply, and reached for the door latch.
James leaned back and crossed his arms. "I don't recommend leaping from a moving carriage, Miss Quinn."
He was right. The carriage continued to bowl along at a fast trot. She glared at him. "Why aren't we stopping?"
He couldn't repress a small smile. "Because my coachman is well trained. He knows my knock."
She stared at him for a second, then pulled the curtain aside. "Where are we, anyway?" Because the inside of the carriage was lit, all she saw was her own face in the window.
He shrugged. "Twickenham, perhaps?" Her long hair had tumbled loose during their scuffle. What would it feel like, to touch hair that silken straight? He pushed away the thought the moment it formed.
Her entire body stiffened. "This is kidnapping!"
"No, it's not. Don't flatter yourself, Miss Quinn."
She narrowed her eyes. "Then what do you want?"
"Merely a brief conversation. I'll return you to Cheyne Walk once we've had our talk."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?"
His lip curled. "My dear Miss Quinn, if I wanted melodrama and cliché, I would go to the theatre. I am not kidnapping you. I have no ulterior motive. And yes, I expect you to believe me. Now let us talk: it will be to our benefit to share information, and possibly even work together. Or at least, not against one another."
He expected more indignation. Instead, she folded her arms and eyed him coldly. "Fair enough, I suppose. You first."
"I recently learned that some private investors lost heavily in several of Thorold's trade expeditions over the past few years. Apparently, Thorold claimed that the ships were either wrecked or lost at sea. However, these investors have since come to believe that, contrary to his claims, the ships were not actually lost. They think that Thorold has kept the profits for himself, instead."
She looked sceptical and he hurried on, anticipating her questions. "Normally, it is difficult to dispute these sorts of events: each ship is registered and its progress charted. It is quite a public event when ships are lost or capsized, and it does happen. However, the goods on these particular passages were smuggled and the investors expected to receive a high return on their investments by avoiding duties and taxes. For the same reasons, Thorold was able to be vague about the details. It would have been easy for him to lie about the shipments."
James noted with satisfaction that she was listening in earnest, now. The girl was infuriating, but at least she wasn't a ninny. "You appreciate, of course, the position I am in: it's potentially very embarrassing."
"Is it the smuggling itself that bothers you, or merely the double-crossing? Honour among theives, and all that."
"There's no need to sneer. I object to both."
"And so you decided to investigate..."
"Yes."
"Why do so yourself?"
"Discretion isn't a good reason?"
"One can buy discretion."
He nodded. "It's also a matter of time. George wants to propose to Miss Thorold very soon, and I need evidence in hand if I'm to stop him."
That made sense. "What was the cargo?"
He paused reluctantly. "Opium, mainly. But I'm told that Thorold is also interested in gemstones."
"And when was this?"
"Between two and seven years ago, according to my source."
She thought about that. "It's quite likely that all the records from those journeys have long been destroyed. If they existed in the first place."
He scrubbed his face with his hands wearily. "I know. This is also why I've not gone to the authorities."
"I take it you're interested mainly in the China route, then."
"I'm not sure... opium is also cultivated on the Indian subcontinent, and the bulk of Thorold's trade lies there."
Mary stared at him in disbelief. "So you've no idea where the ships originated or what route they might have taken?"
"I've just begun my research," he said defensively.
"And you expect to learn all this... how?" She gestured incredulously. "By following me around London?"
His left eyebrow rose. "Melodrama again?"
She sighed. "I simply don't see why you think I might be useful to you."
"Frankly, I'm more concerned that you might be harmful to me. Now that I've explained myself, what's your interest?"
"It won't take long to tell. You'd better tell your coachman to drive for Chelsea; I need to be back before the servants are up and doing."
"Not till you've explained yourself."
She fixed him with what she obviously thought was a withering look.
He shrugged amiably and glanced out the window again. "Then again, it's a lovely day for a long drive in the country."
"Oh, very well," she sighed. She paused, appearing to collect her thoughts. "I believe you know about the Thorolds' last parlour-maid, Gladys."
He kept his face very still, his expression neutral. "Yes."
"Her sister hasn't heard from her since she was dismissed, which is unlike Gladys. The sister is a friend of mine. She is extremely concerned, and asked me to try to find out what's happened to her."
He waited for several seconds, but it seemed she was finished. He stared at her in disbelief. _"A vanished servant?"_
"Yes."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Now who's indulging in melodrama?"
He frowned. "It sounds like a task for the police."
"Rather like yours?"
He frowned, but didn't pursue it. "What did you find tonight?"
She sighed. "Nothing."
He thought about rifling her small satchel to be sure, but that was too rude. (A strange idea, considering how he'd manhandled her earlier.) "What were you looking for?"
"Everything, really. Letters. Instructions. Records of payment. Anything that refers to her, or to homes for fallen women, or brothels, or workhouses, or any of the places she might have ended up."
"But why would Thorold have those documents? Mrs Thorold is in charge of the domestic staff."
"Mrs Thorold doesn't appear to have any files; she dislikes putting pen to paper. And really – do you think that a man like Thorold could ask his invalid wife to deal with the fate of a maid whom he'd seduced?"
"But why would he keep records concerning her? Wouldn't he just kick her into the street?"
Mary looked scornful. "You would suggest that. And I admit, it's quite likely. However, Gladys was pregnant. Thorold lost his son a few years ago, and he has a sentimental streak. There's a slight chance he may have tried to help the girl, perhaps even maintain contact. He could never acknowledge the child publicly, but that doesn't seem to stop some men."
"I see." He was silent for a minute.
"Will that affect your brother's attitude towards Miss Thorold?"
"No. George has absolutely lost his mind over her. Besides, the old pregnant mistress plot won't affect us legally." He caught the look on her face. "No disrespect intended towards your friend Gladys, of course."
"Of course." Her voice was glacial.
He coughed awkwardly. "Er – I don't suppose you remember whether any of the documents you saw related to —"
"Your interests? There was nothing to do with opium, in any case. Everything I found was legal. Most frequently, Thorold's ships carry manufactured goods, like textiles and stainless steel, to India, and transport back things like tea and rice. Occasionally the ships make a third stop in America or the West Indies, but much less so these days."
"I see."
"Do you?" It was impossible to read her expression. Her eyes – nut-brown in some lights, greenish in others, he now knew – were steady, defiant.
He didn't know how to reply. She had a dark smudge – coal? dirt? – on her cheek that was, for some reason, rather charming.
"If so, what was all that nonsense the other day about my being Thorold's mistress?"
He hoped the dim light masked his blush. "It was merely a theory."
"It sounded like an accusation."
The heat under his collar intensified. "I apologize." He uttered the words with difficulty.
Amusement flickered in her eyes. "It's not often you do, is it?"
He grinned despite himself. "No. You're in select company."
"Well, as long as we're being civil to one another, why don't you return me to Chelsea?"
Obediently, he thrust his head out the window and called instructions to the coachman. "It will only take a few minutes," he said, taking out his watch. "We're nearly at Battersea and it's just gone five o'clock."
"Thank you." She looked faintly self-mocking as soon as she'd said it.
"Oh, it's been my pleasure entirely, Miss Quinn," he grinned. "We must do this again soon."
She couldn't quite repress a smile. "As soon as your nose heals, perhaps."
He ran one finger along the bridge. "It should be fine. Where on earth did you learn to fight like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like a man, I suppose. Most young ladies would have screamed and tried to claw at my face. Or perhaps simply fainted."
"I was a tomboy."
"A tomboy with a lot of brothers?" He could picture it: a slight, fierce girl surrounded by a pack of hulking boys.
"Something like that. And now you owe me an answer: how did you know I was at the warehouses tonight?"
He looked smug. "I saw you inspecting them earlier."
Her eyes widened. "This morning? But how did you know I'd be there?"
"I, er, was informed of your whereabouts."
"Who by?"
"By an employee."
"You were having me watched?"
"I suppose it wasn't very sporting of me..."
She considered for a moment, then admitted, "I'd have done the same thing in your situation."
From the sound of the carriage wheels, they were crossing Battersea Bridge. In a minute, they would be at Cheyne Walk itself.
"Look – I think we ought to collaborate," he said, sitting forward.
A small frown appeared between her brows. "Why?"
"Because we can cover more ground that way," he said impatiently. "And because we'll run less risk of interfering with each other's enquiries, not to mention putting Thorold on the alert."
"But we're looking at entirely different events and time periods."
"But for similar types of proof... assuming they exist. Look: you can't keep breaking into the warehouses to read Thorold's files, night after night. You might have one or two more opportunities at most before a watchman catches you. If you still haven't found anything concrete at that point, what will you do?"
"Improvise, I suppose."
"Precisely. And that's where an associate would be useful."
She eyed him warily. "And you, naturally, would be the perfect associate."
"I found you tonight, didn't I?"
The carriage came to a halt. James glanced outside. "We're just around the corner. Lawrence Street," he said. "This do?"
"Perfect." She moved to get out, but his long fingers closed over hers on the door handle.
"Think about it, at least."
She froze, her face mere inches from his. "Why are you so certain you can trust me?" she asked softly, looking straight into his eyes.
His gaze was steady. "I'm not. But I'm willing to take that risk."
# Nine
# Wednesday, 12 May
Mary entered the house the same way she left, through a window at the back. It was half past five in the morning and the servants had just begun their day's work. Her absence seemed to have gone unnoticed. She ought to have been able to sleep for a couple of hours, but she was too distracted. Instead she lay in bed fretting while images of the night's adventures swarmed her brain. The eerie fog. The cavernous warehouses with their peculiar, shifting shadows. That charming dog. And, above all, the dark gaze of James Easton.
The way he looked at her was disconcerting: carefully, lingeringly, as though she was a puzzle to be deciphered. And she wasn't uncomfortable in his presence. That was odd. Normally, if someone – especially a man – stared at her for longer than a few seconds, she wanted to bolt. Yet with James, her desire was to stare back; to examine him as closely as he did her. It was an impulse that made her both elated and wary. She couldn't afford to find him intriguing... could she?
Then there was her new cover story about Gladys. She'd been polishing it for a while, making it believable and realistic. It had been the perfect opportunity to try it out. So why was she slightly disappointed that he'd swallowed it whole?
When she finally achieved a restless half sleep, she was awakened the next minute by a servant bearing a cup of tea and muttering about bath water. Her sheets were tangled round her legs as though she'd spent hours in the clutches of a nightmare. Even after bathing and dressing, her limbs felt rubbery. Her eyes were gritty with exhaustion. At moments, she felt positively dizzy from lack of sleep.
Mornings with the ladies were leisurely to the point of boredom. Mrs Thorold and Angelica breakfasted in their bedrooms and only appeared after the men had gone out. During these hours Angelica was mute and sluggish, yawning as she and her mother took turns dictating little notes to Mary and dozing in armchairs. With luncheon, the mood shifted. Mrs Thorold, with the single-minded dedication of the invalid, drove out most days to see one of her array of physicians. She was much addicted to these expeditions; although the family could easily afford to pay for house calls, there was something about the outings themselves she seemed to find compelling. And really, how different was her routine from the elaborate social visits most ladies conducted instead? With use of the carriage thus monopolized by her mother, Angelica either practised the pianoforte or had a music lesson. The girl was a talented musician and it was tempting to stay and listen, but during this time, Mary could do some sleuthing while "taking a little stroll" or "running a few errands".
Today, however, even her bones felt hollow and she was oddly clumsy, dropping things and bumping into doorframes. After luncheon, she briefly considered trying to interview the domestics about recent changes in the household routines, or deliveries of items that could possibly be the looted Indian artefacts or gems. But the servants were still shy of her. Her position, as lady's companion, was a strange one. She was technically a servant herself, of course. Yet she dined with the family and her bedroom was on the same floor. She called the servants by their given names, while they addressed her as "Miss Quinn". It would have been extremely odd for her to fraternize with them, or to venture below stairs. Even the sullen little skivvy who woke her each morning seemed wary of her.
Mary stifled another yawn. Perhaps a dull book would lull her to sleep. After a nap, she would feel more herself. The parlour connected to the drawing-room was cool and dark and she browsed the shelves with heavy eyes. The books here belonged mainly to Angelica and the selection was slim: Gothic novels and albums of sentimental poetry, with the odd work of "improving" literature. She chose, at random, a volume called _A Garland of Poetic Posies_ and settled into a wing chair in the gloomiest corner of the room.
The house was quiet, apart from the emphatic chords of the pianoforte in the next room. Half an hour might have passed in drowsy stupor for Mary before the music halted abruptly, mid-phrase. This itself was not unusual, but then Angelica's sharp whisper caught Mary's attention. "Michael! What are you doing here?"
"Talking to you, of course."
"Do be serious!"
"I am perfectly serious. Mrs Thorold is resting, I assume. Where's Miss Quinn?"
A pause. Then Angelica sneered, "Don't you mean 'Mary'?"
A lady would make her presence known, thought Mary. Shuffle her feet, or cough discreetly, or something. But she continued to sit very still.
Michael's voice was tense. "Are you suggesting that I'm too friendly with Miss Quinn?"
"I don't need to suggest anything. I saw you flirting with her at the party, and rushing to her rescue. Everybody saw!"
He sighed. "That was the point. I thought we decided it would be best if I distracted her. Showing interest was the easiest way to do so."
There it was: the unflattering truth behind Michael's flirtatious behaviour. Mary wondered if her feelings ought to be hurt. Perhaps they were a little, but her curiosity was stronger than her pride. She was more interested in learning what she was being distracted from.
"There's 'showing interest', and there's behaving like a besotted puppy!" snapped Angelica. "What a ridiculous performance!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way." Michael's voice was quiet but it vibrated with restrained emotion.
"I'm not the only one. Miss Quinn thinks you're a fool, too, you know. She spilled that tea deliberately, to attract attention. And it worked! You and James Easton came charging to her rescue, making spectacles of yourselves —"
"Enough," he interrupted. "Someone's going to hear you."
But Angelica continued, her voice rising and beginning to shake. "She's up to something, you know. She sits there looking as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, batting her eyelashes at you and Papa, and you fall for her act. You think I'm too stupid to see what's right before my eyes, but it's you who's blind!"
_"Keep your voice down."_
"Don't touch me! It's true, it's true. You don't believe me now, but you'll see!"
There was an extended silence. Was Michael hurting Angelica? No. It was too quiet for that. Mary counted to twenty before they spoke again.
"You didn't answer my question: where are Mrs Thorold and Miss Quinn?"
"Why does it matter?"
"I need to speak with you. In confidence."
Another long pause. Then came Angelica's voice, sounding uncertain. "Mamma's in her room. Miss Quinn is... God knows where. She often goes for a walk after luncheon."
"I hope 'God knows where' is far away."
"You're being very mysterious, Michael."
He sighed. "Your father is up to something."
Angelica tried for a careless laugh. "He's always up to something! Honestly, if I had a penny for each time he concocted a new scheme..."
"You'd be an heiress. Which you are." His voice was quite humourless. "Listen to me: your father is planning to send you to Brighton for the summer."
She gasped. "What?"
"He's not going, of course. He's talking about letting a house for you, your mother and Miss Quinn."
"What? He – why would he do such a thing?"
Another of those heavy silences.
When Michael spoke again, he sounded grim and tired. "He _says_ it's due to the unusual heat – he's concerned about your health, and that of your mother."
"That's nonsense. Mamma's health has been delicate for years; there's no reason for him to be concerned this year, above all others."
"Actually, there is. The weather's far too hot for the season and the almanac calls for more of the same. Everybody knows that the ghastly odour coming from the river causes infection and disease. All the best doctors are warning about the dangers of the miasma."
She sighed. "All the same... the timing is..."
"I know."
"Did he tell you about this?"
"He asked me to find the Brighton house. I'm meant to be with the estate agent now."
Another of those damnable silences. Mary dearly wished she could see their faces, their postures.
"Do you think this has anything to do with—"
"I don't see how. Yet it's the likeliest explanation."
"But who would suspect—"
"Let's not speak of it here. Can we meet privately?"
"Tomorrow. The usual—" The floorboards creaked. Their voices became fainter, until they were barely audible; they must have moved to the farthest end of the drawing-room. For a few minutes, Mary could barely make out murmuring. Then, suddenly, there was more movement – rapid, this time.
In a moment, the drawing-room door clicked open and Mary heard Mrs Thorold's plaintive voice. "Who was that, darling?"
"Who was what?"
"I thought I heard voices."
"Er... mine, perhaps? I was humming a little."
"No, not that sort of voice. I thought I heard a man."
Angelica's laugh was forced. "As you can see, Mamma, I'm perfectly alone. I can't imagine what you mean."
Mrs Thorold grunted softly. Mary pictured the two women, staring each other down in the soft gloom. At last, she seemed to relent. "Perhaps I was mistaken, my dear."
"Perhaps you're feeling unwell!"
She sighed. "Where is Miss Quinn?"
"She's probably out walking somewhere." Angelica paused. " _Are_ you feeling ill, Mamma? You do look a bit... different. In fact, you look absolutely flushed!"
"Do I?"
"Mamma, have you been exerting yourself? You really ought not move quickly, or do anything difficult. Your own physicians tell you so."
"Yes, darling."
"And why are you dressed to go out?"
"I'm fine, darling –" The assurance was unconvincing. "– only I rushed down the stairs a little, because of those voices."
"Oh, poor Mamma. Shall I help you back upstairs? Your really ought to rest a little more."
"No, no. I must go out."
"So soon after luncheon?"
"My appointment is early today. Ring for the carriage, darling; I'm late as it is. And my hat... I must have my hat."
Even Mary knew that Mrs Thorold wasn't the sort of woman who rushed for anyone.
Mother and daughter exited the drawing-room, with Angelica sounding kinder in that moment than Mary had ever heard her. And when, a minute later, she heard the drawing-room door click softly for a second time, she thought she knew why.
# Ten
It was a little after midnight when James's carriage drew up in a narrow alley not far from Thorold's warehouses. He slid open a window and listened attentively. London was never quiet at night. Some areas, like the Haymarket, were only beginning their long nights of drinking and revelry, of course, and their streets would be thronged. But even industrial zones such as this one had their constant soundscape: the ring of horseshoes on cobblestones, the odd voice from a boat on the river, the lapping of the tide. An open fire burned somewhere by the Thames, its dull roar distorted by the water.
He got down from the carriage to stretch his legs. Barker, his coachman, gave him a look and tilted his hat even lower over his eyes. He found this sort of nocturnal prowling beneath his dignity, but had accompanied James on both nights with a long-suffering air.
James ignored him. Instead, his attention was attracted by the manic barking of a dog. A rather large dog, from the sound of things. It was coming from... within the warehouse gates? He took a few steps closer, his body tightening, ready for action. A pair of male voices joined the dog's, their cries unintelligible, drowned out by the thumping of their boots against cobblestones.
He heard her footsteps, light and efficient, before he saw her. She was dressed in the same dark boy's clothes, a rough cap pulled low over her ears, sprinting with admirable speed. For a moment, only her face was visible in the shadows. It wore an expression of intense worry.
"This way." He stepped out of the alley and she stumbled, barely regaining her balance and pulling up short. Alarm contorted her face, but the look quickly shifted to recognition and she pelted towards him.
Ignoring his extended hand, she vaulted into the carriage unassisted. James sprang in after her. There was no need to thump the roof tonight; he was still closing the door as the carriage sprang into motion. He fell into his seat with an amused grunt. At least the girl wasn't dull.
Still ignoring him, Mary snuffed both candles inside the carriage and pressed her face against one of the windows. The night was dark and the streets narrow and rutted, but Barker was driving as fast as possible, the carriage was light and well sprung, the horses fresh.
James glanced out of his own window. The two men were still in pursuit, with the dog nearly at the carriage wheels. As Barker gained speed, however, the human figures quickly began to recede. A shrill whistle a few moments later called off the dog. For her part, Mary remained tense at the window for a minute longer before turning round and sprawling across the seat. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and her face flushed.
James grinned. Her current posture was more suited to a sailor than a lady's companion.
So was her speech. The first intelligible phrase he heard was, "Damn the dog."
"You must prefer lapdogs."
"Hardly," she snarled. "I made friends with that bloody dog last night. That's why he came after me. He wanted to play!"
Was she glaring at him? It occurred to him to relight the candles.
The warm, yellow light seemed to prompt her. With a faint blush, she scrambled into a more ladylike position: knees together, hands clasped in her lap. "Er... thank you," she murmured faintly. "For... hm."
James ignored this. "Were you going in or coming out when they spotted you?"
"In," she mumbled. "I was just past the fence."
"You're damned lucky I happened to be in the alley."
She lifted her chin. "I'd have managed something."
"Hogwash," he said brusquely. "They'd have caught you in another minute." He fixed her with a fierce look. "They hang thieves, you know."
She caught her breath on a sharp inhale. Her cheeks flushed a deep, comprehensive pink. But all she said was, "You were only in the alley because you want information from me."
"And I had to settle for saving your life."
"Well, you must be very pleased to have me in your debt." She was certainly glaring at him now. "Where are we going, anyway?"
He looked at her for a long moment, considering. "That depends."
Her eyes widened. "What on?"
"Are we going to work together?"
She shifted warily. "I haven't decided yet."
"Well, decide now."
"Why?"
Why? Was she being annoying just for the sake of it? "On second thoughts, never mind. I'll just dump you in the Thames, instead."
She startled him by grinning – not sarcastically, but with genuine amusement. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"It's tempting," he admitted.
"I still don't see that working together will be of any use."
"We've each been grossly unproductive so far," he pointed out. "We can hardly get worse. At the very least, if we share information, we won't duplicate our labour."
"Hopefully."
"I could be helpful to you."
"That's a load of gammon. You merely want to keep an eye on me."
"Do I?"
"Of course. You're not the collaborative type. Why don't you just say what you mean, instead of attempting to manipulate me with specious arguments?"
He grinned. "Very well: I don't trust you and I wish to keep an eye on your activities. Naturally, you feel the same way."
She pretended to mull it over for a little longer, but the slight relaxation in her posture told James she'd already decided. At last, she nodded grudgingly. "Very well. But this is to be an equal partnership – you will share all your information, and I mine."
"But of course."
Her eyes narrowed. "If I find that you've deceived me, or kept information from me, I'll hurl you to the wolves."
"Likewise."
"And don't assume that because I'm female, I'm incompetent. I will not have you second-guessing me or protecting me."
"Naturally."
Their gazes locked for a long moment: testing, challenging, confirming. Then James abruptly held out his hand.
Mary merely blinked at it.
He raised an eyebrow. "Well? We should seal our agreement."
One corner of her mouth crooked up. "A gentlemen's pact?"
"Something like that."
She hesitated for a moment longer, then tentatively placed her fingers in his. Her hand was hot and dry, and so fragile-seeming that James cradled it gingerly. The next moment, she squeezed so hard his eyes widened.
Fragile lady be damned: he squeezed back spitefully. "Vicious minx."
She smiled and withdrew her hand primly. "I did warn you..."
He snorted and poked his head outside to have a word with Barker.
"Doesn't your brother wonder why you keep driving around in his carriage?" she asked once he was reseated.
James was irritated. "Why do you assume it's his?"
"Because he's older. Aren't you his apprentice?"
"I'm an equal partner. And I do a lot more engineering work than he does."
She was visibly surprised. "You must have started straight from school."
He nodded. "George needed my help."
"What about your father? Isn't it a family business?"
"He's dead."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "My parents are dead, too."
He pretended not to hear. "We share a house, too. For now, that is. If this Thorold business turns out all right, I'll have to go. I don't fancy living with newlyweds."
"Miss Thorold seems to prefer you to your brother," said Mary slyly. "If this business turns out all right, perhaps your brother will have to move out."
Amusement gleamed in his eyes. "Do I look the type to ruin my life by falling in love and getting married?"
"Well, if that's your attitude, you'll certainly end up a lonely, embittered old man."
"Oh, I'll marry eventually," he said calmly. "But when I do, it'll be for the right reasons."
"Which are?"
He waved his hand vaguely. "Money. Business contacts. Political connections."
"And in return, your wife would get...?"
His expression suggested that it was an odd question. "A husband, of course."
"That's it?"
"What else do women want? Flowers? Jewels? Sonnet sequences? Children?" He shrugged. "I can manage all that."
Mary eyed him sceptically. "Sonnet sequences?"
"Well, a proper sonnet sequence would be rather time-consuming, but poems are easy. I made up one for Angelica as an acrostic, using each letter of her name. George signed his name to it, of course, but I wrote it for him." He grinned. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"Not a word."
"Well, your name is a bit too short, really, but it takes no time at all. The lady doesn't have to know that, of course."
"Go on, then. Make an acrostic poem with my name."
"All right. Let me see... 'Maiden with the ebony locks,/ Armed with potent charms and looks./ Release me from your potent spell,/ Your – er – '"
She made a sound that was midway between a shriek and a groan.
He stopped, surprised. "What?"
"Stop the carriage. I'm jumping into the river."
"Is my poem that bad?"
"Your poem is ghastly," she said sincerely.
He looked annoyed, then suddenly relaxed. "You're the most plain-spoken woman I've ever met."
"I'll not apologize for that."
A hint of a smile played across his lips. "I think I mean it as a compliment."
"Oh." She smiled at him – a proper smile this time, that made his cheeks suddenly warm.
He frowned. "At any rate... we should discuss our next move."
"Certainly." She was all business once again.
"Tonight was your last chance at the warehouse. They'll be on guard from now on."
A pained look crossed her face. "For some time, at least. Perhaps I – we – could try again in a few days' time."
"Very well, then. We've looked at the private study and part of the office. Thorold's unlikely to keep his papers anywhere else."
"Not unless there's a third office... one devoted to the illicit trade."
His gaze was sharp. "Have you heard of such an office?"
"No," she admitted.
"Right. I'll make some enquiries in that direction, but in the meantime we need a new course of action."
"We'd better hurry. Thorold intends to pack off the family to the seaside as soon as possible. I think it likely that he might be planning something quite soon, and is therefore getting them out of harm's way." It was the closest she could come to telling him about the seventeenth of May deadline.
"Using the heat as an excuse?"
"Yes. He and Michael Gray intend to remain in town, of course."
James shot her a look. "Gray. Of course. Was it he who told you?"
"Not exactly... I overheard a conversation."
"Between Gray and Thorold?"
"Involving Gray," she said carefully.
"And he was definitely speaking for Thorold?"
"Yes."
"I see." James brooded on that for a moment, then shot Mary a suspicious look. "You seem rather intimate with Gray. What else has he told you?"
She hoped the rush of warmth to her cheeks did not signify a blush. "I am scarcely acquainted with Michael Gray," she said stiffly. "I _accidentally_ overheard a conversation of his earlier today, and I'm sharing the information. According to our agreement." And if she'd been inclined to part with the rest of the information, his suspicion had just cancelled that.
He raised his eyebrows sarcastically. "Naturally."
"You don't believe me, of course."
He leaned back, legs and arms crossed. "Why should I, when the evidence of my senses suggests otherwise?"
"The evidence of your senses? More like your fevered imagination!"
"He came flying to your rescue after you burned your hand, and carried you off into a private area of the house. You blush whenever I mention his name. You're blushing now. _And_ you're on a first-name basis with the man," he said flatly.
"And on this circumstantial evidence, you call me a liar!"
"Aren't you?"
"I don't know why I imagined such a collaboration might be possible," she muttered. "Let me down."
"You don't even know where we are."
"I don't care." She reached for the door handle.
He grabbed her wrist and she chopped at his hand. With a grunt of pain, he wrestled her back into the seat, twisting aside just in time to avoid a knee to the groin. "Stop fighting, you idiot!"
Suddenly, she went limp. Her whole body was trembling and her cheeks were flushed a deep pink.
"Histrionics are becoming a habit with you." He placed one hand on her forehead. She was burning up.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, he picked up her left wrist. The burned skin was still red and puffy, but there was something new: a row of four crescent-shaped marks that had broken the skin. They were unpleasantly discoloured and swollen.
"Let me guess: you feel light-headed? Weak? Over-heated?" She nodded each time and he sighed. "It's because you have a fever." He indicated the infected punctures. "This must be Angelica's work."
She said nothing.
"It's a good thing George keeps a flask of whisky in the carriage."
She stared at him. "This is hardly the time for a drink."
"You stubborn idiot," he said amiably, fishing around in his pockets. "I told you a physician ought to look at your burn."
"It was healing nicely enough before —"
He raised an eyebrow. "What? Before Angelica clawed you? Rather vindictive of her... although I'm sure you deserved it."
Mary eyed the row of things he had laid out on the seat: a flask of whisky, a pocket knife and a handkerchief. "Oh no. You're mad, if you think I'll allow you to slice my hand open."
"Don't be an idiot. It's got to be drained and cleaned."
"Stop calling me an idiot!"
"Then let me clean your wound before it goes septic and kills you!"
She sighed and held out her hand. "I'm not a liar."
He half smiled. "You funny thing. Brace yourself," he added, opening his penknife. "This will hurt."
# Eleven
# Thursday, 13 May
She had forgotten to close the blinds. When the first rays of sunlight warmed her eyelids, Mary's eyes popped open. She half sat up in a rush, then slumped back against the headboard. How much of last night had been a dream? Running from the warehouse... James Easton looming up out of the shadows... that strange argument... James cleaning her infected wounds with whisky and a pocket knife! He'd accompanied her back to Cheyne Walk and stood watch as she scrambled back into the house.
Before going to bed, she'd bandaged her hand and taken some willow-bark powder to combat the fever. Now, as she sat up, listening to the servants' pattering footsteps, she realized that she felt better than she had in some time. Not rested, of course – she'd been up for two nights running. Yet her body didn't ache as much, and she felt more clear-headed.
Her bedroom door opened on a violent shove and the kitchen slavey appeared, slapping a cup and saucer on the bedside table. "Tea." It was closer to a snarl than a word.
Mary smiled gratefully none the less; she was parched. "Thank you, Cass."
The girl remained stone-faced. "Mary-Jane-says-there's-trouble-with-the-hot-water-pipes-and-will-you-have-your-bath-in-here-miss."
"Of course." They were always having trouble with the pipes, and this announcement was part of the morning routine. As she bathed and dressed, Mary considered the new complication of James Easton. (They'd arrived at first names last night, at some point between their wrestling match and his supervision of her pre-dawn scramble through the window: a series of humiliations she shuddered to recall.) He'd demonstrated that he was active, intelligent, and – she hated to admit it – not incapable of kindness. After all these good years at the Academy, she was still so surprised by kindness. But, Mary reminded herself, he was also arrogant, rude, suspicious and convinced of the natural superiority of men. She _quite_ pitied Angelica for preferring him to George.
She needed more willow bark, so took the servants' staircase down to the housekeeper's office. As she rounded a corner, she very nearly walked into a tall, grimy man who was loitering in the corridor. Judging from his clothing, he belonged to the stables and ought not to be in the house at all. She blinked up at him, waiting for him to mumble his excuses.
Instead, he stared down at her with glazed eyes. A slow grin stretched his bristly face. "Well, if it ain't the new missy..." His breath reeked of gin.
Mary drew herself up to her full height and met his gaze directly. "You must be lost. I suggest you return to the stables by the kitchen door."
His jaw sagged in mock offence. "Wouldn't hurt you to be friendly-like, miss," he mumbled, swaying slightly. "Never pays to make enemies with the lower staff, y'know."
Despite herself, Mary was amused. After all, it was rather good advice, no matter who was giving it. "I'm not being unfriendly," she pointed out. "But you certainly ought to leave the house before one of the family finds you here."
He flapped one hand at her carelessly. "Shows h'little you know," he leered, leaning comfortably against the wall. "Nobody says boo to old Brown... least of all you, missy."
"And why is that?" As soon as she heard her own sharp tone, Mary regretted the question. What was she doing, bandying words with Mrs Thorold's coachman? Now that he'd identified himself, she knew why she'd not recognized him: he had never come into the house before today, and she never rode out in the carriage. Straightening, she made to move past him but he blocked her way with a slight, lurching stagger.
His grin acquired a tinge of menace. "Like I said, missy, no call to be uppity. You'll be civil to old Brown, if y'know what's good for you."
She flicked a quick glance towards the staircase that led down into the scullery. There were voices below – certainly Cook and a maid or two were down there – but no convenient footsteps coming towards them. Even the footmen seemed to have vanished. Should she simply flee to the drawing-room and pretend she'd never encountered Brown?
He laughed at her obvious discomfort. "See now? Civility don't cost nothing."
Reining in her temper, Mary continued to stand tall. "I have been nothing but civil to you," she pointed out. "More civil than you to me."
He grinned and shook his head. "You're a fine one, missy. I like your temper."
He must be more drunk than he seemed. "You are impertinent." Once again, she made to walk round him but a long arm, encased in musty-smelling tweed, shot out to block her path. She swallowed. If he so much as brushed her sleeve, she'd hit him. But until that moment, perhaps it was best not to provoke him.
"Let me pass," she said, keeping her voice – and hopefully her temper – low.
"He's a lucky swine, that toff," Brown said admiringly, propping up the wall now. From his posture, he could have been chatting her up in a pub. "Talk about eating one's cake and having it, too..."
"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean." The words came out automatically, prim and clipped, but she but couldn't help stiffening slightly. He couldn't possibly...
"Course y'know what I mean," scoffed Brown. He lowered his voice meaningfully. "You and your chappie. I saw you this morning, scrambling in the window at dawn wearing your little breeches. And I saw him, too, keeping lookout. Only he was too busy looking at you to see me watching over the whole scene." Brown emitted a fat, satisfied chuckle.
Mary's stomach churned with fear while, perversely, a subtle current of satisfaction prickled her skin. James had been staring at her?
"Always been partial to the English rose look myself, but you ain't half bad," Brown rumbled, his gaze as invasive as a hand in her corset. "I'm full to busting with admiration for the gentleman: how's he convince a fetching little lady like you to give it away for free?" He gave a low whistle of admiration. "That's a clever bugger, that gent."
Mary swallowed. "You seem to talk a great deal, Mr Brown."
A spasm of silent laughter made him shake, mouth gaping. When he recovered, Brown wiped his eyes with a dirty cuff and grinned at her. "So it's _Mr_ Brown now, hey, missy?" But he seemed pleased, all the same. "I do know a great deal, m'dear... the stories I could tell you about this here family!" He winked at her broadly.
"Really."
"You're not the only skirt sneaking about in this household," he assured her with another confidential wink. "All the fine ladies in London are up to no good, and this household's no exception."
Once again, Mary tried to assess his degree of drunkenness. It was possible that he was always half-cut, she supposed. Or that he used its likeness to his advantage... His eyes were still shiny with gin, but a distinct intelligence flickered within.
"What's going on in that little head of yours?" he demanded suddenly. "You've a particular look in your eyes."
She looked down modestly. "I'm only trying to think, Mr Brown, whether you intend to report your suspicions to my employer."
"I might... but perhaps not, if I get too accustomed to being _Mr_ Brown," he snorted mischievously. "You're a cool customer, girlie – most females would be pleading with me now, not to tell. Ain't you the slightest bit afraid of me, now?"
Mary's eyes were round and innocent as she met his. "Why, I've done nothing wrong."
He snorted, but didn't seem annoyed. "You and Mrs T, both." He nodded at her look of surprise. "Aye, the mistress. Got your attention now, haven't I?"
"You had it before, sir."
Brown chuckled again. "Cheeky sausage."
Mary held her breath. The gleam in his eyes had changed somewhat – still impudent, but less lecherous. She hoped. "I believe you're gulling me, Mr Brown," she said smoothly. "I can't imagine Mrs Thorold would do anything inappropriate." Surely he meant _Miss_ Thorold?
"Then you tell me where she's trotting off to, every blooming afternoon!"
"For her medical treatments, surely?"
"Aye, that's what she gives out," he sneered. "But it's a funny lady who goes to a quack, instead of havin' house calls!"
"Mrs Thorold sees a number of specialists."
Brown made a dismissive noise. "I never knew a ladies' physician to set up shop in Pimlico, girlie! She's not being physicked." His eyebrows rose suggestively. "Not in the professional way, that is."
Mary's jaw dropped. "So – you believe Mrs Thorold is having an affair?" It was a daft question – Brown could hardly have meant anything else – but it was the most improbable thing she'd heard in some time. The sighing, napping, slow-moving lady of the house? The woman who called her husband of two decades "Mr Thorold"?
And yet... while it seemed more than improbable – impossible, rather – there was a perverse logic behind Brown's suggestion. Why indeed was Mrs Thorold so eager to drive out to see her physicians when she could barely summon the strength to cut her own meat at dinnertime? She seldom went out for any other reason. She had no friends. Her dressmaker and milliner came to the house. But her medical advisors forced her to come to them? That, too, was improbable. An illicit affair, as Brown hinted, was the likeliest explanation.
Unless there was a third possibility...?
A soft thud to her left made them both jump. Cass stood at the end of the corridor, bucket in one reddened hand, a rag in the other. Her expression was one of extreme interest, rather than her usual surliness.
Mary cursed inwardly. Becoming chummy with the coachman wasn't always a sackable offence, but add to that gossiping about her employer...
Turning back to Brown, she said firmly, "I refuse to believe that, sir. Excuse me."
"Silly cow," muttered Brown.
She didn't bother turning about to see whether it was aimed at her or at Cass. At this point, she thought she quite deserved it.
# Twelve
Are you going for a walk, Miss Thorold?"
Angelica jumped, dropping her kid gloves on the hall carpet. "Miss Quinn! How you startled me!" She was wearing an unfashionably deep bonnet that concealed most of her face, but the bit that Mary could see looked distinctly flushed.
Mary waited for a reply, but none came. "It's a sweltering day," she observed. "Not very nice for a stroll." She wasn't exaggerating. The air was dense and stifling, even in the garden, and the intense humidity and thick skies promised a ferocious thunderstorm.
"It's not so bad," Angelica said quickly. "I thought I'd pop out just for a little while." This was nonsense. The girl never walked if she could drive, and just a quarter of an hour ago, Mrs Thorold had gone out in the carriage.
"May I come with you?" asked Mary. "Your energy puts me to shame. And I do feel as though I neglect you, sometimes."
Angelica's face contorted. "No! Er... that is, I know you take quite long walks, and I'll be going quite slowly..."
It was too tempting. "Oh, I'm quite happy to walk slowly," Mary assured her. "And I do hope you'll forgive me for suggesting it, but is it quite the done thing for you to walk alone?"
Angelica began to sputter helplessly.
Mary watched her paralysis for a few moments, then took pity on the girl. "I don't suppose it could do _much_ harm..." she decided nonchalantly. "I shan't make a pest of myself, Miss Thorold, but perhaps I shall go for a little stroll myself, after all. Have you any errands I might perform for you?"
If Angelica Thorold had been capable of gratitude, it would have shone from her face. As it was, her expression lightened and she said, "Oh! Not today, thank you, Miss Quinn." She bolted for the front door. Then, one hand on the handle, she turned back to Mary. "Er – Miss Quinn?"
"Yes, Miss Thorold?"
"As we're both going for little walks... perhaps if Mamma asks... we could allow her to think we did so together?"
"What harm could it do?"
A tight little smile stretched Angelica's cheeks for a moment, and then was gone. Mary gave the girl a two-minute head start, then slipped outside after her. Angelica had lied, of course: she was walking rather quickly indeed, and it was a good thing she had only two minutes' lead. Already, she was a little dab of colour on the distant pavement, identifiable only by the distinctive azure shade of her gown.
No matter. Mary closed the gap to about fifty yards. It was early afternoon, and the streets of Chelsea teemed with horses and carriages, delivery men, fruitmongers, flower and match girls, street urchins, dogs and other forms of life.
The two women walked north-east towards Sloane Square. Angelica attracted surprisingly little attention, considering her expensive dress and secretive manner. Mary was grateful. She could hardly watch Angelica get into trouble without coming to her assistance. At the corner of Sloane Square, Angelica halted abruptly. The man behind her nearly lost the contents of his wheelbarrow in an attempt to avoid running her down, and growled at the girl for her sudden stop. Angelica scarcely seemed to hear him, she was scanning the square with such intensity.
Mary drifted to a discreet place behind a pair of flower girls who were gossiping loudly with a charwoman. She hadn't long to wait. A minute later, a slim, fair-haired gentleman touched Angelica's elbow, making her start violently. A small smile blossomed on Mary's lips: Michael Gray. The smile disappeared an instant later, when Michael hailed a hansom-cab and handed Angelica up.
With the pace of traffic, Mary easily kept them in sight while on foot. She wished she could hear their conversation. Did the hansom offer sufficient privacy for Michael, or did they have a destination? And what on earth were they discussing? If this were a novel, they would be secretly, desperately, in love. It would be against the rules, of course, since Michael was poor and Angelica all but engaged to George Easton. But it would also explain Angelica's jealousy over Michael's flirtation with the paid companion. Perhaps they were now planning how to tell Mr and Mrs Thorold about their romance. The scenario seemed possible, although perhaps a bit of a cliché...
But – Mary blinked and nearly stumbled as a second possibility struck her: both could be involved in Thorold's illegal business! Never mind who was leading whom. It too made sense. Michael brought Angelica delicate information from the counting house; they now had to modify their plans because of this projected holiday in Brighton; and they maintained a cool social distance before the family, in order to prevent suspicion. And who better than Angelica to carry off an unlikely financial deal? It was the Scrimshaw Principle in action: nobody paid attention to women, especially women in subordinate positions. Michael was automatically suspect, as Thorold's right hand. Mrs Thorold, whether invalid or cunning adulteress, was entirely uninterested in her family. But Angelica was perfect – the rich, idle daughter of a merchant with nothing in particular to accomplish and all the time in the world in which to do it. Her viciousness – the evidence of which scarred Mary's left hand – seemed entirely logical, in this light. Really, Mary chided herself, as a member of the Agency, she was the last person who should under-estimate a woman's capabilities.
It was a long conference. Mary followed the cab on a meandering route through Kensington and around the parks. She contemplated a bold move – _Why hello, Miss Thorold! Mr Gray! Fancy running into you two,_ together _, on Rotten Row!_ – but decided against it. She needed more information before she could act.
After three-quarters of an hour, the hansom drew up. Michael jumped out, paid the cabman, and issued some firm instructions. Then the cab rattled off, presumably towards Cheyne Walk. Michael walked eastwards. His hands were thrust in his trouser pockets, and everything about his posture suggested that he was satisfied with the outcome of the conference. Was it worth following him? What if he went somewhere else before returning to the counting house?
She followed him to the edge of St James's Park, where he suddenly consulted his watch, put it away hastily, and accelerated his pace southwards. Mary relaxed. His meeting with Angelica had taken longer than anticipated; he now had to return to Thorold's offices. It was a relief not to have her attention fixed so strenuously on a target. She sighed happily, looked about her, and realized that the soup-like miasma that clung so tenaciously in Chelsea had dissipated here in the park. It was a good omen.
* * *
It must have been a successful meeting: for the rest of the day, Angelica floated about the house in a cloud of good humour, playing scraps of Mozart and humming dreamily. It was a marked change from her usual sulks and tantrums.
The family had just finished dinner when Mr Thorold cleared his throat. "My dears, I have something to say to you."
The ladies put down their pudding spoons and Michael took a gulp of wine.
"Town is most unpleasant at the moment," said Thorold. "I am very concerned about the effects of the heat and the miasma on your health." He paused to cast a worried glance at Mrs Thorold. "I have arranged for your removal to Brighton, where the air is pure. You will depart on Saturday and remain there for the summer."
His announcement met with perfect silence. Angelica, whom Mary watched from beneath her lashes, feigned surprise rather well. Her eyes went round and she pressed one hand to her throat. At the foot of the table, Mrs Thorold's lips thinned into a flat line. The look she directed at her husband was dark with reproach – even anger.
Angelica cleared her throat. "This is very sudden, Papa. What are we to do in Brighton all summer?"
Thorold blinked. "Why, make a holiday, naturally. The house is situated in a charming location – so convenient for the seaside." The general mood slowly began to seep into his consciousness and he frowned slightly at Angelica. "Why – I thought you'd be pleased, my dear. I thought you quite enjoyed Brighton last year."
Angelica drew a deep breath, as though summoning a reserve of patience. "I did, Papa. But that was for only a fortnight. And in any case, it's such unexpected news – I must rearrange all my music lessons, and any number of social engagements if we are truly going away the day after tomorrow."
Frustrated now, Thorold looked across the length of the table to his wife. His mouth drooped at her expression. "I – I suppose my good news is unwelcome to you, too, Mrs Thorold?"
Mrs Thorold sighed and began a long, meandering bulletin on her health.
Mary leaned back in her chair, her gaze focused on Angelica. The girl wasn't surprised. In fact, she was watching her mother with amused expectation. Had she enlisted her mother's help in trying to remain in town? How had she managed to manipulate the old lady without giving away her own interests?
Mary had a sudden, vivid memory of the coachman's insinuations – suggestions she'd not had a chance to pursue, earlier that day. If Brown was correct, Mrs Thorold's desire to remain in London was deeply personal. Perhaps Angelica hadn't put her mother up to it, after all. And it certainly gave a new interpretation to Thorold's anxiety to remove the family from town, as well as his tense expression. Extracting his wife from a shameful entanglement? The Brighton plan suddenly seemed reasonable and urgent.
And if this was truly the case – if Mrs Thorold was conducting an extramarital affair – her entire role as an invalid had to be a sham! How could she have enough energy for passion and deception, while lacking vigour in all other aspects of her domestic life? Mary's fingers tightened round the stem of her wineglass. A grand deception... larger than any she'd imagined, and, in its own way, possibly even more comprehensive than Mr Thorold's dirty business. After all, if a woman could dupe her husband, daughter and household staff about her health, her abilities, her character... she was a woman of talent, indeed.
Mary realized she was in danger of snapping the fragile crystal goblet. With an effort, she refocused on Mrs Thorold's voice. "I cannot possibly find an internist of Mr Abernethy's stature in Brighton. It's simply impossible. The same goes for Mr Bath-Oliver, my cranial specialist, who is the best man in Europe in his field. Then there's the..."
As the plaintive list expanded, Mary glanced at Michael. He immediately withdrew his gaze from Angelica.
Finally, Thorold grew impatient. "Very well, Mrs Thorold, very well. I understand. I am still very anxious to have you all away from this city. This evil stink from the Thames is becoming absolutely intolerable." He paused. "But if your health would be greatly compromised if forced to leave the care of your physicians... Indeed, if you think the risk of removing greater than that of remaining..."
Mrs Thorold's eyes glittered, a brief flash of underlying steel. When she spoke, however, her voice was chalky-soft. "I do, Husband."
He sighed and closed his eyes. After a minute, he spoke in a strained voice. "That leaves one remaining decision. I shall take the house at Brighton regardless; I should feel more comfortable knowing that you have a place to go, in the event that the atmosphere here becomes yet more vile. But you may choose, Angelica, whether you wish to remain in town with your mother, or if you prefer to go to Brighton with Miss Quinn for companionship."
He looked at his daughter helplessly. Michael allowed his gaze to return to her. Mary, too, was watching, as was Mrs Thorold.
Angelica clearly felt the importance of the moment and let it stretch out for a few seconds, luxuriating in her fragment of power. Finally, she smiled at Thorold. "Papa, you are most kind and generous, but I really think I ought to stay with Mamma. Surely if the air becomes truly poisonous, you and Mr Gray will join us in going to Brighton? It cannot be right that we should go to purer air, while you remain in danger."
It was a splendid performance: modest, sweet and dutiful, just as a daughter should be. If Mary hadn't known better, she would have been tempted to think well of Angelica for nearly the first time since they'd met. As it was, she could only admire the girl's stagecraft. She did not even permit herself a glance in Michael's direction.
# Thirteen
# Friday, 14 May
After her day of discoveries, Mary found it difficult to fall asleep. Head buzzing with anxiety, she couldn't shut off various streams of speculation about Michael Gray, about Angelica, about the curious lack of evidence pointing to Thorold so far. But when she tried to focus her thoughts, they returned with rebellious persistence to the subject of Mrs Thorold's "physicians". Mere prurience? Or was the paramour part of the scheme as well? Perhaps – the idea flashed through her weary mind so swiftly she scarcely caught it – they were all in it together: husband, wife, lover? Too scandalous? Too damned impossible, given the personalities involved? She didn't... perhaps...
Sleep ambushed her train of thought. The next thing she knew it was morning, announced by the groan of rusty door hinges.
"Tea." Cass placed the saucer on the bedside table with less than her usual crash.
Mary raised herself on one elbow and squinted at the girl. "Thank you."
Instead of the usual question about baths, there was a silence. Then, "Is it true, then?"
Mary sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Is what true?"
"What Mr Brown said."
Gad. "About Mrs Thorold? I don't know." Mary took a sip of tea and looked at Cass. "Do you believe me?"
Cass shrugged. "Dunno."
"Then why did you ask?"
Another shrug. That should have been the end of the conversation, but instead Cass looked at the floor and began to pick at her fingers. They were raw and chapped, and scabbed round the cuticles.
"Do your hands hurt?"
A third shrug. "Can't help it. It's all the washing-up."
Mary considered her for a moment. "Pass me that jar on the washstand – the one made of blue glass."
Cass obeyed mechanically.
"Sit here." Mary patted the bedside chair. "Roll up your sleeves a little." The cuffs were grimy and tattered, and the child smelled of mutton fat and dirty hair. Was she a child? At this proximity, Mary noticed for the first time that the eyes were old and weary. Twelve, at least. Perhaps even fourteen, in the spindly body of a ten-year-old.
Her hands were stiff at first under Mary's touch, but after a minute she relaxed a little. "That stuff smells nice," she whispered.
Mary nodded, and took care not to make eye contact. "It stings a little at first, but it helps." She massaged the little, claw-like hands for a few minutes. It was longer than necessary, but they had softened dramatically and Cass seemed in no hurry to go.
"Are you a lady?"
Surprised, Mary looked at her. The girl had intelligent eyes. "What do you mean?"
Cass frowned impatiently. "Just, are you a lady?"
"Er... well, I work because I haven't any money," Mary said cautiously. "But I had a lady's education. You know, French and geography and history and all that."
"So your father was a gentleman?"
Mary made a wry face. "No, he wasn't. Why do you ask?"
"'Cos you look like a lady, but you don't behave like one."
"What do you mean?"
"You talk to me. Say 'thank you'. And Miss Thorold would never ask about my hands."
Mary gave the hands a final pat. "I doubt Miss Thorold ever sees you."
Cass shook her head. "No."
Mary waited, but the girl didn't move.
Finally, she asked, "Do you think I could be a lady? Like you, I mean," she clarified. "Not a real lady."
Mary hid a grin. "Do you want to be ladylike?"
Cass shrugged. "I don't care about French and history..."
"But it seems easier than the scullery?"
"Yes."
"It probably is." Mary looked at the alert eyes, half hidden by a tangle of dirty hair. She felt a sudden jolt: she must have looked like this, once. "It's getting late," she said, putting the stopper back in the ointment pot. "Come and see me before you sleep tonight; I'll rub your hands again."
Breakfast was a silent meal at Cheyne Walk. Thorold disappeared behind his copy of the _Times_ , while Michael scanned the other papers for news pertaining to the company. At the Academy, breakfast was simple and communal: porridge eaten at long wooden tables, in the company of high-spirited girls. Now, with an amazing array of hot dishes under silver covers and the luxury of silence, Mary wondered how she would ever return to the noisy austerity of the school once her assignment was over. She was spooning quince jelly onto toast when one of the footmen appeared at her elbow with the day's first post.
Mary blinked. "Thank you." It was the first letter she'd received since coming to live at Cheyne Walk and she recognized Anne's sharp scrawl immediately. A slight prickle crawled up and down her spine and she broke the seal hastily, her hand shaking slightly as she unfolded the single sheet.
_My dear Mary,_
_I am writing to you using my new, portable letter case, which is most convenient and very practical: it opens and closes with one simple movement. As I write, surrounded by some three dozen excited senior pupils, I feel unusually anxious. For two days, due to the heat being intolerable and unseasonable for this time of year, we have stopped conducting lessons. I intend to take the girls to the countryside for a spell, hoping that no noxious airs will affect us there._
_Likewise, try to minimize risks to yourself. Perhaps you'll find a way to raise this subject with your employers; they must realize that the stench is dangerous to one's health. Take care of yourself, Mary, dear._
_Yours sincerely,_
_Anne_
It was a terrible letter – stilted, imprecise, and unworthy of Anne's crisp intelligence. Yet it provided Mary with more information than she'd received since arriving at Cheyne Walk. The agreed-upon code was absurdly simple: every eleventh word of the main letter was part of Anne's message. She and Felicity had argued strenuously about this, with Anne favouring something more difficult to decode, and Felicity championing speed of comprehension. Felicity had won, arguing that Mary would have little privacy and leisure to work out an elaborate code; and, further, the intention of the code was only to protect the information from casual observers. Now, as she sat at the breakfast table munching toast, Mary easily sifted through the faux news to discover Anne's true warning: _case closes three days time take no risks subject dangerous._
Three days meant that the investigation was running to schedule. It also meant that she was nearly out of time, considering how long it had taken her to achieve so very little. Mary sighed.
"Not bad news, I hope."
She looked up and met Michael's enquiring gaze. "No... but timely, considering our conversation last night. My former employer, Miss Treleaven, wrote to inform me that she intends moving her pupils away from London for the summer. She's extremely anxious about the effects of the heat on the girls' health."
He frowned. "Really? Isn't the school quite far north?"
"Yes, in St John's Wood. But Miss Treleaven's concern for her students is thorough: she is extremely good to them." Too late, Mary realized the unflattering implications of her sentence. "Er... much like Mr Thorold towards his dependents, of course."
Michael scarcely glanced at his employer. "Of course. You must be close to your former headmistress, for her to write to you on such a small matter."
"I am," she said guardedly. "I owe her a great deal: she educated me and gave me my first post. Without her, my life would have been very different."
Michael's next remark was cut off by the rattling of Thorold's newspaper, which signalled the end of their meal. As he rose, he said softly, "I am intrigued, Mary. You must tell me more of your history later on."
She only smiled. He was carrying his end of the "flirtation" very dutifully. After breakfast she wrote a short letter, using the agreed key:
_Dear Miss Treleaven,_
_Thank you for your kind and informative letter. The country house sounds a splendid idea: safe and with enough space to let the pupils take exercise and enjoy themselves. Such impromptu holidays, in my recollection, are always the most enjoyable. The week-long Brighton beach holiday we teachers all enjoyed last year lingers as but one of my happiest memories._
_Here in Chelsea, the Thorold family is most kind to me. There cannot be many households remaining in which dependents are treated with such generosity. I find Chelsea most interesting and, although near the river, the air is, for me, quite tolerable. Regrettably, I must end this little note now, but hope to hear from you at your earliest leisure._
_Yours sincerely,_
_Mary Quinn_
* * *
After seeing Thorold and Michael safely away, she left the house at half past nine at a brisk walk, dropping the letter safely in a pillar box round the corner. At this hour, the day was still cool and the river at its least offensive. Even so, she was glad for a light breeze from the north which carried the smells of decay and sewage away from her. At the corner of Oakley Street, a small lad overtook her, clipping her on the elbow.
"Ouch!" Automatically, she turned to collar the boy: the "accidental" jostle was a well-worn pickpocket's manoeuvre. She'd used it herself in her youth, before graduating to larger exploits.
"Ever so sorry, miss." The boy tugged his cap apologetically. It was only then that Mary noticed he was neatly attired and surprisingly clean. An office boy of some sort?
"No harm done."
"B'lieve you dropped this, miss." He bobbed to the ground, then offered her a sealed letter.
She opened her mouth to deny it, then noticed the direction on the paper: _Miss M— Q—._ "Oh. Thank you."
"Not t'all, miss. G'morning." And with another tug on his cap, he was off.
Mary glanced about – ridiculously, since she was in a busy street – and tore open the envelope. _Come to my offices. JE_. An address was printed below. She debated his terse command for only a moment. It wasn't as though she had an elaborate scheme of her own. _Three days. Three days. Three days_. The words made a drumbeat in her head.
As she emerged from the omnibus in Great George Street, the first brass nameplate she saw was that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the most eminent engineer in the country. But unlike Brunel's offices, those of Easton Engineering were unassuming. In the main room, a row of clerks' heads bent low over desks and drafting tables. No marble, no mahogany: just a high reception desk, behind which a thin, bespectacled man regarded her with suspicion. After a moment, he unprimmed his mouth enough to emit a dusty, "Yes?"
"I'm here to see Mr James Easton."
"What name, miss?"
"Give this to him." She slid the crumpled envelope across the desk.
His nose wrinkled slightly and he hesitated before grasping the envelope between the extreme tips of two fingers. "Wait here." Half a minute later, he returned down the length of the large room, stiff with reluctance. "If you'll come this way, miss."
Trailed by the curious gazes of the clerks, Mary followed him to the end of the room and through another heavy wooden door. James's office was as spare as the first. He was seated behind a fantastically untidy desk: stacks of papers, rolls of technical drawings and dozens of little scribbled scraps of paper cluttered its surface. An empty coffee cup teetered at one corner with a half-eaten muffin balanced against the saucer. He was in shirtsleeves.
He glanced up as she entered the room, but did not bother to rise. "No interruptions, Crombie," he said to the old man. "Especially not from George." The old clerk grunted and closed the door firmly behind him. After a moment, James set down his pen. "You might raise your veil; I prefer to see a person's face."
Instead, she unpinned her hat and placed it on a corner of his desk. "You're in a charming mood today."
He frowned at the hat. "It's nearly ten o'clock. What took you so long?"
"I can't leave the house before Thorold and Gray do." She began to remove her gloves.
He grunted, then looked her over with a critical frown. "You look ghastly. Didn't you sleep at all last night?"
"I slept adequately, thank you."
"Hm. Must be that dress, then. What colour d'you call that?"
"Mustard colour. It was very fashionable three or four years ago."
"It makes you look bilious."
"Thank you."
The dangerously soft tone finally penetrated his ill humour. "What's wrong, then? Why are you so polite?"
She blinked dramatically. "I am always polite, Mr Easton. It is you who express your great importance through bad manners."
"Poppycock. Why don't you sit down?"
"Because you have not asked me to."
With a look of deep irritation, he came round the desk and held the facing chair for her. "My dear Miss Quinn, won't you take a seat?" His voice was heavily sarcastic.
She accepted graciously.
He slumped back into his chair and crossed one leg over his knee. "Now. Have you learned anything since we last spoke?"
She briefly described what had happened at dinner last night. "As the Brighton scheme's been overruled, perhaps we can let that go?"
He nodded. "My solicitor is searching for any legal proceedings in which Thorold's been involved in the past twenty years. He's come up empty-handed so far."
Mary bit her lip. She ought to tell him about Thorold's past entanglements: the suspicion of insurance and taxation frauds, both of which had come to naught. But could she explain her knowledge of such without compromising the Agency?
"I also inspected his will at Doctors' Commons."
"Because you can't have love without money," she scoffed.
He wasn't the least bit offended. "It's all very average and sensible: everything to his wife, if she's alive. Otherwise, a generous life interest to Miss Thorold and everything to her heirs."
"The classic way to fend off fortune-hunters."
"Exactly."
"No old friends, business partners, charitable gifts?"
"Nothing extraordinary – a couple of thousand here and there. I recall a missionary society and a home for aged sailors – Lascars, specifically."
Mary's eyebrows shot up. "He cares for Asian sailors but not English ones?"
"I suppose the English ones are better provided for. At least, they have families and communities here. The Asians who become stranded here really do need the help."
Mary nodded. As a child in Poplar, she'd known a number of Lascar families. Even the sailors who settled in London and married English women were generally poor.
"Lascars could link me to my illegal shipments," mused James.
This was not a subject she wanted to explore. "Ancient, underpaid sailors responsible for smuggling?" she scoffed. "It seems unlikely."
"Not old sailors, no. But there must be younger men who pass through the home – seamen who have recently arrived from the subcontinent."
She looked sceptical. "Why would Thorold trust foreign sailors with his smuggled cargoes?"
"If they're caught, he can deny all knowledge. Everyone's eager to believe that foreigners are responsible for the worst crimes. And the stereotypical connection between Orientals and opium is useful."
They argued the point for a while longer before Mary was forced to concede. She nodded slowly. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to take a look. I'll think of something else to do in the meantime."
He looked surprised. "Aren't you coming with me?"
She stared, stomach churning. "Why? It seems – unnecessary."
"I have a plan. I'll tell you on the way."
# Fourteen
They detoured north instead of crossing the river directly onto the Isle of Dogs. He stopped in a seedy alley in Holborn, where he jumped down from the carriage, held a muttered conference with a dirty, one-eyed old woman, and climbed back in, his arms full of grubby cloth.
She wrinkled her nose. "Phew. What the devil is all that?"
"It's a dress."
"Oh no. I'm not putting that on. It stinks of last week's washing-up."
"It smells of the people."
"And how will that disgusting object aid our enquiry?"
"One of us is going to distract the warden and the other is going to slip in the back way."
She sighed. "I suppose you'll be going to the front door and I'll be sneaking in the kitchen door? Why can't I be the lady and you the smelly servant?"
"You can't pass as a lady without a maid in tow."
She glared at him for a moment, but his logic was inarguable. "Fine. Close your eyes," she ordered, drawing the carriage blinds.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before, you know."
"You haven't seen mine before."
He grinned but closed his eyes obediently. "You're awfully prim for a woman who runs about in the middle of the night wearing breeches."
It was more difficult than one might expect to change dresses in the confines of a carriage. It didn't help that she had to go largely by feel, and that her own dress had so many respectable yards of fabric to its skirts. After a few minutes of struggle, she managed to get free of the mustard-coloured creation and she thrust it towards James. "Here. Hold this."
"That took long enough," he snorted.
"I didn't say you could look yet!"
"Still not dressed?" It was a stupid question: she wore a light corset over a thin chemise and plain muslin pantalettes. If she stepped out of the carriage, she would probably start a riot.
"No!" She folded her arms protectively over her chest. "Shut your eyes again."
There followed several more minutes of rustling before she said, "All right."
When he opened his eyes, she was tying on a much-battered bonnet. "The colour suits you."
"I don't look bilious?" She grinned back, despite her trepidation.
They drew up round the corner. "I'll meet you back here in half an hour."
The Imperial Baptist East London Refuge for Destitute Asiatic Sailors was located in Limehouse, near the East India Hospital. Composed of two grimy red brick terraced houses knocked together, it was identified by a large, tarnished brass nameplate on the front door, next to a similarly neglected bell. Eyeing its sad façade, Mary was suddenly relieved that she wasn't the one providing the distraction. The last thing she wanted was to be seen here.
She picked her way through the alley that ran behind the row of houses. It was full of the usual rubbish – scraps, slops, ashes – and heavy with the odour of rot. The back door of the refuge was no better and no worse than any other in the row. Its paint was blistered and peeling off in sheets, and the window beside it was boarded up. But the door-sill had been recently swept and the ash-can stood neatly to one side. It was an odd blend of tidiness and disrepair.
She listened for a moment outside the door. Nothing. Somewhere deep in the house, she could hear activity – a bell ringing, footsteps, a door creaking open. But nothing immediate. She was unsurprised when the doorknob turned easily beneath her hand.
As she'd expected, she stepped into the gloom of the scullery. The walls were naked brick, the floor bare stone. She listened intently once again, and caught a low murmur of male voices. Footsteps – two sets? And then a door closing on the voices. There was still no movement at the rear of the house.
If she were hiding illicit cargo or papers, where would they be? In the uppermost corners of the house, probably. The cellar was surely too damp and full of vermin. And if the papers were in the warden's study... She'd worry about that later. Gliding through the kitchen proper, she passed into the main corridor, glancing about cautiously. The house was dim and still and surprisingly cool, given the weather. Small patches of mould blossomed in corners, and rust-coloured water stains took the place of wallpapers. Beneath the sweet smell of damp, there was a sharp, warm odour: Asian cooking, medicines, textiles... the Far East condensed into a domestic scent. She was suddenly, forcibly, reminded of Poplar. Of home.
The staircase was uncarpeted and she trod carefully, trying both to be quiet and to control her shaking limbs. On the second floor landing, there were three doors. A neat opening had been cut into the wall at the top of the stairs, linking the landing with that of the adjoining house. It was presumably a mirror image of this one.
Where were all the old sailors? Were they turned out until nightfall? She chewed her lip. If she attempted to walk into a bedroom, she might disrupt a roomful of innocent old men. She might discover crates of smuggled goods. She might find Thorold himself, counting out his piles of gold...
She had to act before she became too skittish. She chose the back bedroom, on the grounds that it was the nearest. Nothing was audible through the thin wooden door, and when she turned the doorknob the hinges creaked only slightly. A small window admitted a modest amount of greyish daylight – enough to reveal a double row of little cots, very close together. They were narrow and low, each with a threadbare blanket folded neatly atop the lumpy straw mattress. No pillows. A small, open crate sat at the foot of each bed. Personal effects. The floor was bare wood, worn smooth through use, and swept clean. The room smelled of tallow candles, lye soap and decay.
With a slight shudder, she closed the door and passed on to the next room. This one, at the side of the house, had no window. With the aid of a candle, she discovered that its contents were basically the same, except that there were even more beds, pushed so close together they all but touched. The room was perhaps less clean than the first; the old-man smell was stronger and undercut with opium.
When the third and largest bedroom yielded only the same, pathetic contents, Mary began to doubt herself. What was she doing, intruding on the privacy of these respectable, poverty-stricken old men? There was no space in this threadbare little charity for the things she and James had imagined... and if there were, wouldn't the residents ask questions? She'd counted twenty or so beds in this side of the house. If she assumed the same for the other half, perhaps thirty-five to forty-five residents in total. They couldn't all be helpless, doddering old fools. Either the stolen goods and papers weren't kept here, or they were stored in a separate part of the house. Perhaps the cellars, after all. Or the warden's office itself.
She had just made up her mind to descend when she heard footsteps on the staircase. Ascending, of course. Damn.
"Who are you? What are you doing up here?" The voice was male, elderly, scolding.
She let out a silly little bleat. "Oh! Beggin' your pardon, sir... I was lookin' for the gentleman what manages this place." A swift glance showed her a thin Chinese man, in his sixties at least, but spry-looking. "That you, sir?" She bobbed deferentially, for good measure.
His frown was apparent in his tone. "How did you come in?"
"Th–through the kitchen door, sir. I was looking for a place, you see."
"The warden's office is on the ground floor." His tone was stiff, suspicious.
Mary poured on the Cockney charm. "I didn't mean no harm, sir: I'm just lookin' for a place, see? Ain't many jobs for a good girl round here." She looked up, trying for an expression of dim-witted hope. "You the warden, Mr...?"
The man pressed his lips together. "Chen. I am."
"Oh!" She made as though to dash at him, and as she'd expected, his sharp hand gesture held her back. "Oh, do give us a job, sir. I'm ever so hardworkin', except I ain't been able to, what with my sister so poorly, and—"
"Come downstairs, young woman."
She faltered to a stop and, obeying another curt gesture, preceded the warden downstairs. They went into a room at the front of the house, just off the main corridor. It was as sparse and faded as the rest of the refuge, although here someone had attempted to decorate. The walls were covered with a dark, fern-patterned paper that was now beginning to peel loose from the damp. Velvet curtains, drawn open to admit thick daylight, clashed with the greens of the paper and the tattered carpet. But the focal point of the room was a garish oil portrait of an obese merchant with jaundiced eyes and improbably pink cheeks. The heavy gilt frame bore a nameplate: _Wm Bufferton (1801–1852), A Good and Faithful Servant, and A Man After God's Own Heart._ Lip curled with distaste, Mary turned from her inspection of the painting to meet the sharp gaze of the warden.
He pointed to a rickety wooden chair. She sat.
He remained standing. "You say you are looking for a place?"
"Y–yes, sir."
"Doing what?"
"A–anything, sir." She curled her hands into the folds of her skirts. "Maid-of-all-work, sewin', anythin' what needs doin' round the house."
His gaze dropped to her lap. "Indeed."
In the long silence that followed, Mary dared not look up. She strained her peripheral vision for clues, but no telltale sound or movement came from Mr Chen. The room seemed perfectly still. She counted to twenty, then to forty, then to sixty. A clock in the next room chimed half past the hour.
When at last he spoke again, his voice was crisp and startling. "I don't believe you." Instinctively, Mary drew breath to protest, but he shook his head gently and she closed her mouth again. "You are not looking for work," he continued, more mildly. "Your hands are too soft; they are not a servant's hands. You are looking for something else."
Her stomach turned over. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she find the words to bluff her way out of here? And was he at least confirming that the smuggled goods were hidden here? How could she get out to inform the Agency? Surely James would sound some sort of alarm if she didn't return. Amidst the whirl of her thoughts, the warden's next remark astonished her completely.
His question was simple enough: "Who are your people?"
But he said it in Mandarin.
Mary stared at him for a moment, the colour rising in her cheeks.
The warden smiled slightly at her bewilderment and tried in Cantonese. "You cannot speak your language?" He shrugged and switched back to English. "What is your father's name?"
She swallowed hard. It was everything she'd feared in coming here today. Everything she tried not to think about.
Just like that, he'd laid bare her secret.
# Fifteen
There is no need to be afraid, _Ah Mei_." His use of the courtesy title was surprising and compassionate. She hadn't been called "little sister" since she was a child. "Many young people come here looking for their families."
She drew a deep breath, suddenly shaky. Her palms and armpits were damp with a perspiration that owed nothing to the weather. "I'm sorry I lied to you, _Ah Gor_." "Elder brother" – a term of respect – came back to her without thought, without effort. She didn't know that bit of her had survived.
"Why did you lie?"
"I was – afraid." That much was true. "I knew I shouldn't have gone upstairs." Also true. Despite her shame at being caught – at being recognized – the truth felt better.
"You are looking for something. Information."
She nodded cautiously.
He paused and studied her face. "You are half-caste."
She couldn't control the heat rising in her throat, the rush of blood scalding her cheeks. "My mother was Irish."
"And your father was a Chinese sailor."
It wasn't a suggestion. Belated panic bloomed in her chest, spreading swiftly to her stomach, her suddenly shaky limbs. Her pulse was too rapid, too loud – it drummed in her ears, deafening her to all other sounds. She hadn't thought about her parents in years. Certainly not that aspect of them... and of her own identity.
Mr Chen was still watching her, his face guarded. He awaited her response. Was it too late to flee? He was old, she was quick – and a coward, if she ran away now. Again.
Mary lifted her chin. "Yes." Shame – relief – a curious sense of both defiance and disgrace – flooded her body. It was, in some ways, liberating to share her secret – to acknowledge her real identity – for the first time since her parents had died. Not even Anne and Felicity knew this. Yet the act of confession was also frightening. Humiliating, even.
"Your father is dead?"
It still hurt to think about it. "He died at sea."
He made a small, elegant gesture. "Tell me."
It was a simple request, but Mary's mind went blank. She hadn't allowed herself to think about her father for years. Now, staring into Mr Chen's shrewd eyes, she had no idea how to begin.
"He was a good father?" he asked gently.
She nodded.
"You were quite young when he died?"
"Eight years old. Perhaps seven."
"So you remember him."
Mary closed her eyes and her father's face floated in her memory. A handsome man, with a shy smile. "He was kind," she said. "We used to go for walks by the river and he told me about his boyhood in Canton." She smiled. "People in Poplar called him Prince, because he looked a bit like Prince Albert."
Mr Chen blinked and leaned forward slightly. "Do you know his Chinese name?"
Mary frowned. "No one ever called him by it. Our family name was – is – Lang, but I can't think of his given names."
Mr Chen's breathing quickened. "Take some time," he said with determination.
Mary blinked. "But you wouldn't know anything about him... would you?"
"That depends on who he is."
"But he died at sea! His ship was wrecked, and someone from the company came round... They gave us some money – his wages." Her hands were trembling and her face hot. She remembered that day. But there was something about Mr Chen's expression... "You can't know! How would you know anything?"
"Calm yourself," he said sternly. "I cannot tell you anything about a man whose name you cannot remember."
Various syllables swam in her mind. She'd never learned Mandarin or Cantonese, apart from stray words and phrases; never had the patience to learn to write in Chinese characters. She felt a sudden stab of anger with herself, for having let it go. She was the last living scrap of her father, the only person left to remember him, and she couldn't even recall his name. She closed her eyes and focused. Out of the crowd of difficult sounds that teemed in mind, she suddenly said, "Lang Jin Hai."
He looked at her steadily. "You're certain? Lang Jin Hai?"
"Yes." That was right. It meant "golden sea".
Mr Chen's eyes kindled with a strange excitement. "Then you are Mary, his only daughter."
She could only stare at him. It was shocking enough to be identified as half Chinese, but for this man to claim to know who she was...? It had to be a trick. Finally, she managed to whisper, "Impossible."
He did not appear offended. "How so?"
"How could you – my father – years ago..." She couldn't find a single coherent sentence. Suspicion, hope, fear and confusion all jumbled her thoughts. "It's impossible," she said again.
Mr Chen smiled slightly. "You left Limehouse when you were quite young, and you have been passing in society as a white Englishwoman ever since."
How could he know so much about her? She scrambled to her feet, but her knees were shaky and she ended up clutching the chair for support.
The old man stepped back, held up his hands. "I will not attempt to keep you here, Miss Lang. But is it wise to run away from an explanation?"
If she closed her eyes, the room would begin to spin. Mary kept her gaze focused on Mr Chen, and something in his expression reminded her, oddly, of Anne Treleaven. Perhaps it was also the situation: she felt twelve years old again, angry and lost and on the verge of something new and frightening. She gripped the chair harder and said hoarsely, "I'm listening."
"It is obvious to me that you left Poplar at a young age, because you do not appear to understand how very small our Chinese community is. There are perhaps two dozen Chinese sailors who have settled here and married white women."
That much made sense.
"You are not part of our community; you speak only English; you were surprised – even upset – to be recognized as mixed race."
She longed to defend herself, although what he said was true. Nevertheless... "I'm not ashamed of having a Chinese father," she said carefully. "But most English are bigoted: they think that foreigners, especially those with darker skins, are inferior. They think we have weak minds and poor morals."
"Of course; that is something against which we all struggle, here."
"But my life is among the English, now. If I told them of my mixed blood, it would change the way they thought about me: it would prevent my finding work, other than the most menial and poorly paid service; it would alienate my friends; others would despise me and treat me as less than a person. I can't afford that!"
"Yet that is the fate of most Asiatics – indeed, most dark-skinned people – in this country. You are unusual only because your race is not so strongly written in your features. Compared to most young Chinese women, you are doubly blessed and cursed: you have the luxury of being able to deny your heritage, if you choose."
She flung out her hands, trying to make him understand. "But I'm not fully one of them, either! To the Chinese, I'm only half Chinese; and to Caucasians, my blood is tainted. I have no family – no one like me – I don't belong anywhere!"
He looked at her for a long moment. "I see your point. Although I hope that one day, you will come to believe differently."
Mary looked at him, bewildered. "But how...?"
He ignored this. "So in order to gain employment, you severed your connections with Poplar and Limehouse and began to pass as Caucasian."
She nodded slowly.
"And people believe that you are an English girl?" His voice was gently sceptical.
"Not English, though often they are satisfied when I tell them my mother was Irish. Others assume I have some French or Spanish blood, or some other continental mixture." Her mouth twisted. "And while Europeans, too, are suspect in many circles, they still rank higher than – the truth."
The word "truth" hung in the air, heavy and burdensome. As a young girl, someone – her mother? – had tried to teach Mary that "The truth shall set you free." She didn't see how that could possibly be the case. It was just another bromide for the naive – or the privileged.
Mr Chen cleared his throat gently. "We have digressed. I remember your father because he was an unusually tall and handsome fellow; everybody knew who he was, even if they did not know him personally."
She forced her mind back to the present question: how Mr Chen knew who she was. Yes, his explanation seemed logical.
"I only met your father a few times, and once I met you, too. I doubt you will remember; you were a small child of three or four." He smiled slightly. "But you are recognizably the same child – Mary Lang."
She took it in slowly. Her mind felt sluggish, as though working at a fraction of its usual speed. Everything seemed to make sense. Too much sense?
A sudden thought darted into her mind. "If that's the case," she said, her voice high and harsh, "if you care so much for the Lascar community, why didn't you help us after he died? Why did you leave my mother to suffer and to starve, and to – to—" She was shaking now, with anger.
Mr Chen's expression was sombre. "That was a tragedy."
"Of course it was! But it needn't have happened!"
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You are correct." He paused for a while, then said, "After your father was reported dead, a lady from a nearby church went to see your mother. She wanted a maid-of-all-work, and she offered to buy you.
"Your mother was extremely angry. She refused the offer and ordered the lady to leave at once. The lady was very offended and decided that if your mother would not accept her offer, which she thought generous, your mother should receive no assistance at all."
He seemed to have an answer for everything. And yet... "What about you?" she asked stubbornly. "You knew so much, but you refused to help us, too?"
Mr Chen looked ashamed. "I was afraid. The lady's church helps to support this refuge. I feared that they would refuse to donate to the refuge if we helped you."
His shame seemed genuine. As his words filtered through her, Mary realized that she believed him. Slowly, she sat down again. Her hands ached from clutching the wooden chair so fiercely. "So you knew my father."
He rose and went to a tall filing cabinet. "For several years now, I have kept a file of 'lost Lascars' – men who vanished on sea voyages. Although sailing is a dangerous profession, there have been a number of mysterious disappearances of foreign sailors in particular, all surrounded by rumour. The men at the docks gossip, you understand. These lost Lascars have certain things in common. I believe your father was one of that group.
"But he was also different," continued Mr Chen. "Before setting sail in 1848, your father paid me a visit. He felt quite strongly that he might not return from that voyage, but he didn't want to alarm your mother. He left this cigar box in my keeping. He told me that if he returned, he would reclaim it; if he did not, I was to give it to you when I thought the time was right." Mr Chen looked sombre. "I was too afraid to help your family, and I failed to give this to you before you disappeared. I cannot forgive myself for those failures. But you are here now.
"Your father loved you dearly, Miss Lang. This is his legacy to you."
So many questions crowded her mouth, but Mary couldn't take her eyes from the cigar box. She simply stared, terrified that this was a hoax – or that the moment she stretched out her greedy hand to touch the box, it would vanish or crumble.
The muffled sound of the doorbell interrupted them. "I shall leave you here to examine your inheritance," said Mr Chen gently. She couldn't manage a reply, but when she next looked up, he had vanished.
The cigar box was tied roundabout with twine. As Mary unfastened it, she suddenly remembered her father teaching her to tie different knots: bowlines, figures of eight, reef knots. Her hands shook as she raised the lid, nearly tearing it from its cardboard hinges. The topmost item was an envelope addressed simply to "Mary" in careful, childish handwriting. From it, she removed a half-sheet of foolscap and a separate twist of paper containing something seed-like.
_My dear Mary,_
_First, and most importantly, I love you. I am proud of you, and always will be._
_I'm departing on a dangerous but necessary journey. In this box, I leave some information that may one day be important to you. You can trust Mr Chen to help you with it._
_I must go. Take care of your mother and your new brother or sister, and help them to remember me._
_Your loving Papa_
It was so brief. Mary reread it half a dozen times, willing it each time to say something more. More about himself, more about her, more about anything at all. She didn't realize she was crying until a tear splashed onto the page, blurring his signature.
That made her cry all the more, and her fingers shook as she opened the crumpled knot of paper. Inside was something she'd entirely forgotten: a small pendant of carved jade, no longer than her thumbnail. It looked like a piece of fruit – a pear, perhaps. Its chain was tarnished from long disuse, but she remembered it with a fierce stab of possessiveness. It had been hers – hers from long ago. A piece of her Chinese heritage, which she had worn on holidays. But what was it doing here? Why had her father set it aside so carefully, in a place where she might never have found it?
A quiet knock on the door made her jump and wipe her face hastily. "Yes?"
Mr Chen came in. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, Miss Lang, but I need this office to receive a business caller. Could you step into the parlour? You may take as much time as you like, there."
The word "time" suddenly recalled the whole situation. "I must go!" she gasped. How long had she been inside now?
"Really, Miss Lang, you needn't leave."
She tried for a smile. "On my own account, I must." She looked down at the cigar box. It held another envelope, inscribed to her mother, and a roll of documents held with another piece of twine. "Mr Chen," she said, "may I leave this box with you? I can't take it with me now."
"Of course. It has awaited you for a decade; it will wait a little longer."
Mary repacked the box, hesitated, then took out the pendant and put it on, sliding it beneath her collar. "Thank you," she said huskily. "I'll be back soon."
Mr Chen bowed slightly. "Until next time, Miss Lang."
# Sixteen
From the privacy of the carriage, James surveyed the scene before the Lascars' refuge with narrowed eyes. He'd prolonged his interview with the warden to the point of inanity before retreating to the carriage. And now he'd been waiting for an additional half hour. It felt like much longer.
His gaze wandered to Mary's pocketbook, neatly propped on the facing seat. Did he dare? It was certainly unfair, ungentlemanly, taking advantage, whatever one liked to call it... what the hell. It was what Mary did. Aside from the usual bits and pieces – a couple of penny stamps, small coins for the omnibus, a clean handkerchief – there was a letter, postmarked yesterday.
James scanned it rapidly. _My dear Mary, I am writing to you using my new, portable letter case, which is most convenient and very practical..._ What a nonsensical note. And what would Mary care what the old biddy did with her charges?
He had already replaced it when something made him pause. Something nagged... he couldn't quite place it. He reread the letter. What kind of headmistress gloated about a writing case when she believed her pupils' health was at risk? And who was the woman anyway? He'd have to verify an Anne Somebody as a teacher. He held the sheet up to the light of the window, all the while mocking himself. Invisible ink and encoded letters were the stuff of children's adventure stories, not real-life investigations. Yet everything about Mary seemed a bit like an adventure.
A faint trace of lemon soap lingered in the carriage – a scent that immediately called to mind the image of Mary, wearing only her underclothes, her bare shoulders and arms luminous in the dim carriage. He hadn't meant to gape like a schoolboy. Yet he wasn't sorry that he had.
The sight of a large bay mare interrupted his musings. It stopped before the Lascars' refuge and its rider, a handsome blond gentleman, was instantly familiar to James. He scowled and drew back from the window, scanning the streetscape as he did. Sure enough, a sandy-haired butcher's boy soon appeared, dangling a basket from one arm. The boy stopped in the street, squinting at an order sheet and mouthing the items to himself. James smiled at the sight of his young accomplice: Alfred Quigley certainly had a flair for the dramatic.
When the horseman vanished inside the refuge, James checked his watch. Mary had been inside for nearly an hour. Now, with the unexpected arrival of Michael Gray, she would certainly need at least another quarter of an hour. Very well: he would reserve judgement and be productive. Think of the myriad other things he had to do today. Think of ways to find answers to his own queries. He stretched his long legs and refolded them. Realized he was grinding his teeth.
When Mary reappeared, through the front door this time, she moved as though in a trance. Her expression, normally alert, was utterly distracted. Before Barker could fold out the steps for her, James seized her by the forearms and lifted her bodily into the carriage.
She landed on the seat with a thump that raised dust from her skirts, but didn't protest. "You must be tired of waiting," she said.
"A little." His tone was surprisingly even, all things considered.
"I'm sorry." She sounded uncharacteristically meek, but wouldn't look him in the eyes.
He waited, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Well?" he finally demanded.
"Oh – you want to hear what I learned." Her eyes were red. Dust, perhaps.
"Yes."
She stared out the window for a moment and seemed to focus. "Close your eyes," she said. "I'll tell you as I change."
James covered his eyes for good measure and listened impatiently to her brief description of the building and the sailors' rooms. "That's all you saw? What took you so long?"
"Well – the warden caught me. I had to pretend I was looking for work. It's a good job we got the costume." She finished buttoning her dress and ensured that the pendant was tucked out of sight.
"I suppose—" she broke off when she noticed Anne's letter lying on the seat beside her. With a slow movement, she retrieved it and stared at it, puzzled. "This is... how did...? You – you swine! You rummaged through my personal possessions and read my private correspondence! How _dare_ you!" Her eyes narrowed, glittering with anger; her body was tense and poised to spring.
James felt a prick of shame, which he quickly smothered under righteous anger. "You are scarcely in a position to accuse me of underhanded behaviour," he retorted. "What about your secret meeting, and the reason you were so long in the refuge?"
"Are you mad? What secret meeting?" Her face was flushed and she looked defensive. Guilty, even.
"I'm not a fool!" he roared. "It's perfectly clear that you were up to something in there. How else could you have stayed in there so long, asking for work?"
"I did what we agreed! If you'll recall, it was your plan!"
"I must have played right into your hands. It was purely by good fortune that I saw him arrive at the Lascars' refuge. It was a clever move, getting me to suggest the place! It's a pity you weren't as careful about packing me off after I'd created that useful diversion. _I saw him,_ Mary!"
"You saw him arrive?" Now she seemed genuinely perplexed. "What on earth are you raving about?"
He curled his lip. "More denial? I thought you cleverer than that, Miss Quinn."
"Oh, I could just scream. For the last time, _Mr Easton,_ I have no idea who you're talking about. You suggested we explore the Lascars' refuge. You made the plan and bought those stinking rags. I followed the plan. And now you're accusing me of meeting somebody who is clearly a figment of your imagination!"
"Michael Gray is a figment of my imagination? Tell that to your precious employer."
"Michael Gray?" She really was outraged now. "At the refuge? What utter bosh!"
"I suppose it'll turn out you're all in it together, the whole damned family, for some arcane reason I haven't yet worked out."
"You're completely obsessed with the man. Actually, no: you're obsessed with the idea of my being in league with Gray."
Oh, what he wouldn't give to shake the woman. Being a gentleman was a distinct disadvantage at moments like this. "So you deny that you met Gray at the Lascars' refuge?"
"Of course I deny it, you blockhead!" she howled. "How could I have met him? He wasn't there!"
"'Blockhead'?" James felt his control disintegrate. "You devious little —"
"Stop the carriage! I'm getting down!"
"Gladly!" he snapped, thumping the roof energetically. He didn't care where they were; he'd gladly drop her into the Thames itself.
Mary flung open the door as the carriage slowed and he saw that they were indeed beside the river, which shimmered like oily tar in the midday light. Its odour of rotting waste invaded the carriage, making them gag violently.
"Shut the door," choked out James as soon as he could speak.
Mary looked green but prepared to climb down from the carriage. He caught her by the elbow and pulled her back inside. "Stay."
She seemed too queasy to argue and slammed the door smartly as the carriage accelerated westwards. James could only imagine how Barker was getting on, out in the open air. There was a long silence as they both battled nausea, handkerchiefs clasped over their noses.
After several minutes, Mary took an experimental breath. "It's not so bad now."
"Good." Yet when he put away his handkerchief, he was assaulted anew by the thick stench. He re-covered his nose again and attempted to breathe normally.
Mary frowned. "Are you going to be sick?"
"No." His saliva tasted intensely salty.
"You look chalky."
"I'm _fine_ ," he scowled. Why had she recovered, while he was still carrying on like a delicate maiden aunt? The last thing he wanted was to vomit in front of her.
After a pause, she cautiously offered him her handkerchief. He took it reluctantly. Her lovely lemon scent helped more than he'd care to admit.
"How do you do it?" he mumbled through layers of linen.
"Do what?"
"Live at Cheyne Walk. All the Thorolds."
Mary considered. "Well, Miss Thorold doesn't care for it. Mr Thorold says the river made his fortune, so he's loyal to it. And Mrs Thorold seems unaffected by the stink."
"The newspapers are calling this the Great Stink, you know."
"The Thames never smells good."
"But it's never smelled this bad," he countered. "Even the ferrymen have stopped working."
It was true: the usual fleet of small river-taxis was nowhere to be seen. "Is it true what they say about the cause of the stink?"
"Human refuse, dead animals, rotting vegetation, waste from tanneries and chemical works and God knows what." James had seen all these things – and more – while working on the tunnel excavations.
"But the Thames has been full of that for ages. Decades."
"It's been getting worse," he said. "More people create more refuse. And it's not just dead cats and other rubbish in there, now: all the water closets in London flush directly into the river."
Mary shuddered. "So the heat isn't causing the stink; it's merely making the normal stench worse."
James nodded. "We'll have to find a solution soon. London's growing so quickly."
"But how can we clean the river? And where will all the refuse go?"
"The simplest solution is to send it elsewhere – build underground pipes to take it away, and stop allowing the factories to tip things into the river."
"Underground pipes? I suppose that's where you and your brother come in."
He lowered the handkerchiefs cautiously. "Or Brunel. Or the dozens of other engineers who will want to do the work."
She looked at him for a moment. "Aren't you very young for an engineer?"
Why did people always remark on that? They either thought him too young to do his job, or too mature for his age. "I began my apprenticeship when I was fifteen. I'm nineteen now." And speaking of age... he frowned at her critically in the gloom. "Aren't you very young for a lady's companion?"
"I'm twenty." She changed the subject abruptly. "Where are we? I suppose it's safe to get down now."
He held out a hand to stop her. Their argument seemed childish after the interruption, but he had to know. "Mary, he _was_ there."
"Gray? When?"
"While you were inside, Gray rode up. He entered by the front door. You remained inside for another quarter of an hour."
She frowned. "He rode. That bay mare that was tethered outside?"
"Yes!"
"But why didn't you say so?"
"We're not going to fight again, are we?" he grinned.
One of her rare, full smiles transformed her face. "It didn't actually come to fisticuffs."
"For which my nose is grateful."
"Your bruise is healing quickly, I see."
"Yes. And your hand?"
"Much better, thank you."
The carriage drew to a halt. Barker swung the door open noiselessly and unfolded the steps. "Lawrence Street, Miss Quinn."
She hesitated a moment, then said, "I'll keep you informed."
"Likewise."
After dinner each evening, the ladies retreated to the drawing-room while Thorold and Gray drank port and ate Stilton in the dining-room. Mrs Thorold tended to nap in her armchair while Angelica played the pianoforte. This evening, however, Angelica couldn't settle. She rustled through sheet music, tossed it aside, and settled down to mope by the windows. She'd been like this all day.
"I think I'll get my sewing basket," Mary finally said. "May I fetch you anything?"
Angelica didn't even turn her head.
Mary gently closed the drawing-room door behind her. It was quiet on the landing. By now, the servants were in their own hall having their evening meal. Downstairs, the dining-room doors stood open. Not normal practice, but given the stuffy weather, not a bad idea. Yellowy gaslight spilled into the hall, along with low, intense voices.
"With all respect, sir, you ought to reconsider the Brighton scheme."
"I've already told you. It's not possible."
Mary paused, one hand on the balustrade. This was even better luck than she'd hoped.
"I realize the ladies prefer to stay in London, but under the circumstances—"
"You heard that family conversation, Gray. Mrs Thorold made herself very clear. It is not a question of preference, but medical necessity."
"There is a medical case for getting her out of the city, sir. Could she not consult other physicians in Brighton?"
A pause. Then, "Don't interfere in matters you don't understand."
"Sir, I—"
"Enough!" The sudden anger in Thorold's voice was startling. "I have informed you of my decision; it is not reversible."
Gray's voice was hard, now. "I went to George Villas today, sir."
Another pause. "You what?"
"George Villas, Limehouse. Site of the Imperial Baptist East London Refuge for Destitute Asiatic Sailors. Sir."
"Why the devil should you go there? It's not one of your responsibilities."
Michael was speaking now with heavy emphasis. "I was following up some irregularities in last quarter's accounting." He paused for effect, but Thorold made no attempt to speak. "I wondered, sir, why the company was paying for the..."
A servant's footsteps in the corridor made both men pause. Then Thorold said coldly, "As I said, that is outside your purview, Gray. If you want to keep your job, you'll mind your own damn business."
Silence.
"Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir."
Mary paused a moment longer, but the conversation was clearly over. Even so, it was a piece of luck. She hurried upstairs to her bedroom and turned the key in the lock. She scrabbled around for a minute, trying to find her candle, when suddenly a gravelly voice said, "I've a rushlight in my pocket, miss."
Mary stifled a scream. When she could speak again, shock made her severe. "Cassandra Day! What on earth are you doing in my bedroom?" Her fingers closed round the box of lucifers. In the sudden flare of the match, she saw Cass crouched on the floor by the washstand, her knees drawn up under her chin. Judging from the way the girl blinked and squinted, she had been sitting in the dark for some time. Mary took her time lighting a second candle.
"Now. What's all this about?" she asked crisply.
"Don't be cross, Miss Quinn: it's important."
"What's important?"
Cass stood awkwardly, twisting her hands in her apron. "Something I heard today. I didn't know how else to tell you."
"Won't you be missed from the kitchen?"
"I've washed up the pots, miss. Cook gave me leave to mend my aprons."
From the look of the specimen she was wearing, she needed the time. Mary nodded. "All right, then. Sit down. I'll work on your hands while you tell me what you heard."
Even in the dim light, she could see Cass flush with satisfaction. She sat carefully in the cane chair, careful not to let her skirts touch the clean bedding.
"Now." Mary opened the small jar of salve. "Why are you worried?"
Cass squared her narrow shoulders and took a deep breath. "Early this morning, I was polishing the plate in the butler's pantry."
Mary frowned. "That's a footman's job." Being outside the scullery – never mind handling the heavy, ugly and very expensive family silverware – was a significant breach of domestic discipline. If caught, Cass would have been dismissed on the spot.
"Yes, miss. It's 'cos Cook's sweet on William. She told me to do it while she made him a hot breakfast."
"Hm. All right, then. You were polishing the silver. What time was that?"
"The clock struck seven a little after I began, and just as I was finishing, Mr Gray came down to the breakfast room. The connecting door was ajar, but I didn't want him to see me and ask what I was doing there, so I hid behind the door." She blinked rapidly as Mary smoothed salve into a raw cuticle, but she didn't flinch. "The newspapers were already on the table but instead of reading them, he began pacing up and down the room. I didn't think much of it; I only wanted to finish the polishing and get back to the scullery. It wasn't until I heard Mr Gray say, quite loudly, 'What on earth are you playing at?' that I began to pay attention. He said it to Miss Thorold, who told him to be quiet."
Mary's eyebrows shot up. "Was Mr Thorold in the room?"
"No, miss. It was still before eight, you see, and he normally comes down at a quarter past eight."
"Go on, please."
"I've never seen Miss Thorold before luncheon, so I was very surprised; I thought perhaps I was mistaken, but I could see a little slice of the room through the side of the door – you know, where the hinges are – and I could see her. She was still in her dressing-gown, and her hair was all down. She's very pretty, isn't she, miss?"
Mary nodded. "Yes."
"Anyway, Miss Thorold and Mr Gray began talking about something. He called her 'Anj' and she called him 'Michael'. It wasn't the usual sort of family conversation: more businesslike than friendly." Her brow creased. "I couldn't hear what they were saying. They were in the furthest corner of the room, near the windows, and muttering with their heads together. But he finally said, 'I'll arrange it as quickly as possible.' And she said, 'The sooner the better.' Then they muttered some more."
Mary gave Cass's hands a final light rub and corked the salve. Although she was glad for confirmation of the connection between Michael and Angelica, she couldn't see why Cass had chosen to speak to her about this. But the girl's next words got her full attention.
"Then Miss Thorold said, 'What of Miss Quinn?' Mr Gray didn't seem to know what to say, but he finally said, 'She's no threat; you know that.' They were both quiet for a minute or two, and then he said, 'If it comes to that, what about George and James Easton?' And Miss Thorold sniffed and said, 'Let them be for a while.'"
Mary glanced instinctively at the door. Naturally, there was no sound or movement in the corridor outside. "Then what happened?"
Cass shook her head unhappily. "Nothing, miss. Just after that, there was a noise in the hall and Miss Thorold left the room. I heard her slippers, but I don't know where she went. And a few minutes later, Mr Thorold came into the room, and you did, too."
Mary digested the new information for a minute before something else occurred to her. "Were you trapped behind the door in the butler's pantry for the whole breakfast time? After I came down, too?"
Cass looked impish. "I didn't mind; it was a nice rest, miss."
Downstairs, the grandfather clock struck ten, its tones penetrating the closed door in a muffled way. "Speaking of rest, you ought to go to bed."
Cass rose obediently. "Yes, Miss Quinn."
"Thank you for telling me what you did."
Cass shook her head vehemently. "I had to tell you, miss."
They left it at that.
Lying in bed that night, mulling over the day's events, Mary found it impossible not to speculate on the contents of that cigar box. It would contain an account, certainly, of where her father had gone – perhaps with a map. It would explain why he had feared for his safety, and who was responsible for his endangerment. It might tell her more about who he was – and, by extension, about herself, too. What would she do with that knowledge? How would she negotiate the truth about her father and fit it into her life now? She hadn't a clue. But soon, she'd know. She'd have some of the answers she so needed.
Mary fell asleep wearing the pendant, her fingers curled round the jade carving. She longed to examine her father's papers and rather resented the current case that stood in her way. Yet she had a duty to perform. And, as Mr Chen had pointed out, she had already waited a decade. _Two days_ , she told herself. _Two days left_.
# Seventeen
# Saturday, 15 May
Despite the turmoil of the previous day, Mary had slept well. She had ample time before breakfast to post a brief note to James describing the conversation between Michael and Mr Thorold, and suggesting a meeting after luncheon that day. On her return from the pillar box, she found Michael alone in the front hall, dressed to go out and looking worried. On seeing her, he turned pale and promptly dropped his walking stick with a loud clatter.
"Good morning, Mr Gray. Beautiful day, is it not?" Of course it wasn't: it was humid and grey, and the air was already thick with the noxious smell of the river.
"Yes, glorious!" Michael returned automatically, bending to pick up his cane.
Hah. With elaborate gestures, Mary stripped off her gloves and unpinned her hat, watching him in the mirror. "What have you planned for today, Mr Gray?" She spoke quite loudly. "Anything of special interest?"
He frowned, and moved as if to shush her. "No – only the usual, I assure you."
" _Only_ the usual?"
"Yes." His voice was hoarse.
She smiled coyly. "How very modest of you, Mr Gray."
He glanced upstairs with something close to desperation. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Miss Quinn."
On impulse, she whirled about, all mock flirtation arrested. She took five rapid steps across the hall, bringing her face to face with the unfortunate secretary. "I mean, sir, your clandestine meetings with Miss Thorold."
He was visibly staggered. "I – that's the most absurd accusation—"
Her quiet voice sliced through his bluster. "Two days ago, at the park? And yesterday morning, in the breakfast room?"
Silence. His Adam's apple bobbed rapidly. She kept a careful eye on the hand that clutched the cane, white-knuckled. "Did you really think to use me as your dupe, Mr Gray?"
His eyes were wide, frantic.
"It's such an old ploy, flirting with the poor, desperate paid companion. She'll be putty in your hands, and not notice a thing." She narrowed her eyes. "Isn't that right, Mr Gray?"
His face was a dull beetroot colour. "Miss Quinn..."
"Save your breath!"
Obediently, he fell silent.
"And of course," she murmured, "these meetings are partly related to your visit to the Lascars' refuge yesterday."
Once again, he was shaken. He made no attempt to confirm or deny her statement – merely stared at her, pupils dilated.
Mary waited. She needed answers, information, _something_. What was the plan? The silence stretched out, filled only by the steady tick of the grandfather clock.
Finally, he muttered, "I suppose you're going directly to Thorold with all of this."
She held his gaze for another moment. She was good at bluffing; always had been. Yet she still lacked enough information to act decisively. Perhaps showing her hand had been a mistake...
"Well, well! Good morning, Miss Quinn. "Let's be off." The voice came from the staircase, low and tense. It was so unlike Thorold's usual friendly bluster that Mary only recognized the speaker when he came into view.
She bowed to him graciously. "Good morning, sir."
His gaze skimmed over her blindly. "Morning, Miss – er – hm." He wrenched open the front door. "Now, Gray."
Michael fell into step behind him, his frantic gaze still fixed on Mary. Good. Let him fret. With her sweetest smile, she bid them both good-day and passed on into the breakfast room.
* * *
James was even more efficient than she'd hoped. Mary had just consumed boiled eggs and hot rolls and was sipping a cup of chocolate when a footman approached her, bearing a small square of white on a salver. "By messenger, Miss Quinn."
The note – if it could be dignified with such a term – was addressed in James's strong hand and entirely in character: _Agreed_. Incredulously, Mary turned the sheet over, looking for even one stray dot of ink. "I don't suppose the messenger is waiting for a reply," she said drily.
The footman's face – was it William or John? It was difficult to tell when their hair was powdered – was perfectly impassive. "No, miss."
She crumpled the note into her pocket just in time for Angelica's entrance. At the sight of her companion, Angelica stopped short. "Oh." Although it was only just nine o'clock, she was fully dressed in a pretty but plain gown, with her hair pulled neatly back and up. It was such a contrast to her usual elaborate and late toilette that she blushed and seemed to feel the need to explain herself. "I was just... going to have a cup of coffee before going for a walk," she said lamely.
Mary nodded. "It's not a bad morning for a walk."
Angelica seized the neutral statement with relief. "Is it? Nicer than yesterday, I hope." She filled a plate from the buffet: eggs, bacon, kidneys, tomatoes, a hot roll and a muffin. When she sat down, as far from Mary as possible, she blinked at the contents of the plate in surprise.
Mary hid a smile. "Shall I pour a cup of coffee for you?"
Angelica looked chagrined. "Oh, there's no need."
But Mary was already up, and when she set down the cup, she noticed that Angelica was biting her lips. "Have you anything planned for today?"
Angelica blushed deep pink and dropped her fork on the carpet. She looked as though she might burst into tears. "What do you mean?" The question began as a hiccup, and ended in a gulp.
It was fascinating, really, to see her so thoroughly rattled. What on earth had happened? Or was about to happen? Mary was beginning to feel a bit of a bully. She had planned to grill Angelica on her movements, but instead changed her question to, "Any invitations, or anything I can help you with?"
Angelica shot her a look that bordered on grateful. "No, I thank you."
"If you would be so kind to excuse me, then..."
"Of course. I shall not require your company today."
Mary rose. She had to pass Angelica before exiting the breakfast room and as she drew near, the girl held out an uncertain hand. "But I – that is, I do hope – Miss Quinn..."
"Yes?"
"I do hope that – we may become – better friends?"
Mary stared at Angelica's outstretched fingers – the same fingers that had attacked her burn. This must be a ploy to distract her, akin to Michael's flirtation. Yet just as Angelica began timidly to withdraw her hand, Mary took it and they shook hands. "I hope so too."
Half an hour later, the front door clicked open, and then shut with a sharp bang – an indication of Angelica's nervousness. Mary needed only a moment to don her hat and gloves. In fact, she was almost too soon: when she opened the door, Angelica was still only sixty yards down the street, and glancing behind her in the guiltiest manner imaginable.
Angelica took the same route she had two days ago, arriving at the corner of Sloane Square. Michael was already there, waiting for her. They exchanged a few words before he helped her into a waiting hansom and they joined the slow plod of vehicular traffic. Mary did likewise.
To her surprise, Angelica and Michael drove northeast. The broad thoroughfares and garden squares of Belgravia took them through Green Park and up into the pungent, chaotic density of Soho. They worked their way up the Tottenham Court Road, gliding through Bloomsbury into marshy Pentonville. When they reached the red-bricked density of Holloway, Mary was beginning to wonder whether she had enough in her purse to pay for this extended tour of the unbeautiful northern suburbs of London. Worse yet, had Michael and Angelica spotted her, and were they leading her on a wild-goose chase? She was genuinely surprised when their cab drew up outside a squat Anglican church just off the Seven Sisters Road.
Michael alighted, looking serious. As she descended from the cab, Angelica looked even less at ease: although veiled, her stiff shoulders and folded arms showed what she thought of the streetscape. Michael paid the driver. He and Angelica conferred for a moment, he appearing to lose patience and she finally settling matters with a sharp nod. With a quick glance about – Mary remained in her cab – Michael gave Angelica his arm and led her inside.
After a few minutes, Mary deemed it safe to follow. The street was busy with itinerant vendors – watercress girls, rag-and-bone-men and such – and a hundred yards down the street an organ-grinder had set up, to the delight of a houseful of children, all leaning precariously from a first-floor window.
Inside the building it was dark, and after raising her veil it took a moment for Mary's eyes to adjust to the gloom. The church was deeper than it looked. Michael and Angelica were nowhere in sight, but as she passed through a second set of doors into the sanctuary, she saw at the furthest end a middle-aged man in a cassock, leafing through a prayer book.
A slight rustling by her elbow made her turn and look... down. Although slightly below the average height, Mary found herself towering over the old widow on her right. The woman was dressed in heavy black mourning, and in the gloom of the church, her face had a waxy, greenish tint.
"You'd like a pew, dear?" The woman's voice was thin and cracked.
Of course: the pew attendant. "Thank you, but I only came in to light a candle and have a quiet moment."
The old lady's face seemed to deflate and she quickly turned away.
"Oh – wait!" Mary fished a few coins from her pocket-book. "Please – take this." How careless of her to forget. Being a pew-opener was one of the few privileges of widows, a sort of publicly acceptable form of begging.
The woman's hand snapped closed round hers with fierce eagerness and she gasped, rather than said, "God bless you, m'dear."
Mary was trapped by the woman's grip for several moments. "Not at all," she said gently, easing her hand free.
"You've not come for the service, then?"
What sort of church service? "Not really..."
"Ah. I thought as much. When you see two like that, slippin' in so sly, you can be sure they'll not be followed by family." Her eyes, now rather animated, raked Mary up and down. "Not that you look like family, dark like that; Scotch, are you?"
She had to be certain of the woman's meaning. "You're referring to the couple who just came in?"
"Of course! Fine-lookin' pair, them two." The woman squinted into Mary's eyes. "Not Scotch, eh? There's a deal of Italians now, livin' down Soho way, so m'niece tells me. But you sound English."
"My mother was Irish," Mary said automatically. So much for Michael and Angelica being involved in her father's schemes...
The woman crowed. "Irish! I should've knew it. Black Irish, they call it, don't they? You've got that look to you – feisty, like. Eh? The young couple? Ah, they'll be back. Parson's nearly ready, now." Then she suddenly looked panicked. "But you'll let me do the witnessin', won't you? You wouldn't take that from me, would you?"
"Of course you must be the witness," she said. "I'd rather stay back here, where it's quiet."
The woman's eyes softened. "You're a good girl," she whispered urgently.
At the other end of the sanctuary, the priest cleared his throat. His voice carried clearly through the still room. "Are you ready, young people?"
"Yes, sir."
Mary's head swivelled at the sound of Michael's voice. He and Angelica stood facing the minister, stiff and formal. Angelica's veil was still closely draped about her face, but the figure was certainly the same.
Mary stepped into the shadow of a pillar. If she stood quite still, it was unlikely the priest would notice her. He had the squint of a near-sighted man.
"Have you witnesses?"
Michael glanced about impatiently and Mary held her breath. But his gaze skimmed past her to the shrunken figure of the pew attendant, slowly making her way up the aisle. "There's one: Mrs – er..."
"Bridges," said the pew-opener hopefully. "Old Martha Bridges at your service."
"Right. But where is the beadle?"
"Mr Potts has his day off today," said the vicar. "I'm sure I mentioned to you in the course of our last conversation that he has the day off every other Saturday."
Michael's face clouded. "It slipped my mind. But what about the sexton?"
"Oh, but poor old Marshall is laid up today," said Mrs Bridges. "Diggin' a grave last night, and he threw his back out, ever so painfully. He's at home, now."
"Have you no other witnesses?" Michael's voice rose. "No second pew-opener, or cleaner?"
Mrs Bridges bristled. "We're a small parish, sir."
The vicar blinked slowly. "Am I to understand that you brought no witness?"
"No. I mean, yes." Michael raked a hand through his hair. "I suppose we'll have to try to pull someone out of the street... any passer-by will do, I hope, Vicar?"
Angelica's grip tightened on his arm. "Michael, for God's sake." The priest flicked her a brief look of reproof. "We're in the middle of – of I-don't-know-where. We can't just run about the streets asking people..."
"We haven't a choice, darling." Michael's voice had an edge of temper. "I'm sorry – I've made a blunder. But we can't change our minds now... can we?" The last two words were heavy with meaning.
Angelica sighed. "This is a farce."
There was a charged pause. Michael and Angelica stared at each other, as though frozen. Mrs Bridges seemed crushed at the loss of her tip. The priest simply looked cross. Behind her pillar, Mary held a quick debate. This might be what James wanted for his brother, but it all depended on information they didn't yet have. Should she intervene? If Michael and Angelica wanted to marry, they would manage it one way or another. If there was ever a time for decisive action...
She stepped out from behind the pillar. "Good afternoon, Miss Thorold; Mr Gray."
# Eighteen
The effect was, as Angelica said, farcical. Four faces turned to watch her swift strides down the aisle, mouths agape. Four voices spoke as though in an amateur theatrical, overlapping and interrupting each other.
Angelica (defiant): "You wouldn't dare!"
The minister (confused): "I take it you are acquainted with this young couple?"
Michael (ashen-faced): "For God's sake, Mary..."
Mrs Bridges (bewildered): "But I thought you said..."
"I'm sorry to interrupt the service, Vicar, but might I have a word with Miss Thorold and Mr Gray?" When the priest only nodded, Mary added, "In private?"
He blinked, as though prodded. "C – certainly. Would you care to use the vestry?"
"Thank you, no," she said brightly. "This spot right here will do."
He and Mrs Bridges had moved only a few yards away when Angelica exploded. "Of all the sneaking, petty, hateful things!"
Michael jumped and gaped at his bride, pure shock paralyzing his face.
She jerked her veil back, the better to attack. Her eyes were narrow slits, her face contorted with rage. "You will not stop us! I _will not_ permit you to spoil everything!"
Shaken, Michael took a firm hold on Angelica's arm. "Mary, I know this looks bad. It's highly irregular, but please... is there anything I can do to persuade you that I have Angelica's best interests at heart?"
"You're a lying nobody," snarled Angelica. Her body was tensed to spring, restrained only by Michael's grip. "The vicar would never believe your word over mine, even if we hadn't a special licence!"
"An inaccurate special licence?" asked Mary. "You're only eighteen; you can't marry without your parents' permission until you turn twenty-one."
Angelica's eyes bulged, revealing a striking resemblance to her father. "You can't wait to ruin my life, can you? You're jealous of me! You want Michael, but you can't have him!"
Mary glanced at Michael, who was trying not to look embarrassed. He failed at every moment. "Actually, I don't. You're very welcome to him."
Angelica's face suddenly crumpled and she began to sob. Her words were mangled, but it was clear that she was desperately angry and frightened. Michael tried to soothe her, but that only made her cry all the harder.
Mary sighed and consulted the church clock. After three minutes, she spoke in her crispest voice. "That's enough now. Stop bawling, Miss Thorold."
Startled, Angelica glared at Mary – but her tears slowed to a trickle.
Michael drew a long-suffering breath. "Miss Quinn – Mary – you must believe me: I love Angelica and I want only what is best for her. I am no mean fortune-hunter. I – I came to care for her long before I knew anything of her family or her social position..." It was the old story: an absolute cliché. They had met in Surrey, while Angelica was at finishing school, and carried on a long, secret correspondence after she returned to London. Michael had deliberately sought employment with Thorold in order to be closer to her. Now, with increasing pressure on Angelica to marry George Easton, they had finally decided to elope.
Michael's narrative was long and emotional, and when the church clock tolled noon, Mary hastily interrupted him. "I believe in your sincerity, Michael." He looked pathetically grateful. She turned to Angelica. "And I am a realist: if I were to report this to your parents, it would only harden your resolve." She hoped she was doing the right thing. "If you wish to be married today, I will serve as your second witness."
Two pairs of eyes went round with shock. Two lower jaws dropped open. Michael regained speech first, and he impulsively clutched at Mary's hands. "My dear girl – bless you."
The formal ceremony was as short as legally possible. No sooner had the vicar supervised the signing of the register than he gathered up his prayer book, nodded curtly, and swept off to the vestry. Mrs Bridges received her tip with a curtsey and loitered about, flicking at bits of imaginary dust with her handkerchief until Angelica's glare sent her scurrying for cover beyond the sanctuary.
The newly married couple turned to face Mary, flushed and giddy with pride. "Mary, I thank you with all my heart for this great kindness." Michael's voice trembled with emotion. "I'm terribly grateful that you're willing to jeopardize your place in order to help us."
Mary smiled. "It won't be a place for long, with Miss Thorold married."
Angelica forced a stiff smile. "We could try to help you find another." Michael nudged her and she added, shamefaced, "Miss Quinn, I must apologize for my remarks earlier... and for other things." She gestured discreetly, sheepishly, to Mary's lightly bandaged hand. "I hope you can forgive me."
It was much more than Mary had expected. "It must have been a shock to see me pop up."
They shared a relieved laugh and the conversation turned, for a few minutes, to lighter subjects. The chiming of the clock, signalling half past twelve, prompted Mary to return to business. "What are your future plans?"
"We intend to keep the marriage a secret for a while," Angelica said slowly. "Although if Mamma really presses the matter of George Easton, we'll have to tell her then. But now you've helped us, you won't tell anyone, will you?"
Mary gave her word.
"And there is the question of my post," added Michael. "I am actively seeking another. Not just because of our marriage," he added hastily, with a glance at Angelica. "I have become increasingly anxious about Thorold and Co. in recent weeks, and I would have been on the lookout for something else, in any case. But this –" He squeezed Angelica's hand proudly. "– this has decided me."
Mary's ears pricked up. "Anxious about Mr Thorold's success? Surely not."
Michael looked pained. "Oh, well... trade is never very certain..."
Oh, no. He wasn't escaping that easily. "Yet Mr Thorold is a well-established merchant. Even if trade slackened, other companies would suffer before his." She turned to Angelica. "Isn't that just what your father was saying at dinner, a few nights ago?"
Angelica nodded vigorously. "Oh yes. He's always said so."
Michael looked pained. "Well, darling, we did talk about those other matters..."
"Other matters?" Mary made her eyes wide and ingenuous.
The newlyweds blushed, but Mary kept her gaze fixed firmly on Michael.
He spoke reluctantly. "Some weeks ago, I noticed a number of discrepancies in the firm's accounting. I was quite sure that they were only clerical errors at first, but when I brought them to Thorold's attention, he told me not to worry about them; that he would sort them out.
"It wasn't typical behaviour, of course. As his secretary, I would normally oversee such corrections. But I let matters alone. It was only the other week – perhaps a fortnight ago – that I happened to glance at our quarterly accounts, and noticed that the errors were still there." He paused, and Mary made a deliberate effort to relax her posture. "Naturally, I mentioned them to Thorold again. He's a busy man, and sometimes the odd thing slips his mind. But he told me – quite brusquely – that things were in order, and I was to mind my own d—" He glanced at Angelica. "To mind my own affairs." He paused again, and seemed suddenly to recall himself. "I'm sorry to burden you with all this," he said hastily. "You can't be interested in the details of the trading house."
"But of course, I am concerned about you and Angelica," Mary said gently. What she really wanted was to shake the information out of Michael Gray.
"Well... the long and short of it is that something's not right. There have been odd sums paid to diverse people. Highly irregular sums."
"He's a very generous man," Angelica put in defensively. "He gives money to all sorts of people."
"That's true, darling..." Michael winced.
"One of the largest sums went to a refuge for aged seamen!" she persisted. "That's obviously just charitable giving!"
"Ye–e–es," said Michael. "But it's the confusion in the accounting that makes me nervous, darling."
"Yet Mr Thorold seems to think that matters are as they should be?" Mary tried to sound casual.
Michael fidgeted nervously. "Not as they should be; as he wants them."
"That is a very serious accusation," said Mary.
He sighed. "I know it. I'm not in a position to criticize the man, naturally. I think the best I can do is clear out."
She wanted to scream. "Surely," she said, striving for a reasonable tone, "the thing to do would be to go to the authorities? You have, after all, seen the proof of this... inaccuracy."
Michael smiled grimly. "In a perfect world, naturally. But I have my wife to think about..." He smiled at Angelica as he uttered the possessive phrase. "And our future family. Who would engage a secretary who goes snooping for trouble and then denounces his employer? In my line of work, loyalty is prized above most other traits."
Mary shifted impatiently. "Perhaps you could convey the information to a third party? Anonymously?"
Michael looked thoughtful. "That's an idea... although poor Anj's family would still be in the soup, then."
Angelica looked anxious. "I see your point, Miss Quinn. But it's a dreadful position. I feel such a traitor even listening to Michael's concerns about my father. And there's my mother to think about... her health is so precarious."
Was it? Mary was tempted to question her about that. Had Angelica never wondered about the inconsistencies in her mother's behaviour? Or was Angelica merely returning Mrs Thorold's favour: being entirely self-absorbed, and letting everyone else go his or her own way? But this was neither the time nor the place for that conversation. "Yet it seems wrong to say nothing!" she persisted.
Michael nodded uncomfortably. "You're right. I have..." he trailed off, considering something. "This is confidential, you understand."
Mary nodded, trying not to appear too eager.
"I have taken copies of the account, and a few relevant documents. They're not notarized or official in any way..."
"Yes?" she prompted. "They're unofficial, of course, but quite complete?"
He nodded. "I'm keeping them in a safe place."
"Not at the house, I hope?" Mary asked in what she hoped was a naive voice.
Michael looked startled. "The warehouse? Good Lord, no!"
"I meant the family home."
"Oh." Michael looked crafty. "Well, let's just say that they're well hidden." He cast a tender look at Angelica. "Aren't they, darling?"
"Yes. I was against it, at first," Angelica added. "But the longer I've considered the matter, the more important I believe it to be. One day, Michael might be able to persuade Papa to do something; to make things right."
Well hidden? Between the two of them? Mary had a sudden idea where. "Do you have all the files you need, in order to persuade Mr Thorold of your serious intentions?"
Michael nodded. "I have enough to cause the authorities to look into matters."
"One day," added Angelica firmly.
# Nineteen
With Mrs Thorold still in her room and Mr Thorold long departed for the office, only the servants were present to note Mary's return to the house at Cheyne Walk. To them it would seem as though she'd gone out with Angelica but popped back to retrieve something. And, in a way, she had.
She went directly to the drawing-room, to the music chest beside the pianoforte. Some of the sheet music was printed and bound, but much was painstakingly hand-copied by Angelica and the pages pinned or clipped together. Her enthusiasm for music was striking. Most young ladies' music collections consisted of simple verses set to pretty tunes. In contrast, Angelica favoured a challenging repertoire from modern composers – Mendelssohn, Chopin and especially Schumann. As she searched, Mary wondered what it must be like to be Angelica: pretty, spoilt and destined for marriage. Had she ever wanted anything more? Perhaps to be a musician, like Clara Schumann? Mary couldn't shake the idea that Angelica's tantrums and sulks might themselves be a form of unhappiness.
Near the bottom of the music chest, Mary found a piano-forte concerto by Schumann. It had been specially bound in handsome maroon leather and dedicated _To A.T. on her eighteenth birthday, from M.G_. The gift of Angelica's favourite music, given by Angelica's favourite admirer. The kick of her pulse told Mary that this was it. Sure enough, folded into the back were a dozen or so loose sheets of paper, closely covered in neat handwriting. She scanned the pages carefully. Balance sheets – records of payment – notes on shipping insurance – and, crucially, letters between Thorold and an employee of Lloyd's. Yes. There was enough information here.
The drawing-room clock struck one thirty and Mary remembered that she was due at James's office. There was no time to make a copy, and removing the whole sheaf would distress Michael and Angelica if they checked on it. As a compromise, Mary took a small selection of documents. Three or four sheets of paper, she reasoned, would not be quickly missed. She stuffed it into her pocketbook, thinking longingly of her father's roll of documents. In two days, this would be over and she could return to the refuge to learn more. In the meantime, it was simpler not to think about him at all.
When Mary turned up at Great George Street, James was waiting in the entrance area. He didn't greet her, but instead took her arm, marched her briskly into his private office, and shut the door firmly.
"What's the matter?" Mary was amused.
"I don't want my brother to recognize you."
"I'm only a servant," she said. "I doubt he'd recognize me if I looked him straight in the eyes and told him my name."
James grinned. "Oh, he remembers you. After what you said about the Crimean War last Sunday, he thinks you're an evil influence who oughtn't be allowed within a hundred yards of Miss Thorold."
"Oh." This morning's events would only confirm George's opinion of her.
"That's it? 'Oh'?"
"What do you think?"
That wiped the smile from his face. He looked at her for a long time, his eyes unreadable. "I think you're trouble," he said slowly. "But you're very interesting."
Mary felt herself blushing under his scrutiny. She didn't know how to respond, so she sat down and removed her gloves.
James cleared his throat. "How are your enquiries coming on?"
"I've located copies of some documents pertaining to some fiscal irregularities in Thorold's company." She produced her "borrowed" pages. "This is only a sample. They should be sufficient to show evidence of financial dishonesty... enough, at least, to warrant searching further."
He leaned forward to study the sheet. "Tell me more."
"This is an internal memorandum from Lloyd's of London, the insurance firm, tallying Thorold's claims over the past five years. Taken separately, each claim seems ordinary; modest, even. Yet they occur a bit more frequently than the average, and they happen over a sustained period of time."
"So either Thorold has rather poor luck, or he's making fraudulent claims."
"Precisely." She waved a second page at him. "Lloyd's seem to have begun an internal investigation. They daren't accuse Thorold of anything without proof, of course, but they're suspicious and they're doing their research. And this is where things become interesting: the investigation is assigned to a Joseph Mays. A fortnight later, Thorold begins to write cheques to one J. R. Mays. Here, and here, and here."
James whistled low. "Rather large sums, considering the frequency."
"How much would Joseph Mays earn at Lloyd's? Two hundred a year?"
"Much less, I think. So Thorold is more than doubling the man's salary."
She nodded. "But he's still ahead: the payouts to Mays are cheaper than having his insurance claims denied."
"D'you think Thorold's ships really sink that often? What could possibly be happening to them?"
"He might be lying about their sinking. Double-collecting."
He frowned. "That's the simplest solution..."
"But?"
He took his time framing the question. "But what if he really was sinking them? Not deliberately, of course, but by overloading them – out of greed, or carelessness, or false economy."
As he spoke, a long-forgotten memory flashed into Mary's mind. _A man in a suit standing at her mother's door in Poplar. A man explaining that her father was dead because the ship had capsized in a storm. Her mother refusing to accept what the man said._ Neither adult had realized she understood every word.
Mary's face flooded with heat and the backs of her eyes prickled with tears. She would not cry. Not here, in front of James.
"Mary? What's wrong?" His voice was unusually kind, which only made things worse.
"N–nothing. It's just a bit warm in here."
"It is." He covered her hand with his. "Are you certain it's the heat?"
She cleared her throat and pulled her hand from his clasp. "Of course. Where were we?"
He gave her a long, steady look but when she glared at him, he shrugged. "All right. I suggested that Thorold might overload his ships, causing them to sink." He paused, studying her face. "Mary? Are you sure you're feeling well?"
"Er – yes." _Concentrate!_ "If the ships are grossly overloaded, they'd ride so low in the water that it wouldn't take much of a storm to sink them. They're called coffin ships, amongst sailors." It was difficult not to sound bitter.
"Thorold once told me he preferred to engage foreign crews because they're cheaper. The other benefit is that if the ships go down, there are fewer people to ask questions of him in England."
Mary's eyes hardened. "Hence the donations to the Lascars' home."
"Buying his way out of guilt?"
"It rather looks that way."
In the grim silence that followed, Mary's stomach rumbled loudly. She tried – and failed – to cover it with a cough.
James glanced at his desk clock. "It's quite late; will you let me give you some luncheon? Afterwards, we might have a look at the Register."
"Oh, no – I couldn't. Indeed, I'm not really—" She was betrayed by another vigorous stomach growl and subsided into silence.
He grinned provokingly. "You couldn't, because ladies never eat, except as a social diversion. Nor do they drink, sleep or have other gross, vulgar, human functions. I know."
She had to smile at that.
"Come on, then – I haven't lunched either. Won't you join me?"
"I can hardly nip down to the pub for a sandwich and a pint," she reminded him.
"Damned inconvenient, isn't it? How _do_ ladies manage?"
"We go home," she said tartly.
"And if you're far from home?"
"We faint from inanition, of course. I'm surprised you didn't know that, too."
# Twenty
They lunched quickly on sandwiches and pints of ale brought in from a nearby pub. They didn't talk much, but it was a friendly silence. Afterwards, James smuggled her out of the office (they could hear George somewhere, practising a syrupy ballad on his accordion) and down to the kerb, where they hailed a cab.
When he handed her up into the hansom, she couldn't repress a small smile. "That's the first time you've offered your assistance."
"It's the first time you've let me," he murmured, settling in beside her.
The light was yellow-grey, bright enough to make one squint but without the appearance of actual sunshine. In its unflattering glare, all of London appeared dingy. Even new buildings, like the Palace of Westminster with its unfinished clock tower, looked sad and weathered. As the cab prepared to negotiate a slow left turn up Parliament Street, Mary suddenly jumped.
"What is it?"
She leaned back, as though avoiding scrutiny. "Look."
James couldn't see anything special in the usual scrum of unwashed humanity, hard-worked animals, yapping dogs and clouds of dust jammed into a few hundred square feet. He leaned closer to Mary. "What am I to look at?"
"The carriage about to pass us on the far side of the road. It's the Thorolds'."
"That's straightforward enough."
She shook her head impatiently. "No, it's not. Thorold never takes the carriage. He and Gray used to take the ferry. Now they ride."
"Thorold loves that stinking river, doesn't he?"
She ignored that. "It must be Mrs Thorold in the carriage."
"I thought she was an invalid."
"She is." The Thorold carriage trundled past, southbound. "Damn, damn, damn!" She turned to him. "Quickly, we must follow them!"
"I thought we were after Thorold."
" _Please_ , James. The driver won't listen to me with you here."
With a resigned look, he gave the cabbie his mysterious instructions and the cab immediately began a slow U-turn, much to the irritation of a flower girl they nearly bowled over. She was still shouting curses after them as they joined the thick stream of traffic oozing slowly down towards Millbank. They were only five or six vehicles behind the Thorold carriage.
"Tell me again why we're following a hypochondriac housewife about town?"
"Doesn't it strike you as odd that Mrs Thorold should be driving across Westminster Bridge? She hasn't a single reason to be in the area."
"It could be a similar horse and carriage," he said reasonably.
"I recognized the coachman, Brown."
"I still don't see your point."
"She drives out most afternoons, either for an airing or to consult one of her physicians. If you wanted air, would you drive to Lambeth?"
"No, but perhaps she's going to the physician's."
"She's a long way from Harley Street."
"He might be one of those homeopathic snake-oil types. They're fashionable, and they set up shop in all sorts of peculiar districts."
"Well, Brown thinks something's amiss. He says she goes to a private house in Pimlico, on most days."
"And you believe him?"
"Why would he lie?"
"Perhaps for the pleasure of gossip, or because he thought it was what you'd like to hear. When did you question him, anyway?"
"He made a point of telling me one day, by the kitchen stairs."
He felt a stab of irritation. "Sounds as though he'd have said anything to attract your attention."
"Oh, please. He was dying to tell somebody, and I was the first candidate to come along."
"Hmmph. What else did he tell you?"
"He intimated that Mrs Thorold was having an affair." Mary blushed at the memory of Brown's other suggestion: that she and James were lovers. Then she was promptly annoyed with herself for blushing.
"What nonsense."
"Hm? Oh!" She forced her attention back to the real subject. "It might be rubbish. But if so, the question remains as to what she does in Pimlico several afternoons a week. There's nothing for a lady to do in Pimlico. It's not as though she could be shopping, or visiting friends."
"What about charitable work?"
_"Mrs Thorold?"_
He shrugged. "It's a possibility, however remote."
"All right, then. It's not absolutely impossible that she might be engaged in some missionary scheme, or seeing a homeopathic physician. But I'd like to be certain, in case she's linked in some way to this scheme of Thorold's."
"That seems even less likely than the charitable work."
"I know," she conceded. "But I won't feel easy until I've seen it myself."
At the junction of Vauxhall Bridge, a brewer's cart toppled over. Carriages, hansoms, carts and drays from all directions juddered to a halt as ragged men and women, street urchins, and girls carrying babies all scrambled to nab a share of the spilled beer. One particularly large navvy applied his mouth directly to the leak in a cask, cheered on by his mates. The cart driver made no attempt to clear the thoroughfare. Instead, he mounted guard in front of the intact beer casks, using his horsewhip and a steady stream of colourful threats in order to fend off those who approached.
"For pity's sake," muttered Mary.
"I don't suppose you could be persuaded to abandon Mrs Thorold?" he muttered.
"Absolutely not. Besides, we can't even turn round."
He craned his neck to look and groaned. In just under a minute, traffic had become jammed for hundreds of yards around.
"Would you rather get down? We could follow her just as easily on foot."
He looked at her dress, another frumpy brown sack. "We'll be covered in dust. How will you explain that at home?"
They sat. After some time, a reluctant coachman organized a small gang of men to help shift the debris. But despite these efforts, it took nearly three-quarters of an hour before the road was clear. The driver of the tipped cart was no help. He spent the interval gibbering with rage and bemoaning the damage to his axle. Eventually, a narrow route was cleared through the broken casks and spilled ale, but even then, it took several minutes for traffic to resume movement.
At the first opportunity, Mrs Thorold's carriage nipped precariously through a narrow gap on the edge of the pavement, very nearly crushing a dirty toddler and the basket of watercress to which it was strapped, and causing another temporary stoppage as the indignant cress-woman rescued her child. For a few minutes, Mary was sure they'd lost her. As they cleared the junction, though, she caught sight of the familiar carriage disappearing round the corner of a side street. Their driver made a sharp right turn and urged the horses to a trot.
The Thorold carriage turned left into Denbigh Place, a narrow street of terraced houses. The road was remarkably empty: no children playing outside, no vendors going door to door. In a perpetually loud and active city, the effect was chilling. It was as though the entire area had been evacuated.
Mrs Thorold's carriage halted halfway down the street and the door flew open, even before Brown had clambered off the driver's seat. He did manage to fumble the steps down, but with a sharp gesture, the lady in the carriage dismissed his attempt to help her down. Her build was substantial and familiar, and she was wearing full matronly gear – wide crinoline, multiple skirts, bonnet. Her step was sure, and she descended with a matter-of-fact confidence completely unfamiliar to Mary. The distance from kerb to front door was only a few paces. Yet it was enough to note the woman's upright posture and brisk stride. She opened the door using her own key and vanished inside.
James and Mary exchanged incredulous looks.
"Did you...?"
"Was that...?"
Glancing towards the house again, they were in time to see Brown drive on and turn into the back street. Apparently, she was staying a while.
"What are the chances of another lady using Mrs Thorold's coachman?" asked James.
"Another lady with her figure?" Mary shook her head. "It's almost impossible."
"Charming family," he drawled. "Papa's corrupt, Mamma prowls London on the sly... Is there anything George and I ought to know about dear Angelica?"
Mary kept silence. There was indeed, but she'd promised not to tell. And, truthfully, she didn't want to tell. If he knew the latest developments, he'd have no reason to keep working with her. He was useful to her. And she'd actually come to enjoy his company, arrogant as he was.
He was watching her expression intently. "Is that a 'yes'?"
"It can wait." She jumped down from the cab and waited impatiently while he paid the driver.
"All right," he said as the cab rolled away. "How do we learn more about Mrs Thorold's business here?"
"We ask the neighbours."
"We just ring the bell and say, 'Beg pardon – who's that lady and what does she do?'"
She rolled her eyes. "We ring the bell and explain that I'm feeling faint from the heat, and may we come inside for a moment." She took his arm and leaned on it dramatically.
"And I just stand there like a dolt?"
"You're my brother, who's extremely concerned for my health."
James shook his head. "I've a better idea. I'll do that while you explore the back street. See if you can't get a look in the windows."
"But ladies won't talk to you as freely as they will to me."
He grinned. "I'm not going to the front door. I'm going to charm a pretty housemaid into telling me all."
"You seem very certain of your charm."
He tried to look modest and failed. "It worked on Angelica... and I wasn't even trying with her."
Mary's exploration of the back street was brief. The back of Mrs Thorold's house was tidy and blank, the windows tightly covered from prying eyes. There wasn't a single clue for the eager sleuth. She prowled the length of the alley for ten minutes or so, then returned to the corner of Denbigh Place to await James. He was some time – at least half an hour by her estimate, although she had no watch – and it occurred to her that, purposely or not, he was getting his own back for his wait outside the Lascar's refuge. The only other human in the street was a boy of about ten, idly kicking a football.
"You look smug," she said to James when he finally appeared.
He grinned. "The housemaid, Janet, is a charming girl. Served me tea and told me every detail of her life, from dawn to midnight. Apparently, I remind her of the hero of some novel she's reading, but I'm better looking."
"Why is modesty never one of the hero's attributes?"
He took her arm. "You're only envious because I had tea. And some rather nice scones with jam and cream."
"Is this a sample of your famous charm?"
"Oh, I don't waste it on just anyone," he grinned. "For example, ladies met in wardrobes; ladies who punch me on the nose; ladies who —"
Mary had to laugh. "Very well. Tell me what you learned."
He turned serious. "Mrs Thorold lets the house under the name Thorpe and she comes by in the afternoons. She has a gentleman friend, a Mr Samuels, who calls in two or three times a week."
"Has anybody seen inside the house? Does 'Mrs Thorpe' keep a maid?"
"No; it's something of a local mystery how they keep the house clean."
"Well, what about the unusual deliveries? Anything that could link them to Thorold's cargoes?"
He shook his head. "Nothing of the sort. These two keep a low profile; Janet doesn't know where Mr Samuels comes from either, and she's as nosy as they come."
Mary digested this. "It certainly sounds like an adulterous affair."
James nodded. "Janet thinks so. Apparently, it's a favourite topic for all the local housemaids when they see each other."
They walked on a little further, to the edge of a small garden square. The boy with the football suddenly booted it towards them. "Pardon, sir!" cried the boy.
James caught the dirty ball almost as a reflex. "Excuse me a moment, will you?" He motioned for Mary to walk on, and dragged the boy about twenty feet off. At first, it looked as though he was scolding the child, but then as the boy began to speak, James began to listen intently. Mary watched this by-play without particular interest until she noted the sudden change in James's body language. He stiffened, glanced over at her, and spoke to the boy again. The whole exchange took only two or three minutes, but when it was over, James gave the boy something – money? – and rejoined her.
"Who was that?" Mary asked.
"Funny you should ask." James's grip on her arm was tight and he stalked along with long steps, forcing her to scurry to keep up.
"What's happened?"
He stopped short. "When were you going to tell me?"
Mary felt that moment of dread again; the knowledge that she was caught. "Tell you what?" she said cautiously.
His grip on her arm tightened. "This morning, you witnessed the marriage of Angelica Thorold and Michael Gray. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I – I promised."
"You promised." His voice was contemptuous.
"Michael and Angelica. I promised them not to tell anyone."
"You should never have made that promise. You had already agreed to work with me, and our agreement should have prevented such a promise." He glared at her for a minute longer, then suddenly released her arm. The movement was so sudden that she stumbled backwards. "You went back on your word!"
Stung, she defended herself. "You had me followed, so clearly you don't trust me anyway! You're so outraged now, but you're the one who's been spying on me!"
"I have no need to justify myself to you," he muttered, "but that boy was shadowing Gray. Not you."
Mary blanched. Her righteous anger evaporated, to be replaced by cold nausea.
"That boy only reported what he saw in the church this morning: you witnessed the marriage." James stared at her for a long moment. "How old did you say you were?"
"I – I said I was twenty."
His eyes narrowed. "You _said_..."
She couldn't manage another lie. Not now. Not to him. "I'm seventeen," she admitted in a small voice.
"So the marriage isn't even legal."
"No," she whispered.
"Is this your idea of a joke? And if so, who's it on? Angelica, Michael Gray, or George and me? Or maybe your plan was to deceive all of us, for some reason of your own."
She couldn't speak.
He looked as though he'd tasted something rotten. "I hope to God no one else finds out."
She was shaking now. "They won't!"
He only stared at her again, shook his head, and turned away.
Mary stared after his receding form. When it was clear that he wasn't going to stop, she hurried after him. "Wait – where are you going?"
He swung round to face her and spoke formally. "I regret having urged this so-called partnership upon you. Consider yourself rid of me."
Stupidly, she gaped at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"Goodbye, Miss Quinn. I wish you well." He turned on his heel and strode away.
# Twenty-one
# Sunday, 16 May
Another sweltering, foul-smelling day. Sunlight glowed round the edges of the curtains. Mary lifted one eyelid. Why did she feel so...? Even before she could frame the question, the events of yesterday came back. They didn't rush or ebb, so much as cudgel her brain. James. Their argument. Their separation. It ought to be for the best, but she hadn't yet persuaded herself of the fact. Had she no shame? He was arrogant and hot-tempered, but her behaviour had been worse: dishonest and foolish.
On her return yesterday, she'd taken refuge in that classic lady's complaint, the headache, in order to avoid dinner and a family evening. Cass had taken it upon herself to smuggle up a supper tray: a lukewarm cup of tea, three door-stopping slabs of bread and butter, and a wedge of slightly stale Madeira cake. Even in the hard grip of self-loathing, Mary had to smile at the girl's idea of comfort and easily persuaded her to consume most of it. This morning, however, she felt hollow as a result of the missed meal.
Was it even worth getting up today? She wrinkled her nose. Such a question was embarrassing, even when unspoken. And – how had she managed to forget? – the conclusion of the assignment awaited. Her first assignment. Her much-compromised assignment. After which, she could finally go back to the Lascars' refuge... And here she was feigning illness over a man who despised her.
Spurred by that thought, she sat up in time to hear the clock on the landing toll nine. Nine! Where was Cass? No tea, no bath water, and it was two hours past her usual rising time. She was becoming quite a lady, marooned in her room by the absence of the maid. She washed using the water from her hand basin, dressed quickly, and went down to the breakfast room. It was deserted and she was just sitting down to coffee, eggs, bacon, tomatoes and toast when, from the back of the house, she heard a muffled but distinct crash, and an outbreak of shrill scolding.
With an inward sigh, she went into the corridor. It was easy to determine the location – even from the top of the servants' staircase, Cook's voice was enough to make her wince. Mary hesitated; she had no authority there, of course. But even as she paused, she heard the meaty slap of flesh against flesh. That decided her.
The trouble was in the larder. Rounding the corner, Mary saw fragments of glass strewn across the stone flags. Sprawled on the floor amongst the shards was the cringing figure of Cass Day, protecting her head with her arms.
"Good morning, Cook," Mary said coldly.
Cook, a brawny woman in her early forties, glared at her. She was breathless. "What d'you want down here?" On the floor, Cass did not move.
"Miss Thorold is much concerned by the din," Mary improvised. "She sent me to assist you."
Cook wiped her forehead with her apron. "It's that lazy, thieving brat," she spat. "Caught her nicking those lamps."
The remnants of a pair of oil lamps lolled drunkenly in a corner. "I see." Mary swung her gaze from the lamps to Cass's still form, and back to Cook.
"She's sacked, o' course. But she needs a good lesson, first, the snivelling weasel." Cook's sleeves were rolled up well past her forearms and she was still enraged.
The two women stared at each other for a minute, weighing their choices. It was certainly within Cook's powers to fire Cass, and even to beat her. In the taut silence, a violent tremor shook Cass's curled-up body.
"You're busy. I'll see her off the premises." Mary glanced down at the girl, her voice cool and neutral. "Stand up, Cass."
Cook's eyes narrowed. "And just who'll clean up this mess?"
"Cleaning and trimming the lamps is William's responsibility." Mary tucked Cass behind her. "I'll inform him of the damage."
For the first time, Cook shifted her weight. There was another tense silence. Then she twitched her apron defensively. "Get her out of my sight," she snarled.
Mary's palms were clammy with relief as she pushed Cass gently into motion. "Get your things."
Neither spoke as they threaded their way through the kitchen to Cass's "room" at the end of the scullery. It was a small space, unventilated and low-ceilinged, with a dirty straw pallet on the ground. The stone-flagged walls were slimy with mildew, mouse droppings made for a gritty footing, and the musty tang of urine permeated the air. Cass shuffled forward with a practiced stoop and retrieved a ragged nightdress from beneath the flour-sack bed-sheet. This she rolled into a tight ball and stuffed into an equally threadbare nightcap. From a makeshift washing line strung between two beams, she took a much-patched petticoat and a pair of coarse black stockings. Finally, she groped in a crevice between wall and floor and, after a little fishing, retrieved a tiny memorandum book. The cover had been chewed by mice, but from the way Cass tucked it into the folds of her skirt, it was her most prized possession.
"I'm ready," she mumbled. There was a small, bleeding patch on her scalp where the hair had been torn out.
Mary looked at her for a moment. "Come upstairs."
Cass meekly followed her up the servants' stairs, belongings tucked beneath her arm. When Mary turned the corner and began the climb up to the second floor, Cass hesitated only for a moment. Once in her bedroom, Mary closed the door firmly. "Now," she said, "I believe you have something to tell me."
Cass half lifted her head, but dropped it again before Mary could catch her expression. "I – I don't understand, miss."
Mary reached forward and lifted the girl's chin with two fingers. She wasn't surprised when Cass flinched, as though expecting to be hit. She was, however, surprised by the tears glinting on her cheeks. "You didn't try to steal those lamps. I know that as well as you do."
Cass's face twisted with surprise, but she neither confirmed nor denied the remark.
"You haven't told me your side."
Cass scrubbed her sleeve over her face. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. "What good would that do, miss?"
"None, as far as Cook is concerned," acknowledged Mary, passing her a clean handkerchief. "But the truth is important. Would you really want me to go on thinking that you were a thief? And a stupid thief, at that?"
Cass half sobbed, half laughed. "No."
"Well, then. Why don't you tell me what happened?"
She spoke slowly. "Cook made me clean the lamps this morning. It's 'cos William drank too much last night and he's behind today. I was taking the last two up to the dining room, when I fell and smashed the lamps." She twisted the handkerchief nervously. "That's all."
"So to cover for William, she accused you of stealing the lamps?"
Cass nodded.
"Well. Cook's responsible for engaging her own help, and I can't help you get your post back. But even if I could, I don't think I would."
Cass looked hurt. "But why?"
"I want to help you, Cass," Mary explained gently, "but not to a place that's dangerous to your health."
Cass's jaw took on a stubborn shape. "Any place is better than no place. And now I've no letter of character. I can't get a place without a character." The tears welled up again, and she swiped at her eyes.
"Use my handkerchief, Cass. Please."
There was something about the handkerchief; perhaps it was simply too fine to soil. In any case, Cass stoppered her tears. "I'm sorry, Miss Quinn," she mumbled.
"Don't be. Listen, Cass: do you really want to be a scullery maid?"
A shrug. "It's what I know, miss."
Mary waved one hand impatiently. "But do you remember when we talked about being a lady? Not a real lady, but one like me?"
"Ye–e–s..."
"Well, would you still like to try to be one?"
Cass blushed. "That was just dreaming, miss."
Mary took the girl's thin hands in hers. "What if I told you it wasn't a dream, Cass? What if I said it was possible for you to go to school, and meet other girls your age?"
Cass frowned, more in bewilderment than refusal.
"Lessons are work, too," warned Mary. "You won't enjoy all of it. But you could learn."
She shook her head, as though to clear it. "Miss, you're not... I'm a scullery maid. That's all. You're very kind, Miss Quinn, but I can't. I can't even understand what you mean."
Mary stifled a sigh. "I know this is sudden. What I mean is that I know someone who can help you. She's a teacher at a girls' boarding school, and she's interested in—" She broke off. Cass's face had gone still and rigid and she was edging towards the door, shaking her head. "What's the matter, Cass?"
Cass continued to shake her head. "You're very kind, miss, but please, I must go."
"Let me give you a letter – it's like a character, but for school instead of working in service. You can take it to this school..."
Cass blinked, then nodded once, sharply. It wasn't the eager acceptance she'd hoped for, but Mary immediately sat down and lifted the writing desk onto her lap. It took her a minute to find pen, ink and paper. _Dear Miss Treleaven,_ she wrote, _Cassandra Day, the bearer of this letter..._
The door clicked and Mary looked up. By the time she'd reached the doorway, Cass was already halfway down the hall, sprinting, her squashed bundle of clothing clutched hard against her side. Mary's first impulse was to give chase. But what good would that do? Even if she caught Cass and personally delivered her to Anne Treleaven, the Academy wasn't a prison. Reluctant pupils were always permitted to go. She listened to the receding clatter of Cass's footsteps and rubbed her face wearily. Her fingers were slightly greasy – probably from touching Cass's. She washed her hands and went back down to the breakfast room.
It was becoming a morning of domestic crisis. Half an hour later, when Mary happened to pass by Angelica's bedroom door, she couldn't help but hear a smothered sort of wailing. She hesitated. Angelica had never welcomed her concern before, and she couldn't imagine that changing now... yet after yesterday's escapade, Mary felt responsible for her.
She equipped herself with a tea tray and knocked at the bedroom door. It required persistence, but after several minutes, she heard a muffled, "Come in." The bedroom was in darkness and the air was thick with sleep and stale perfume.
"I brought you a cup of tea," Mary said to the lump under the bed-sheets.
Angelica continued to sob into her pillow.
Mary was genuinely alarmed. This was, after all, the day after the supposed happiest day of Angelica's life. "Angelica? Are you ill?"
Long silence. "N–no."
"Did you fall out with Michael?"
Angelica's face appeared, puffy and red and grotesque. "N–no. Yesterday was lovely – Michael was lovely – everything is love–lovely..." She melted once again into tears.
Mary didn't know how to respond. "So – yesterday was lovely but today is not?"
Angelica made a mewling sound that seemed like agreement.
"But you don't know what's the matter?"
Angelica shook her head and bawled. After several minutes, exhausted and hiccupping, she stammered, "I–I'm like this. Sometimes."
Mary remembered the morning after the party. Angelica should have been triumphant, but instead she'd seemed utterly miserable. "Why don't you sit up? You'll breathe more easily." She poured a glass of water.
Angelica struggled up clumsily and blew her nose. "You must despise me," she said eventually. "My life is so easy compared to yours, but I'm the one crying over nothing."
"I don't despise you." Mary said the words automatically, but realized that she did mean them. Angelica was a selfish brat. But for all her wealth and privilege, she was as powerless as Cass Day in the ways that counted.
Angelica sighed and looked down at her hands. On her left ring finger was a plain gold band, so thin it was barely more than a shadow. Her face clouded again.
"You don't regret marrying him, do you?" Mary asked. "You seemed quite sure of yourself yesterday."
Angelica's face crumpled again, as if to cry, but she managed to control herself. After a few minutes, she spoke. "I thought marrying him would make me happy. It did make me happy, for a few hours. And then – we came sneaking home yesterday, and had dinner as usual – it was as though nothing had changed." She gestured feebly. "It's all the same. I'm still here. He's still the secretary. I thought I would feel different."
"Things will be different as soon as your parents find out you're married. Perhaps you and Michael should tell them."
Angelica drank some tea. "I lay awake all night thinking about that. But it's more than that. I expected getting married to change everything, but it's made the same things more complicated. I feel trapped – not by marriage, but by everything else. I – I don't know how to explain it."
Mary looked at Angelica for a minute. Then she said, "I know you don't like me much, but may I offer my opinion?"
"It's not that I don't like you... but I had decided not to like you." She half smiled. "I don't suppose it matters to you, but I think you're interesting."
_Interesting_. It was a painful reminder of James's assessment of her – and his later disdain. Mary drew a deep breath and focused on Angelica's situation. "I think," she said carefully, "there are some women for whom marriage and children are the most important objects in life. But I think there are others who long for more. Your unhappiness reminds me of that sort of need."
Angelica's brow wrinkled. "Marriage is what I was raised for."
"You're a gifted pianist, Angelica. Have you ever thought of doing more than playing for your family and friends?"
A faint blush tinted her cheeks. "My music teachers always said so... I never thought – never allowed myself to think... And I'm married now." Her shoulders slumped. "It's too late."
"Is it?" Many actresses and opera singers continued to perform after they married. "Couldn't you be a musician and a wife?"
"I can't do that!" Angelica looked genuinely scandalized. "And poor Michael..."
"He seems a reasonable man, and he wants you to be happy. He would probably be proud to have a talented wife."
Angelica shook her head, agitation visible now in those round blue eyes. "It's not done. It's just – it's not..."
"I'm not trying to tell you what to do," said Mary quickly. "Only suggesting that your unhappiness might be due to your lack of choices." She couldn't gauge Angelica's response. "Only you can know that, but I didn't want to go away without saying this." And it was true. At some point in the last half-hour, she'd gone from being Angelica's dutiful companion to a concerned acquaintance. In Angelica's misery – as in Cass's – Mary saw her own history.
"I'll leave you to think about that," she concluded. "Do you need anything else?"
Angelica was already lost in thought. "Hm? Oh – no. But Mary?"
She paused at the threshold. "Yes?"
"Thank you – once again."
# Twenty-two
As no one desired Mary's company that morning, she quickly announced her intention of going for a walk and caught an omnibus to St John's Wood. How ironic that she'd made a hash of everything except her bolt back to the safety of the Agency. On Acacia Road, the brass plaque that announced MISS SCRIMSHAW'S ACADEMY FOR GIRLS seemed almost unbearably comforting. She unlatched the wrought-iron gate and slipped inside, steeling herself for the worst. Her need for counsel was great, and if the advice was unsparingly harsh, so be it.
Anne's office was on the ground floor. It was surprisingly modest, both in size and décor: no sprawling mahogany desks, smoky oil paintings or crystal decanters here. Instead, the room was as spare and trim as the woman herself, softened only by the profusion of potted plants. The door was ajar. At Mary's light tap, Anne looked up instantly. Her eyelids barely flickered at the sight of Mary but, for her, the tiny movement represented a significant display of emotion. "Hullo, Mary."
Mary was horrified to find herself blinking back tears – yet again. First at the Lascars' refuge, then nearly before James, and now... "I'm sorry – bursting in on you like this – I couldn't think what else to do – I've made such a mess – I know it's the final day tomorrow..."
Anne shut the door and enveloped her in a fierce hug. She was remarkably strong for one so bony. "It's all right; don't try to talk just yet."
Mary wasn't quite sure why she was crying: for her abject failure as an agent-in-training; for disappointing Anne; for betraying James; for not reaching Cass; even for Angelica, who cried so easily. Once permitted to let go, it was some time before her tears slowed. Eventually, as they tapered and she began to hiccup, Anne produced a handkerchief and a glass of brandy. "Drink that."
Mary sat and drank. She mopped her face, blew her nose, and attempted a shamefaced smile. "I'm sorry."
"You needn't apologize for crying. Suppose you tell me what you've been doing?"
Mary told her story with logic and economy, excluding nothing – except, of course, her private conversation with Mr Chen. While she was tempted to tell Anne about her father, it was all too new. Too raw. And some part of her wondered whether it was even safe... Unconsciously, she touched the jade pendant, which lay concealed beneath her dress.
Would Anne and Felicity despise her if they knew the truth? Would they be like so many other Englishwomen and men, priding themselves on being fair and modern, but secretly fearing and loathing her? She'd heard the full range of epithets in her childhood. Although the hate words were ugly, the problem was larger than that: it was that she couldn't bear to hear them from Anne or Felicity.
Yet even while common sense told her that Anne and Felicity would never insult her with those names, she continued to shy away from the truth. If she did tell them – even if they didn't abhor her – she would cease to be simply "Mary Quinn". She would always be the half-caste, the Chinawoman, the different one. Neither fish, nor flesh, nor fowl, as the proverb had it, but she would become a thing. She would belong nowhere, and be like no one.
When Mary finished her tale, Anne was silent. Mary tried not to fidget. Whatever criticisms Anne made, she would accept. She would demonstrate that she was capable of learning from her errors.
Anne's quiet voice cut through her thoughts. "Why did you come here today?"
She wasn't prepared for that question. Floundering for a moment, she pulled herself together. "I need your advice."
"What on?"
There was no short or pleasant answer possible. "I don't know what to do next. I haven't overheard any discussion of the shipment from India. I have made a series of errors, some of them very grave. I have been reckless. I have broken my word." Here, she halted.
"All that is true. You also overstepped the bounds of your assignment. The primary agent was most displeased with your attempts to search the warehouses. By breaking in and nearly being caught, you made her task much more difficult than it need have been."
Mary's face burned. She hadn't even considered that possibility.
There was another pause before Anne's cool voice reached her ears. "Do you wish to be relieved of your responsibilities?"
Mary flushed scarlet. "That is the most sensible course of action," she said slowly.
"But?"
"I've given you no reason to believe in my abilities," she said shakily. "I've been headstrong and arrogant and a danger to my colleagues. I've made the worst start possible..."
"But?" Anne sounded genuinely curious.
"But I should like to continue with this assignment." She drew a long breath and met Anne's gaze with an imploring look. "I need to justify the faith you've had in me for all these years."
Anne's fine brows drew together in a slight frown. "You mustn't do this for me or for the Agency, Mary."
She shook her head vehemently. "It's more than that, Miss Treleaven. I want to do my job. I want to meet my responsibilities. I want to see this task through to its logical conclusion. I want a chance to put things right."
Anne's expression was neutral. Mary held her breath. The small, squat clock on Anne's desk rang the hour, followed by twelve silvery chimes. She would have to leave shortly in order to catch an omnibus back to Chelsea.
Anne, too, glanced at the clock. "You may continue with the assignment, Mary." She cut off Mary's thanks with a swift gesture. "Now. It seems to me there are four main threads in your narrative; I shall address them in order of importance.
"The transcribed documents you mentioned may be useful, but we have other resources. If only Michael and Angelica Gray know their location, they are unlikely to be lost, and Scotland Yard can compel Gray to turn them over, if need be. If you haven't located other documents at this point, you likely won't." Anne fixed her with a stern look.
Mary nodded. Her cheeks and ears were scarlet.
"As for Mrs Thorold's activities, you should remain alert for irregularities. I will arrange to have her placed under surveillance, but keep track of her movements today. Concerning James Easton: will you have further contact with him?"
When Mary tried to speak, only air came out. Event-ually, she croaked, "No." At Anne's raised eyebrows, she managed some further explanation. "His brother was courting Angelica. Now that she's married, they are out of the picture."
Anne began to ask a question, then appeared to change her mind. Instead, she said carefully, "Your loyalty to the Agency comes first in this case. Remember that, should you see him again."
Mary nodded, feeling oddly uncomfortable. Was that all Anne intended to say on the matter? She considered framing a question... but what?
"Finally, the question of Cassandra Day: you aren't responsible there, Mary. She is free to decline our assistance."
"But I don't understand what terrified her so. She trusted me, to a certain extent, until I mentioned going to school."
Anne sighed. "Some girls simply hate the notion. They dislike what they perceive as imprisonment."
"Life as a kitchen slavey is preferable?" Mary couldn't keep the frustration from her voice.
"She clearly believes so." Anne paused, then leaned forward once again. "We must return to the Thorold case. Our agent completed her investigation last night and retrieved the relevant papers from the warehouses. The shipment is due to be unloaded tomorrow. We are now waiting for Scotland Yard to confirm that they will move then, in order to secure the physical evidence."
"I'm to keep an eye on the rest of the household until then?"
"Yes. The secret marriage is likely to be revealed in the confusion surrounding the arrests. You'll be able to leave your post quite naturally."
Mary nodded and rose. "Miss Treleaven..."
Anne shook her head. "No thanks and no apologies."
Mary ransacked her brain for something appropriate that was neither thanks nor apology. "Will you wish me luck for my last day?" There was a slight quaver in her voice.
A rare smile softened Anne's lips. "If you keep your head, you shan't need it."
# Twenty-three
James's plans for a leisurely Sunday afternoon were a loss from the start. He'd put in a long Saturday night at the office, catching up on work he'd neglected in favour of tearing about London with that woman. He really ought to have known better: any person encountered skulking in a wardrobe was going to be trouble. That went double – no, treble – for any tomboy who claimed to be a lady, but whose behaviour proclaimed otherwise at every moment. The damned jade was a practised manipulator. He and George were fortunate to be free of the Thorolds and their dependants. Not that George would agree.
Then, just as James managed to distract himself with a book, the housekeeper brought him a note from Alfred Quigley. It wasn't the lad's fault: he had no idea the "case" had collapsed. But it was another unpleasant reminder of how much time and energy he'd wasted over the past fortnight. James crumpled the note into his pocket and began brooding about Quigley, instead.
He ought to find something else for the lad to do. A bright child like that was wasted on simple errands – yet at his age, it was the only sort of paid work he was likely to find, and he had to support his widowed mother. Could Easton Engineering engage the lad, as a sort of apprentice-assistant? Or perhaps find him a place in a decent school... He'd need more schooling, if he was to exploit his talents properly. Either way, the lad was a new responsibility James would have to sort out, thanks to the damned Thorolds.
Such an internal monologue was far from relaxing, and it was with almost a sense of relief that he heard the library door open. "What is it, Mrs Lemmon?"
"I beg your pardon, Mr Easton. There is a policeman asking to speak with you or Mr George."
"Did he say what he wants?"
"He wouldn't explain himself to me, sir. He only declared it to be urgent."
On a Sunday, as well. "Very well." James stood. "Where have you put him?"
Constable Thomas Huggins was trailing an idle finger over the carved frame of a painting in the breakfast room. Young, with anxious, wide-set eyes, he whirled about guiltily at James's entrance. "Mr Easton?"
"Yes." James sat down and invited the man to do the same.
"Very sorry to disturb you of a Sunday, sir." Huggins remained standing, hat awkwardly in hand. "Some rather unpleasant news, I'm afraid."
"Concerning me?"
"It appears that way, sir."
James merely waited, stone-faced.
"There's been a body discovered on one of your building sites, sir."
A body. James experienced a sudden certainty. He could see the slight, crumpled figure, its edges defined by a narrow crinoline, a mass of dark hair. "How? Where?" His voice sounded harsh, over-loud.
Constable Huggins wiped his forehead. "Hard by the river, sir."
James was very glad he was seated. After a moment, he asked, "How can I help you?"
Huggins nodded, on firm ground once more. "Looks like an accident, sir – he must have lost his footing and tumbled into a pit, but we—"
Through his fog of nausea, James grasped the essential word. " _He?_ It was a man?"
Huggins nodded. "Building sites are so tempting to beggars and mudlarks, you know... They think it's all treasure trove."
Not a woman, then. Not— He drew a long breath.
"And so I've been sent to ask if you would come to the scene."
"Of course." James rose. "I doubt that I'll be able to identify the body, though, Constable. A vagrant, did you say?" Now that the first shock was past, he was annoyed at having jumped to conclusions. If Mary were to turn up dead, it certainly wouldn't be on one of his sites. He would banish her from his thoughts, beginning now.
"Yes, sir. It's hardly a nice subject for a Sunday, but a body's a body, even if he looks to be a ruffian. Probably mucking about with the machinery, and all."
They took the waiting hansom down to the site of the future railway tunnel. It was a relatively unsmelly afternoon, for which James was grateful. The men could work efficiently tomorrow if this cool weather held.
Descending from the cab, he noted a small cluster of bodies. The site was guarded by a harassed-looking policeman, who introduced himself as Sergeant Davis. The others were scavengers, mudlarks and rag-and-bone-men, eager to strip the corpse.
James glimpsed a small heap at the far end of the tunnel mouth. "Any idea how the man got down there?"
"Fell, I s'pose."
James looked at the police sergeant sharply, but he wasn't being sarcastic. "Have you even sent for a surgeon?"
Sergeant Davis looked sullen. "What for? Christ himself couldn't raise this one."
A snigger rose from the audience.
"Get them away from here," growled James. He stripped off his jacket and scrambled into the pit. It led down from the entrance of the tunnel and he almost slipped, skidding down crab-like on his hands and feet. At the bottom, he stood and walked squelchily across its base. The dank river smell was heavier here, almost like a fluid trickling into his lungs.
The corpse's feet were small and – oddly, for a beggar – wearing shoes. Its face was pushed down into the mud, the arms sprawled carelessly. James's step quickened as he neared the body and he turned it over roughly. It was short and slight, not a full-grown man at all. A boy, then. Why did that make it so much worse?
He scrabbled at the muddy throat, irrationally searching for a pulse point, but almost immediately realized it was futile. The flesh was cool. James squatted beside the body. A glance at the tunnel mouth showed him Huggins and Davis trying to contain the crowd. Neither seemed very authoritative.
With his handkerchief, James began to wipe mud from the features. It was unlikely the child would ever be identified, but he had to try. His stomach pitched slightly as he uncovered a few freckles. The glassy eyes seemed to focus on a point just behind his head. The eyelashes were caked in mud.
His handkerchief was soon sodden but it was enough. James's lips tightened as he looked down at the boy before him. The face was contorted and mud-smeared, the lips blue. But it was unmistakably he.
Neither a mudlark nor a beggar.
Not just any child.
Alfred Quigley.
His gut churned suddenly and he turned aside just in time, vomiting his Sunday luncheon into the mud. The retching didn't stop when his stomach was empty; violent convulsions shook his frame. He wasn't sure how much time passed before Constable Huggins touched his shoulder, embarrassment dyeing his freckled face scarlet.
"I'm sorry, sir. If I'd known it would bother you so..."
James took the handkerchief Huggins offered. Tears mingled with sweat on his face. Now that the roar in his ears was fading, he could hear the audience jeering – from a safe distance, of course. "Thank you," he said, when he could speak.
Huggins blushed and looked away. "Take your time, sir."
James straightened. "I can identify the boy. He worked for me." Huggins's mouth opened in a small circle, and James hurried on. "You think it was an accident?"
Huggins looked about helplessly. "No reason for doing away with a boy, sir. I mean, if it were a girl, it'd be something else, 'specially if she was – you know. But a boy? And still in his clothes? Can't see another explanation, sir." At James's frown, he rushed on. "I'll check back at the station, of course, but I'm afraid we're a bit short-handed at the moment. This – this is my first suspicious death, sir." He blushed again.
James nodded slowly. "The boy's named Quigley. He lived with his mother, a widow. I can give you their address."
Huggins nodded, relief evident in his posture. "The sooner it's done the better, sir." He looked back at his sergeant and gestured meaningfully.
"You're moving the child now?"
"Sooner the better," Huggins repeated. "That lot'll have its teeth out the minute we turn our backs."
So Alfred Quigley was already "it". James bent and closed the staring eyes.
Huggins didn't seem to object. "Good idea, sir. Bit nicer for the mother that way."
Nicer. Of course. Definitely nicer, being a widow with a dead child. He fished out his notecase with a grimy hand and thrust its contents into Huggins's startled hand. "For the mother," he muttered. "Funeral." _Blood money._
James watched the tragicomic procession: the sullen sergeant with the boy's body humped over his shoulder, followed by the timid but comfortingly human Constable Huggins. Flies were already swarming around the pool of vomit. He cast a final look at the ground and the patch where Alfred Quigley had been smothered. Then he turned and followed Huggins up out of the pit.
_Murderer. Murderer. Murderer_. James was unaware of how long he'd been standing at the edge of the building site, staring at the river, with that taunt running through his head. Alfred Quigley's death was his fault. There was no room for argument there. And instead of having the courage to tell Mrs Quigley the news himself, he'd given Huggins the address and left it at that. There was no particular reason for him to remain on site, except that he couldn't think what else to do. Going back to the comfort of his house would be a retreat he didn't deserve.
His gaze passed over the knot of people on the sticky riverbank. Disappointed scavengers, most of them. Except for – his eyes noted a familiar figure gliding past the embankment. What the devil was she doing on his site? Sudden anger fired him and before he remembered that he'd sworn not to think of her again, he ran across the churned-up mud to intercept her.
"What the blazes are you doing down here?" He barked the question as soon as he was within earshot.
Mary turned, looked around and down. She seemed surprised to see him. "Good afternoon to you, too."
He scrambled up the bank, wiped his palms on his ruined trousers and glared at her. "You should be safe at home. Don't you have a job to do?"
"Listen to me," she said quietly. She stepped closer, wrinkling her nose slightly at the fetid mud that coated him. "There are new developments."
He didn't want to talk about new developments. All he wanted was to roar at her until she cried and then pack her off somewhere safe – wherever that might be. He opened his mouth to begin, but she was already talking.
"Thorold's been arrested. The police raided one of his ships near the warehouses." She had no idea why the schedule had been pushed forward from Monday to Sunday.
He froze, suddenly alert. "Go on."
"Two detectives from Scotland Yard came to the house during luncheon. They took him away. The warehouses are being searched and his files seized. It was a complete surprise – even Thorold hadn't an inkling. He thought they'd come to interview him about the warehouse break-ins!"
"What was he charged with?"
"Smuggling stolen goods." In a low tone, she summarized the matter of the Indian artefacts. He listened intently, frowning at the ground. Finally, he asked, "Where is Gray?"
"At the house. The detectives told him to present himself at the Yard tomorrow."
"And Mrs Thorold?"
"I was following her carriage. She called on a solicitor – I assume to arrange for Thorold's bail and defence. I stopped when you hailed me, but she was on her way home."
He considered her in silence. She seemed pleased – even blooming – with the adventure of it all. "You're certain she didn't see you?"
"I was careful."
"I hope so, for your sake."
She frowned at his tone. "What does that mean?"
An image of Alfred Quigley's dead face, muddy and blue-lipped, flashed before his eyes. He had to protect Mary from the same fate. "I can't explain," he said in a tense voice. "But listen to me, Mary. We're clear of this situation. Thorold's affairs will be thoroughly investigated. There's nothing left for you to do. Get yourself a new post and don't think about it any further."
"But—"
"If a trail exists for that lost parlour-maid Thorold made pregnant – and I very much doubt it does – the police will find it. The best thing you can do is keep yourself clear of this mess."
"That's what you've decided?" Oddly, she wasn't outraged. Her eyes were distinctly green today, and bright with excitement.
He worked to keep his voice level. Cool. "Yes."
"All right, then. What's your plan?"
He shook his head. "You're not listening to me. There is no plan. You need to get away from the Thorolds – the whole damned household – as soon as possible and before Thorold is released on bail. _Today_." He watched her open, eager expression dissolve as she grasped his meaning. Finally.
She closed her eyes for a long moment, and he was glad for the chance to study her face. To take a lingering look. To memorize its contours. The moment didn't last long. "Let me understand this clearly: you're telling me to quit? To – to run away and mind my own business, like a good girl?"
He shifted his weight. "I didn't mean it like that." When her eyes were open, he was always on the defensive.
"You arrogant swine! You're telling me what to do – making all the decisions – after we agreed to be partners! _Equal_ partners. We shook hands on it!"
"I know. I would explain if I could..."
"But you can't, or won't, or don't have a good reason, so I'll just have to take your word for it!"
"Yes, but I wouldn't say that if it weren't extremely important. Don't you see that?"
She stared into his eyes. "Tell me." He began to open his mouth and she added, "And _don't_ say you can't, for my own good."
He closed his lips. For once, he was at a loss for words. What could he tell her? _Thorold_ _will stop at nothing. He's murdered an innocent child and now I'm afraid for your life?_ The situation seemed so far-fetched, and she was so reckless. Fired by her sense of justice, blinded by her fearlessness, she wouldn't listen to him. If anything, she'd set out to avenge Alfred Quigley. And run straight into danger. He groaned. It was hopeless.
"I would say 'take your time', but you did say that matters were pressing..."
He felt trapped by her gaze. Pinned to a card, like an insect in a specimen case. The seconds – and then a full minute, and then two – ticked by.
Her eyes narrowed. "No? Then perhaps you can answer this: who are you to decide what's best for me?"
That was simple – wasn't it? A collaborator, originally. A co-conspirator, certainly. A _friend_ , surely. But suddenly all those seemed such weak descriptions, compared with how he felt. And that realization frightened him as much as anything else he'd seen today.
"James..."
His heart was going much too fast. He could feel it in his throat. "It's too dangerous. That's all I can tell you. You must do as I say." His voice was over-loud.
She flushed with temper. "Because I'm a mere, weak woman?"
"No. Because you're a novice, and a reckless one at that, and there's nothing you can do to help anybody." He tried to sound as cold and matter-of-fact as he could.
Her eyes widened with hurt.
"Mary?" He hated playing the brute. "Don't look like that."
She didn't move or reply.
"You'll be fine, Mary. You'll find another place. You can still get a letter, a character, from your old school, can't you? You were only with the Thorolds for—"
Angrily, she shook off his hands. "Don't touch me."
He hadn't realized he'd reached for her. "Very well. But tell me..."
"I have to go."
"At least let me take you home."
She straightened and met his gaze, and now instead of distress, he saw anger. "As you pointed out, Mr Easton, we are both well rid of this mess. Therefore, there is no reason for us to continue this conversation or for you to be concerned for me." She waved away his attempt to speak. "Thank you for your assistance. I wish you well in all your business endeavours."
"So..." He studied her face carefully. "This is farewell for ever?"
She lifted her chin. "Aren't you pleased? I know I am."
# Twenty-four
In a day that had already exceeded itself for melodrama, the first thing Mary encountered back at Cheyne Walk was another scene in the drawing-room: Mrs Thorold, tragic and weak, leaning against the back of a chair for support; Angelica, pale and tear-stained, clutching Michael's hand; Michael guilt-stricken but resolute. As she entered the room, only their gazes swerved to meet her. Their bodies remained otherwise frozen.
Mrs Thorold returned her attention to the guilty couple. "Miss Quinn... would you be surprised if I told you that my daughter is married?"
"No, ma'am."
"Or if I told you to whom she is married?"
"No, ma'am."
The woman turned to Mary. Her face was flushed with rage, and her pockmarks stood out more than ever. "I take it, then, that you helped them in this pathetic little scheme."
"Yes, ma'am."
A sound of protest came from Michael, but Mrs Thorold silenced him with a curt gesture. "Who else in the household participated in this deception?"
"No one else, ma'am."
A heavy, sceptical silence followed. "I see." She spoke to Mary with a serene air. "You, of course, are dismissed."
There was a brief pause, during which she considered her new son-in-law. "You'll soon be arrested."
Angelica gasped but Michael didn't flinch.
Mrs Thorold's gaze travelled to the trembling figure of her daughter. "As for you, my girl... my only child..." She smiled. "Not a penny. Nothing but the clothes on your back."
Angelica's mouth fell open. She had been pale before, but now all hint of colour rapidly drained from her face, leaving even her lips chalky.
Mrs Thorold observed the effect of her words with apparent satisfaction. "William will escort you both from the house. Ring the bell, Miss Quinn."
"Mamma?" whispered Angelica. "Please..."
Mrs Thorold's glare fell on her like a blade. "You'd have done better to elope," she said with crisp relish. "You could then have taken some jewels."
Michael stared at her in horror. "My God – it's one thing to cut off your only child, and another to enjoy it! Are you mad?"
Mrs Thorold flicked a glance at Mary. "I said, ring the bell!"
Mary clasped her hands before her. "No."
"How dare you? You are my servant, Miss Quinn!"
"You fired me not two minutes ago."
Meanwhile, Michael put a protective arm around Angelica. "Hold on to me, darling; I'll take care of you." He shot a dark look at his mother-in-law. "No need to ring, madam. Mrs Gray and I will see ourselves out."
Angelica seemed about to faint.
Mrs Thorold clutched the back of a heavily carved chair with an effort that turned her knuckles white. "Get out!" she spat. "Leave my house this instant, you ungrateful wretch!"
Mary placed herself between mother and daughter. "Mrs Thorold, you have nothing to gain by turning out Mrs Gray now, instead of in an hour's time."
"Haven't I?" The older woman's eyes glittered as she looked past Mary at Angelica's slumped body. "I lost my son and heir years ago, my husband is a fool, and now this strumpet can't even make a decent match. What else have I to lose?"
"The neighbours will have less to gossip about if she's able to walk from the house."
For a moment, Mrs Thorold seemed to consider Mary with new interest. Then her hand fluttered to her forehead. "All this turmoil has been terribly enervating. I shall be resting in my boudoir and I am not to be interrupted under any circumstances. When I emerge, you will all be gone."
Once she had limped from the room, Mary went to the drinks table. She poured two large measures of brandy and handed them to the Grays. "Drink that."
In the long silence that followed, Michael swallowed his in a single gulp, poured another, and repeated the procedure. Angelica sipped hers mechanically. There was a long silence, broken only by the chiming of the clock on the hour.
A full ten minutes passed before anyone spoke. Angelica broke the silence. "This morning, I prayed to be independent. It looks as though my prayer has been granted." Her tone was dry and neutral.
Mary inspected her for signs of hysteria but found none.
Michael sat down and took her hand. "You can depend on me, darling."
Angelica turned to him. "Can I?"
"Of course you can! We're man and wife now!"
She looked at Mary. "Are we?"
Mary was startled. "I was your witness."
"I know. You signed your name in the register." Angelica drained her brandy glass. "But you look very young for twenty, Mary."
Mary's cheeks and throat felt hot. "Do I?" Her voice sounded rusty.
"Are you sure you're not younger? Quite a lot younger?"
Michael stared at them both in distress. "That's ridiculous!"
Angelica was the calmest person in the room. "If I had to guess your age, Mary, I'd say sixteen. Seventeen, at most."
Mary bowed her head. "It was wrong of me to deceive you. I was only trying to help."
Michael attempted to speak, but Angelica's cool voice sliced through his sputtering. "It was wrong," she agreed, "but I'm rather glad of it. It provides grounds for an annulment."
Both Mary and Michael swung about to stare at her.
"Anj? Darling? What are you saying?"
"Are you feeling well, Angelica?"
Angelica lifted a hand in a gesture reminiscent of her mother's. "I'm perfectly well." She took a deep breath. "After our conversation this morning, Mary, I spent a long time thinking about what I wanted. It was difficult. While I'd always known what I wanted in terms of dresses and jewellery and the most romantic marriage proposal in the world, I'd never thought about life beyond that point. You'll think that shallow and foolish, Mary."
"Darling!" said Michael. "That's what all girls think of."
Angelica smiled sadly. "So it seems. But this morning, I finally began to think again. And I have changed my mind about what I want.
Mary sudden realized the delicacy of the situation. "I ought not be here. You two need to talk about this."
As she stood, Michael's arm shot out to restrain her. "You might as well stay. It's your doing, after all." He turned to his disputed wife. "Angelica – what is this all about?"
Angelica looked steadily at Michael. "Now that my mother has disowned me, and our marriage is not legal, I'm free to do what I really want."
Mary stared at her, fascinated. This Angelica was a new creature. She had the same round blue eyes, the same soft blonde beauty, but there was a new kind of sharpness about her; a concentrated focus.
"My music teacher, Herr Schwartz, has long urged me to go for further training abroad. He has some professional connections in Vienna... I spoke to him this morning, asking if it was not too late to begin lessons with one of his associates."
"If all you want is more pianoforte lessons—"
Angelica's hand again stopped Michael's words. "The music lessons are only a beginning. Herr Schwartz thinks I have potential; that I might have a future as a concert pianist." She stopped and drew a shaky breath. "It's a terrifying prospect, of course. I've never really wanted to go abroad, and now I shall have to support myself by giving music lessons in a foreign city! But if Herr Schwartz is able to arrange it, that is what I intend to do."
There was a stunned silence.
When Michael spoke, his voice was gentle, cajoling – the sort of tone one might use with a sick animal or an irrational child. "Angelica, love, you never told me about all this. If you want more music lessons – even if they must be in Vienna – what has that to do with an annulment?"
Angelica blinked. "You wouldn't want to go to Vienna."
"For you, darling? Of course I would! After all, you can't very well travel alone, let alone live in foreign parts without a protector. Why, you'd be an easy mark for every crook and unscrupulous so-called gentleman... You must have your husband with you, sweetheart."
"How could we live? You heard my mother disown me. Music lessons pay little. I couldn't support two, let alone three."
Michael flushed. "You wouldn't have to work, of course," he said stiffly. "I would provide for you – and our future family."
Angelica shook her head. "We've wandered from the point. Michael, my decision is already made."
There was a very long silence.
When Michael spoke again, his voice was hard. "Yesterday, you married me. You told me that you loved me, and that you would be my wife. Today, you want nothing to do with me, and you're willing to flee to a foreign city in order to get rid of me. I demand to know what has happened in the meantime!" He turned to Mary, his face twisted with anger. "What the _devil_ did you say to her?"
Angelica stood. "You have every right to be angry, Michael, but you mustn't shout at Mary. This is purely my decision."
He crumpled suddenly: voice, face, posture. "Then _why_?"
Angelica reseated herself, and waited for him to do the same. After a few moments, she said slowly, "Michael, you're a fine man, but I married you primarily to defy my parents. They wanted me to marry a rich and powerful businessman, and I chose the poorest man I knew." Michael flinched, but she continued as though she hadn't noticed; perhaps she hadn't. "I don't love you enough to remain married to you, now that every other aspect of my life is changed. I've always been terribly selfish; you may think I don't know it, but I do. And I shall continue to be so. I'm going to remain a spinster, and study music in Vienna, and disregard anyone who attempts to stop me." She slipped the wedding band from her finger and offered it to him. "It's a worthless thing to say, Michael, but I am sorry."
His gaze remained fixed on the carpet for a long time.
Mary scarcely dared to breathe.
Angelica kept her hand outstretched, offering back the thin circlet of gold.
After some time, he carefully composed his face. "I'm sure you'll manage in Vienna."
"I–I'm frightfully sorry, Michael," Angelica murmured.
"Yes, you said that before."
"You'll find someone better than me; someone who appreciates you," said Angelica with forced brightness. It was exactly the wrong thing to say.
"No, I won't. I'm going to prison."
"The police investigation should clear you," Mary said. "If you tell them what you told me yesterday... you could show them those documents you copied..."
He shrugged and stood. "I very much doubt they'll listen. If you'll excuse me, ladies..." He left the room with his shoulders slumped, a far cry from his usual suave, elegant self.
Angelica looked at Mary, eyes wide. "Do you think I did the right thing?"
"Which part? Asking for the annulment?"
"All of it, I suppose." Angelica rolled the wedding band between finger and thumb. "It's terrifying, to be on the verge of finally getting what you want."
"Is it?"
"I keep wondering if I should take it all back. Of course, I don't really want to."
Mary grinned suddenly. "Well, if you should change your mind, there's always George Easton..."
# Twenty-five
Numb.
That was the word for his hands and the curious, cold feel of his lips. Pity it didn't apply to his emotions. James stared at the crumpled bit of paper he'd just fished from his pocket: half a sheet of foolscap folded neatly in thirds and addressed to J. Easton, Esq. in painstaking, rather wobbly printing. It was Alfred Quigley's letter. James had forgotten all about it until he'd gone looking for his spare handkerchief.
It was irrelevant now, of course – along with James's plans to employ the lad properly, or to help him get a decent education, or any of the good intentions he'd so resented this morning. Yet what the hell was he to do with the note? It seemed to vibrate between his fingers – in truth, a tremor most likely caused by the mild breeze, or James's own nerves – and the movement made it seem alive. With a sigh, James unfolded the paper.
_Saterday 9 pm_
_Deer Mr Easton_
_Ther is sumthing rong at the Saylers Refy House, its to do with the Famly in Chelsy and the China-man. I will explane all wen I see you next but I thot you shood no now._
_Yrs sincerly, A. Quigley_
James felt an immediate cold queasiness that had nothing to do with the river's stink. Last night, Alfred Quigley had been alive and well and making plans for the following day. This afternoon, he was dead and cold. Certainly, life was nasty, brutish and short – particularly if one was poor – but this was surely too great a coincidence. Quigley knew something about Thorold and the Lascars' refuge; Quigley reported it to James; Quigley turned up dead on James's building site. The boy was killed not merely because he was in the way, but because he'd uncovered something important. And this scrap of paper was the link between the discovery and the murder.
James ran several streets from the building site before finding a cab, and even then, the first two declined to drive him because of the state of his clothing. It was just over three miles to Limehouse and the driver, spurred on by the promise of a tip, set a smart pace.
"Stop here," said James at the entrance to George Villas.
"I ain't waiting here," the cabbie said sullenly. "Don't wait for nobody in this part of town, not even the Prince of Wales."
_Wise man_ , thought James, and emptied his pockets of coins large and small.
The front of the Lascars' home was like a blind face. He jerked sharply on the bell pull and waited. Nothing. He rang again. Still nothing. A vigorous rap on the door, however, pushed it ajar.
"Mr Chen?" he called, stepping gingerly into the front hall. The smell of the place was thick in his nostrils and familiar from his last visit. Incense, he remembered. Mothballs. Chinese herbal medicines. Unfamiliar spices. And below all that, traditional English damp rot and mildew that caught him in the throat. His voice seemed to churn up the air in the foyer.
"Hello? Mr Chen?" he called again, to be answered only by stillness.
The last time he'd called, Mr Chen had answered the door promptly. Perhaps he had Sundays off?
"Is anyone in?" he called, very loudly this time. There had to be _some_ servant about. When the echo of his voice died out, James felt the first prickle of anxiety. First, Alfred Quigley. Then the arrest of Thorold. What else was wrong? Had they all cleared out? They couldn't all be in it together – all those frail old men? But Chen could. Chen could have used the place as a centre of operations, and Chen could have escaped by now. That made sense: banish the old men, give the servants the day off, and disappear.
_Damn it_. The whole time that old man was filling him with nonsense about penniless Lascars, he'd been working with Thorold. It was a fine front, of course. Who would suspect a sweet-faced old Chinese man?
The door of the manager's office stood ajar and when he pushed it wide, even James was startled. The room had been ransacked – although the word implied a degree of method that didn't seem quite right, here. The carpet was littered with reams of paper, most of it trampled and shredded by heavy boots. All the drawers and cabinets were torn open, spilling their entrails onto the floor. The shelves were tipped over, along with their contents. He couldn't be sorry that the hideous oil painting was kicked through, or its gilded frame broken. But the curtains, too, were pulled down, one side of the brass rail slumped against the ground. This was more than simple robbery. There was rage here.
James thought back to his meeting with Mr Chen and again revised his ideas. Mr Chen had no need to ransack his own office. Whatever he needed, he could have found. So why destroy the room? To make it look like something else? Or was it someone else entirely? Head whirling, he bent to examine a dark, wet patch on the carpet. Coffee. Not blood, thank God. And it was cold, which only meant that the mayhem had occurred longer ago than ten minutes, say. And the other wet patch was oil – the smashed globe of the lamp ground into the carpet confirmed that.
A loud _klock_ made him glance up – and then freeze.
"That's right," said the figure framed in the doorway. "Keep still."
James couldn't wrench his gaze from the source of the click: a sleek handgun. One of the newer revolving pistols, if he wasn't mistaken. It was the first he'd seen, but everyone knew they were more accurate than the old flintlocks.
"Now. Slowly. Stand up."
James nodded, his eyes finally focusing on the person – a woman, he realized with a sense of shock – behind the gun. She was tall and athletic, her gaze cold and direct. And she seemed extremely familiar...
"Come on." She bobbed the gun at him. "It's time to stop playing about, young James."
Sudden recognition sliced through him. "Mrs Thorold?"
She smiled grimly. "But of course."
He stared at her stupidly. She wore her usual hairstyle and type of dress, but everything else – the way she moved and spoke, even the predatory way she looked at him – was utterly different. Even that day in Pimlico hadn't shown the full scale of her transformation. "You did all this..."
She smiled. "Aren't you a clever boy. Now turn round and hold your hands high." Questions raced through his head but before he could phrase one, she snapped, "Do it!"
One advantage to the rubbish strewn all over the floor was that it made it easier to track her approach. She took her time picking her way through the debris. "Now don't move." Something jabbed James's spine – the muzzle of the gun, presumably. Hands delved into his pockets, explored his waistband, his waistcoat. She extracted his notecase from his breast pocket and tossed it aside. Experimentally, he turned his head an inch or two to the left, but stopped when the gun dug deeper into his back. "None of that, young man."
Another pause and then the hands searched the tops of his boots. He was strongly tempted to kick backwards. His leg muscles tensed in readiness, itching to strike out, but he'd never be quicker than the revolver.
"No knife?" Her voice was mocking. "You don't look like the gun-carrying sort, but surely you aren't going to tell me you came down to Limehouse with nothing but a pocketbook for protection!" A few drops of spittle flecked his ear.
"I'm a businessman. Of course I'm not armed."
"Well, I'm a businesswoman and I'd never be so stupid," she jeered.
"I'll bear that in mind in future."
She chuckled. "You do that. Now." Her voice became crisp and commanding. "Step towards the door, nice and slowly, and climb the stairs. I'll be behind you with this pistol pointing at the back of your head."
"Hands up? Or down?" James's tone was exquisitely polite.
"Such nice manners," she scoffed. "No wonder Angelica liked you."
He relaxed his arms but jerked them back up again when she poked him with the gun. "Hands on your head."
James walked out of the room, back through the musty corridor and to the staircase. As they turned a corner, he asked, "How did you know I would come here?"
"You're exceedingly predictable."
He was offended. "How so?"
"Well, you came running at once as soon as you read that note."
Quigley's note? "How did you know about that?"
She barked with laughter. "Can't you even guess?"
His stomach knotted. It was so obvious. "You wrote it, didn't you?"
"With my left hand. The guttersnipe spelling was a nice touch, wasn't it?"
"And that explains the time delay in the note: it was dated Saturday night, but I only received it today. You could have killed Quigley at any time, but you had to make sure I didn't come here until this afternoon."
"And here you are."
When they reached the first floor he paused, unsure whether to turn left or right. The house felt like a tomb, or a vault. Or maybe that was just his imaginative response to being marched with a gun to his head. In any case, the residents of the Lascars' refuge were nowhere to be seen. Now he had to wonder if it was because they were all lying dead behind closed doors.
"What do you want from me?"
"Good Lord, you're tedious. Keep moving."
He started upstairs to the third storey. "All right. What does Thorold want from me?"
There was a rich chuckle. "My dear boy – who ever mentioned my husband?"
"Are you denying that he's your partner?"
"In the laws of this country a wife is a possession, not a partner."
"So you're not his business partner." Once again, he had to tear down his assumptions and begin again.
She snorted. "You're a bit slow, aren't you?"
"So who is your business partner?"
"Move faster."
He waited a moment, then tried a different tack. "Do you intend to murder me?"
"What do you think?" Her voice was rich with contempt.
They were on the landing of the third floor now, and the gun poked him between the shoulder blades. "Turn right."
They entered a small room, sparely furnished with a single bed, desk, chair and washstand. It held two further objects. The first was a large hookah standing in the centre of the floor. The second was the body of Mr Chen, bound hand and foot and crumpled in a heap beside the hookah.
James looked from Chen to Mrs Thorold and back again. "Is he dead?"
She shrugged. "Perhaps. I only tapped his head, but he's an old man."
James knelt and touched Chen's throat. The body was warm, but he couldn't seem to find a heartbeat. Or perhaps his own pulse was pounding so loudly he couldn't detect the other. He glared up at her, finally passing from disbelief to anger. "Why him? What did he ever do to you?"
Her pockmarks were deep, making a painful-looking pattern in her pale skin. "Like you, he asked too many questions. I came here to silence him."
"So this is the grand scheme? To let people think we smoked ourselves to death? No one will believe that!"
"Come, now. You're not thinking straight. Death by opium overdose is slow. I've not got all night to wait about and see if you've taken enough."
James straightened slowly and looked into her clear blue eyes. They were exactly like Angelica's. For the first time, he felt certain that he would die in this hovel. In this room.
She removed a length of rope from her handbag and tossed it to him. "Tie your ankles together."
It was coarsely woven hemp. Strong sailor's rope. "And if I refuse?"
She sighed. "You quibbling, nosy little swine. You've a choice. In the more comfortable scenario, you tie yourself up. I cosh you. Then I light a merry little fire that burns the whole place to the ground, but you don't feel a thing."
James raised one eyebrow and considered it as though it was a business offer. "And the second choice?"
"I shoot you once or twice, but not to kill – probably in the groin. You die a slow and painful death. Then I burn the house down anyway, and no one's the wiser."
"Shooting's noisy. And perhaps I'm a coward. People will hear me scream."
She smirked. "Maybe. But in this area, they'll turn a deaf ear."
James thought about that for a moment, then sat down and began to tie his ankles. He took his time, and as he worked, said, "Does Thorold know what you do?"
She shrugged. "I'd say he knows as much as he cares to."
"Meaning, as little as possible."
"Precisely."
"He knows about this place."
"Does he now?"
"He named it in his will," he said. "That's how I found it."
Her face turned ugly. "I might have guessed."
"He left it a substantial legacy, and he's also making regular donations." James watched her features carefully. "Guilt money? For what you were doing?"
Petty irritation twisted her expression. "He was always a soft touch. No guts."
He completed one final loop with the rope and knotted it. "There."
"With that slip knot? Don't play the fool with me, young James."
He shrugged. "I thought it worth a try."
"Perhaps with my husband, you'd have succeeded," she snorted. "Now retie it!"
"So your husband employed Lascars on his ships – or at least he claimed they did, and Lloyd's paid up." James mused as he worked. "But the ships always sank. And he felt guilty enough about that to donate money to the refuge..." The facts were before him, but he couldn't work out how to organize them. "It's as though his scheme was broken in the middle, but he couldn't fix it."
A husband and wife, emphatically not partners.
Insurance fraud.
Sunken ships.
Guilt money.
A ransacked office.
There was at least one more missing detail...
Mrs Thorold watched him struggle with the puzzle, a scornful smirk on her face. "You poor dim brat," she said, almost tenderly. "You're nearly as stupid as my husband."
Such contempt. Such arrogance. An idea flashed into his mind. "You were working against your husband! Sabotaging his shipments!"
"Ah. The male mind, sluggish and inadequate as it is, finally begins its laboured processes." She waved the pistol at his hands. "Don't stop."
She was arrogant, rude, decisive. She knew best. She enjoyed insulting him. With a jolt, James realized that he and Mrs Thorold were more alike than he could have imagined. And with that shock came a heady sense of courage. His first concern now wasn't survival, or outsmarting the woman. Yet it rankled to stop just short of an explanation. It troubled his sense of order and process.
Very deliberately, he ceased his knot-tying. Looking up at Mrs Thorold with his most winsome grin, he said, "My poor brain finds it difficult to reason and tie knots simultaneously. Can't you put me out of my misery – well, before you put me out of my misery?"
She snorted. "This isn't a Drury Lane comedy."
"Certainly not for me; comedies have happy endings."
"Well then?"
"It's your drama. You're the playwright and the heroine."
"Mere flattery won't save your life."
"I'm not interested in saving my life."
She mimed exaggerated surprise. "Brave words, little boy."
"I'm interested in the story; the play, if you like. You're sabotaging your husband's shipments. But that hasn't anything to do with the stolen artefacts from India, has it?"
She was watching him with amusement now, a small smile playing about her lips, although the gun never wavered. "Save your breath, dear. I'm still going to kill you."
"I understood you the first time, believe me."
"Then?"
He finished tying up his ankles. "I'm an engineer. I like to know how things fit together. Before you kill me, won't you at least tell me about your scheme? Anything worth killing three men for – not to mention all those sailors – surely merits a little boasting..."
"That little brat hardly counts."
"Two men, then."
"Chinamen aren't real men."
"All right, then. One boy, one foreigner and one Englishman. It's still a fair amount of dirty work."
She gave in to a smirk. "You're oddly persuasive."
The tension in his gut suddenly, rapidly, eased. A trickle of sweat rolled down his forehead and stung his eye. "So I'm told."
"You can have the short version: my husband is a fool who fancies himself a smuggler of precious artefacts. Yet he also makes false insurance claims that attract the attention of the authorities, jeopardizing not just the smuggling operation but our entire livelihood."
Her use of the word our was interesting. "That much I knew."
"Naturally, some little nobody at Lloyd's worked out the scheme and began to bleed him for it." Her mouth twisted in disgust. "Fancy trusting someone to cover your own stupidity!"
"So you stepped in?"
"It was only a matter of time until the business went under – either through blackmail or when Scotland Yard finally worked out what was happening.
"I took his plan to its logical conclusion: I run a pirate crew who attack and loot my husband's ships. It's perfect: lower capital and running costs, and after I split the profit with my partner, the money's entirely mine."
"You don't share it with your husband?"
She laughed. "Give me one good reason why I should."
He blinked. It was an excellent question – and one that he'd entirely overlooked. Why should Mrs Thorold work for the benefit of her family if she cared only for herself?
She was watching him with a bemused smile. "I thought not."
He tried to rally. "How do you silence the Lascar crews on the ships you raid?"
She shrugged. "Pirates are bloodthirsty men. I imagine any useful survivors are sold as slaves in the Far East."
James nodded, although his head was spinning. It was too much to process just yet. But he had to keep her talking... at the very least, he had to learn whether Mary was in danger.
"That's enough chitchat. Hands behind your back." Her voice was crisp and businesslike once again.
"The house in Pimlico," he said hastily. "Your headquarters?"
She only smiled and brandished another length of tough hemp rope.
"And your colleague – that Mr Samuels. He runs the pirate crew?"
"I'm tired of talking to you. The play is over, young James."
To his shame, he began to panic and thrash, kicking out at her with his bound legs. A few well-placed kicks in the ribs put a stop to that, and she knelt heavily on the small of his back. The binding of his wrists was swift and painfully tight.
"One last question," he wheezed, as she stood to inspect her handiwork. "Aren't you afraid my confederates will be looking for me?"
She only laughed. "That was feeble; unworthy of you, I'd say."
"Why? You don't think I have a colleague?"
"Who'd want to collaborate with you?"
James went limp with relief. His last vision was of a leering grin rushing towards his face. And then there was only blackness.
# Twenty-six
Mary was packing her trunk when a handful of gravel pattered against the window. Her breath caught, foolish though that was. James had made perfectly clear what he thought of her. She hesitated, uncertain how to respond. After a few seconds, another round of small stones struck the window. She flung the window-pane open and looked down onto the pavement, eager despite herself. But instead of a tall young man, it was a scrawny child. A haze of mousy hair obscured most of its face. There must be some mistake. Yet as Mary peered down, the little body beckoned furtively. After a moment, Mary nodded and pointed to the service door.
A final look around the bedroom showed everything in order. Her trunk was neatly corded and labelled, and one of the footmen was charged with its delivery. As she descended the Thorolds' staircase for the last time, she felt haunted by the ugliness of the day: Thorold's indignant denials of guilt; James's anger; Angelica's sobbing, followed by Michael's heartache; Mrs Thorold's glee. Mary couldn't wait to return to the calm of the Agency.
Ignoring Cook in the kitchen, she opened the area door, and blinked in astonishment. "Cass?" Their gazes locked for only a moment, after which Cass fixed hers firmly on the ground. Any number of questions raced through Mary's mind. _Why are you here? Are you hurt? Have you changed your mind? What's wrong?_ She settled for, "Hello."
"Miss." Cass's voice was barely audible.
Mary waited, but nothing else was forthcoming. "We can't talk here," she said quietly. "I'll meet you at the back of the stables." She waited again. "All right?"
A mute bob of the head signalled Cass's comprehension. As Mary retraced her steps though the house, she suddenly realized that she'd done the wrong thing. It was unlikely that Cass would go round to the stables. Not only were Brown and the footmen prone to hanging about there for a smoke and a gossip, but Cass was likely to have second thoughts about speaking to her and take flight. _Damn_. Her second chance to help the girl and she'd bumbled it again. The idea sent her scurrying through the kitchen and out the back door. On her way through the courtyard, she noted mechanically that the carriage was not in the carriage house. The significance of that was lost on her for the moment.
Luck was with her in a small way, today. There was no sign of the male servants, but in the darkest corner of the mews she spotted the waiting figure of Cass Day. Mary moved towards her slowly, as though approaching a frightened animal, and waited for Cass to speak first.
"I'm sorry I ran away, miss," she said eventually, in a rusty voice.
"Did I frighten you?"
Cass's eyes darted nervously to one side. "Not you, miss. I mean – that is, nothing you did. I was just stupid." After an anguished pause, she blurted, "The other maids kept whispering about the white slave trade, miss, and reading picture-papers about it, and going on about how respectable-looking ladies are running it. They're full of it, they are, and when you – I mean, when I – that is..."
Mary's eyes widened. "You thought I was trying to kidnap you?"
Cass's face was beetroot. "I thought that was why you were kind to me. I couldn't think why any lady'd be kind to me, except for that."
Mary felt a pulse of sympathy. Hadn't she said much the same thing to Anne Treleaven all those years ago?
"I expect it shows I'm too stupid to go to school... doesn't it?" The girl's tone was hopeful, despite her words.
"Have you thought more about going to school?"
She nodded so vigorously that her hair flopped about. "I do want to go... if I still may. If you're not too cross."
"I'm not angry, and there is still a place at this school I mentioned."
"I'll work hard, I promise. I'm not clever, miss, but I'll do my best, I swear..."
Mary took her by the shoulders. "Don't promise me, Cass. Promise yourself."
Cass's eyes widened as she absorbed that. Then she nodded. "You're very good to me, Miss Quinn."
"Are you sure I'm not a white-slaver?" Mary smiled.
Cass blushed furiously. Then she laughed, falteringly, at herself. It was a thin, tentative squeak, a noise that suggested its maker was unfamiliar with the technique. All the same, it was the first time Mary had heard her laugh. "Yes, miss."
They were in a hansom bound for St John's Wood when Cass produced the notebook. "I think I must be very thick, Miss Quinn, 'cos I know my numbers and some letters, but I can't make any sense of this."
Mary reluctantly accepted the object. Now that the assignment had ended, she was tired. Her brain was whirling with random bits of information, none of which she could assemble into a coherent whole. And she wanted to be left alone to think about her father.
However, Cass was watching her expectantly. Mary flipped open the notebook and scanned its pages of minutely printed columns of figures. "This is a balance sheet, Cass. It shows sums of money coming in and going out of a business." She showed her a random page. "Look: there's a date here, followed by various entries of credits and debits, for a total profit of four hundred and sixty-two pounds, eight shillings and four pence. It only really makes sense if you know a bit of bookkeeping."
Cass looked dismayed. "Will I have to learn that, too?"
"If you like," she murmured absently, turning over a page.
"Do all ladies know it?"
"Most ladies don't. It's mainly a clerk's job, and there still aren't many female clerks."
Cass still looked perplexed.
Mary flicked through several more pages, then looked at the first and last written pages of the book. The financial entries spanned more than two years, and were kept with meticulous care. Someone would be searching frantically for this item. "Cass, whose is this notebook?"
Cass looked instantly guilty. "I – I don't know, miss.
"But you just asked about ladies knowing bookkeeping..."
"I mean that I f–found it, miss."
"Where?"
"B–beside the front steps, miss. When I was whitening them."
Mary forced herself to speak gently. "At the Thorolds' house?"
"Yes, miss."
"When?"
"I can't remember exactly. A week ago? Perhaps less?"
"Did you mention finding the book to anybody? Cook, perhaps?"
Cass shook her head.
Mary considered the object in her hand. It was small and weathered, and some of the gilt had worn off the pages, but it originally had been an expensive item. "Did you see the person who dropped this, Cass?"
At this, Cass seemed to shrink back into her seat. "I – I don't know, miss."
Mary considered her carefully. "Are you quite certain?"
Cass's gaze was fixed on the book. "It's very important, isn't it, miss?"
Mary nodded. "Much more than you'd expect."
Cass stared for a second longer, then took a deep breath. "I didn't see exactly, miss, but I think it was Mrs Thorold. She came out of the house as I was whitening the steps, and so I had to do them over. When I started again at the bottom, it was lying on one side. It wasn't there before." She paused, then rattled on defensively, "But it can't be hers, right, 'cos she's a lady, and not a clerk or anything?"
Mary thought back. Yes, that too made sense. Mrs Thorold had gone out in a rush on Wednesday morning – the day she'd overheard Angelica and Michael talking in the drawing-room – and she'd been in a foul mood on her return. But if this belonged to Mrs Thorold, it put a whole new interpretation on the Pimlico affair. Was it even possible that instead of consulting physicians, and instead of carrying on an adulterous liaison, Mrs Thorold was clandestinely running a business of some sort? And what type of business, exactly?
Mary leafed through the pages once more, any scruples she might have had about reading someone else's private affairs long evaporated. A fresh balance sheet was drawn up for this month, but lacking specific dates. There were often long gaps between transactions – sometimes of several months – but there were also clusters of entries. So it was a business that was seasonal, or otherwise dependent on external pressures.
If only she had a little more information... She flicked through the blank pages, of which there were many; the notebook was only half full. And then, at the very end of the book, she saw a tiny pencil annotation, half erased: C: 7, G.V., Lh.
She sat back in the seat, stunned. Of course!
What a blind, obtuse, hare-brained ninny she'd been. And the carriage was now gone! Mrs Thorold had _said_ she'd be in her room, but in all the turmoil, no one had checked...
Mary leaned out of the hansom and gave the driver a rapid series of instructions. Reseating herself, she said, "Listen, Cass. You've just told me something very important and I must attend to it immediately. The driver is going to take me to east London. Then he will take you to the school in Acacia Road, which is called Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls.
"You will ask to see Miss Treleaven. Tell her that I have sent you as a new pupil, and then give her this notebook. Tell her I am meeting Mrs Thorold at 7, George Villas, Limehouse, and to start immediately for that address. Do you understand me?"
Cass looked troubled. "Yes."
Mary laid a hand on her shoulder. She pretended not to notice that, once again, the girl had flinched in anticipation of a blow. "You've done nothing wrong, Cass; nothing at all. And you've helped me immeasurably. I'm sorry I can't introduce you to Miss Treleaven myself, but please understand that I have something very important to do now."
Cass nodded cautiously. "I understand."
"Good."
Even as she paid the driver to see Cass safely to the Academy, Mary began to second-guess what she was doing in Limehouse. She'd been wrong so many times in the past few days, and her sense of conviction began to evaporate as her boots touched the squelchy, rotting roadway near George Villas. Mrs Thorold's notebook – if it could be proven to be hers – was only a record of business transactions. It was devoid of specific references and there was nothing to tie her to the Lascars' refuge except that scrawled pencil address. Yet elsewhere – in the back of her mind – things clicked together. Even now, she couldn't say why she was so certain that the answer lay here. But here she was, heeding instinct above conscious logic; gut over instruction.
She spotted it the moment she rounded the corner: a plume of smoke wafting from one of the tall, narrow houses towards the end of the row. A small crowd clustered round the front of the buildings, more intent on watching the spectacle than putting out the fire.
Mary broke into a run. "How long has it been burning?" she demanded of the stocky, middle-aged woman closest to her.
"Just got here myself." The woman's voice was placid, unhurried. She folded her arms over her stained apron and appeared to settle in for the show.
Mary pushed her way towards the front of the crowd. "Is anybody inside?" she shouted.
The faces around her merely looked blank.
"You." Mary singled out a girl in a shawl and bare feet who looked as though she'd just tumbled from bed. "Has somebody gone to see if anyone's still inside?"
The girl shook her head. "Too late for that." She pointed. "See how fast it's spreading?" Sure enough, smoke and flame was visible in the next window over.
"Who lives next door?" Mary asked desperately. "Surely they want the fire put out?"
The girl looked at her with sleepy, intelligent eyes. "In this hole? Why should anybody care?" As though to illustrate her meaning, someone heaved a brick through a ground-floor window and a ragged cheer broke from the crowd.
Mary looked at the building in despair. Surely nobody was still inside. The old sailors, at least, were turned out each morning, and Mr Chen was competent and sensible. He wouldn't risk his life trying to save mere possessions – not even the cigar box. Yet... despite this rational assessment, that sense of conviction prevailed. She turned one last searching look on the crowd – not a policeman in sight – and ran into the building.
# Twenty-seven
Inside, it was not yet an inferno. The dank, gloomy entrance hall and corridors looked much as she remembered, but for a light haze of smoke. The fire must have begun near the top of the building. She began with Mr Chen's office, noting its ransacked state quite mechanically. Swiftly, she scanned the wreckage for a glimpse of the cigar box but soon realized it was futile. She ought to have felt despair and outrage, and frantically begun to search the room. But there wasn't time for that. She had to check the rest of the building for people before she could worry about papers – even such important ones – and she was glad for the numb common sense that seemed to prevail within her.
Up on the first floor the smoke thickened and she crouched low, holding her handkerchief over her nose and mouth. She would search here last. If the fire was at the top, she had to begin there while she had time. The third storey was thickly shrouded with smoke and she was forced to crawl now, cursing her crinoline as, with each movement, it scraped her knees. The front rooms were the ones with smoke pouring from the windows. Nothing in the first room. Nothing in the second. The smoke stung her eyes, her lungs. She'd lost her handkerchief somewhere, some time ago.
Working her way to the back of the building, she found a closed door from beneath which smoke billowed. The doorknob was warm, but possible to touch with her gloved hand. As she pushed the door open slowly, she braced herself for a blast of heat, a surge of flame. Instead, she was nearly knocked over by a stream of thick grey smoke. Coughing, crying, she waited for a minute, then turned back to the room. As the smoke flooded into the corridor, she could make out a prone form on the floor. Forgetting her running eyes and battered knees, she crawled over to the body.
James.
She wasn't even surprised. At some level, her certainty had been focused on this. On him. He was bound, lying with his face turned towards the door. She stripped off a glove and felt his cheek: warm. A strong, steady pulse throbbed in his throat. Merely unconscious, then. But how would she ever drag him out? He easily outweighed her by four or five stone.
She shook him vigorously. "James!"
Nothing.
Shook again, harder. "Get up! James!"
Still nothing.
She slapped his face once, twice.
Miraculously, his eyelashes fluttered slightly.
"James!" she rasped. Her throat was hoarse with smoke. "Wake up!"
His eyelids opened and he smiled at her as sweetly as if he'd awakened from a nap. More sweetly than he'd ever looked at her before. "Mary." His voice held mild surprise. "What are you doing here?"
She grinned despite herself. "It's a long story."
When he tried to move, he seemed surprised by the ropes at his hands and feet. Slowly, memory seemed to flood back and he grimaced. "Damn." He struggled, then winced. "You need to get out."
"I know. The building's on fire." A hysterical laugh rose in her throat, but turned into a cough en route. "We're both getting out."
He glared at her – a confused, vague glare, but familiar, all the same. "Forget it. Escape while you can."
"James. Do you have a knife?"
"No."
She looked about, her frantic gaze bouncing off bedstead, washstand, hookah. "There must be something sharp... I can break the windowpane."
"God damn it! Get out, Mary!" A fit of choking caught him, and when he finished, he croaked, "You're damned stupid for a clever girl."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she quipped, crawling round the bed towards the window. Then, in quite a different tone: "Oh, dear God."
He grunted. "Is he alive?"
There was a long pause.
"No." When she crawled back, her expression held an odd blend of dismay and perplexity. She clutched an object in her hand. "A knife," she said to James. Her voice trembled. "He had a penknife in his pocket."
James stared for a moment. Then, as she began to saw at the cords binding his wrists, he suddenly understood. "She knew he'd be no match for her strength."
It was a small knife, and the hemp fibres were coarse and strong. She gasped with frustration as the knife bounced off the rope once, twice, three times.
"Mary?" He sounded dazed.
"Yes?" Drops of salt water stung her eyes. She hadn't realized she was sweating.
"Mrs Thorold. She did this – she was working against her husband, not with him."
"What?"
"She's a pirate!"
"Not an _actual_ pirate?"
"Well, I doubt she has a parrot or an eye patch, but she's running a pirate crew!"
"So all those ships that went down... Thorold's cargoes...?"
He nodded. "All her work."
She sighed and swore quietly.
"What's wrong?"
"You worked it out first."
He laughed at that. "I charmed it out of her."
"You can't have been that charming; she still left you here for dead."
Finally, the rope gave way. As James winced and flexed his chafed and bleeding wrists, Mary set to work on his ankles. They'd already had more time than she could have hoped. But what if the fire had moved into the stairwells?
Finally. "Sit up," she ordered.
He raised himself with a groan, but slowly managed to push himself to his feet. He grinned cockily. Almost immediately he wobbled, and his knees buckled, sending him crashing to the floor with a slurred curse.
"Is it the smoke?"
He grimaced. "Concussion, I think."
She slid her arm about his waist, looping his arm over her shoulders. "Come on, then." She braced herself and stood, taking some of his weight. He was able to help, but still leaned heavily on her shoulders.
He glanced vaguely towards Chen's body. "What about...?"
"The fire seems to have slowed in here, but I don't want to risk another minute."
They set off, lurching and staggering. The heat seemed less intense, but sweat poured down both their faces: James's from pain, and Mary's from the strain of holding him upright. The smoke was collecting in the corridor, and they both began to cough furiously.
Mary couldn't afford breath for speech. She could only hope that he stayed conscious. At the head of the stairs, she slapped his cheek lightly. "Down," she ordered.
In response, he gripped her shoulders tighter. At the first landing, the smoke eased a little and Mary glanced up at him. His face was black with soot. Hers must be the same. How had he ever recognized her?
They turned onto the first-floor landing and James ducked as they passed under a low doorway, tipping them off balance again. They lurched and staggered against the wall.
"Mary."
"What?"
He tilted her face back and kissed her.
Her eyes widened. "What – what was that for?"
For an answer, he kissed her again.
She pushed him back breathlessly. "You really must be concussed."
"I'm perfectly lucid."
"You don't even like me!"
They began moving downwards again. "That's your main objection?"
"It's rather a good one."
"Well, as it happens, I do like you."
"Telling me to clear off? You have a funny way of showing it."
He stopped again. "For God's sake," he said in exasperation. "I was trying to protect you. Foolishly and pointlessly, as it turns out." It was the most James-like speech he'd uttered so far, and for that reason it unnerved her all the more.
"Shall we focus on leaving the burning building?" she snapped.
They descended the remaining stairs and burst out through the front door, dishevelled and reeking of smoke. They collapsed against the nearest lamppost, clinging to it to remain vertical, swallowing huge gulps of air that under any other circumstances would seem impossibly foul.
Some time later – she couldn't have said how much – Mary looked about her. Something was different, although her dazed senses couldn't work it out. The streetscape, the buildings, the relative quiet of a Sunday afternoon... and then it struck her. The crowd, small as it had been, was gone. Only one person remained, watching her and James with mild interest.
She tried to speak, but only a rattle emerged. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Where's the crowd?" Her voice was a foghorn, two octaves lower than her usual pitch.
The barefoot girl smiled wryly. "Bloodthirsty buggers; they're only interested in total destruction."
Mary looked up at the Lascars' home, the windows of which still belched smoke. "A house fire isn't enough?"
"Didn't you know? I thought that's why you went in."
Mary shook her head, thoroughly puzzled. "What do you mean?"
The girl – or rather, woman – grinned again. Seen in the late-afternoon light, she was older than she first appeared and a number of her teeth were black or missing entirely. "The fire's near put itself out." At Mary's frown, she sighed and leaned in. "The house. It's too damp to burn, love. How else d'you think you came out alive?"
# Twenty-eight
# Tuesday, 18 May
After breakfast, Mary was summoned to the teachers' common room. It promised to be another warm day. Her heart thumped hard enough to make her breathing shaky and her lips tremble. She knocked on the door, two crisp raps, and was pleased to be able to control her nerves to that small extent.
"Come in."
She entered and sat on the blasted horsehair chair, daring it to slide her onto the carpet. "Good morning, Miss Treleaven, Mrs Frame."
Greetings were returned, tea poured. Not lapsang souchong. Mary immediately set hers on a side table so that the cup wouldn't rattle in its saucer.
Anne sipped her tea, set down her cup, and fixed her sharp grey gaze on Mary. "We hope you are feeling better after the events of Sunday."
"Entirely, thank you." She'd nearly gone mad after thirty-six hours of enforced bed-rest and barley water to soothe her smoke-scorched throat.
"We have asked you here this evening, Mary, to present your report on the affair of Henry Thorold. As you know, his case is now concluded and he is in police custody."
"And Mrs Thorold?" The question slipped out before she could think to repress it.
"Still at large." Anne's clipped tone was the only indication of her frustration. "Scotland Yard believe she may have fled the country."
Mary's eyes widened. "She must have left on Sunday – immediately after setting fire to the refuge. Perhaps that's why she didn't use enough paraffin to burn down the house; she was in a hurry."
"All possible," said Felicity. "And if she had had a false passport ready, she could easily have been in France on Sunday night."
"In the future, the Agency might have an opportunity to help Scotland Yard find Mrs Thorold," said Anne. "But we are meeting here now to discuss her husband. Before I present our final report on him to Scotland Yard, there are a number of details I should like to confirm with you, and which should prove useful to the prosecution. You may begin whenever you are ready."
Mary shouldn't have been rattled by Anne's formality, but she had to swallow hard before finding her voice. "As you know, I first went to Cheyne Walk to observe the Thorold family without expecting to be an active participant in the case." Her voice was still huskier than usual, but at least it was steady. "I eventually learned that the secretary, Michael Gray – whom we'd suspected as part of the ring – was also suspicious of Thorold. Gray informed me that he'd taken secret copies of some relevant documents and hidden them safely. I believe the police retrieved the relevant documents from him?"
Anne nodded. "I understand that he was very cooperative. He is, however, still under investigation. Your report may certainly help to clear him of any wrongdoing."
"I hope so." Mary took a deep breath. "While I was searching Thorold's files, I met James Easton, who was searching for related information." She couldn't control the blush that stained her cheeks, but pushed on. "Working together, we discovered the Lascars' refuge in Limehouse and Mrs Thorold's house in Pimlico. At that point, I had nearly all the information I needed, but couldn't see how to put it together until it was nearly too late. The missing link between Thorold, the Lascars' refuge and the Pimlico house was, of course, Mrs Thorold. I should have known better than to underestimate a woman," she added, "even one pretending to be an invalid.
"But I did underestimate Mrs Thorold. She was clever: she disguised her business as an illicit affair. It was a perfect stereotype. And in a sense, it was also the truth. Mrs Thorold was betraying her husband's confidence, but instead of committing adultery, she was running her own business.
"In hindsight, I ought to have been more suspicious of Mrs Thorold. Her performance didn't quite cohere; she was weak and passive at some times, and quite assertive and strong-willed at others. In fact, Thorold was much the better actor: he seemed to be a very ordinary, slightly stressed businessman, not one whose trade was being sabotaged by his wife and whose company was on the brink of failure. However, I allowed myself to be distracted by Mrs Thorold. It wasn't until the last minute, when Cassandra Day showed me the notebook she had found, that I realized Mrs Thorold was actually engaged in business." Here, she paused. "You know, of course, that James Easton managed to wring a fairly comprehensive explanation from her?"
Anne raised one eyebrow. "I believe it was quite a classic, theatrical villainous confession: high-seas piracy, revenge, marital discord."
"He must be a persuasive young man," grinned Felicity.
Mary didn't take the bait. "The weakness in our theory, of course, is that it depends on that confession. The notebook is a very careful document – it contains financial information without any direct references to the business. It could belong to hundreds of other people."
"But something in it led you to the Lascars' refuge..." said Felicity.
Mary hesitated. "Yes... there's a tiny pencil reference to the address of the refuge, and the surname of the warden. But it's very cryptic. My decision to go there was partly – perhaps largely – a matter of... instinct."
"There's no reason why reason and instinct can't coexist," said Anne gravely.
Mary nodded, grateful for the affirmation. "I believe you know the details of Mrs Thorold's piracy better than I; you've spoken to James yourselves?"
"'James'?" Anne's eyebrows lifted.
"Mr Easton," Mary corrected herself. Her cheeks were burning.
"Ah. Yes, you were excluded from those interviews for reasons of security. We didn't meet him ourselves, of course; that was a matter for the Yard. But we did read the transcripts of his evidence. Her house in Pimlico was searched yesterday and while most of the papers appear to have been burned – there were a lot of ashes in the grate – there are enough indicators for us to formulate a theory.
"We know from her own boasting that Mrs Thorold directed a pirate crew who attacked her husband's ships on the high seas; she probably used detailed routes and cargo information stolen from his files. She seems to have had an accomplice in the firm, most likely a junior manager named Samuels, who didn't turn up for work yesterday. His lodgings are deserted and no one knows where he is.
"We aren't certain when Thorold realized what she was doing. It may have been quite recently, since his will was revised to include the Lascars' refuge only last year. It's possible he was afraid no one would believe that he'd been ignorant for so long. A wife is the property of her husband, and what she knows, her husband knows. That is the presumption in law and in practice, and she must have counted on that to keep her secret safe. Who could have imagined that Mrs Thorold, of her own initiative, was assembling pirate gangs, attacking her husband's ships, stealing his cargoes and murdering his crews?"
All three women were silent, still shocked by the enormity of the scheme.
Finally, Mary said quietly, "Thorold used the cheapest foreign sailors he could find. He was proud of his cost-cutting initiative – 'one of the benefits of empire', was how he described it, one evening at home. His cut-rate crews would have worked to Mrs Thorold's advantage, too, as no one thought to enquire into the deaths of a few dozen Lascars." She paused and thought of Mr Chen. "Almost no one, at any rate. Lloyd's was interested mainly in the actual goods lost."
Felicity nodded eagerly. "The insurance company: that's another interesting point. As suspected, Thorold was indeed defrauding Lloyd's, claiming that ships were lost or capsized when they'd actually arrived safely with all goods – including the smuggled ones – intact. As Michael Gray's evidence shows, Thorold bribed a man called Mays to manipulate the internal investigation and destroy evidence of his fraud, with some success. However, he could only cover up the truth for so long before Lloyd's became suspicious of Mays's honesty.
"At about the same time, Thorold began to make genuine claims for cargoes stolen by pirates. He must have been beside himself when he learned that his real payouts were jeopardized by the earlier, false ones. And he couldn't afford to go uninsured; piracy was threatening the survival of his business.
"All he could do was try to brazen it out. His ships were being attacked with astonishing regularity, and he must soon have suspected somebody with inside information. It's not yet clear when he realized it was his wife, but eventually he did. That's probably why he named the Lascars' refuge in his will; it was his way of trying to make amends."
"And perhaps," observed Anne, "a sort of indirect confession. Was it the will, Mary, that prompted you to make the connection between Chelsea and Limehouse?"
"Yes." Mary quickly steered the conversation away from Lascars. "We knew about the house in Pimlico because she spent time there regularly, as did Mr Samuels. But she never visited Limehouse. It was only through a series of unforeseen events – James Easton's involvement; the address in the notebook found by Cass Day – that we found the link at all." She ground to a halt and looked at her employers.
Anne nodded gravely. "Thank you for your summary, Mary. The work you did was extremely valuable. You must have some questions of your own, at this point."
Mary nodded, blushing with the pleasure of an unexpected – and from Anne, lavish – compliment. "There are a few things I don't understand," she said carefully. "How did Mrs Thorold discover James's – I mean, Mr Easton's – involvement?"
Anne nodded. "Mr Easton had both the Pimlico house and the Lascars' refuge under surveillance. One of his scouts, a ten-year-old boy, was discovered dead – murdered – on Sunday morning. He must have been spotted by Mrs Thorold. It would have been relatively easy to trick the boy into giving up information before killing him. Ironically, the reason you escaped suspicion was because Mrs Thorold didn't believe that a young lady was capable of giving her trouble."
Irony, indeed.
"That makes sense," agreed Mary. "But why would Mrs Thorold attack her own husband's business ventures? I can understand the need for a career beyond needlework and social visits; her own daughter found the same desire, and it's something we all acknowledge here at the Academy. But to undermine her husband's own trading operations...? It seems neither intelligent nor far-sighted."
Felicity nodded eagerly. "Of course. We can only speculate at this point, but Mr Easton's evidence indicates that she looked down upon her husband; deep-seated contempt is not too strong a phrase. Perhaps it was her way of getting revenge on him, or proving that he's her inferior."
"It's possible to weave any number of explanations," said Anne with faint reproach. "But only she would be able to tell you."
"Or possibly, she couldn't. Marriages are complicated beasts," said Felicity cheerfully. "The number of apparently devoted husbands and wives who'd like to kill and dismember their 'better halves' is quite astonishing."
Mary wondered about "Mrs" Felicity Frame. She'd never mentioned a Mr Frame...
"Next question?" Anne prompted her.
"Why did Scotland Yard move in a day early? I thought they'd agreed to act on Monday."
Anne looked mildly annoyed. "That was nearly disastrous. A rather keen superintendent at the Yard thought that if Monday was timely, then Sunday would be better yet. It was fortunate that the ship was already docked, waiting to be unloaded, or else there would be no physical proof."
Mary nodded. "I see. I hope the primary agent wasn't compromised..."
"The primary agent is an extremely capable operative," said Anne. "She certainly didn't appreciate your interference at the warehouses, but she's equal to almost any surprise."
Mary flushed. "Of course."
"Think of it this way," said Felicity more gently. "You're her colleague and thus the last person from whom she expects surprises, especially when they go against orders. Your warehouse escapade resulted in no harm, but it did cause her inconvenience."
Mary struggled to find an answer that didn't sound glib or defensive, but Anne broke in with unexpected gentleness. "We needn't revisit that now, as you've learned from the experience. Do you have further questions?"
"Only one..." she hesitated. "This is perhaps inappropriate, but how do you feel about dogs?"
Anne blinked. "Dogs! As pets?"
Mary nodded.
"Here at the Academy?" Anne couldn't quite control the distaste on her face.
Felicity frowned. "Why do you ask?"
"Thorold kept a guard dog," Mary said apologetically. "Not much of a guard dog... it was more interested in playing with strangers than keeping them at bay... but I can't help but wonder what's happened to it."
"I suppose you got to know the dog on your nocturnal rounds?" Felicity asked.
"Not very well," admitted Mary. "But it was a lovely mongrel..."
Felicity looked at Anne. "I'll make enquiries," she said firmly. "Yes, darling, I know you can't stand the beasts, but even a dog shouldn't suffer just because its owner's a criminal."
"Thank you."
"That reminds me, Mary... this is rather a personal question..."
"Yes, Miss Treleaven?" Mary steeled herself for an enquiry about her parentage. Although she dreaded what might come, there would also be a kind of relief in being able to speak of her father...
Yet Anne seemed distinctly uncomfortable, and rem-ained silent.
After a glance at her tongue-tied colleague, Felicity spoke again. "It's about your associate, James Easton."
So her secret was still safe. Even so, the new subject was also extremely awkward and there was no controlling the wash of heat that flooded her throat, her cheeks, the tips of her ears. On Sunday afternoon, Anne and Felicity had found her huddled with James against the lamppost outside the Lascars' refuge, giggling hysterically at their escape. They'd certainly appeared to be more than "associates", then.
"We would not pry into your personal friendships if you were an ordinary teacher at the Academy," said Felicity carefully. "But as a member of the Agency, we must ask you: how much does James Easton know?"
"Nothing of the Agency," said Mary quickly. "We met quite by accident, under circumstances that were suspicious for both of us." Her cheeks burned as she recalled those minutes in the wardrobe. "When he demanded an explanation, I told him that I wanted to know what had become of the last parlour-maid. It was common knowledge in the servants' hall that she had fallen pregnant, and Thorold was the father."
"And he believed you?" persisted Felicity.
"I think so. He then he suggested that we work together in order to pool information."
"What was his motive for searching Thorold's files?"
"His brother was about to propose marriage to Angelica. Mr Easton worried about how Thorold's business affairs might reflect on the Eastons if the families were linked by marriage."
"Practical young man," murmured Felicity. "Not the romantic type himself?"
Mary blushed furiously again. "I don't know, Mrs Frame."
Felicity observed her closely for a minute, then smiled. "I see."
Mary was certain she did.
# Twenty-nine
She didn't want James to court her or anything ridiculous like that. They were both far too young, and from separate worlds besides. She would never be able to tell him about the Agency, let alone her criminal past or family history. They were too different even to be real friends. Yet she felt a sharp pang of regret as she thought about the end of their partnership. They'd worked well together, despite the squabbling and the mistrust. And she would miss him.
No matter. As Mary stepped off the omnibus in Limehouse, she set aside thoughts of James, the Agency and the Thorolds. She was finally free to think of her own interests today. As she neared the Lascars' refuge, the fluttering in her stomach sped up. There was no reason to think she'd find the cigar box. Mr Chen's office had been thoroughly smashed up. But she wouldn't be able to rest until she'd searched the wreckage herself.
As Mary neared the refuge, she saw a small number of elderly Asian men carrying pails and crates of rubbish from its front door to a large wagon that blocked the street. They moved slowly, many of them apparently stiff with arthritis. A young white man in a bowler hat was giving them orders.
The young man spotted Mary and bustled over. "Road's closed here, miss."
She fought a sudden surge of nausea. "Are you clearing out the entire building?"
He nodded. "There was a fire here on the weekend. All the contents are ruined, but by the mercy of God, the building survived."
" _All_ the contents? They're just being thrown away?" Her voice sounded high and thin.
"There was nothing worth saving," said the supervisor defensively, "apart from some sticks of furniture, and the salvage man's already come and gone. Why, that's our third wagonload of rubbish today! Oh, yes, we've been busy..." He went on to give details of the clean-up operation, details that she heard but failed to understand.
"What a shame," she finally choked out. That was it, then: her father's legacy, lost once again. She'd never even had a chance to look at the documents in the cigar box.
"Not a shame, miss," the young man chided her. "It's a blessing in disguise. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, and here He's given us a new opportunity. The house needs refurbishment and these old Lascars need employment, and here we all are, working together!"
She nodded unsteadily.
"We'll have to find some new funds, as we recently lost one of our benefactors, but..." He rattled on happily about fundraising and plans for a grand new refurbishment.
"What happened to Mr Chen?" interrupted Mary.
"The old man who managed the place? Oh, that was a shame. Must have been overcome by smoke, although – between you and me – " the young man leaned in confidentially, "it wasn't too great a loss. Apparently, the man was an opium-fiend."
"He wasn't!"
He looked at her patronizingly. "Well, proof is proof, no matter what you like to think, and there was an enormous drug apparatus in his room when he died. Not that he won't get a decent Christian burial, after all that."
Mary turned away.
"I say!" he called after her. "No need to be like that! What's your name, anyway?"
She ignored his cries. She walked as fast as she could, deaf and blind to everything around her. But when she came to Victoria Park, she suddenly halted, unsure what to do or where to go.
She had just won the battle against tears when there was a light touch on her elbow. Turning, she found herself face to face with the inevitable.
He was elegant in a well-cut suit and polished boots. As his dark gaze skimmed over her, she had a sudden urge to flee. She was wearing an old, faded dress; her hair had begun to slip its knot; she was regrettably hot and sweaty.
"Hello," she said, and instantly felt it was inadequate.
"I've been following you for a while, but you didn't hear me calling. Are you all right?"
She nodded.
"You were coming from the Lascars' refuge?"
"You went too?"
"I was hoping to pay my respects to Mr Chen's body."
The silence stretched out between them.
"You look unharmed," she finally murmured. "Does your head still hurt?"
He shook his head. "The damage was minor: a few cracked ribs, a headache. Nothing serious." There was a brief pause, and he hurried on. "You look very well, too."
_Liar_. She smoothed her hair self-consciously. "Thank you." Another of those awkward silences loomed, and she said shyly, "You must be very busy. I ought not to detain you."
He held out his arm. "I'd rather take a walk with you. If your employers permit such things?"
"Of course it's permitted!" she flashed back, and then grinned. "You do bring out the worst in me. Manners-wise, anyway."
He grinned back. "I think I like you better when you're rude."
She took his arm and they strolled across the park towards the small boating lake. He was silent again and the faint frown between his brows was delightfully familiar to her. He seemed to be searching for words.
He smiled at her, but his gaze was serious. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"I hoped you could explain something to me." That little frown deepened, and he pushed on hurriedly. "I can understand the business with Thorold – it's precisely the sort of thing I was afraid of. But how did Mr Chen fit into all of this? Why would Mrs Thorold need to kill him?"
Back to business. Of course, she should have known. "Didn't she tell you?"
"She didn't think it worth boasting about." Much like the murder of Alfred Quigley. He still felt sick when he thought about it. His visit to Mrs Quigley this morning ranked among the most uncomfortable incidents of his life.
"Mr Chen was on her trail. A couple of Lascars sometimes survived a pirate's attack, usually because they were needed to help the pirate crew sail back to port. I suppose Mrs Thorold felt safe with Lascars, because who would believe them over an English captain? Authorities would assume they were confused, or lying, or that they had misunderstood something in English. But when Lascars began appearing at the refuge with similar stories, Mr Chen began to interview them. He followed up rumours from the docks. He was putting the pieces together, ready to take the case to the authorities."
"And so he was silenced."
"Yes."
They reached the lake, and James stooped to pick up a handful of pebbles. He threw them into the lake, one by one. "That brings me to my second question," he said, turning to her rather fiercely. "You couldn't have known I was at the Lascars' refuge on Sunday afternoon. I went, like a good little idiot, because Mrs Thorold lured me there."
"I went because of Mrs Thorold, too. Nothing was clearly explained in her notebook, but once I saw it I became worried for Mr Chen's safety... and yours."
He stared at her. "How do you mean?"
It was difficult to explain. "I didn't expect to find you there, but I also wasn't surprised to see you." He was still looking at her with unsettling intensity. She couldn't bear his gaze any longer, and looked away. Shrugged. "I just... had a feeling. A conviction that you were... there."
"In danger?"
"If you like."
He tossed the last stone into the lake. "Mary? There's one more thing." He sounded nervous and his gaze didn't quite meet hers.
She waited in silence.
"I, ah – this is very sudden, and I'm not – what I have to tell you..." He sighed and turned to face the lake. When he spoke again, the words came out in a rush. "I'm going away."
Mary stared. While she hadn't known exactly what he might say, this was truly unexpected. "Where to?"
"Calcutta. We – the firm – have a contract to build railways."
She tried to look pleased for him. "That's marvellous news."
He studied her face. "Do you think so?"
"Of course! It's an excellent way to build the firm."
He nodded. "I'm glad you think so."
"When do you leave?"
"I sail next week."
She drew a deep breath. "You move quickly."
"Originally, George was supposed to go while I ran things from this end. But this Thorold business has scrambled everything and he's changed his mind." Amusement crept into his voice. "Did you know that he wanted to marry Angelica and take her straight to India?"
Mary laughed. "No!"
"Ironic, isn't it? That her fate was tied to India through both her father and her suitor?"
"She's managed to avoid both fates." Mary briefly described Angelica's new plans.
James let out a low whistle. "Wonder if I should tell George that she's single once again?"
"But your worst fears about Thorold have come true. Are you not still opposed to the marriage?"
He shrugged awkwardly. "Well, yes, of course... but if George knows the worst and still wants to marry her, what can I say? Maybe he really does love her."
She laughed. "That's a very large concession, coming from you."
"One day you'll appreciate the finer points of my character."
"Finer points? Plural?"
"So many you'll grow dizzy trying to count them."
They stood there for a long moment, smiling at each other. Then Mary drew a deep breath. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye."
"I suppose it is."
"You'll do brilliantly in India."
"Do you think so?"
"With all those fine character traits..."
He laughed, then became serious once more. "Mary... "
The expression in his eyes set her heart pounding. "Yes?"
Twice he began to frame a sentence, and twice his voice seemed to fail him.
And she thought she understood. What could he possibly say to her now, when he was on the verge of leaving for ever? Even something as simple as asking her to write to him carried a distinct sort of promise; the type of promise he was ten years and half a world removed from being able to make.
She forced a polite smile and held out her hand. "Good luck, James."
Regret – and relief – flooded his eyes. He took her hand, cradling it for a long moment. "And to you."
It was foolish to linger. She slid her fingers from his grasp, turned, and began to walk away, in the direction of the Academy. She'd gone about thirty paces when she heard his voice.
"Mary!"
She spun about. "What is it?"
"Stay out of wardrobes!"
She laughed, shook her head, and began to walk again. She was smiling, this time.
# THE
Agency
Y. S. Lee was born in Singapore and raised in Vancouver and Toronto. In 2004, Ying completed her PhD in Victorian literature and culture. This research, combined with her time living in London, triggered an idea for a story about a women's detective agency. The result, _A Spy in the House_ , is her first novel.
Ying is also the author of _Masculinity and the English Working Class_. She now lives in Kingston, Ontario, with her husband and son. Visit her online at:
www.yslee.com
_To Nicholas Woolley_
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained here in are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published in Great Britain 2009 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2009 by Y. S. Lee
Cover illustration © 2009 Walker Books
Key image © George Doyle / Stockbyte / Getty Images
The right of Y. S. Lee to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-3048-9 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-4063-3049-6 (e-PDF)
www.walker.co.uk
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Two trains crash somewhere in Russia, one carrying a nuclear payload. A nuclear explosion follows the crash and the world is on alert... However, White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly doesn't think it was an accident... Special Operations Intelligence Officer Colonel Thomas Devoe doesn't think so either... Together they must unravel a conspiracy that goes from Europe to New York, to stop a terrorist who has no demands... Written by M. Belanger <[email protected]>
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Since the latter seems a valid option for you let me explain in short what you'll need and how it works.
You'll need:
- A working NIM server at the same or higher level than the target client level
- The filesets bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images, bos.alt_disk_install.rte installed on the NIM server.
- A complete lppsource NIM resource at the level you're going to migrate the client to, which means including all TLs and SPs needed for that level.
- The above filesets bos.alt_disk_install.boot_images, bos.alt_disk_install.rte contained in this lppsource.
- A SPOT created from the mentioned lppsource.
- rsh communications between server and client: rshd enabled in /etc/inetd.conf and started on the client, the NIM server's hostname contained in ~root/.rhosts of the client.
- A free hdisk on the client at least as big as the client's original rootvg disk. This disk must not be a member of any volume group! If the client's rootvg is mirrored a migration can be done to a single target disk nevertheless.
How nimadm works behind the stage:
- Create a copy of the client's rootvg named altinst_rootvg with LVs named altinst_<lvname>.
- Export these LVs and mount them on the NIM server via NFS
- Migrate mounted LVs to new level on the NIM server by means of an lppsource and a SPOT at the target level.
- Change the client's bootlist to boot from the new disk next time.
- Rename altinst_rootvg to rootvg, rename rootvg to old_rootvg, rename LVs according to the same scheme at the reboot.
What you must do:
Having created the lppsource and the SPOT, having established rsh communication and having provided a free disk just run on the NIM server:
nimadm -c client_name -s spot_name -l lppsource_name -d hdiskname -Y
If something goes wrong:
1) If you already tried to reboot the client:
Set the client's bootlist to boot from the old disk and reboot. Use the SMS menus for this if required.
Run nimadm -C -c client_name -s spot_name on the server to clean everything up.
Correct errors and try again.
|
Genetic analyses involving microsatellite ETH10 genotypes on bovine chromosome 5 and performance trait measures in Angus- and Brahman-influenced cattle.
ETH10 is a dinucleotide microsatellite within the promoter of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) gene on bovine chromosome 5. ETH10 is included in the panel of genetic markers used in parentage testing procedures of cattle breed associations. Allelic sizes of ETH10 PCR amplicons range from 199 to 225 bp. Objectives of this study were to use microsatellite data from beef cattle breed associations to investigate genetic distance and population stratification among Angus- and Brahman-influenced cattle and to use ETH10 genotypes and growth and ultrasound carcass data to investigate their statistical relationships. Three series of genotype to phenotype association analyses were conducted with 1) Angus data (n=5,094), 2) Brangus data (3/8 Brahman × 5/8 Angus; n=2,296), and 3) multibreed data (n=4,426) of Angus and Brangus cattle. Thirteen alleles and 38 genotypes were observed, but frequencies varied among breed groups. Tests of genetic identity and distance among 6 breed composition groups increasing in Brahman influence from 0 to 75% revealed that as Brahman-influence increased to ≥50%, genetic distance from Angus ranged from 18.3 to 43.5%. This was accomplished with 10 microsatellite loci. A mixed effects model involving genotype as a fixed effect and sire as a random source of variation suggested that Angus cattle with the 217/219 genotype tended to have 2.1% heavier (P=0.07) 205-d BW than other genotypes. In Brangus cattle, allele combinations were classified as small (≤215 bp) or large (≥217 bp). Brangus cattle with the small/large genotype had 2.0% heavier (P<0.05) birth weight, yet cattle with the large/large genotype had approximately 5.1% greater (P<0.05) percentage of fat within LM and more LM per BW than cattle with small/large or small/small genotypes. Genotype-to-phenotype relationships were not detected in multibreed analyses. The ETH10 locus appears to be associated with growth and carcass traits in Angus and Brangus cattle. Results from this study provide support for STAT6 as one of the candidate genes underlying cattle growth QTL on chromosome 5.
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Category: Contractors as Employers
Beginning August 6, 2016, Arizona law on independent contractor employment relationships changed for most industries when A.R.S. § 23-1601 went into effect. Section 23-1601 (which is the byproduct of House Bill 2114) is a new statute that allows certain businesses and workers to create a rebuttable presumption of a lawful independent contractor relationship by: (1) having the worker execute a statutorily prescribed Declaration of Independent Business Status; and (2) the business acting in a manner substantially consistent with the Declaration. But general contractors and subcontractors need to be aware that, for all intents and purposes, § 23-1601 does not apply to their businesses. This important limitation has gone unmentioned in the multiple publications/articles I have read on this new law, which is why I am writing this post.read more
With the constant emergence of new technologies/business practices and an increasingly mobile workforce, some companies in the construction industry rely on restrictive covenants in employment agreements to safeguard their competitive advantages. The term “restrictive covenants” typically encompasses contractual provisions that: (1) require information to be kept confidential; (2) limit competition; and (3) limit the solicitation of customers. The Arizona Court of Appeals recently addressed how far companies can go in restricting the competitive activities of former employees in Orca v. Noder. For an explanation of the Orca decision, please read this article that I co-authored with my colleague, Bill Klain.read more
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Our multifaceted investigation on normal and atypical melanocytes concerns the following topics: 1. A study in vitro and in vivo of conjugates of MSH with cytotoxic agents on melanoma cells. 2. The mechanism by which cAMP increases the activity of tyrosinase. 3. The mechanism of internalization and of shedding of receptors for MSH. 4. The cytotoxicity of substances produced by the tyrosine-tyrosinase reaction. 5. The chemical nature of the receptors of MSH. 6. The culturing of normal melanocytes from guinea pigs and mice.
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Q:
How do you set up a response class using Gson for this Json file?
I have already tried http://www.jsonschema2pojo.org/ to solve this but it hasn't worked. I am trying to create a Json response class for this Json format:
{
"Structure1": [
[
"StringValue1",
"StringValue2"
],
[
"StringValue1",
"StringValue2"
]
],
"Structure2": [
[
"StringValue1",
"StringValue2"
]
],
"Structure3": [
[
"StringValue1",
"StringValue2"
]
]
}
Here is what my current class looks like:
public class Response {
private HashMap<String, ArrayList<ArrayList<String>>> map = new HashMap<String, ArrayList<ArrayList<String>>>();
public HashMap<String, ArrayList<ArrayList<String>>> getMap() {
return map;
}
public void setFile11Txt(HashMap<String, ArrayList<ArrayList<String>>> map) {
this.map = map;
}
}
To parse I am doing
Response response = gson.fromJson(response, Response.class);
The returned map ends up being empty, what am I doing wrong?
A:
I suggest the following code:
String jsonString = "{\n" +
" \"Structure1\": [\n" +
" [\n" +
" \"StringValue1\",\n" +
" \"StringValue2\"\n" +
" ],\n" +
" [\n" +
" \"StringValue1\",\n" +
" \"StringValue2\"\n" +
" ]\n" +
" ],\n" +
" \"Structure2\": [\n" +
" [\n" +
" \"StringValue1\",\n" +
" \"StringValue2\"\n" +
" ]\n" +
" ],\n" +
" \"Structure3\": [\n" +
" [\n" +
" \"StringValue1\",\n" +
" \"StringValue2\"\n" +
" ]\n" +
" ]\n" +
" }";
Map<String, ArrayList<String>> myMap = gson.fromJson(jsonString, HashMap.class);
Debug screenshot as the following:
Hope this helps!
|
or v.
-22
Solve -3587 - 2620 = -96*j - 1599 for j.
48
Solve 0 = 107986849*a - 107986827*a - 1034 for a.
47
Solve 0 = 991*b - 912*b + 50 + 2952 for b.
-38
Solve 15*c + 31631 = -135*c - 523*c for c.
-47
Solve -313*r - 314*r - 979 = -538*r for r.
-11
Solve 607*a + 55852 = -4473*a - 8428 - 164320 for a.
-45
Solve -122*p - 3559 - 3089 = -670 for p.
-49
Solve -1262*b + 186 = 1171*b + 20769 + 23211 for b.
-18
Solve 412*x + 209*x - 22356 = 0 for x.
36
Solve -279*z + 11876 = -89*z - 5893 + 5229 for z.
66
Solve -268*p + 431*p + 7888 = 279*p for p.
68
Solve 125*a + 2115 + 1604 = -1156 for a.
-39
Solve 3*n + 1341 = -87*n + 12*n - 2559 for n.
-50
Solve 156*y - 5589 - 707 = 3165 + 1615 for y.
71
Solve 146*b + 864 - 6626 = -644*b + 13988 for b.
25
Solve 1805*g + 1424*g + 63155 + 40173 = 0 for g.
-32
Solve 1383*t + 1438*t - 2645*t + 14784 = 0 for t.
-84
Solve 5452*y - 5285*y = 6012 for y.
36
Solve -321488*q + 319578*q + 229200 = 0 for q.
120
Solve -23918*c + 201 = -23725*c + 5219 for c.
-26
Solve -4841*b - 7294*b - 208079 = 406103 + 101783 for b.
-59
Solve 30*m + 43*m + 2114 = -6646 for m.
-120
Solve 888*i = -11307 - 16295 - 22126 for i.
-56
Solve -344*o - 722*o = -95*o - 45729 - 6705 for o.
54
Solve 0 = -1294926*s + 1294875*s + 181 + 74 for s.
5
Solve 36*p = -4*p + 7*p - 658 - 233 for p.
-27
Solve -6057*a + 6157*a = 2829 - 170 + 641 for a.
33
Solve -329*b + 780 = -396*b - 1833 for b.
-39
Solve -10609 = 1210*u + 281 for u.
-9
Solve 130*w - 529*w + 95 - 1427 = 267*w for w.
-2
Solve 82075 = 4494*w - 138131 for w.
49
Solve -52045*i + 26581*i - 51146 = -25942*i for i.
107
Solve 63*c + 1212 + 1274 - 1082 = -1683 for c.
-49
Solve 1754697*s = 1754530*s + 9519 for s.
57
Solve 47950*l = 50013*l - 156788 for l.
76
Solve -1160*h - 1153*h - 195 = -2328*h for h.
13
Solve -341*j - 26274 = -173*j - 621*j for j.
58
Solve 246*r - 119*r + 2286 = 0 for r.
-18
Solve -132*h - 175 = -367 - 487 - 509 for h.
9
Solve -18700*c = -2265*c + 378005 for c.
-23
Solve 0 = -506*p + 3953*p - 51705 for p.
15
Solve -734*s - 12120 = -1181*s + 750*s for s.
-40
Solve 981 - 1109 - 2247 = 95*z for z.
-25
Solve 82*m - 2726 = -37*m + 118*m - 57*m for m.
47
Solve -1881*t - 512*t - 68787 = -711*t + 74183 for t.
-85
Solve 128003 = -3753*l + 761*l - 6637 for l.
-45
Solve 46*t - 882*t = 11*t + 38962 for t.
-46
Solve -204*v = 34*v + 716 - 7142 for v.
27
Solve -158*n + 181*n + 170*n - 5920 = -103*n for n.
20
Solve -78463*q - 955 = -78272*q for q.
-5
Solve 1052*h - 132570 = -54292 + 39546 for h.
112
Solve 0 = -399*s + 15413 - 2800 + 12415 + 12877 for s.
95
Solve -243227 = 23014*z + 511699 + 188648 for z.
-41
Solve 2215 - 5654 = 181*g for g.
-19
Solve 93*w - 55*w - 1151 = 6*w + 129 for w.
40
Solve 6195*j + 52077 + 50550 = 736 + 21356 for j.
-13
Solve 758*d - 1862732 + 1789964 = 0 for d.
96
Solve 391*x + 3602 + 5008 = 145*x for x.
-35
Solve -7209 - 1680 + 121 = -489*q - 944 for q.
16
Solve -690*u - 547*u + 19943 - 1873 = -66046 for u.
68
Solve 65*m - 140730 = -144110 for m.
-52
Solve 18811*h = 45061 + 5475 + 476172 for h.
28
Solve 1851*b - 39474 - 28692 = 228*b for b.
42
Solve 3289*s - 2305*s = 3898*s + 5387*s + 41505 for s.
-5
Solve -1232*t - 1136*t + 180608 = -192*t for t.
83
Solve -575421*p - 1128 = -575445*p for p.
47
Solve 3056 = 228*o - 1173 - 5575 for o.
43
Solve 6470*d + 1731*d = -524864 for d.
-64
Solve 275*y + 331*y - 13620 = 9408 for y.
38
Solve -4402*c + 5998*c - 49640 = -10814*c for c.
4
Solve -29226*t - 7600 = -29321*t for t.
80
Solve -56*n - 355 = -44 + 246 - 109 for n.
-8
Solve -1412*k + 245*k - 3373*k + 269960 = -570*k for k.
68
Solve 98602 = -833*a + 21966 for a.
-92
Solve 59*l + 2277*l - 109792 = 0 for l.
47
Solve 164*l = -44*l - 122*l - 2640 for l.
-8
Solve -3214219*u + 3214193*u - 2288 = 0 for u.
-88
Solve -3199 + 1107 = -65*s - 662 for s.
22
Solve 24684 - 45217 = 1256*b + 38499 for b.
-47
Solve 115*f - 996*f - 5863 = -348*f for f.
-11
Solve 7134 = 218*h + 355*h - 7191 for h.
25
Solve 32*p + 229*p - 54*p + 9344 = -8044 for p.
-84
Solve 333*m - 1871*m - 38450 = 0 for m.
-25
Solve -288*s - 10*s - 3264 = 518*s for s.
-4
Solve 520*f = 266*f + 162*f + 3680 for f.
40
Solve 115*h + 103*h + 4780 = 68*h + 280 for h.
-30
Solve -25538*w - 4833*w = 8263*w - 5629*w + 4389665 for w.
-133
Solve 6509 = -2034*f + 2944*f + 6161*f - 562 for f.
1
Solve 133*l + 8534 = -16*l - 41*l - 61*l for l.
-34
Solve -606 = -426*p + 8431 + 1187 for p.
24
Solve 212*k - 10021590 + 10007386 = 0 for k.
67
Solve 492*g + 16299 = 36*g + 2163 for g.
-31
Solve -1043 + 3547 = 811*c + 357*c + 84*c for c.
2
Solve -1978 = -41*w - 69*w + 24*w for w.
23
Solve -388*o + 6*o + 137*o + 113*o + 9768 = 0 for o.
74
Solve 625*a - 36264 + 7514 = 0 for a.
46
Solve -671*n - 13377 + 17403 = 0 for n.
6
Solve -415*b - 131*b = 8891 - 2339 for b.
-12
Solve -2051*i + 37225 + 7897 = 0 for i.
22
Solve 0 = -302*o - 280*o + 663*o - 1215 for o.
15
Solve 85*a = 18*a - 664*a - 43*a - 3870 for a.
-5
Solve -2333 - 4819 = 240*o - 1152 for o.
-25
Solve 0 = 18881*x - 9538*x - 9471*x - 7296 for x.
-57
Solve 317*u + 2245 + 16040 = -251*u + 409*u for u.
-115
Solve -9175*v - 10867*v = -1543234 for v.
77
Solve 286147 = -1216*j + 197379 for j.
-73
Solve 0 = 56*b - 3452 - 356 for b.
68
Solve 64515 = -2855*f + 900*f for f.
-33
Solve -413*h = 1109*h + 4*h + 512*h + 120*h for h.
0
Solve 0 = -773*y - 1679*y + 4626 + 46866 for y.
21
Solve -14786 = 4965*o - 5798*o + 21866 for o.
44
Solve -4157 = 36*s + 16*s + 75*s + 796 for s.
-39
Solve 148*f + 47928 - 46744 = 0 for f.
-8
Solve -73294*c = -73344*c - 250 for c.
-5
Solve -1259 + 1107 = -16*y - 984 for y.
-52
Solve 31*i + 1933 = -11*i + 2269 for i.
8
Solve -16600 = 463*w + 40*w + 632 - 2645 for w.
-29
Solve 69*o - 4396 + 12892 = -5*o - 103*o for o.
-48
Solve -420 + 294 = 3*x for x.
-42
Solve 39683 = -127*j + 76183 - 39421 for j.
-23
Solve -16*d + 56*d + 206*d + 8557 - 2161 = 0 for d.
-26
Solve -1184*v + 368478 = 2324*v + 7717*v - 652997 for v.
91
Solve 77*z + 20*z + 3684 = 4585 + 4725 for z.
58
Solve -3678*t - 114267 = -18639 for t.
-26
Solve 3672*n - 5137 = -164*n + 2535 for n.
2
Solve -58172800 = 85*i - 58172630 for i.
-2
Solve -6788*t - 314379 = 221873 for t.
-79
Solve 1719 = 51*f + 33*f + 17*f + 5759 for f.
-40
Solve -1663*d - 58455 - 4739 = 0 for d.
-38
Solve -3784*j + 252037 + 63889 - 58005 = -169671 for j.
113
Solve -7122*d = -2282*d + 1170*d + 715190 for d.
-119
Solve -33904 - 112059 = 1889*h + 101496 for h.
-131
Solve 17*l - 881 = -57*l + 2819 for l.
50
Solve 129*m + 8869 = -52*m for m.
-49
Solve -73 - 86 + 79 = 8*o for o.
-10
Solve -85396 = -8018*a + 34874 for a.
15
Solve -37*p - 15 = 90*p + 1295 + 722 for p.
-16
Solve 498*i - 500*i = 14 for i.
-7
Solve 28*n - 62*n + 80 = -132 + 892 for n.
-20
Solve -40*v + 202 = 45*v - 152*v - 135*v for v.
-1
Solve 1101*h - 2477*h = 2366*h + 362974 for h.
-97
Solve 527694*m - 11322 = 527472*m for m.
51
Solve 939*v = 47*v + 10824 + 6124 for v.
19
Solve 249*b - 12312 = -191*b - 244*b for b.
18
Solve 0 = 52*k - 221*k - 207*k for k.
0
Solve -20955*l - 353060 - 2002689 = -1486*l for l.
-121
Solve 80074*k - 80107*k + 1980 = 0 for k.
60
Solve -15*j - 6523 = -5773 for j.
-50
Solve 109*h - 612*h + 22786 = 1440 - 32475 for h.
107
Solve -12673 - 214697 = 7579*j for j.
-30
Solve -249*t = -792*t - 1405*t - 266*t + 37638 for t.
17
Solve -126*d - 30396 = -16*d + 363*d + 123*d for d.
-51
Solve -122 = 431248*d - 431245*d + 91 for d.
-71
Solve 297*k + 521 = 240 + 2075 + 1473 for k.
11
Solve 205*g + 549*g = -209*g - 92863 + 31231 for g.
-64
Solve 2212*j + 5922 + 9562 = 0 for j.
-7
Solve -7990*i + 16085*i = 7983*i - 4144 for i.
-37
Solve 1087*k - 79691 = -9036 for k.
65
Solve 885*u - 723*u = 959*u + 18331 for u.
-23
Solve 522*k - 84*k + 18653 = 2447 for k.
-37
Solve 774*a + 1213*a = 550*a - 34488 for a.
-24
Solve 39784*b = 1121068 - 6094068 for b.
-125
Solve -71*x + 554 = -248*x + 11174 for x.
60
Solve 0 = -2871*r - 282699 - 116370 for r.
-139
Solve 152973*p = 153299*p - 13040 for p.
40
Solve -2039*c - 3480 + 4846 = -15299 + 353 for c.
8
Solve 1107*h + 144*h + 6893 - 67353 - 34616 = 0 for h.
76
Solve -1588734*x + 4896 = -1588887*x for x.
-32
Solve 73*y + 2695 = 151*y - y for y.
35
Solve -352 = -614*k + 595*k + 104 for k.
24
Solve 8369 = -4525*v - 40067 - 123514 for v.
-38
Solve 2486*t + 3052*t - 884*t -
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to general purpose digital data processing systems and more particularly relates to such systems which employ a priority scheme for allocating a shared resource between a number of independent users.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most general purpose, stored program, digital computers, it is desirable to have shared resources contained therein. Each of the shared resources may be designed to service a number of users. Possible shared resources may include a bus, a memory, a processor, or any other element within the computer system. The concept of utilizing shared resources has been used for several years to decrease the number of components within a computer system thereby increasing the cost effectiveness of the system. The use of shared resources also reduces the overall size and power requirements of the computer system.
Although these benefits can be substantial, shared resources may reduce the band pass of a system if not carefully used and designed. One reason for this is that only one of the users may use the shared resource at any given time. That is, the users must "share" the resource. Consistent therewith, computer designers must weigh the advantage of using a shared resource against the band pass limiting effect inherent therein. To increase the number of applications for shared resources and thus to take advantage of the benefits attributable thereto, computer designers have attempted to increase the band pass of shared resource designs.
One method for increases the overall band pass of a shared resource design is to utilize priority schemes. For example, in a typical system, a number of processors may communicate with one another across a shared bi-directional bus. However, only one processors may use the shared bus at any given time. Therefore, the computer system must employ a mechanism for ensuring that only one processor has access to the shared bus at any given time while blocking access of the remaining processors. Often, one or more of the processors may have a greater need to access the shared bus. One reasons for this may be that one or more of the processors may be in the critical path of the computer system. If a processor is in the critical path of a computer system and it is not allowed to access the shared resource, the band pass of the entire computer system may suffer. A concrete example of this may be that a first of the processors connected to a shared bus may contain a memory therein for storing instructions which must be accessed by a main processor. A second of the processors connected to the shared bus may be responsible for controlling the IO ports connected to a printer. It is clear that the first processor should be given priority to use the shared bus over the second processor. If this is not the case, the "band pass" of the computer system may be reduced because the second processor may have control of the bus thereby prohibiting the main processor from fetching instructions from the first processor. This is just an example of where priority schemes are essential to proper operation of modern computer systems.
One scheme advanced for solving this problem is a pure "first-in-time" priority scheme. In a pure first-in-time priority scheme, each of the processors that are coupled to the shared bus may assert a bus request signal when the corresponding processor wants to use the shared bus. The first processor that asserts the corresponding bus request signal is given priority and control over the shared bus. If a second processor asserts it's corresponding bus request signal after the first processor has control over the bus, the second processor is denied access to the shared bus. After the first processor releases control of the bus, each processor is given another opportunity to obtain control of the bus by asserting it's corresponding bus request signal. This process is repeated during normal operation of the computer system.
It is evident that one or more of the processors coupled to the shared resource may be effectively blocked from using the shared resource for an extended period of time. If one of these processors is in the critical path of the computer system, the band pass of the computer system may suffer. In addition, all of the processors that are coupled to the shared resource are given an equal opportunity to access the shared resource every time the shared resource is released by a processor. That is, even the processor that previously had control of the shared resource has an equal opportunity to gain control of the shared resource during the next cycle. Because of the inherent disadvantages of the pure first-in-time scheme described hereinabove, only applications that are non-bandpass limited typically use the pure first-in-time scheme. However, in these applications, the pure first-in-time scheme has the advantage of being simple to implement thereby not requiring much overhead circuitry.
A modified first-in-time scheme has been developed to reduce some of the disadvantages inherent in the pure first-in-time scheme. The modified first-in-time scheme does not allow the processor that previously had control of the shared resource to gain control of the shared resource during the next succeeding bus cycle. This modification prohibits one processor from dominating a shared resource over an extended period of time. One disadvantage of the modified first-in-time scheme is that two or more processors may still dominate a shared resource thereby effectively blocking other processors from accessing the shared resource. For this to occur, however, the two or more processors must alternate in controlling the shared resource thereby giving access to at least two of the processors coupled thereto.
In some applications, it is important that each of the users that are coupled to a shared resource be given an opportunity to access the shared resource on a periodic basis. The modified first-in-time scheme may include circuitry to prohibit a user that previously had control of the shared resource to gain control of the shared resource during the next "N" succeeding bus cycles where N equals the number of users connected to the shared resource. In this configuration, the modified first-in-time scheme may allow all users access to the shared resource on a periodic basis.
Another priority scheme is termed the "first-in-place" scheme. The first-in-place scheme assigns a priority to each of the users connected to a shared resource. Each time an access to the shared resource is requested, the user having the highest priority assigned thereto is given access to the shared resource. For example, if a user having a priority of "2" and a user having a priority of "5" both request access to the shared resource, the first-in-place scheme will grant access to the user having the highest priority, namely the user having a priority of "2". Therefore, the users are assigned a priority value and are serviced in an order that is consistent with that value. Typically, the values assigned to the users are fixed and cannot be changed. A disadvantage of the first-in-place scheme is that the highest priority user may dominate the shared resource thereby effectively blocking access to lower priority users for extended periods of time.
One method for improving the first-in-place scheme is to rotate the assigned priority values among the users on a periodic basis. For example, a user having a priority value of "2" may be assigned a priority value of "1" and a user having a priority value of "3" may be assigned a priority value of "2". Therefore, each user is assigned a new priority value in a round robin fashion thus allowing access to the shared resource by all users on a periodic basis.
A similar approach is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,185, issued on Mar. 16, 1993 to Marenin. Marenin suggests providing a separate processor which independently changes the priority values of all users. That is, Marenin suggests having the ability to change the priority value assigned to each user whenever the separate processor independently determines that it is necessary.
Although Marenin provides some additional flexibility to the first-in-place schemes, significant disadvantages still remain. First, the priority values of the users can only be changed at the direction of an independent processor which is not otherwise coupled to the users. Therefore, the separate processor must independently determine when a priority change should occur without regard to the current status of the users. Second, the separate processor can only load new priority values into the users at predetermined intervals. Between these intervals, the operation of the apparatus suggested in Marenin operates in the same manner as the first-in-place scheme described above.
A technique used to enhance the effectiveness of the above described priority schemes is known as the "snap-shot" technique. The snapshot technique captures the status of the resource requests signals provided by the users at a predetermined time. For example, at time T0 the resource request signal of a first user and a second user may be asserted while the resource request signal of a third user may not be asserted. If a "snap-shot" is taken at time T0, the values of the resource request signals at time T0 will be stored. If a first-in-place priority scheme is utilized, the users having an asserted captured resource request signal are serviced in the order of their assigned priority. In most systems employing the snap-shot technique, all of the users that have an asserted captured resource request signal are serviced in the order of their assigned priority before another snap-shot is taken. That is, users that did not have an asserted resource request signal when the previous snap-shot was taken are not allowed to access the shared resource until the next snap-shot is taken. Variations on this approach include time-shifting the snap-shot to favor one user over another.
Although the snap-shot technique may improve the effectiveness of some of the priority schemes described above, the snap-shot technique is limited by the inherent shortcomings of the underlying priority schemes.
|
Newspaper and television headlines are blunt instruments that leave little room for nuance. Throw in the anti-Trump bias and it’s no surprise that nearly all media followed the same simplistic thinking to describe Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision on whether to appoint a second special counsel.
His answer was “no,” the chorus declared, case closed. Par for its partisan course, The New York Times twisted the knife, saying “Sessions Spurns GOP.”
Maybe, maybe not. The truth is that Sessions’ decision is far more complex than reports suggest. In fact, the good news is that the process he set in motion likely will result in the appointment of a second special counsel to probe the Justice Department and the FBI. The only question is timing.
I say that because Sessions wants first to determine whether the situation meets the legal standard of “extraordinary circumstances” involving conflicts of interest that would allow him to move an investigation outside normal channels. I believe the standard will be easy to meet because there are numerous smoking guns showing that the 2016 investigations into both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were rigged by top government officials.
We already know about many of those smoking guns: The prominent if not exclusive use of the Democratic-funded Russian dossier in the FISA court application to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page; the politicized talk by FBI agents of an “insurance plan” in case Trump won; and the many irregularities in the Clinton email probe, including the fact that the letter exonerating her was written before she and most witnesses were interviewed.
Then there are the suspicions surrounding Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI fired for reportedly lying to investigators.
Sessions, of course, is not the most articulate man on the planet, so it does take time and patience to cut through his fog and understand the intent behind the layered plan he establishes.
Rather than simply saying yes or no to the request from GOP lawmakers for a new special counsel, he unfolds his response in a densely written, four-page letter. On page two, he gets to the first relevant fact: a reminder that he recently asked the inspector general of the Justice Department, the well-respected Michael Horowitz, to review whether any laws were broken or policies violated when officials made their request to spy on Page.
It takes Sessions another full page to come to his second reminder: that last November, he asked unnamed senior prosecutors to “evaluate certain issues” flagged by Congress in the Clinton and Trump probes.
These prosecutors, he says, have a wide berth to see which matters, if any, should be investigated again, and whether to recommend the appointment of a special counsel.
Only then, for the first time, does Sessions reveal that the head of that team is the US attorney in Utah, John Huber. He notes that Huber twice was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, once in 2015 and again in 2017, and has received numerous commendations.
In plain English, Huber was first appointed by Barack Obama, and then by Trump, meaning he is not a partisan warrior.
Sessions’ emphasis on Huber’s nonpolitical history could be boilerplate assurance, but in the context it means something more. Given the partisan divide over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump, Sessions is trying to avoid a similar fate if Huber recommends a second special counsel.
By stressing Huber’s credibility, I suspect the attorney general is laying the public and political groundwork for such a decision.
It is also noteworthy that Sessions says Huber will work outside Washington, meaning he won’t be part of the swamp, but will partner with Inspector General Horowitz. That gives the probe a double-barreled, clean-hands approach and the widest possible range of power to subpoena both current and former officials, as well as prosecute them. Sessions also says he regularly receives updates on the probes, meaning he is taking personal responsibility for the outcome.
While many Republicans and Trump supporters are unhappy with the decision, they should hold their fire.
Although I also believe a second special counsel is necessary to get to the truth about suspect conduct by former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, I am reasonably confident Sessions eventually will come to that conclusion.
And when he does, he will reach it on the basis of work done by proven professionals, Horowitz and Huber. Democrats will still kick and scream, but fair-minded Americans will likely trust the result.
My one reservation is time. If Horowitz and Huber move quickly — say, in three months or so — and discover there is a need for a special counsel, then the delay will have been worthwhile.
But if the preliminary assessment drags on for six, seven, eight months or a year, that would be too late to be of any real value, even if a special counsel follows. Just as the Mueller probe needs to come to a conclusion, this second probe cannot be allowed to drag on endlessly.
The two clouds hanging over Washington — whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the election and the conduct of government officials who apparently abused their powers to try to defeat him and elect Clinton — must be resolved as soon as possible.
No matter what he eventually decides, Sessions must move quickly to reveal the facts and bring clear accountability to anyone found culpable. Otherwise, trust in federal law enforcement will continue to erode.
The clock is ticking.
Bitter & Tweet
Reader Stephen Cox reacted strongly to the vile tweet to me by business professional Robert Derbabian, writing:
“Derbabian should have been fired immediately by Marcum LLP. He’s just another ultra liberal with Trump Derangement Syndrome, which belies his ‘church boy’ profile on LinkedIn , where he presented himself as a Little League board member and treasurer for a Cub Scout pack.
‘Moving’ on to taxes…
Anyone looking for a single word to describe “the New York Way” can stop right now. The word is tax.
To attack Manhattan congestion, Albany is slapping a $2.75 tax on Uber-like rides and $2.50 on yellow taxi fares in midtown. Simultaneously, Mayor Putz floats the idea of taxing vacant storefronts to get landlords to rent out the spaces faster.
In other words, if it moves, tax it. If it doesn’t move, tax it.
It’s The New York Way.
Hamas ‘end’ game
Every now and then, the world gets a refresher about why Mideast peace is elusive. Friday’s “demonstration” on the Gaza-Israeli border offers such a lesson.
Hamas rules Gaza, and a terror group leader said the protests are the start of Arabs return to “all of Palestine.”
He means what he says. The aim is not to redraw the borders. The aim is the end of Israel. Everything else is detail.
|
Q:
Read collection by chunk
I'm trying to create a module that give me X documents of a collection each time I call it.
I want to iterate through all my collection and get the next X elements each time I ask it.
I've tried to change the batch_size() of a cursor but I couldn't make it worked. I tried to set the limit() but it wasn't what I wanted.
I managed to get one element each time but I lose too much time and I had to keep the cursor alive.
Is there a function that do what I want ?
Or can you give me hints ?
A:
After trying a combinaison of skip() + limit() I ended up with one of a easiest solution, it's just hard to find something about it.
So to retrieve a chunk in mongodb, for pagination for example use :
cursor = db.collection.find()[startItemPosition:stopItemPosition]
It's giving me a cursor with stopItemPosition - startItemPosition elements.
|
Q:
Large 'sync' value for ParallelGCFailedAllocation
Sometimes I see long pauses in my gc.log
2014-07-18T18:42:26.137+0400: 7846.980: [GC [PSYoungGen: 86267K->10032K(87744K)] 251198K-175254K(272512K), 0.0066190 secs] [Times: user=0.08 sys=0.00, real=0.01 secs]
Total time for which application threads were stopped: 0.6394170 seconds
Total time for which application threads were stopped: 0.0014570 seconds
But these pauses don't affect GC time and CPU usage time.
Safepoint statistics (+XX:PrintSafePointStatistics):
vmop [threads: total initially_running wait_to_block] [time: spin block sync cleanup vmop] page_trap_count
7846.348: ParallelGCFailedAllocation [ 370 0 2 ] [ 0 0 630 1 7 ] 0
(sync time = 630ms) What does 'sync' mean in this context?
A:
sync here is the total time spent to reach a safepoint. In other words, it is the latency between the safepoint request and the moment when all runnable Java threads are finally blocked.
The safepoint synchronization may sometimes take too long due to one of the following reasons:
The application does not receive enough CPU time because the OS is busy with intensive disk I/O or when it starts swapping or when another high-priority process takes all CPU time.
Some Java thread performs long non-interruptible operation, e.g. copies large amount of data using System.arraycopy(), clone(), ByteBuffer.get() etc.
MappedByteBuffer I/O.
To log the names of the threads that could not get blocked on a safepoint in 500 ms use
-XX:+SafepointTimeout -XX:SafepointTimeoutDelay=500
|
Garden Park
THE GARDEN PARK
At The Broadmoor, we encourage our residents to get outdoors. Our private terraced sculpture garden, called “an oasis of civility” by the Nob Hill Gazette, offers a respite from the bustle of daily life. This quaint, welcoming outdoor oasis is open to residents who want to read a good book outside, write, meditate, walk around, or chat with others.
The private terraced sculpture garden is flourishing with beautiful flora, fruit trees, ponds, seating/lounge areas with tables and chairs, and amazing views of the San Francisco skyline. Our residents truly enjoy being surrounded by the city, yet protected in an elevated and enclosed slice of Eden.
|
Q:
SPI не работает на beaglebone black с debian 9.4?
На версии debian 7.8 все работало хорошо. Недавно пришло несколько новых BBB и я попытался загрузить свою копию ОС, но загрузка не происходит (с прошлыми BBB все нормально), вместо змейки светодиодов просто горит D4.
Решил перейти на последнюю версию, она нормально загружается, только проблема в том что SPI уже не работает, со всем остальным все нормально. Использую spi1.
Остался бы 7.8, но он не загружается(
bb.org-overlays обновлял
Вот мой uEnv.txt:
#Docs: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:U-boot_partitioning_layout_2.0
uname_r=4.14.49-ti-r54
#uuid=
#dtb=
###U-Boot Overlays###
###Documentation: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#U-Boot_Overlays
###Master Enable
enable_uboot_overlays=1
###
###Overide capes with eeprom
uboot_overlay_addr0=/lib/firmware/BB-CAN1-00A0.dtbo
uboot_overlay_addr1=/lib/firmware/BB-DGPIO1-00A0.dtbo
uboot_overlay_addr2=/lib/firmware/BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo
#uboot_overlay_addr3=/lib/firmware/<file3>.dtbo
###
###Additional custom capes
#uboot_overlay_addr4=/lib/firmware/<file4>.dtbo
#uboot_overlay_addr5=/lib/firmware/<file5>.dtbo
#uboot_overlay_addr6=/lib/firmware/<file6>.dtbo
#uboot_overlay_addr7=/lib/firmware/<file7>.dtbo
###
###Custom Cape
#dtb_overlay=/lib/firmware/BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo
###
###Disable auto loading of virtual capes (emmc/video/wireless/adc)
#disable_uboot_overlay_emmc=1
disable_uboot_overlay_video=1
disable_uboot_overlay_audio=1
disable_uboot_overlay_wireless=1
disable_uboot_overlay_adc=1
###
###PRUSS OPTIONS
###pru_rproc (4.4.x-ti kernel)
#uboot_overlay_pru=/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-RPROC-4-4-TI-00A0.dtbo
###pru_rproc (4.9.x-ti kernel)
#uboot_overlay_pru=/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-RPROC-4-9-TI-00A0.dtbo
###pru_rproc (4.14.x-ti kernel)
uboot_overlay_pru=/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-RPROC-4-14-TI-00A0.dtbo
###pru_uio (4.4.x-ti, 4.9.x-ti, 4.14.x-ti & mainline/bone kernel)
#uboot_overlay_pru=/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-UIO-00A0.dtbo
###
###Cape Universal Enable
enable_uboot_cape_universal=1
###
###Debug: disable uboot autoload of Cape
#disable_uboot_overlay_addr0=1
#disable_uboot_overlay_addr1=1
#disable_uboot_overlay_addr2=1
#disable_uboot_overlay_addr3=1
###
###U-Boot fdt tweaks... (60000 = 384KB)
#uboot_fdt_buffer=0x60000
###U-Boot Overlays###
cmdline=coherent_pool=1M net.ifnames=0 quiet
#In the event of edid real failures, uncomment this next line:
#cmdline=coherent_pool=1M net.ifnames=0 quiet video=HDMI-A-1:1024x768@60e
##enable Generic eMMC Flasher:
##make sure, these tools are installed: dosfstools rsync
#cmdline=init=/opt/scripts/tools/eMMC/init-eMMC-flasher-v3.sh
ls -al /dev/spidev*:
crw-rw---- 1 root spi 153, 1 Aug 6 11:20 /dev/spidev2.0
crw-rw---- 1 root spi 153, 0 Aug 6 11:20 /dev/spidev2.1
судя по "sudo /opt/scripts/tools/version.sh" конфликтов нет:
git:/opt/scripts/:[31292bce1d4b35b497cc7a013d6d57e7e1f4f5c4]
eeprom:[A335BNLT00C01618BBBK1D78]
model:[TI_AM335x_BeagleBone_Black]
dogtag:[BeagleBoard.org Debian Image 2018-06-17]
bootloader:[eMMC-(default)]:[/dev/mmcblk1]:[U-Boot 2018.03-00002-gac9cce7c6a]:[location: dd MBR]
kernel:[4.14.49-ti-r54]
nodejs:[v6.14.3]
uboot_overlay_options:[enable_uboot_overlays=1]
uboot_overlay_options:[uboot_overlay_addr0=/lib/firmware/BB-CAN1-00A0.dtbo]
uboot_overlay_options:[uboot_overlay_addr1=/lib/firmware/BB-DGPIO1-00A0.dtbo]
uboot_overlay_options:[uboot_overlay_addr2=/lib/firmware/BB-SPIDEV1-00A0.dtbo]
uboot_overlay_options:[disable_uboot_overlay_video=1]
uboot_overlay_options:[disable_uboot_overlay_audio=1]
uboot_overlay_options:[disable_uboot_overlay_wireless=1]
uboot_overlay_options:[disable_uboot_overlay_adc=1]
uboot_overlay_options:[uboot_overlay_pru=/lib/firmware/AM335X-PRU-RPROC-4-14-TI-00A0.dtbo]
uboot_overlay_options:[enable_uboot_cape_universal=1]
pkg check: to individually upgrade run: [sudo apt install --only-upgrade <pkg>]
pkg:[bb-cape-overlays]:[4.4.20180611.0-0rcnee0~stretch+20180611]
pkg:[bb-wl18xx-firmware]:[1.20180517-0rcnee0~stretch+20180517]
pkg:[kmod]:[23-2rcnee1~stretch+20171005]
pkg:[roboticscape]:[0.4.4-git20180608.0-0rcnee0~stretch+20180609]
pkg:[firmware-ti-connectivity]:[20170823-1rcnee1~stretch+20180328]
groups:[debian : debian adm kmem dialout cdrom floppy audio dip video plugdev users systemd-journal i2c bluetooth netdev cloud9ide gpio pwm eqep admin spi tisdk weston-launch xenomai]
cmdline:[console=ttyO0,115200n8 bone_capemgr.uboot_capemgr_enabled=1 root=/dev/mmcblk1p1 ro rootfstype=ext4 rootwait coherent_pool=1M net.ifnames=0 quiet]
dmesg | grep pinctrl-single
[ 1.021129] pinctrl-single 44e10800.pinmux: 142 pins at pa f9e10800 size 568
dmesg | grep gpio-of-helper
[ 1.022280] gpio-of-helper ocp:cape-universal: ready
END
dmesg ошибок вроде нет:
[ 0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.14.49-ti-r54 (root@b2-am57xx-beagle-x15-2gb) (gcc version 6.3.0 20170516 (Debian 6.3.0-18+deb9u1)) #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jun 15 22:14:13 UTC 2018
[ 0.000000] CPU: ARMv7 Processor [413fc082] revision 2 (ARMv7), cr=10c5387d
[ 0.000000] CPU: PIPT / VIPT nonaliasing data cache, VIPT aliasing instruction cache
[ 0.000000] OF: fdt: Machine model: TI AM335x BeagleBone Black
[ 0.000000] Memory policy: Data cache writeback
[ 0.000000] efi: Getting EFI parameters from FDT:
[ 0.000000] efi: UEFI not found.
[ 0.000000] cma: Reserved 48 MiB at 0x9c800000
[ 0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 130560
[ 0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat c15ed380, node_mem_map df961000
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 1148 pages used for memmap
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 130560 pages, LIFO batch:31
[ 0.000000] CPU: All CPU(s) started in SVC mode.
[ 0.000000] AM335X ES2.1 (sgx neon)
[ 0.000000] random: get_random_bytes called from start_kernel+0xac/0x460 with crng_init=0
[ 0.000000] percpu: Embedded 18 pages/cpu @df928000 s41548 r8192 d23988 u73728
[ 0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s41548 r8192 d23988 u73728 alloc=18*4096
[ 0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0
[ 0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on. Total pages: 129412
[ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyO0,115200n8 bone_capemgr.uboot_capemgr_enabled=1 root=/dev/mmcblk1p1 ro rootfstype=ext4 rootwait coherent_pool=1M net.ifnames=0 quiet
[ 0.000000] PID hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
[ 0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
[ 0.000000] Memory: 440488K/522240K available (13312K kernel code, 1168K rwdata, 4372K rodata, 1024K init, 673K bss, 32600K reserved, 49152K cma-reserved, 0K highmem)
[ 0.000000] Virtual kernel memory layout:
vector : 0xffff0000 - 0xffff1000 ( 4 kB)
fixmap : 0xffc00000 - 0xfff00000 (3072 kB)
vmalloc : 0xe0000000 - 0xff800000 ( 504 MB)
lowmem : 0xc0000000 - 0xdfe00000 ( 510 MB)
pkmap : 0xbfe00000 - 0xc0000000 ( 2 MB)
modules : 0xbf000000 - 0xbfe00000 ( 14 MB)
.text : 0xc0008000 - 0xc0e00000 (14304 kB)
.init : 0xc1400000 - 0xc1500000 (1024 kB)
.data : 0xc1500000 - 0xc16241a8 (1169 kB)
.bss : 0xc162ec1c - 0xc16d709c ( 674 kB)
[ 0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=64, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[ 0.000000] ftrace: allocating 42794 entries in 126 pages
[ 0.000000] Preemptible hierarchical RCU implementation.
[ 0.000000] RCU restricting CPUs from NR_CPUS=2 to nr_cpu_ids=1.
[ 0.000000] Tasks RCU enabled.
[ 0.000000] RCU: Adjusting geometry for rcu_fanout_leaf=16, nr_cpu_ids=1
[ 0.000000] NR_IRQS: 16, nr_irqs: 16, preallocated irqs: 16
[ 0.000000] IRQ: Found an INTC at 0xfa200000 (revision 5.0) with 128 interrupts
[ 0.000000] OMAP clockevent source: timer2 at 24000000 Hz
[ 0.000018] sched_clock: 32 bits at 24MHz, resolution 41ns, wraps every 89478484971ns
[ 0.000036] clocksource: timer1: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 79635851949 ns
[ 0.000047] OMAP clocksource: timer1 at 24000000 Hz
[ 0.000761] timer_probe: no matching timers found
[ 0.000980] Console: colour dummy device 80x30
[ 0.001006] WARNING: Your 'console=ttyO0' has been replaced by 'ttyS0'
[ 0.001010] This ensures that you still see kernel messages. Please
[ 0.001014] update your kernel commandline.
[ 0.001040] Calibrating delay loop... 995.32 BogoMIPS (lpj=1990656)
[ 0.046919] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[ 0.047194] Security Framework initialized
[ 0.047209] Yama: becoming mindful.
[ 0.047250] AppArmor: AppArmor disabled by boot time parameter
[ 0.047443] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[ 0.047457] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[ 0.048474] CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
[ 0.048985] CPU0: thread -1, cpu 0, socket -1, mpidr 0
[ 0.063037] Setting up static identity map for 0x80100000 - 0x80100060
[ 0.070939] Hierarchical SRCU implementation.
[ 0.082064] EFI services will not be available.
[ 0.086946] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
[ 0.086961] smp: Brought up 1 node, 1 CPU
[ 0.086972] SMP: Total of 1 processors activated (995.32 BogoMIPS).
[ 0.086980] CPU: All CPU(s) started in SVC mode.
[ 0.088557] devtmpfs: initialized
[ 0.103354] VFP support v0.3: implementor 41 architecture 3 part 30 variant c rev 3
[ 0.103857] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 7645041785100000 ns
[ 0.103882] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[ 0.107882] xor: measuring software checksum speed
[ 0.146986] arm4regs : 1217.000 MB/sec
[ 0.186917] 8regs : 1091.000 MB/sec
[ 0.226916] 32regs : 1088.000 MB/sec
[ 0.266914] neon : 1675.000 MB/sec
[ 0.266921] xor: using function: neon (1675.000 MB/sec)
[ 0.266938] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[ 0.267725] DMI not present or invalid.
[ 0.268173] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[ 0.272088] DMA: preallocated 1024 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations
[ 0.299899] omap_hwmod: debugss: _wait_target_disable failed
[ 0.340516] cpuidle: using governor menu
[ 0.346549] OMAP GPIO hardware version 0.1
[ 0.360218] No ATAGs?
[ 0.360240] hw-breakpoint: debug architecture 0x4 unsupported.
[ 0.360581] omap4_sram_init:Unable to allocate sram needed to handle errata I688
[ 0.360592] omap4_sram_init:Unable to get sram pool needed to handle errata I688
[ 0.454975] raid6: neonx2 gen() 1883 MB/s
[ 0.522943] raid6: neonx2 xor() 1497 MB/s
[ 0.522952] raid6: using algorithm neonx2 gen() 1883 MB/s
[ 0.522958] raid6: .... xor() 1497 MB/s, rmw enabled
[ 0.522965] raid6: using neon recovery algorithm
[ 0.530266] edma 49000000.edma: TI EDMA DMA engine driver
[ 0.533515] SCSI subsystem initialized
[ 0.535115] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[ 0.535411] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 0.535473] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 0.535593] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 0.536163] omap_i2c 44e0b000.i2c: could not find pctldev for node /ocp/l4_wkup@44c00000/scm@210000/pinmux@800/pinmux_i2c0_pins, deferring probe
[ 0.537616] omap_i2c 4819c000.i2c: bus 2 rev0.11 at 100 kHz
[ 0.537889] media: Linux media interface: v0.10
[ 0.537940] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[ 0.538105] pps_core: LinuxPPS API ver. 1 registered
[ 0.538113] pps_core: Software ver. 5.3.6 - Copyright 2005-2007 Rodolfo Giometti <[email protected]>
[ 0.538133] PTP clock support registered
[ 0.538256] dmi: Firmware registration failed.
[ 0.538708] omap-mailbox 480c8000.mailbox: omap mailbox rev 0x400
[ 0.543270] Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Initialized.
[ 0.543972] NetLabel: Initializing
[ 0.543983] NetLabel: domain hash size = 128
[ 0.543989] NetLabel: protocols = UNLABELED CIPSOv4 CALIPSO
[ 0.544075] NetLabel: unlabeled traffic allowed by default
[ 0.547441] clocksource: Switched to clocksource timer1
[ 0.713973] VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.6.0
[ 0.714091] VFS: Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
[ 0.726069] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[ 0.726953] TCP established hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[ 0.727000] TCP bind hash table entries: 4096 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
[ 0.727058] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 4096 bind 4096)
[ 0.727169] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.727192] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.727411] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[ 0.736428] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
[ 0.736437] RPC: Registered udp transport module.
[ 0.736443] RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
[ 0.736448] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
[ 0.737070] Unpacking initramfs...
[ 1.014490] Freeing initrd memory: 4360K
[ 1.015125] hw perfevents: no interrupt-affinity property for /pmu, guessing.
[ 1.015393] hw perfevents: enabled with armv7_cortex_a8 PMU driver, 5 counters available
[ 1.017263] audit: initializing netlink subsys (disabled)
[ 1.018467] audit: type=2000 audit(1.016:1): state=initialized audit_enabled=0 res=1
[ 1.018600] workingset: timestamp_bits=14 max_order=17 bucket_order=3
[ 1.019512] random: fast init done
[ 1.024702] zbud: loaded
[ 1.032024] NFS: Registering the id_resolver key type
[ 1.032077] Key type id_resolver registered
[ 1.032083] Key type id_legacy registered
[ 1.032102] nfs4filelayout_init: NFSv4 File Layout Driver Registering...
[ 1.032461] fuse init (API version 7.26)
[ 1.033362] orangefs_debugfs_init: called with debug mask: :none: :0:
[ 1.033571] orangefs_init: module version upstream loaded
[ 1.033580] SGI XFS with ACLs, security attributes, realtime, no debug enabled
[ 1.044491] Key type asymmetric registered
[ 1.044507] Asymmetric key parser 'x509' registered
[ 1.044647] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 243)
[ 1.048988] io scheduler noop registered
[ 1.048999] io scheduler deadline registered
[ 1.049384] io scheduler cfq registered (default)
[ 1.049395] io scheduler mq-deadline registered
[ 1.050974] pinctrl-single 44e10800.pinmux: 142 pins at pa f9e10800 size 568
[ 1.052539] gpio-of-helper ocp:cape-universal: ready
[ 1.054773] wkup_m3_ipc 44e11324.wkup_m3_ipc: could not get rproc handle
[ 1.056309] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 6 ports, IRQ sharing disabled
[ 1.059929] 44e09000.serial: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x44e09000 (irq = 30, base_baud = 3000000) is a 8250
[ 1.076271] console [ttyS0] enabled
[ 1.078768] omap_rng 48310000.rng: Random Number Generator ver. 20
[ 1.079969] [drm] Initialized vgem 1.0.0 20120112 for virtual device on minor 0
[ 1.080074] usbcore: registered new interface driver udl
[ 1.084180] at24 2-0054: 32768 byte 24c256 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write
[ 1.084474] at24 2-0055: 32768 byte 24c256 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write
[ 1.084706] at24 2-0056: 32768 byte 24c256 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write
[ 1.084924] at24 2-0057: 32768 byte 24c256 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write
[ 1.089821] libphy: Fixed MDIO Bus: probed
[ 1.090664] CAN device driver interface
[ 1.092033] c_can_platform 481d0000.can: c_can_platform device registered (regs=fa1d0000, irq=36)
[ 1.143478] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: davinci mdio revision 1.6, bus freq 1000000
[ 1.143494] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: detected phy mask fffffffe
[ 1.143915] davinci_mdio: dt: updated phy_id[0] from phy_mask[fffffffe]
[ 1.157843] libphy: 4a101000.mdio: probed
[ 1.157872] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: phy[0]: device 4a101000.mdio:00, driver SMSC LAN8710/LAN8720
[ 1.158900] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet: Detected MACID = 74:e1:82:86:c7:8c
[ 1.159010] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet: initialized cpsw ale version 1.4
[ 1.159020] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet: ALE Table size 1024
[ 1.159058] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet: cpts: overflow check period 1250 (jiffies)
[ 1.161823] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[ 1.161882] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[ 1.162072] ehci-omap: OMAP-EHCI Host Controller driver
[ 1.162573] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[ 1.165326] am335x-phy-driver 47401300.usb-phy: 47401300.usb-phy supply vcc not found, using dummy regulator
[ 1.168221] am335x-phy-driver 47401b00.usb-phy: 47401b00.usb-phy supply vcc not found, using dummy regulator
[ 1.182514] omap_rtc 44e3e000.rtc: already running
[ 1.183279] omap_rtc 44e3e000.rtc: registered as rtc0
[ 1.184580] i2c /dev entries driver
[ 1.187237] omap_wdt: OMAP Watchdog Timer Rev 0x01: initial timeout 60 sec
[ 1.187781] softdog: initialized. soft_noboot=0 soft_margin=60 sec soft_panic=0 (nowayout=1)
[ 1.188885] cpuidle: enable-method property 'ti,am3352' found operations
[ 1.189370] sdhci: Secure Digital Host Controller Interface driver
[ 1.189376] sdhci: Copyright(c) Pierre Ossman
[ 1.189811] omap_hsmmc 48060000.mmc: Got CD GPIO
[ 1.267847] sdhci-pltfm: SDHCI platform and OF driver helper
[ 1.269301] ledtrig-cpu: registered to indicate activity on CPUs
[ 1.269702] omap-aes 53500000.aes: OMAP AES hw accel rev: 3.2
[ 1.270166] omap-aes 53500000.aes: will run requests pump with realtime priority
[ 1.275953] omap-sham 53100000.sham: hw accel on OMAP rev 4.3
[ 1.279337] hidraw: raw HID events driver (C) Jiri Kosina
[ 1.280494] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 1.280505] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[ 1.283629] remoteproc remoteproc0: wkup_m3 is available
[ 1.287915] wireguard: WireGuard 0.0.20180531 loaded. See www.wireguard.com for information.
[ 1.287927] wireguard: Copyright (C) 2015-2018 Jason A. Donenfeld <[email protected]>. All Rights Reserved.
[ 1.288773] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 1.294504] Segment Routing with IPv6
[ 1.294590] mip6: Mobile IPv6
[ 1.294607] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 1.294624] can: controller area network core (rev 20170425 abi 9)
[ 1.294724] NET: Registered protocol family 29
[ 1.294840] Key type dns_resolver registered
[ 1.294847] mpls_gso: MPLS GSO support
[ 1.294858] NET: Registered protocol family 44
[ 1.295204] omap_voltage_late_init: Voltage driver support not added
[ 1.302186] ThumbEE CPU extension supported.
[ 1.302213] Registering SWP/SWPB emulation handler
[ 1.303214] registered taskstats version 1
[ 1.303359] zswap: loaded using pool lzo/zbud
[ 1.306420] Btrfs loaded, crc32c=crc32c-generic
[ 1.306523] ima: No TPM chip found, activating TPM-bypass! (rc=-19)
[ 1.306550] ima: Allocated hash algorithm: sha256
[ 1.322100] mmc1: new high speed MMC card at address 0001
[ 1.322997] mmcblk1: mmc1:0001 M62704 3.56 GiB
[ 1.323527] mmcblk1boot0: mmc1:0001 M62704 partition 1 2.00 MiB
[ 1.323934] mmcblk1boot1: mmc1:0001 M62704 partition 2 2.00 MiB
[ 1.324314] mmcblk1rpmb: mmc1:0001 M62704 partition 3 512 KiB
[ 1.325856] mmcblk1: p1
[ 1.353081] input: tps65217_pwr_but as /devices/platform/ocp/44e0b000.i2c/i2c-0/0-0024/tps65217-pwrbutton/input/input0
[ 1.353683] tps65217 0-0024: TPS65217 ID 0xe version 1.2
[ 1.354169] at24 0-0050: 32768 byte 24c256 EEPROM, writable, 1 bytes/write
[ 1.354281] omap_i2c 44e0b000.i2c: bus 0 rev0.11 at 400 kHz
[ 1.356086] remoteproc remoteproc0: powering up wkup_m3
[ 1.356202] remoteproc remoteproc0: Booting fw image am335x-pm-firmware.elf, size 217168
[ 1.359754] remoteproc remoteproc0: remote processor wkup_m3 is now up
[ 1.359774] wkup_m3_ipc 44e11324.wkup_m3_ipc: CM3 Firmware Version = 0x193
[ 1.366567] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1: MUSB HDRC host driver
[ 1.366606] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 1.366932] usb usb1: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002
[ 1.366943] usb usb1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
[ 1.366952] usb usb1: Product: MUSB HDRC host driver
[ 1.366960] usb usb1: Manufacturer: Linux 4.14.49-ti-r54 musb-hcd
[ 1.366967] usb usb1: SerialNumber: musb-hdrc.1
[ 1.367921] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.367990] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[ 1.371739] omap_rtc 44e3e000.rtc: setting system clock to 2018-08-07 11:00:30 UTC (1533639630)
[ 1.371759] of_cfs_init
[ 1.371932] of_cfs_init: OK
[ 1.372580] ALSA device list:
[ 1.372588] No soundcards found.
[ 1.377337] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1024K
[ 1.527351] random: systemd-udevd: uninitialized urandom read (16 bytes read)
[ 1.528547] random: systemd-udevd: uninitialized urandom read (16 bytes read)
[ 1.528662] random: systemd-udevd: uninitialized urandom read (16 bytes read)
[ 4.241276] EXT4-fs (mmcblk1p1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[ 4.705238] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[ 4.742437] systemd[1]: systemd 232 running in system mode. (+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +IMA +APPARMOR +SMACK +SYSVINIT +UTMP +LIBCRYPTSETUP +GCRYPT +GNUTLS +ACL +XZ +LZ4 +SECCOMP +BLKID +ELFUTILS +KMOD +IDN)
[ 4.743188] systemd[1]: Detected architecture arm.
[ 4.744549] systemd[1]: Set hostname to <beaglebone>.
[ 5.372979] systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Socket (/dev/log).
[ 5.374044] systemd[1]: Started Forward Password Requests to Wall Directory Watch.
[ 5.374424] systemd[1]: Listening on Syslog Socket.
[ 5.374803] systemd[1]: Listening on udev Kernel Socket.
[ 5.375835] systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Audit Socket.
[ 5.376096] systemd[1]: Reached target Swap.
[ 5.376571] systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Socket.
[ 5.611651] EXT4-fs (mmcblk1p1): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro
[ 6.757147] systemd-journald[257]: Received request to flush runtime journal from PID 1
[ 11.456639] nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (8192 buckets, 32768 max)
[ 12.900236] net eth0: initializing cpsw version 1.12 (0)
[ 12.972921] SMSC LAN8710/LAN8720 4a101000.mdio:00: attached PHY driver [SMSC LAN8710/LAN8720] (mii_bus:phy_addr=4a101000.mdio:00, irq=POLL)
[ 13.002152] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 13.642293] using random self ethernet address
[ 13.642314] using random host ethernet address
[ 13.819827] using random self ethernet address
[ 13.819848] using random host ethernet address
[ 14.313295] Mass Storage Function, version: 2009/09/11
[ 14.313323] LUN: removable file: (no medium)
[ 14.532683] usb0: HOST MAC 74:e1:82:86:c7:8d
[ 14.536510] usb0: MAC 74:e1:82:86:c7:8e
[ 14.551963] usb1: HOST MAC 74:e1:82:86:c7:90
[ 14.554683] usb1: MAC 74:e1:82:86:c7:91
[ 14.816968] configfs-gadget gadget: high-speed config #1: c
[ 15.297152] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): usb0: link is not ready
[ 15.503720] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): usb1: link is not ready
[ 15.572219] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): usb0: link becomes ready
[ 16.032992] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 100Mbps/Full - flow control rx/tx
[ 16.033081] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 16.284080] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[ 16.284183] 8021q: adding VLAN 0 to HW filter on device eth0
[ 24.227854] random: crng init done
[ 24.227879] random: 7 urandom warning(s) missed due to ratelimiting
[ 26.656410] pruss 4a300000.pruss: creating PRU cores and other child platform devices
[ 26.733708] remoteproc remoteproc1: 4a334000.pru is available
[ 26.733838] pru-rproc 4a334000.pru: PRU rproc node /ocp/pruss_soc_bus@4a326004/pruss@0/pru@34000 probed successfully
[ 26.860131] remoteproc remoteproc2: 4a338000.pru is available
[ 26.860259] pru-rproc 4a338000.pru: PRU rproc node /ocp/pruss_soc_bus@4a326004/pruss@0/pru@38000 probed successfully
A:
Вообщем версия eMMC изменилась с 5 на 5.1 и в старых версия не поддерживается.
Как я понимаю изменились адреса разделов.
Нужно обновить ядро Debian 7.9
sudo apt-get update
sudo cd /opt/scripts/tools/
sudo git pull
sudo ./update_kernel.sh
sudo reboot
Теперь устанавливается без проблем. С spi на 9.4 так и не понял в чем проблема
|
free patches to Download feel free to link to this page
DX200 Patches by Dan (studio-central
member)
Here is the sysex of my DX200
user bank (128 patches). The patches are in no particular order and many
don't have any sequence pattern data. (One of the quirks of the DX200
and AN200 is that the patch data is inseperable from the sequence pattern data.)
A few of the patches are personal favorites from the DX200's factory presets
(or tweaked vewrsions thereof) and quite a few are DX7 patches that I've found
and, in many cases, tweaked. One of my personal favorites is #124...sounds
just like the PPG Wave at the beginning of Robert Palmer's, "I Didn't Mean to
Turn You On".
Proteus 2000 Now in
SoundDiver and Sysex format"Electronica Collection"
Final Update 15
Here's 127
presets--a full bank-- made with a stock proteus 2000. Lots of industrial
noises, LFO's synced to clocks, drum loops (yep, figured it out) ambient and
trance effects, and a better OBX horn patch then you'll find in the factory
programs. There's pads, clocked voxs, arpeggios, space FX too. TX
basses are now refined 'cause you have to have these just right. Just
added some well tweaked orchestras, massive pads and a somewhat better pipe
organ (it will improve)! Oh! You also get some "default" patches that I made
that optimize knob twists along the lines of the P2k conventions. These
are incredibly valuable because you can simply change instruments and get hundreds
of great analog-ish tones. And check out the classic guitar--didn't quite finish
it tho.
This is
the beginning of what may end up being a commercial bank. So it's a bank
in development right now-very experimental--as I am pushing the p2k to its
limits to see what I can get away with. You'll find more than a few
surprises as some sounds I've made have nothing like it in the factory banks.
As of Update 13: Now that I've
made 127 presets I have now started the task of refining and adding the tweakheadz
touch of quality. I've made the file available in SoundDiver format The
tentative title of the project is called the "Proteus 2000 Electronica Collection".
Keep in mind these are not what I consider to be professionally finished though
several patches are now in their second or third revision. It generally
takes me 5-6 revisions of a patch to make something that's 1. good sounding,
2. useable and 3. sonically inspiring (and in my products, I may go up to 10
revisions). Most of these have 2 out of the three, but there are some standouts
that will show you what your p2k can do.
Note: If you do not know
what sysex is, please read up on it before you mess with transfers of data.
This bank requires a sequencer that supports sysex in Midifiles, like Cakewalk,
VST or Logic. Set your sequencer to 120 bpm and make sure no other midi
events are sounding. Backup your current bank 1st. These sounds
are radical and are significantly louder than the stock proteus presets.
Here's examples
of my work programming various synth modules. The .MID files were generated
by Unisyn (PC). The .ZIP files were made with XOR2 (Atari). If you have Unisyn
or XoR (any platform, but not the Amiga) all the files will work. If you don't
have either of these programs (buy them!) you may put the .MID files in any
sequencer that will read MID sysex files (not all will) when you press play
the data will be sent to your synth. On the Proteus units, set your UNIT ID
as follows: Proteus 1XR (00) Proteus 2 (01) Proteus 3 (02). Again, the ZIP files
will not work without XoR or Unisyn. Always back up your data before messing
with sysex.
Alesis QS7/8/R
Tweakz QS.
Here's about 80 or so programs (no mixes) I found in my libarary that I
think are unique, though some may be represented on the expando banks. A
lot of these were programs I developed for the sanctuary and classical cards,
but I revised them to make them work with the stock QS8/7/6.1/R. This
is a Zip file and it will load into Unisyn only. Unisyn came on your
CD so use it.
Download and enjoy.
Emu Proteus
The
Ultimate Proteus General Midi Bank. These sounds were designed for a
Proteus /1XR with the Invision Upgrade installed. 255 sounds. The
1st 127 are GM sounds (snooz!) and the 2nd 127 are really cool big and bold
sounds. You need a Proteus XR to get to the sounds 0-63 and 128-255.
If you don't have the Invision upgrade board (which adds another
4 megs of samples) installed all the sounds will not work--but many will!
.MID format. Filename is
p1_gmidi.mid
The Vector Plus
Orchestral Bank for the Proteus 2. This bank contains 64 fat
orchestral textures. They have been road tested for several years in my
studio. Make sure you play the controllers on these sounds as the wheels
are programmed to dynamically "morph" the timbres in real time. Check out
Chgo Symph, Big Timpani, Soft Orch. Get
vectorp2.zip. The programs were made on a stock non-XR Proteus 2 and
will load into patch locations 64-127. This is some of my better work. Free!
The Proteus/3 is
very much underrated as a module, given all you can do with it. Here's my
Eclectic Collection--64 "worldish" sounding presets. Lots of deep layers,
sound fx, environmental stuff, and, you might not have known this but the
p/3 does excellent electric guitars--check out my Fender Mustang, Gibson
ES 335. Download
rich_p3.mid.
Wavestation
SR
Updated 9/21/98
Here's a Unisyn Bank for the Wavestation SR. It
contains 50 performances, 34 patches and 32 Wave Sequences. This file is
zipped. Do back up your data before you load this bank as XoR Unisyn banks
for the SR will replace all your SR's RAM. Download
rich_vfx.zip. Always be careful with the VFX. Back everything up. XoR's
VFX profile and the VFX OS may cause strange results sometimes.
|
Q:
script to convert GB to TB
I have (multiple) files like below list. Few of them has both the values in TB and couple of files in GB. Now if you clearly see the file output there are two rows with Total capacity and Capacity used. I can do this with awk to add up both the rows separately but I see few are in GB. Would it be possible to write script which will check if values are in GB or TB, if it's in GB then convert to TB (1024).
[root@localhost maneesh]# cat server1.txt
Total capacity 2.0 TB
Capacity used 735.23 GB
[root@localhost maneesh]#
Basically, at the end I want all my values to be presented in TB.
Any help on this would be appreciated.
A:
You could check if $4 is GB and divide $3 by 1024 in case it is. If infile contains:
Total capacity 2.0 TB
Capacity used 735.23 GB
You can do something like this (parse.awk):
/Total capacity/ { if($4 == "GB") $3 /= 1024; tot += $3 }
/Capacity used/ { if($4 == "GB") $3 /= 1024; used += $3 }
END { print "Total: " tot " TB, Used: " used " TB" }'
And if you run it like this:
awk -f parse.awk infile infile
You get:
Total: 4 TB, Used: 1.436 TB
|
By Hocine LOUKKAF on 12/1/2019
With Wiseman suspended until January, Edwards has taken the first spot of the mock draft. In the battle of guards, Haliburton may be the least hyped but the most efficient on offense and defense.
#1 Anthony Edwards, 6-5 SG , Georgia, FR (20.6pts 5.9rbds 3as)
With Wiseman suspended until Jnauary, Edwards makes a strong case as the potential number one pick. A complete SG who can still improve his percentages (41% fg) and consistency (two 6pts games), he’s also a nice defender (2.3st 0.9bl). His 33pt half against MSU have been one of the most memorable showing over the last years.
#2 James Wiseman, 7-1 C, Memphis, FR (19.7pts 10.7rbds 3bl in 23min)
A pure big,Wiseman will have to wait until January to play due to suspension. He will fit perfectly for a team which needs a big may slip because shooting is so hyped. Very efficient scorer, good FT shooter. Can be a nice rim protector and offensive anchor.
#3 Tyrese Haliburton, 6-5 PG, Iowa State, SO (15.7pts 8.9as 6rbds 51% fg 38% 3pt 3st)
Only a year older than Ball/Maledon and the same age as Anthony, there’s no reason not to have Haliburton there. Reluctant to shoot during his freshman year, Haliburton has more than doubled his scoring stats while still keeping his percentages high and being a top five passer in college basketball. Moreover, he is a nice defender whose only interest is to make the team win. If you need a PG to lead your team, he may be the best choice.
#4 Lamelo Ball, 6-6 PG, Illara Hawks, 2001 (17pts 7.4rbds 6.8as)
From hoops celebrity to potential top 5 pick, it has been a long journey for Lamelo who is now playing in Australia. Of course, he has that size, creativity and passing ability that help him having two triple doubles in his last two games. Yet, his inconsistency from three (2/9, 5/11, 1/5, 4/7, 1/11 in the last five games) is so flagrant that it penalizes his stock and his team. A potential number one pick if he can improve that shot selection.
#5 Theo Maledon, 6-4 PG, ASVEL (France), 2001 (6.4pts 3.6as 1.2rbds Euroleague)
Maledon may not be as hyped as the other guard prospects but he’s arguably in the toughest situation. Playing for a Euroleague team with Jordan Taylor as main competition may limit his playing time, but it also helps him learn from his mistakes and his older teammate. Tony Parker’s protege has proved at several occasions why he was a projected top 10 (7pts 5as 1to vs Fenerbahce, 10pts 7as 0to vs Efes).
#6 Deni Avdija, 6-8 SF, Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), 2001 (2.2pts 1.9rbds Euroleague 8.3pts 6.7rbds 1.7as Israel)
The Euro U21 MVP struggles from the same kind of situation as Maledon playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His playing time in Euroleague is even more limited (2.2pts 1.9rbds in 11min) while the Israeli championship is not exactly the top championship compared to Spain, Italy or even France/Germany. Yet, Avdija is a mature player with a complete skillset and deceptive athleticism. Enough to warrant him a top 10 pick.
#7 Nico Mannion, 6-3 PG, Arizona, FR (16pts 5.6as 47% 3pt)
Maybe a notch below the other PG prospects due to his lack of length, Mannion has a nice freshman season with Arizona and could be a top 10 pick by the end of the year. A nice shooter and creative passer, he could work on limiting his turnovers but has all the tools you need from a floor general.
#8 Killian Hayes, 6-5 PG, Ratiopharm Ulm, 2001 (12.5pts 6.9as)
The second French guard prospect, Hayes has benefited a lot from leaving Cholet for Ulm and playing under former Euroleague star Jaka Lakovic. After struggling with his turnovers (still 3.5per game), Hayes has been better lately with two games with only one turnover. He’s still inconsistent from three (31%), yet a far better number than his 18% from last year with Cholet.
#9 Jaden McDaniels, 6-9 SF, Washington, FR (13.9pts 5.3rbds 2.5as)
McDaniels has the tools, length and athleticism to be a top 5 pick. Yet, you’re waiting for better production from someone with his size at SF. His rebounding and defense numbers are decent (1.5st 0.8bl) while he’s clearly not been efficient thus far on offense with 39% fg and 29% from three, numbers he needs to mprove not to slip lower in the lottery.
#10 Onyeka Okongwu, 6-10 PF/C, USC, FR (16.8pts 8.4rbds 3.1bl)
Lamelo’s former teammate has been a terror on the court for the Trojans. Shooting almost 60% from the field and a nicer 80% from the free throw line, Okongwu also is one of the best shot blockers in the nation with more than three swats a game. He could be a Capela type of center as a good runner who finishes lobs, protects the rim and that you can’t not foul in the clutch time.
#11 Oscar Tshiebwe, 6-9 PF/C, WVU, FR (12.5pts 9.8rbds 1.2bl)
A rawer prospect than other C prospects, Tshiebwe is an incredible athlete who could end up the best big of this draft. His 70% from the free throw line is a good sign while he already had two spectacular showings against Pittsburgh (20pts 17rbds 3bl) and Wichita State (19pts 18rbds)
#12 Cole Anthony, 6-3 PG, UNC, FR (20.7pts 7.3rbds 4as)
A year older than most freshmen, Anthony is already leading UNC and showing his grit in every game. The question is, can he be a real PG or is he just a diminutive SG ? His 4as/3.6to is bad and his overall 39%, albeit with 36% from three, needs to be improved.
#13 Aaron Nesmith, 6-7 SF, Vanderbilt, SO (23.7pts 5rbds 54% 3pt)
Maybe a surprise that high, the Vanderbilt sophomore has a gift you can’t teach shooting. Averaging 54% from three with a stunning nine attempts per game (sic), Nesmith had only one game under 42% from three, and he still scored 36% from three in this game. A decent defender, his shooting could be enough to guarantee him a lottery selection.
#14 Isaiah Stewart, 6-9 PF/C, Washington,FR (17.3pts 6.7rbds 2.2bl)
Projected in the top 10 by most draft addicts, Stewart looks more like a Dale/Anthony Davis type of big men than your offensive anchor. He is a rock solid center that defends hard but may lacks some footspeed in the fast running modern NBA.
#15 RJ Hampton, 6-5 SG/PG, New Zealand Breakers, 2001 (10pts 4.4rbds 2.6as)
More of a combo than most other guard prospects, Hampton is still hard to evaluate. Neither is he a pure passing PG (2.6as for 1.6to) nor has he proved he was a flat out scorer (one game only with 20pts or more). He still is a nice talent with length who was a top five senior in his class and has room to improve.
#16 Vernon Carey Jr, 6-11 C, Duke, FR (18.9pts 9.6rbds 2.4bl)
Carey may lack some degree of length or athleticism but at least he produces. Shooting more than 60% from the field and displaying the ability to protect the rim and rebound, Carey will help a team in need of a big. Could still work on his overall IQ and FT shooting.
#17 Jay Scrubb, 6-6 SG/SF, John Logan College (Juco), SO (22.7pts 6.7rbds 2as)
The Louisville commit has all the tools to be a top scorer in the NBA with long arms, a 40in vertical leap and a sweet stroke. Yet, he may already be concerned with next year as his 3pt % has fallen from 46% to 22% (10/44 since the start of the season) while he’s averaging only 2as for 4.3tos.
#18 Paul Reed, 6-9 PF, DePaul, JR (15.2pts 10.4rbds 3.5bl 1.6st)
Reed may be the most complete PF in this draft. Shooting 43% from three, albeit on small attempts number, he’s an impressive rim protector and rebounder who has helped turn DePaul into a winning institution, which had not been the case for more than a decade.
#19 Jamih’us Ramsey, 6-4 SG, Texas Tech, FR (17.3pts 5.9rbds 46% 3pt)
Still inconsistent (three games with 75% or more and three games with 25% or less from three), the Texas Tech freshman is built like a football player and has the tools to be a nice two-way player down the road. Maybe a better prospect than Culver last season.
#20 Romeo Weems, 6-7 SF, DePaul, FR (9.1pts 5.9rbds 2.1as 1.6st 0.7bl 44% 3pt)
Playing behind Paul Reed, Weems has the kind of versatility to develop into both an offensive and defensive Swiss knife in the NBA.
#21 Obi Toppin, 6-9 PF, Dayton, SO (23pts 8.3rbds 1.5bl 50% 3pt)
Toppin’s impressive numbers may be limied by the fact that he’s an old sophomore who will turn 22 in March. His lack of footspeed and leaping reactivity may also limit his defensive potential in the NBA.
#22 Tyrese Maxey, 6-3 SG/PG, Kentucky, FR (14.7pts 2.9rbds)
The Kentucky freshman has been the offensive leader of his team. He’s maybe too much of a combo now with work to do on his outside shooting (34% from three) and overall defense (3.6rbds 0.7st in 32min) to be considered a better prospect.
#23 Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, FR (13.8pts 9.8rbds 2.5as)
Robinson-Earl has been a nice scorer but his lack of length (0.3bl) hurts him as a PF. At least, he has displayed nice efficiency from three (40%).
#24 Saddiq Bey, 6-8 SF, Villanova, SO (13.7pts 4.7rbds 2.7as 48% 3pt)
Bey is having a nice sophomore season as he show the type of versatile player he is. Shooting more than 40% from three while averaging an almost 3a/to ratio are nice indicators for a glue guy SF.
#25 Jalen Smith, 6-10 PF, Maryland, SO (14.1pts 9.4rbds 1.9bl)
Smith is the perfect player you need to build a solid paint. Yet, he has shown no potential of an outside shot despite shooting 78% from the FT line, which could hinder his possibility to even be a first round pick as a PF.
#27 Mamadi Diakite, 6-9 PF, Virginia, SR (13.9pts 7.3rbds 50% 3pt)
A late blooming prospect, Diakite has doubled his scoring stats while playing only nine more minutes. He’s still the same hard nosed defender, two strengths that could make him a first round pick.
#26 Jordan Nwora, 6-8 SF, Louisville, SR (21.9pts 6.9rbds 50% 3pt)
Limited by his lack of athleticism and defensive potential (0.7st 0.15bl), Nwora has become a potential stretch combo with 50% from three on almost six attempts.
#28 Joel Ayayi, 6-5 SG/PG, Gonzaga, SO (9.2pts 6.6rbds 3.7as 44% 3pt)
After redshirting and playing limited minutes his freshman season, the former World Cup U19 All-Team member is having a nice season displaying his versatility as a combo guard. With five games with at least 7rbds and 4as while shooting 40+% from three and averaging a 3 a/to ratio, Ayayi has the numbers to end up higher in this draft if he keeps playing like that.
#29 Aaron Henry, 6-6 SF/SG, Michigan State, SO (12.1pts 2.8rbds 2as 1st 1bl 47% 3pt)
After his freshman season and with several players gone, we could expect a better sophomore season from Henry. Though, Henry has become a far better shooter while still keeping his turnovers low. If he can improve his weak rebounding numbers considering his physical tools, he could end up being picked in the early 20s.
#30 Filip Petrusev, 6-11 PF/C, Gonzaga, SO (16.1pts 8.7rbds 1.4l)
Petrusev has been the leader of a strong Gonzaga team this season. He’s limited in term of length and athleticism but is a mature player who could produce off the bench or alongside a more athletic stretch big.
|
#
# cgi/session.rb - session support for cgi scripts
#
# Copyright (C) 2001 Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto
# Copyright (C) 2000 Network Applied Communication Laboratory, Inc.
# Copyright (C) 2000 Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan
#
# Author: Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto
#
# Documentation: William Webber ([email protected])
require 'cgi'
require 'tmpdir'
class CGI
# == Overview
#
# This file provides the CGI::Session class, which provides session
# support for CGI scripts. A session is a sequence of HTTP requests
# and responses linked together and associated with a single client.
# Information associated with the session is stored
# on the server between requests. A session id is passed between client
# and server with every request and response, transparently
# to the user. This adds state information to the otherwise stateless
# HTTP request/response protocol.
#
# == Lifecycle
#
# A CGI::Session instance is created from a CGI object. By default,
# this CGI::Session instance will start a new session if none currently
# exists, or continue the current session for this client if one does
# exist. The +new_session+ option can be used to either always or
# never create a new session. See #new() for more details.
#
# #delete() deletes a session from session storage. It
# does not however remove the session id from the client. If the client
# makes another request with the same id, the effect will be to start
# a new session with the old session's id.
#
# == Setting and retrieving session data.
#
# The Session class associates data with a session as key-value pairs.
# This data can be set and retrieved by indexing the Session instance
# using '[]', much the same as hashes (although other hash methods
# are not supported).
#
# When session processing has been completed for a request, the
# session should be closed using the close() method. This will
# store the session's state to persistent storage. If you want
# to store the session's state to persistent storage without
# finishing session processing for this request, call the update()
# method.
#
# == Storing session state
#
# The caller can specify what form of storage to use for the session's
# data with the +database_manager+ option to CGI::Session::new. The
# following storage classes are provided as part of the standard library:
#
# CGI::Session::FileStore:: stores data as plain text in a flat file. Only
# works with String data. This is the default
# storage type.
# CGI::Session::MemoryStore:: stores data in an in-memory hash. The data
# only persists for as long as the current ruby
# interpreter instance does.
# CGI::Session::PStore:: stores data in Marshalled format. Provided by
# cgi/session/pstore.rb. Supports data of any type,
# and provides file-locking and transaction support.
#
# Custom storage types can also be created by defining a class with
# the following methods:
#
# new(session, options)
# restore # returns hash of session data.
# update
# close
# delete
#
# Changing storage type mid-session does not work. Note in particular
# that by default the FileStore and PStore session data files have the
# same name. If your application switches from one to the other without
# making sure that filenames will be different
# and clients still have old sessions lying around in cookies, then
# things will break nastily!
#
# == Maintaining the session id.
#
# Most session state is maintained on the server. However, a session
# id must be passed backwards and forwards between client and server
# to maintain a reference to this session state.
#
# The simplest way to do this is via cookies. The CGI::Session class
# provides transparent support for session id communication via cookies
# if the client has cookies enabled.
#
# If the client has cookies disabled, the session id must be included
# as a parameter of all requests sent by the client to the server. The
# CGI::Session class in conjunction with the CGI class will transparently
# add the session id as a hidden input field to all forms generated
# using the CGI#form() HTML generation method. No built-in support is
# provided for other mechanisms, such as URL re-writing. The caller is
# responsible for extracting the session id from the session_id
# attribute and manually encoding it in URLs and adding it as a hidden
# input to HTML forms created by other mechanisms. Also, session expiry
# is not automatically handled.
#
# == Examples of use
#
# === Setting the user's name
#
# require 'cgi'
# require 'cgi/session'
# require 'cgi/session/pstore' # provides CGI::Session::PStore
#
# cgi = CGI.new("html4")
#
# session = CGI::Session.new(cgi,
# 'database_manager' => CGI::Session::PStore, # use PStore
# 'session_key' => '_rb_sess_id', # custom session key
# 'session_expires' => Time.now + 30 * 60, # 30 minute timeout
# 'prefix' => 'pstore_sid_') # PStore option
# if cgi.has_key?('user_name') and cgi['user_name'] != ''
# # coerce to String: cgi[] returns the
# # string-like CGI::QueryExtension::Value
# session['user_name'] = cgi['user_name'].to_s
# elsif !session['user_name']
# session['user_name'] = "guest"
# end
# session.close
#
# === Creating a new session safely
#
# require 'cgi'
# require 'cgi/session'
#
# cgi = CGI.new("html4")
#
# # We make sure to delete an old session if one exists,
# # not just to free resources, but to prevent the session
# # from being maliciously hijacked later on.
# begin
# session = CGI::Session.new(cgi, 'new_session' => false)
# session.delete
# rescue ArgumentError # if no old session
# end
# session = CGI::Session.new(cgi, 'new_session' => true)
# session.close
#
class Session
class NoSession < RuntimeError #:nodoc:
end
# The id of this session.
attr_reader :session_id, :new_session
def Session::callback(dbman) #:nodoc:
Proc.new{
dbman[0].close unless dbman.empty?
}
end
# Create a new session id.
#
# The session id is an MD5 hash based upon the time,
# a random number, and a constant string. This routine
# is used internally for automatically generated
# session ids.
def create_new_id
require 'securerandom'
begin
session_id = SecureRandom.hex(16)
rescue NotImplementedError
require 'digest/md5'
md5 = Digest::MD5::new
now = Time::now
md5.update(now.to_s)
md5.update(String(now.usec))
md5.update(String(rand(0)))
md5.update(String($$))
md5.update('foobar')
session_id = md5.hexdigest
end
session_id
end
private :create_new_id
# Create a new CGI::Session object for +request+.
#
# +request+ is an instance of the +CGI+ class (see cgi.rb).
# +option+ is a hash of options for initialising this
# CGI::Session instance. The following options are
# recognised:
#
# session_key:: the parameter name used for the session id.
# Defaults to '_session_id'.
# session_id:: the session id to use. If not provided, then
# it is retrieved from the +session_key+ parameter
# of the request, or automatically generated for
# a new session.
# new_session:: if true, force creation of a new session. If not set,
# a new session is only created if none currently
# exists. If false, a new session is never created,
# and if none currently exists and the +session_id+
# option is not set, an ArgumentError is raised.
# database_manager:: the name of the class providing storage facilities
# for session state persistence. Built-in support
# is provided for +FileStore+ (the default),
# +MemoryStore+, and +PStore+ (from
# cgi/session/pstore.rb). See the documentation for
# these classes for more details.
#
# The following options are also recognised, but only apply if the
# session id is stored in a cookie.
#
# session_expires:: the time the current session expires, as a
# +Time+ object. If not set, the session will terminate
# when the user's browser is closed.
# session_domain:: the hostname domain for which this session is valid.
# If not set, defaults to the hostname of the server.
# session_secure:: if +true+, this session will only work over HTTPS.
# session_path:: the path for which this session applies. Defaults
# to the directory of the CGI script.
#
# +option+ is also passed on to the session storage class initializer; see
# the documentation for each session storage class for the options
# they support.
#
# The retrieved or created session is automatically added to +request+
# as a cookie, and also to its +output_hidden+ table, which is used
# to add hidden input elements to forms.
#
# *WARNING* the +output_hidden+
# fields are surrounded by a <fieldset> tag in HTML 4 generation, which
# is _not_ invisible on many browsers; you may wish to disable the
# use of fieldsets with code similar to the following
# (see http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-list/37805)
#
# cgi = CGI.new("html4")
# class << cgi
# undef_method :fieldset
# end
#
def initialize(request, option={})
@new_session = false
session_key = option['session_key'] || '_session_id'
session_id = option['session_id']
unless session_id
if option['new_session']
session_id = create_new_id
@new_session = true
end
end
unless session_id
if request.key?(session_key)
session_id = request[session_key]
session_id = session_id.read if session_id.respond_to?(:read)
end
unless session_id
session_id, = request.cookies[session_key]
end
unless session_id
unless option.fetch('new_session', true)
raise ArgumentError, "session_key `%s' should be supplied"%session_key
end
session_id = create_new_id
@new_session = true
end
end
@session_id = session_id
dbman = option['database_manager'] || FileStore
begin
@dbman = dbman::new(self, option)
rescue NoSession
unless option.fetch('new_session', true)
raise ArgumentError, "invalid session_id `%s'"%session_id
end
session_id = @session_id = create_new_id unless session_id
@new_session=true
retry
end
request.instance_eval do
@output_hidden = {session_key => session_id} unless option['no_hidden']
@output_cookies = [
Cookie::new("name" => session_key,
"value" => session_id,
"expires" => option['session_expires'],
"domain" => option['session_domain'],
"secure" => option['session_secure'],
"path" =>
if option['session_path']
option['session_path']
elsif ENV["SCRIPT_NAME"]
File::dirname(ENV["SCRIPT_NAME"])
else
""
end)
] unless option['no_cookies']
end
@dbprot = [@dbman]
ObjectSpace::define_finalizer(self, Session::callback(@dbprot))
end
# Retrieve the session data for key +key+.
def [](key)
@data ||= @dbman.restore
@data[key]
end
# Set the session data for key +key+.
def []=(key, val)
@write_lock ||= true
@data ||= @dbman.restore
@data[key] = val
end
# Store session data on the server. For some session storage types,
# this is a no-op.
def update
@dbman.update
end
# Store session data on the server and close the session storage.
# For some session storage types, this is a no-op.
def close
@dbman.close
@dbprot.clear
end
# Delete the session from storage. Also closes the storage.
#
# Note that the session's data is _not_ automatically deleted
# upon the session expiring.
def delete
@dbman.delete
@dbprot.clear
end
# File-based session storage class.
#
# Implements session storage as a flat file of 'key=value' values.
# This storage type only works directly with String values; the
# user is responsible for converting other types to Strings when
# storing and from Strings when retrieving.
class FileStore
# Create a new FileStore instance.
#
# This constructor is used internally by CGI::Session. The
# user does not generally need to call it directly.
#
# +session+ is the session for which this instance is being
# created. The session id must only contain alphanumeric
# characters; automatically generated session ids observe
# this requirement.
#
# +option+ is a hash of options for the initializer. The
# following options are recognised:
#
# tmpdir:: the directory to use for storing the FileStore
# file. Defaults to Dir::tmpdir (generally "/tmp"
# on Unix systems).
# prefix:: the prefix to add to the session id when generating
# the filename for this session's FileStore file.
# Defaults to "cgi_sid_".
# suffix:: the prefix to add to the session id when generating
# the filename for this session's FileStore file.
# Defaults to the empty string.
#
# This session's FileStore file will be created if it does
# not exist, or opened if it does.
def initialize(session, option={})
dir = option['tmpdir'] || Dir::tmpdir
prefix = option['prefix'] || 'cgi_sid_'
suffix = option['suffix'] || ''
id = session.session_id
require 'digest/md5'
md5 = Digest::MD5.hexdigest(id)[0,16]
@path = dir+"/"+prefix+md5+suffix
if File::exist? @path
@hash = nil
else
unless session.new_session
raise CGI::Session::NoSession, "uninitialized session"
end
@hash = {}
end
end
# Restore session state from the session's FileStore file.
#
# Returns the session state as a hash.
def restore
unless @hash
@hash = {}
begin
lockf = File.open(@path+".lock", "r")
lockf.flock File::LOCK_SH
f = File.open(@path, 'r')
for line in f
line.chomp!
k, v = line.split('=',2)
@hash[CGI::unescape(k)] = Marshal.restore(CGI::unescape(v))
end
ensure
f.close unless f.nil?
lockf.close if lockf
end
end
@hash
end
# Save session state to the session's FileStore file.
def update
return unless @hash
begin
lockf = File.open(@path+".lock", File::CREAT|File::RDWR, 0600)
lockf.flock File::LOCK_EX
f = File.open(@path+".new", File::CREAT|File::TRUNC|File::WRONLY, 0600)
for k,v in @hash
f.printf "%s=%s\n", CGI::escape(k), CGI::escape(String(Marshal.dump(v)))
end
f.close
File.rename @path+".new", @path
ensure
f.close if f and !f.closed?
lockf.close if lockf
end
end
# Update and close the session's FileStore file.
def close
update
end
# Close and delete the session's FileStore file.
def delete
File::unlink @path+".lock" rescue nil
File::unlink @path+".new" rescue nil
File::unlink @path rescue Errno::ENOENT
end
end
# In-memory session storage class.
#
# Implements session storage as a global in-memory hash. Session
# data will only persist for as long as the ruby interpreter
# instance does.
class MemoryStore
GLOBAL_HASH_TABLE = {} #:nodoc:
# Create a new MemoryStore instance.
#
# +session+ is the session this instance is associated with.
# +option+ is a list of initialisation options. None are
# currently recognised.
def initialize(session, option=nil)
@session_id = session.session_id
unless GLOBAL_HASH_TABLE.key?(@session_id)
unless session.new_session
raise CGI::Session::NoSession, "uninitialized session"
end
GLOBAL_HASH_TABLE[@session_id] = {}
end
end
# Restore session state.
#
# Returns session data as a hash.
def restore
GLOBAL_HASH_TABLE[@session_id]
end
# Update session state.
#
# A no-op.
def update
# don't need to update; hash is shared
end
# Close session storage.
#
# A no-op.
def close
# don't need to close
end
# Delete the session state.
def delete
GLOBAL_HASH_TABLE.delete(@session_id)
end
end
# Dummy session storage class.
#
# Implements session storage place holder. No actual storage
# will be done.
class NullStore
# Create a new NullStore instance.
#
# +session+ is the session this instance is associated with.
# +option+ is a list of initialisation options. None are
# currently recognised.
def initialize(session, option=nil)
end
# Restore (empty) session state.
def restore
{}
end
# Update session state.
#
# A no-op.
def update
end
# Close session storage.
#
# A no-op.
def close
end
# Delete the session state.
#
# A no-op.
def delete
end
end
end
end
|
Q:
How do I configure an .osx file?
I have found the following repository on GitHub...
https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.osx
...that has some useful environmental settings I would like to adopt. It appears they go into a .osx file. Where is this file located? Also, when does it 'run'? Do I have to reboot the machine to get the settings in this to be recognized?
A:
Select settings that look interesting, paste them in a terminal, and then quit and reopen applications to try them out.
You might also save the whole script as for example ~/.osx and then run bash ~/.osx in a terminal. It includes commands for things like changing the computer name though.
The defaults commands modify files like ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist, and you only have to run them once. Adding them to .bash_profile would only make your shell startup time longer. You might keep a personal file like .osx though in case you make a clean installation of OS X. And for example chflags nohidden ~/Library has to be run again after every OS X update.
I have a file like .osx only for settings that can't be changed from the UI (defaults.txt). I think it's easier to transfer settings to new OS X installations by recreating them manually, by copying the plist files, or by using Migration Assistant.
A:
That looks like a shell script that is missing the shebang at the top of the file.
It could be that it is intended to be copied into an existing script to provide OS X-specific functionality so the main script can be portable (I'd expect there to be dotfiles for other operating systems, as well.)
On the other hand, it could be intended as a file of ideas and you pick the ones you want and paste them into your .bashrc or .bash_profile.
|
NIPPON SHAFT WINS THE 2012 SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
The winner of the 2012 Senior PGA Championship used Nippon Shaft MODUS3 Tour 120 X-flex steel shafts in his irons en route to a two-stroke wire-to-wire victory at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich.
The 53-year-old Englishman shot 68-67-64-72 for a 17-under par total of 271 at the first championship ever staged at the challenging Jack Nicklaus-designed course in southwestern Michigan.
He led by as many as nine strokes on the front nine Sunday, but made a few bogeys coming in to win by two shots in a tournament he dominated over the last 36 holes.
“It’s the greatest day of my professional career, no question about that,” said the resident of Ascot, England, who in had never before won a Champions Tour event “It was hard work in the end. I think I had a nine-shot lead and your mind starts to wander a bit.”
Through 54 holes the champion hit 16 of 18 greens each day. He hit 14 of 18 in the final round.
“Nippon Shaft is very proud that its products contributed to a victory at one of the more prestigious championships in senior golf,” said Hiroyuki Fukuda, head of sales and marketing for Nippon Shaft. “We congratulate the champion.”
On the Ladies European Tour, the winner of the Unicredit Women’s German Open used the Nippon Shaft N.S. Pro 950GH steel shafts in her irons. The Frenchwoman earned her victory by making a birdie on the second hole of a sudden death playoff at Golfpark Gut Hausern outside Munich.
“The N.S. Pro 950GH has been a fixture on the women’s professional tours worldwide for many years,” Fukuda said. “We congratulate this week’s champion and wish her the best in the future.”
A number of touring pros – including former Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team members – are playing prototype versions of the MODUS3 shafts in PGA and European PGA tournaments this year. The Tour 120 model weighs between 114 and 126 grams and comes in S, X, and Tour X flex options. An R flex is new this season. Other models still in the testing phase weigh as little as 106 grams and as many as 139 grams – but all meet the requirements of top players.
The N.S. PRO MODUS3 series shafts are growing in popularity with tour pros because they offer optimal performance in the three key areas:
1. Desired trajectory, which comes as a result of the unique shaft structure;2. Accurate distances, thanks to the shaft’s unique raw steel material and accompanying heat treatment;3. Tight dispersion, which comes from the exacting tolerances of the highest quality level.
Nippon Shaft made its reputation in the late 1990s by developing the first high quality lightweight steel shaft. The revolutionary N.S. PRO 950GH became the industry’s first sub-100 gram steel shaft, combining the stability and consistency of heavier shafts with extremely lightweight. Soon, Nippon Shaft grew to be the No. 1-selling shaft in Asia, controlling 80 percent of the market.
Nippon Shaft manufactures all of its steel and graphite shafts in a state-of-the-art factory at its headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. The company’s integrated production lines are strictly monitored and controlled with thorough checks conducted responsibly through the entire production process, Fukuda said. As a result, Nippon Shaft is able to control high product quality – from material selection to final testing.
Nippon Shaft has more than 200 professional tour victories on worldwide. Based in Yokohama, Japan, Nippon Shaft is the No. 1-selling steel shaft in Asia, where it controls 80 percent of the golf shaft market.
Nippon Shaft is a privately-held subsidiary of NHK Spring Co. LTD, a Japanese automobile parts manufacturer. Nippon Shaft's North American headquarters is in San Diego.
|
The present invention relates to pattern inspection systems, and more particularly to a system for inspecting defects of a pattern of a land portion provided around a through-hole on a printed board.
In order to meet the recent requirement for heightening the mounting density of electronic parts on a printed board, improvement for fining a wiring pattern is being made increasingly. Because difficulty is encountered to keep a high accuracy by the conventional human-eye-based inspection system, it is strongly desired to automatically perform the wiring-pattern inspection. One known approach is a defect detecting system such as is disclosed in "Machine vision techniques for inspection of printed wiring boards and thick-film circuits", J. Opt. Soc. Amer., vol 3, no. 9, pp. 1465-1482, September 1986, written by J. L. C. Sanz and A. K. Jain. The conventional wiring pattern inspection techniques are generally classified mainly into the so-called design-rule system and comparison system. Of these conventional wiring pattern inspection techniques, there is a promising system which is arranged to detect a defect of a wiring pattern by contracting or expanding bi-level image data before performing the thinning process. This system will be described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 1 where (a) to (d) are illustrations for the procedure of detection of shorting defect and (e) to (h) are illustrations of the procedure of detection of projecting defect. First, in (a) of FIG. 1, a point a represents a non-defective portion, and points b and c respectively denote fatally defective portions accompanying the possibility of line-width abnormality or disconnection. In a first step, a contraction process (erosion process) of the image is performed so that a defect appears at the point b as disconnection as illustrated in (b) of FIG. 1. This contraction process is for scraping the image by one pixel from its circumferential portions to overstate defects of the pattern, thereby causing the defect to appear as the disconnection. A second step is then performed so as to effect the thinning process of the pattern up to one pixel width as shown in (c) of FIG. 1. This thinning process is for repeatedly scraping the image by one pixel from its circumferential portions so that the width of the pattern is fined to cause the pattern to be shown by fine lines (having one pixel width, for example). Thereafter, a third step is for deciding that the 3.times.3 local areas (indicated by the square boxes) are in the disconnected states as illustrated in (d) of FIG. 1, thereby detecting the disconnections of the points b and c. At this time, the states of the junction points (indicated by the circles) between the terminal portions and the wiring pattern are also detectable. This defect detecting process is effected by scanning 3.times.3 logical masks and by referring to look-up tables.
Furthermore, a description will be made in terms of defects due to projections. In (e) of FIG. 1, let it be assumed that the points b and c respectively show fatally defective portions accompanying the possibility of the line-width abnormality and short and the point a is a non-defective portion. A first step is executed so as to perform the expansion process by a predetermined size to generate a new connected state at the point b as illustrated in (f) of FIG. 1. Generally, the expansion process is for expanding the image by one pixel toward the outside, thereby causing the point b to enter into the short state. Subsequently, the thinning process is performed as a second step so as to fine the pattern as shown in (g) of FIG. 1. Thereafter, the 3.times.3 logical mask scanning process is executed as a third step so as to decide that the 3.times.3 local areas (indicated by the square boxes) the line-fined image are in the connected states as illustrated in (h) of FIG. 1, thereby detecting the shorts at the points b and c. With this process, the states of the junction points (indicated by circles) between the terminal portions and the wiring pattern are also detectable. Here, the technique of the image process such as the thinning process, expansion process and contraction process is generally known as exemplified by "Elements of Image Recognition" published by Ohm Sha.
There is a problem which arises with such a wiring pattern inspection system, however, in that, in the case of inspecting a printed board having through-holes, there is the possibility that the pattern of the land portion (provided around a through-hole and electrically coupled to a wiring pattern on the printed board) is cut so that the under-width of the line (insufficiency of the line-width) of the land portion can be detected in error when the contractions for both the conductive portion and land portion are made under the same condition. This is caused by the fact that the pattern-width references of the conductive portion and the land portion are different from each other.
|
Three-dimensional arrays of submicron particles generated by a four-beam optical lattice.
Using an optical lattice formed by four laser beams, we obtain three-dimensional light-induced crystals of 490-nm-diameter polystyrene spheres in solution. The setup yields face-centered orthorhombic optical crystals of a packing density of about 40%. An alignment procedure is developed in which the crystals are first prepared near a sample wall, and then in the bulk of the sample. A series of tests is performed that demonstrate particle trapping in all three dimensions. For one case, the trapping force is measured, and good agreement with a simple theoretical model is found. Possible applications are discussed.
|
Q:
places.getLatLng() returning null though places.getName() is not returning null
I have been trying to get the latlng after clicking a place from autocomplete the weird thing is that places.getName() is working fine but place.getLatLng() returning null. What should I do to solve this I am new to google maps and places API!
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if (requestCode == AUTOCOMPLETE_REQUEST_CODE_FROM) {
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
Place place = Autocomplete.getPlaceFromIntent(data);
Log.i("shipadd", "Place: " + place.getName() + ", " + place.getId());
from_edit_txt.setText(place.getName());
origin = place.getLatLng();
Log.e("origin_destarray", "" + place.getLatLng());
} else if (resultCode == AutocompleteActivity.RESULT_ERROR) {
// TODO: Handle the error.
Status status = Autocomplete.getStatusFromIntent(data);
Log.i("shipadd", status.getStatusMessage());
} else if (resultCode == RESULT_CANCELED) {
// The user canceled the operation.
}
} else if (requestCode == AUTOCOMPLETE_REQUEST_CODE_TO) {
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
Place place = Autocomplete.getPlaceFromIntent(data);
Log.i("shipadd", "Place: " + place.getAddress() + ", " + place.getId());
to_edit_txt.setText(place.getName());
I want the following code to return the lattudes and logitude of the place that i select in the autocomplete activity
A:
Previously the Places SDK for Android was made available through Google Play Services.
The Google Play Services version of the Places SDK for Android is deprecated and Google will turn it off by July 29, 2019.
But, the new version of the Places SDK for Android is distributed as a static client library.
The dependency for the new SDK client library
implementation 'com.google.android.libraries.places:places:1.0.0'
You can use either one of the two ways of adding Google places autocomplete in android application:
1) Either embed a AutocompleteSupportFragment
OR
2) Use an intent to launch the autocomplete activity.
I created a demo app by embedding a AutocompleteSupportFragment bellow :-
package com.places_api_demo;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.TextView;
import java.util.Arrays;
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.Status;
import com.google.android.libraries.places.api.model.Place;
import com.google.android.libraries.places.api.net.PlacesClient;
import com.google.android.libraries.places.widget.AutocompleteSupportFragment;
import com.google.android.libraries.places.widget.listener.PlaceSelectionListener;
import com.google.android.libraries.places.api.Places;
import static com.google.android.libraries.places.api.model.Place.Field.LAT_LNG;
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
String TAG = "placeautocomplete";
TextView txtView;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
txtView = findViewById(R.id.txtView);
// Initialize Places.
Places.initialize(getApplicationContext(), "REPLACE YOUR API KEY HERE");
// Create a new Places client instance.
PlacesClient placesClient = Places.createClient(this);
// Initialize the AutocompleteSupportFragment.
AutocompleteSupportFragment autocompleteFragment = (AutocompleteSupportFragment)
getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.autocomplete_fragment);
// Specify the types of place data to return.
autocompleteFragment.setPlaceFields(Arrays.asList(Place.Field.ID, Place.Field.NAME, Place.Field.LAT_LNG));
// Set up a PlaceSelectionListener to handle the response.
autocompleteFragment.setOnPlaceSelectedListener(new PlaceSelectionListener() {
@Override
public void onPlaceSelected(Place place) {
// TODO: Get info about the selected place.
txtView.setText(place.getName()+"\n"+place.getId()+"\n"+ place.getLatLng());
Log.i(TAG, "Place: " + place.getName() + ", " + place.getLatLng());
}
@Override
public void onError(Status status) {
// TODO: Handle the error.
Log.i(TAG, "An error occurred: " + status);
}
});
}
}
Also its important to specify the type of place data to return
autocompleteFragment.setPlaceFields(Arrays.asList(Place.Field.LAT_LNG, Place.Field.ID, Place.Field.NAME));
For more details related to Place Data fields please refer here
|
Information retrieval and pedagogy in adapted physical activity.
The purpose was to address which databases would be most productive for literature searches by professionals seeking information on adapted physical activity pedagogy. Four databases were searched using 126 pedagogy and 66 disability terms. The results of the searches (4,130 hits) support the use of Sport Discus (n= 2,442 hits) as the most productive database for searches on adapted physical activity pedagogy.
|
Josh Miller/CNET
The Xbox One X, Microsoft's new video game console announced Sunday at E3, still supports virtual reality, said team head Phil Spencer.
Spencer told CNET on Tuesday that the Xbox One X fully supports virtual reality and that their commitment to it hasn't changed. While Spencer didn't mention VR on stage during Xbox's Sunday presentation, he said he stands by what he said a year ago at the same event. When Microsoft teased the console at E3 last year, then known as Project Scorpio, it gave the impression that it would support virtual reality.
This comment refutes an early story from The Wall Street Journal that the console wouldn't support virtual reality. Curiously enough, Spencer said he hadn't yet seen the WSJ story.
What Spencer did tell GameSpot today is that he hadn't gotten a lot of requests for mixed reality games for the consoles, but that he'll continue focus on what users want, which leaves an opening for future mixed reality and VR games for the Xbox One X.
The Xbox team has been pretty mum about the issue. Earlier CNET reported that Mike Ybarra, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Xbox and Windows, didn't deny or confirm whether the new Xbox would still support virtual reality.
Also, in a statement to CNET, Xbox affirmed its commitment to "delivering great mixed reality gaming," but said it believes the right place is the Windows PC.
For more on E3 2017, check out complete coverage on CNET and GameSpot.
|
---
abstract: |
Relational formulations of classical mechanics and gravity have been developed by Julian Barbour and collaborators. Crucial to these formulations is the notion of shape space. We indicate here that the metric structure of shape space allows one to straightforwardly define a quantum motion, a Bohmian mechanics, on shape space. We show how this motion gives rise to the more or less familiar theory in absolute space and time. We find that free motion on shape space, when lifted to configuration space, becomes an interacting theory. [Many different lifts are possible corresponding in fact to different choices of gauges.]{} Taking the laws of Bohmian mechanics on shape space as physically fundamental, we show how the theory can be statistically analyzed by using conditional wave functions, for subsystems of the universe, represented in terms of absolute space and time.
$$\text{\large \it Dedicated to Joel Lebowitz, an invaluable friend and colleague}$$
author:
- Detlef Dürr
- Sheldon Goldstein
- Nino Zanghí
title: |
Quantum Motion on Shape Space and the Gauge Dependent Emergence of\
Dynamics and Probability in Absolute Space and Time
---
Introduction
============
Julian Barbour and Bruno Bertotti, in a very inspiring and influential paper published at the beginning of the eighties [@Barbour:1982gha] (for a recent overview, see [@barbour2012shape], [@mercati2018shape] and references therein, see also [@anderson2011problem]), transformed a long standing philosophical controversy about the nature of space and time into a well-defined physical problem. The philosophical issue dates back to the dispute between Isaac Newton, who [favored]{} [and argued for the need of ]{} an absolute theory of space and time, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who insisted upon a relational approach, also defended by Ernst Mach in the 19th century. The physical problem put forward by Barbour and Bertotti can be explained by means of a very elementary and simplified model of the universe.
Suppose we are given the configuration of a universe of $N$ particles. And suppose we translate every particle of the configuration in the same direction by the same amount. From a physical point of view it seems rather natural to take the relational point of view that the two configurations of the universe so obtained are physically equivalent or identical. Similarly for any rotation. Going one step further, one regards two configurations of the universe differing only by a dilation, i.e. by a uniform expansion or contraction, as representing in fact the same physical state of the universe. The space of all genuinely physically different possible configurations so obtained—taking into account translations, rotations, and dilations—is usually called [*shape-space*]{}. The name shape-space is indeed natural: only the shape of a configuration of particles is relevant, not its position or orientation or overall size.
Given a kinematics based on shapes, the next question to be addressed is that of their dynamics. In their seminal paper, Barbour and Bertotti proposed a dynamical principle based on what they called the intrinsic derivative and Barbour now calls [*best matching*]{}, which allows one to compare two shapes intrinsically, without any reference to the external space in which the particles are embedded. While the intrinsic comparison of shapes is compatible with positing an absolute Newtonian time as in classical mechanics, it naturally leads to a relational notion of time in which global changes of speed of the history of the universe give physically equivalent representations. Then the dynamics can be reduced to geometry in the following sense: a history of the universe is just a curve in shape space without any reference to a special parametrization of the curve given by absolute Newtonian time.
The goal of the present paper is to extend the foregoing to the quantum case. We shall do this by considering the toy model mentioned above in which the universe is modelled as an $N$-particle system. This will suffice to highlight the general feature of a relational quantum theory of the universe. However, we shall do so not by appealing to standard quantization schemes (see e.g., [@anderson2012problem], [@PhysRevD.81.044035]), but by relying on the precise formulation of quantum theory provided by Bohmian mechanics [@bohm1952suggested; @bell1987speakable; @durr1992quantum; @durr2012quantum; @bricmont2016]. Steps in this direction have been taken by Vassallo and Ip [@vassallo2016conceptual] and by Koslowski [@koslowski2017quantum].
Bohmian mechanics is a theory providing a description of reality, compatible with all of the quantum formalism, but free of any reference to observables or observers. In Bohmian mechanics a system of particles is described in part by its wave function, evolving according to Schrödinger’s equation, the central equation of quantum theory. However, the wave function provides only a partial description of the system. This description is completed by the specification of the actual positions of the particles. The latter evolve according to the “guiding equation,” which expresses the velocities of the particles in terms of the wave function. Thus in Bohmian mechanics the configuration of a system of particles evolves via a deterministic motion choreographed by the wave function.
Given the primary role of configurations, as opposed to operators and canonical quantization relations, it should not come as a surprise that Bohmian mechanics can be very easily formulated on shape space: a wave function on shape space will govern the motion of a shape according to a guiding law analogous to the one of standard Bohmian mechanics. And to express the guiding law, as well as to write down Schrödinger’s equation on shape space, all one needs is a [metric]{} on shape space.
Surprisingly (or maybe not), the properties of metrics on shape space have been investigated by applied mathematicians before the paper of Barbour and Bertotti, and for completly different reasons. What in physics is a configuration of $N$ particles, in statistics is a set of data, and data analysis often requires that all information in a data set about its location, scale, and orientation be removed, so that the information that remains provides an intrinsic description of the shape of the data. Indeed, the name “shape space” is due to the mathematicians that have been working on these problems of data analysis. In particular David G. Kendall, whose early work on shape space dates back to the 1970s, was concerned with shape in archaeology and astronomy and also considered the motion of shapes formed by independent Brownian particles [@kendall1977diffusion], while Fred Bookstein at about the same time began to study shape-theoretic problems in the particular context of zoology. Both recognized that the space of shapes can be represented by Riemannian manifolds (see [@small2012statistical; @kendall2009shape] for more background). We shall briefly review how to construct a metric on shape space in Sect. \[shapespace\].
Not only in Bohmian mechanics, but also in the classical theory of Barbour and Bertotti, a metric on shape space plays a pivotal role in the formulation of the theory. Indeed, it turns out that Barbour’s best-matching principle is equivalent to a characterization of the dynamics as geodesic motion in shape space. Though this fact was acknowledged by the authors in their original paper (and also in more recent publications by Barbour and collaborators), we think that sufficient emphasis has not been given to it. Usually, classical motion on shape space is characterized by means of Lagrangian or Hamiltonian formulations with constraints (see, e.g., [@barbour2003scale]). While we agree that such methods of analytical mechanics could be useful in the analysis of the theory, we think that they obscure the geometrical structure of the theory. So in Sect. \[motiononshapespace\] we shall provide a self-contained presentation of the classical theory by emphasizing its geometrical content, in particular that the dynamics of shapes (even in presence of interactions) is geodesic motion on shape space. In Sect. \[qmoss\] we shall develop the Bohmian theory of motion and highlight the similarities and differences between the classical case and the quantum case.
An important point that we think has not been given sufficient emphasis is that the fundamental formulations of the theories—classical or quantum —*are* in shape space. And when the theories are formulated in shape space, one should consider first the simplest ones, namely the “free” theories based only on the geometrical structures provided by the metric, without invoking any potential. This is in contrast with theories formulated in absolute space, for which free theories can’t begin to account for the experimental data. It is then natural to ask: when we represent the theories in absolute space, what form do the laws of motion take? Is the representation unique or are there various representations yielding different looking laws of motion, some unfamiliar and some more or less familiar? Moreover do interacting theories emerge with nontrivial interactions, although in shape space the motion is free?
To answer these questions it is helpful to represent absolute configuration space in geometrical terms as a fiber bundle, with shape space as base manifold and the fibers generated by the similarity group, i.e, by translations, rotations and dilations, which acting on configurations yields, from a relational point of view, physically equivalent states. A representation in absolute configuration space of the motion in shape space is then given by a “lift” of the motion from the base into the fibers.
Such lifts can rightly be called gauges. In the classical case it turns out that in some gauges the law looks unfamiliar but there is (at least) one gauge in which, after performing a time change (representing indeed another gauge freedom when also time is seen as relational), the law of motion is Newtonian with a potential appearing. The potential depends on the choice of the invariant metric (invariant under the action of the similarity group) in absolute configuration space, which we introduce in Sect. \[shapespace\], where various possibilities for invariant metrics are given. The classical case is dealt with in Sect. \[emergencest\]. More or less the same is true for the quantum case, where however the gauge yielding ordinary Bohmian mechanics in absolute configuration space—which we call the Schrödinger gauge—emerges only for a stationary, i.e. time-independent, wave function (such as with the Wheeler-DeWitt equation) on shape space. This again is in line with regarding time as being relational, with an external absolute time playing no physical role.
Also here, while the fundamental physics is given by a free Bohmian dynamics in shape space, in the Schrödinger gauge potential terms appear. One potential term is determined by the scalar curvature induced by the invariant metric on absolute configuration space. Another potential term arises from the gauge freedom we have to lift the Laplace-Beltrami operator from shape space to absolute configuration space, where an extra gauge freedom arises from allowing transformations of the lifted wave function. To see the Schrödinger gauge arise, we invoke some mathematical facts from differential geometry. The details are in Sect. \[emergencestqu\].
Regarding the motion in shape space as physically fundamental, we may well conclude from Sect.s \[emergencest\] and \[emergencestqu\] that the gauge freedom forces us to recognize that what we have traditionally regarded as fundamental might in fact be imposed by us through our choice of gauge. This gauge freedom thus imparts a somewhat Kantian aspect to physical theory.
We next turn to the issue of probability, given by the quantum equilibrium measure $|\Psi|^2$ on shape space. In assessing the relationship between probability on shape space and the usual Born-rule probabilities on absolute configuration space (associated with the natural lifts of the shape space dynamics to absolute space), we encounter several problems. First of all, since wave functions lifted from shape space are translation and scaling invariant, they fail to be normalizable. Another source of non-normalizability is the transition to the Schrödinger gauge. For this gauge to be viable, as stated earlier, the wave function must be time-independent, and such wave functions typically fail, as with those of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, to be normalizable.
So what could the associated non-normalizable “probabilities" physically mean? Moreover, the physical meaning of these measures would be obscure even if they were normalizable, since the absolute space degrees of freedom that transcend the relational ones are not observable, and the configuration $Q_t$ of the universe at “time $t,$" whose distribution is supposed to be given by the Born rule, is, as we argue, not physically meaningful.
We address these questions in Sect. \[probonpaths\], in which we examine what [*should*]{} be physically and observationally meaningful, and find that the relevant probabilities for these are in fact given by a fundamental conditional probability formula (see [@durr1992quantum] for its meaning in the familiar Bohmian mechanics), as normalized conditional probabilities arising from the non-normalizable quantum equilibrium measure on absolute configuration space. For this we use the notion of the wave function of a subsystem of shape space, a somewhat tricky business that is dealt with in Sect. \[ss\].
We find in fact, somewhat to our surprise, that the non-normalizability of the wave function of the universe of quantum cosmology is, from a relational Bohmian perspective, a virtue rather than a vice.
Shape Space {#shapespace}
===========
Shapes
------
The totality of configurations ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}= ({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_1, \ldots , {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_N)$ of $N$ points in Euclidean three-dimensional space forms the configuration space ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}= \{ {{\boldsymbol{q}}}\} =\mathbb{R}^{3N}$ of an $N$-particle system. We shall call ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ the [*absolute configuration space*]{}. On ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ act naturally the similarity transformations of Euclidean space, namely rotations, translations and dilations, since each of them acts naturally on each component of the configuration vector. The totality of such transformations form the group $G$ of [*similarity transformations*]{} of Euclidean space. Since the shape of a configuration is “what is left” when the effects associated with rotations, translations and dilations are filtered away, the totality of shapes, i.e., the [*shape space*]{}, is the quotient space ${\mathcal{Q}}\equiv {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}/G$, the set of equivalence classes with respect to the equivalence relations provided by the similarity transformations of Euclidean space.
![Representation of the shape space of 3 particles in terms of point $z$ in the complex upper half plane. Note that the complex conjugate $\bar{z}$ represents the same triangle since it can be obtained from that of $z$ by a rotation in 3-dimensional Euclidean space.[]{data-label="fig2"}](our_pics-2.pdf){width=".32\textwidth"}
As such, shape space is not in general a manifold. To transform it into a manifold some massaging is needed (e.g., by excluding from ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ coincidence points and collinear configurations), but we shall not enter into this.[^1] Here, we shall assume that the appropriate massaging of ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ has been performed and that ${\mathcal{Q}}$ is a manifold. Since the group of similarity transformations has dimension $7$ (3 for rotations + 3 for translations + 1 for dilations), the dimension of ${\mathcal{Q}}\equiv {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}/G$ is $3N- 7$.
For $N=1$ and $N=2$ shape space is trivial (it contains just a single point). $N=3$ corresponds to the simplest not trivial shape space; it has dimension $3\times 3 - 7 =2$. It is worthwhile to give some details about this latter case. Three points in Euclidean space form a triangle, so shape space is the space of all triangle shapes, with “triangle shape” meaning now what is usually meant in elementary Euclidean geometry. A nice representation of this space is in terms of points in the complex plane (called Bookstein-coordinates in [@small2012statistical]). On the real axis, fix two points, say $-1$ and $1$, and put them in correspondence with two vertices of the triangle. Then the third vertex is in one-to-one correspondence with a complex number in the upper half plane, as shown in Fig. \[fig2\]. Note that the triangles in the lower half plane are equivalent to those in the upper half plane by a suitable rotation in three dimensions. The real axis is the boundary of the manifold and its points represent degenerate collinear triangles. The point at infinity represents the degenerate triangular shape with two coinciding vertices. So the space of triangle shapes (allowing two coincident vertices but not three) can be put in correspondence with the the [*extended half upper complex plane*]{}, which, by stereographic projection, is topologically equivalent to a hemisphere. For $N>3$ the topological structure is more complicated (see, e.g., [@le1993riemannian]).
Metrics on Shape Space
----------------------
Topology, of course, does not fix a metric. A metric should provide more, namely a natural notion of distance on ${\mathcal{Q}}$. And since each point in ${\mathcal{Q}}$ represents a class of configurations of $N$ particles related by a similarity transformation, the distance between two elements of ${\mathcal{Q}}$ induced by the metric should not recognize any absolute configurational difference due to an overall translation, or rotation, or dilation. In other words, it should provide a measure of the *intrinsic* difference between two absolute configurations (that is, not involving any consideration regarding how such configurations are embedded in Euclidean space).
Although the construction of such a metric is well known in the mathematical literature on random shapes [@le1993riemannian], we prefer to give a self-contained presentation more suited for the physical applications. The bottom line is this: [*a metric on absolute configuration space $ {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ that is invariant under the group $G$ of similarity transformations of Euclidean space, given by a suitable “conformal factor” (to be explained below), defines canonically a metric on shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}$*]{}.
![Absolute configuration space ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ and shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}$ (for a system of three particles). The fiber above shape $q$ consists of absolute configurations differing by a similarity transformation of Euclidean space and thus representing the same shape $q$. Real change of shape occurs only by a displacement to a neighboring fiber $q+dq$. Only the orthogonal component $d{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}_\perp$ of $d{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}$ represents real change, while the vertical displacement $d{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}_{\|}$ does not contribute; ${{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}+ d{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}_\perp$ is the absolute configuration in the fiber above $q + dq$ closest to $q$ in the sense of the $g_B$-distance (best matching). []{data-label="fig1"}](our_pics-1.pdf){width=".48\textwidth"}
To understand why this is so, observe first that absolute configuration space $ {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ can be regarded as a fiber bundle with each fiber being homeomorphic to $G$ and ${\mathcal{Q}}$ being its base space (see Fig. \[fig1\]). So, if $g$ is a metric invariant under any element of $G$, the tangent vectors at each point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}\in{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ are [*naturally*]{} split into “vertical” and “horizontal,” where by “naturally” we mean that the splitting itself is invariant under the action of $G$. The vertical ones correspond to (infinitesimal) displacements along the fiber through ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ and the horizontal ones are those that are orthogonal to the fiber, i.e., to the vertical ones, according to the relation of orthogonality defined by $g$. More precisely, if $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ is an infinitesimal displacement at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, we have $$d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}= d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{\|} + d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp\quad \text{with} \quad
g (d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{\|}, d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp) =0$$ (see Fig. \[fig1\]), with $ d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{\|} $ vertical and $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp$ horizontal.
The corresponding Riemannian metric on ${\mathcal{Q}}$ is defined as follows. Let ${q}$ be a shape, ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ be any absolute configuration in the fiber above ${q}$, and $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ be any displacement at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$. Since $g$ is invariant under the group $G$, the length of $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp$ has the same value for all absolute configurations ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ above ${q}$. Then we may set the length of $d{q}$ equal to that of $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp$ and hence obtain the Riemannian metric $g_B$ on ${\mathcal{Q}}$ $$g_B (d{q}, d{q}) = g (d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp, d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp) \,.
\label{eq:bmetr}$$ The subscript $B$ stands for Barbour and Bertotti (as well as base and best matching, see below).
We shall now outline how to construct an invariant metric on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$. Let $g_e$ be the mass-weighted Euclidean metric on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ with positive weights $m_ \alpha $, $ \alpha =1, \ldots, N$, (the masses of the particles), in particle coordinates ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}= ({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_1, \ldots, {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\alpha, \ldots, {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_N)$ given by $$ds^2 = \sum_{ \alpha =1}^N m_\alpha d{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_ \alpha \cdot d {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_ \alpha \,,
\label{eq:euclid}$$ i.e., with $[g_e]_{ij} = m_{\alpha_i} \delta_{ij}$, where the $i$-th component refers to the $\alpha_i$-th particle. The corresponding line element is $$|d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}|= \sqrt{ \sum_{ \alpha =1}^N m_\alpha d{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_ \alpha \cdot d {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_ \alpha } \,.
\label{eq:euclidmetric}$$ The metric defined by is invariant under rotations and translations, but not under a dilation ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}\to\lambda {{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, where $\lambda$ is a positive constant. Invariance under dilations is achieved by multiplying $|d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}|^2$ by a scalar function $f({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ that is invariant under rotations and translations and is homogeneous of degree $-2$. We call $f$ the [*conformal factor*]{}. So, for any choice of $f$, $$g = f g_e\,, \quad\text{i.e,}\quad
g (d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}, d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}) = f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}|^2 \,,
\label{eq:confmetric}$$ is an invariant metric on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, yielding the metric on shape space $$g_B(dq, dq) = f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp |^2 \,.
\label{eq:bmetr1}$$ For the associated line element we shall write $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:bmetrxxx1}
ds = |dq| =\sqrt{g_B(dq, dq) } =\sqrt{f({{\boldsymbol{q}}})} \, |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp | \,.
\end{aligned}$$
Best-Matching
-------------
The distance on ${\mathcal{Q}}$ induced by $g_{B}$ is exactly the one resulting from applying Barbour’s best matching procedure. Consider two infinitesimally close shapes, ${q}$ and ${q}+
d{q}$, and let ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ be any absolute representative of ${q}$, i.e., any point in the fiber above ${q}$. The $g_B$-distance between these shapes is then given by the $g$-length of the vector $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ such that (i) $d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ is orthogonal to the fiber above ${q}$ and (ii) ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}+ d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ is an absolute representative of ${q}+
d{q}$. It follows that ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}+ d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ is the absolute configuration closest to ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ in the fiber above ${q}+
d{q}$. Thus the $g_B$-distance is the “best matching” distance.
Conformal Factors {#conformalfactors}
-----------------
Many choices of conformal factors are possible. One that was originally suggested by Barbour and Bertotti is[^2] $$\begin{aligned}
f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) =f_a({{\boldsymbol{q}}})\equiv \left(\sum_{\alpha < \beta}
\frac{m_\alpha m_\beta}{|{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\alpha}-{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\beta}|}\right)^{2}\,. \end{aligned}$$ Another example is $$\begin{aligned}
f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) =f_b({{\boldsymbol{q}}})\equiv {{\mathrm{L}}^{-2}} \,, \end{aligned}$$ where $$\begin{aligned}
{\mathrm{L}}^2 &= \sum_\alpha m_\alpha{ {{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_\alpha}^2
= \frac{1}{\sum_\alpha m_\alpha} \sum_{\alpha< \beta} m_\alpha m_\beta |
{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\alpha - {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\beta |^2
\label{mominsca}\end{aligned}$$ with $
{{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_\alpha = {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\alpha - {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}\,,
$ the coordinates relative to the center of mass $$\begin{aligned}
{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm} = \frac{\sum_\alpha m_\alpha{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\alpha}{\sum_\alpha m_\alpha}\,.
\end{aligned}$$ $I\equiv {\mathrm{L}}^2 $ is sometimes called (but the terminology is not universal) the moment of inertia of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ about its center of mass. This quantity is half the trace of the moment of inertia tensor $\mathsf{M}$, $$\begin{aligned}
{\mathrm{L}}^2= \frac12 \operatorname{Tr}\mathsf{M} \,. \end{aligned}$$ We recall that $ \mathsf{M} = \mathsf{M} ({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) $, the tensor of inertia of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ about any orthogonal cartesian system $x$,$y$,$z$ with origin at the center of mass of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, has matrix elements given by the standard formula $$\begin{aligned}
\label{mateltensin}
M_{ij}= \sum_{\alpha=1}^N m_\alpha ({\rho}_\alpha^2\delta_{ij} - {\rho}_{\alpha i} {\rho}_{\alpha j} )\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $i,j=x,y,z$, ${\rho}_{\alpha x} \equiv x_{\alpha} $, ${\rho}_{\alpha y} \equiv y_{\alpha} $, ${\rho}_{\alpha z} \equiv z_{\alpha} $, and ${\rho}_\alpha^2= x_{\alpha}^2 + y_{\alpha}^2 +z_\alpha^2$.
A choice of conformal factor that has not been considered in the literature is $$\begin{aligned}
\label{pconfacty}
f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) =f_c({{\boldsymbol{q}}})\equiv {\mathrm{L}}^{-\frac{8}{7}} (\det\mathsf{M})^{-\frac{1}{7}}\,.\end{aligned}$$ Since $\det\mathsf{M}$ scales as ${\mathrm{L}}^6$, $f({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ given by scales as it should, namely, as ${\mathrm{L}}^{-2}$. Though at first glance this choice does not seem natural, it is in fact so natural—once the motion of shapes is analyzed from a quantum perspective, see Sect. \[The Canonical Conformal Factor\]—that we shall call $f_c$ the [*canonical conformal factor*]{}.
Finally, we give other two examples: $$\begin{aligned}
\label{cfd}
f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) &=f_d({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) \equiv \sum_{\alpha < \beta}
\frac{m_\alpha m_\beta}{|{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\alpha}-{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\beta}|^2} \\
\label{cfg}
f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) &=f_g({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) \equiv {\mathrm{L}}^{-1} \sum_{\alpha < \beta} \frac{m_\alpha m_\beta}{|{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\alpha}-{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_{\beta}|} \,.\end{aligned}$$ The first one corresponds to a natural modification of the Newtonian gravitational potential and the second, discussed in [@barbour2003scale], corresponds to a dynamics very close to that of Newtonian gravity (see Sect. \[cmng\] and Sect. \[newgra\]).
Classical Motion on Shape Space {#motiononshapespace}
===============================
Geodesic Motion
---------------
The metric $g_{B}$ on shape space directly yields a law of [*free motion*]{} on shape space, that is, geodesic motion with constant speed. More explicitly, this is the motion ${Q}={Q}(t)$ at constant speed along the path that minimizes the length $$\begin{aligned}
\label{charterize1}
\int_{q_1}^{q_2} |dq| = \int_{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1}^{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2} \sqrt{ f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) }\, |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp|\end{aligned}$$ over all possible paths connecting two shapes $q_1$ and $q_2$ (if they are sufficiently close). Note that the variational problem determines only the path of the motion, but not the motion in time.
Equivalently, a geodesic motion ${Q}={Q}(t)$ is a motion that parallel-transports its own tangent vector, so $$\begin{aligned}
\label{freemotsh}
D_{ \dot{Q}(t)} \dot{Q}(t) = 0\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $D_{ \dot{Q}(t)}$ is the covariant derivative with respect to the metric $g_{B}$ along the curve ${Q}={Q}(t)$. Given the initial conditions $Q(0)$ and $\dot{Q}(0)$, the motion will run at constant speed $v=| \dot{Q}(0)|$.
Motion in a Potential
---------------------
Motion under the effect of the potential ${\mathscr{V}}= {\mathscr{V}}(q)$ is given by the obvious modification of , namely Newton’s equation $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Umotsh1}
D_{ \dot{{Q}}(t)} \dot{{Q}}(t) = - \nabla_{g_{B}} {\mathscr{V}}({Q})\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\nabla_{g_{B}} $ is the gradient with respect to the metric $g_{B}$. This is equivalent to a characterization of the motion in terms of the Lagrangian $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Umotsh2} L =\frac12 g_B\left(\frac{dq}{dt}, \frac{dq}{dt} \right)- {\mathscr{V}}(q)= \frac12\left|\frac{dq}{dt}\right|^2- {\mathscr{V}}(q).\end{aligned}$$
Quantum Motion on Shape Space {#qmoss}
=============================
Bohmian Mechanics
-----------------
Various quantization schemes have been put forward in order to provide a quantum theory of motion on shape space; for a thorough overview, see [@anderson2011problem]. These schemes are mostly based on Dirac quantization of classical constrained systems or on Feynman path integration [@PhysRevD.81.044035]. We shall follow here a novel approach based on Bohmian mechanics. Bohmian mechanics is a completely deterministic—but distinctly non-Newtonian—theory of particles in motion, with the wave function itself guiding this motion. We shall explain below how this theory can be naturally formulated on shape space, after a brief review of the main features of the theory.
Bohmian mechanics is the minimal completion of Schrödinger’s equation, for a non-relativistic system of particles, to a theory describing a genuine motion of particles. For Bohmian mechanics the state of a system of $N$ particles is described by its wave function ${\Psi}{} = {\Psi}{}({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_1,
\dots ,{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_N) = {\Psi}{}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$, a complex- (or spinor-) valued function on the space of possible configurations ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ of the system, together with its actual configuration ${\boldsymbol{Q}}$ defined by the actual positions ${\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_1,
\dots ,{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_N$ of its particles. The theory is then defined by two evolution laws. One is [*Schrödinger’s equation*]{} $$\label{Schroedinger}
i\hbar \frac{\partial {\Psi}{}}{\partial t} = H{\Psi}{}\,,$$ for ${\Psi}{}={\Psi}{}_t$, the wave function at time $t$, where $H$ is the non-relativistic (Schrödinger) Hamiltonian, containing the masses $m_k$, $k=1, \ldots, N$, of the particles and a potential energy term $V$. For spinless particles, it is of the form $$H=-\sum_{\alpha=1}^{N}
\frac{{\hbar}^{2}}{2m_{\alpha}}{\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}^{2}_{\alpha} + V\,,
\label{sh}$$ where ${\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_\alpha = \frac{\partial\,\;}{\partial {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\alpha}$ is the gradient with respect to the position of the $\alpha$-th particle. The other law is the [*the guiding law*]{}, which, for spinless particles, is given by the equation[^3] $$\frac{d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_\alpha}{dt} = \frac{\hbar}{m_\alpha} \mathrm{ Im } \frac{ {\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_\alpha {\Psi}{}}{ {\Psi}{}} ( {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_1, \dots ,{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_N )
\label{gl}$$ for ${\boldsymbol{Q}}={\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$, the configuration at time $t$. For an $N$-particle system these two equations, together with the detailed specification of the Hamiltonian $H$, completely define the Bohmian motion of the system. For sake of simplicity, we shall consider here just Bohmian mechanics for spinless particles, with Hamiltonian and guiding law . For more details on the formulation of Bohmian mechanics for particles with spin or other internal degrees of freedom, see [@durr2012quantum].
While the [*formulation*]{} of Bohmian mechanics does not involve the notion of quantum observables, as given by self-adjoint operators—so that its relationship to the quantum formalism may at first appear somewhat obscure—it can in fact be shown that Bohmian mechanics not only accounts for quantum phenomena, but also embodies the quantum formalism itself as the very expression of its empirical import [@durr2012quantum Ch.2 and 3].
It is worth noting that the guiding equation is intimately connected with the de Broglie relation ${\vec{\mathsf{p}}} = \hbar {\vec{\mathsf{k}}}$, proposed by de Broglie in late 1923, the consideration of which quickly led Schrödinger to the discovery of his wave equation. The de Broglie relation connects a particle property, momentum ${\vec{\mathsf{p}}} = m{\vec{\mathsf{v}}}$, to a wave property, the wave vector ${\vec{\mathsf{k}}}$ of a plane wave ${\Psi}{}({\vec{\mathsf{q}}})=e^{i{\vec{\mathsf{k}}}\cdot{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}}$. From this one can easily guess the guiding equation as the simplest possibility for an equation of motion for ${\boldsymbol{Q}}$ for the case of a general wave function ${\Psi}{}$.
Bohmian Motion on a Riemannian Manifold
---------------------------------------
Note that, given $V$, the Bohmian mechanics defined by equations , , and depends only upon the Riemannian structure $g=g_e$ given by . In terms of this Riemannian structure, the evolution equations and become $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:bmonmany1x}
\frac{dQ}{dt} &= \hbar \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{\nabla_g {\Psi}{}}{{\Psi}{}} \\
\label{eq:bmonmany2x}
i\hbar \frac{\partial {\Psi}{}}{\partial t} &= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \Delta_g {\Psi}{} + V{\Psi}{}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\Delta_g$ and $\nabla_g$ are, respectively, the Laplace-Beltrami operator and the gradient on the configuration space equipped with this Riemannian structure. But there is nothing special about this particular Riemannian structure. Indeed, equations and as such hold very generally on [*any*]{} Riemannian manifold. Thus, the formulation of a Bohmian dynamics on a Riemannian manifold requires only as basic ingredients the differentiable and metric structure of the manifold.
Bohmian Motion on Shape Space
-----------------------------
Equations and define immediately Bohmian motion on shape space with Riemannian metric $g= g_B$ as the motion on shape space given by the evolution equations $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:bmonmany1}
\frac{dQ}{dt} &= \hbar \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{\nabla_{B} {\Psi}{}}{{\Psi}{}} \\
\label{eq:bmonmany2}
i\hbar \frac{\partial {\Psi}{}}{\partial t} &= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \Delta_B {\Psi}{} + {\mathscr{V}}{\Psi}{}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\Delta_{B}$ and $\nabla_{B} $ are, respectively, the Laplace-Beltrami operator and the gradient on the configuration space equipped with the Riemannian metric . This is all there is to say about the [*formulation*]{} of Bohmian mechanics on shape space. (This should be contrasted with more involved approaches as in, e.g., [@vassallo2016conceptual].)
The Emergence of Absolute Space and Time in the Classical Case {#emergencest}
==============================================================
Gauge Freedom in the Classical Case
-----------------------------------
Given classical motion in shape space, there is a huge host of motions in absolute space that are compatible with it, the only constraint being that they should project down to free motion, or the motion , in shape space. This freedom of choice is analogous to gauge freedom in gauge theories. Some choices are however more natural than others, as we shall discuss below.
Classical Motion in the Newton Gauge {#cmng}
------------------------------------
A very natural choice of a motion in absolute configuration space is the [*horizontal lift*]{} of a motion ${Q}={Q}(t)$ in shape space, that is, a motion ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ in absolute configuration space that starts at some point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1$ on the fiber above ${q}_1$ and is [*horizontal*]{}, i.e., the infinitesimal displacements $d{\boldsymbol{Q}}$ are all horizontal. (Note that the final point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2$ in the fiber above ${q}_2$ is then uniquely determined.) We call this choice the [*invariant gauge*]{}.
We shall assume ${\mathscr{V}}=0$.[^4] Then the motion in the invariant gauge is geodesic motion with respect to the invariant metric (which explains the terminology). To see this, observe that it follows from that the length of a horizontal lift of a path in shape space is given by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{charterize2} \int_{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1}^{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2} \sqrt{ f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) }\, |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_\perp|
= \int_{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1}^{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2} \sqrt{ f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) }\, |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}| \,, \end{aligned}$$ where the equality follows from horizontality of the path. So, the path of a horizontal lifted motion ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ has minimal length over all horizontal paths connecting ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1$ and ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2$, but since any non horizontal path has a greater length, ${\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ also minimizes the right hand side of over [*all paths*]{} connecting ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1$ and ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2$.
We shall now show that by a suitable change of speed, we get to another gauge that we shall call the [*Newton gauge*]{}, a gauge in which the motion is Newtonian, i.e., it satisfies Newton’s equation $F=ma$ for suitable $F$. To establish this, we first observe that the right hand side of is of the form $$\begin{aligned}
\label{charterize77}
\int_{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1}^{{{\boldsymbol{q}}}_2} \sqrt{ E-V} |d{{\boldsymbol{q}}}|\end{aligned}$$ for $E=0$ and $V({{\boldsymbol{q}}})= - f ({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) $. According to the Jacobi principle, is minimized by the path of a Newtonian motion ${\boldsymbol{Q}}' = {\boldsymbol{Q}}'(t)$ in a potential $V $ and total energy $$\begin{aligned}
\label{myspeed} E= \frac12 \left|\frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}'}{dt}\right| ^2 +V =0 \,. \end{aligned}$$ Thus the path of a lifted motion ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ is the same as that of a Newtonian motion, but its speed along the path is different: according to the speed of the Newtonian motion is $$\begin{aligned}
\label{charterize99}
\left|\frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}'}{dt}\right| = \sqrt{2(E-V)}= \sqrt{2 f}\,,\end{aligned}$$ while according to the speed of the lifted motion is $$\begin{aligned}
\label{charterize199} \left|\frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}}{dt}\right| = \frac{1}{\sqrt{f} } \left|\frac{dq }{dt}\right| = \frac{v}{\sqrt{f} }\, , \end{aligned}$$ with $v$ the constant speed of the motion on shape space. So the two motions are different. But suppose we allow for a change of the flow of time and replace $t$ with a new time variable $t'$ in such a way that the speed of the lifted motion with respect to this new time variable equals the Newtonian speed $\sqrt{2f}$, $$\left|\frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}}{dt'} \right| = \left|\frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}}{dt} \frac{dt}{dt'} \right| = \sqrt{ 2f} \,,$$ whence, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{timechange}
\frac{v}{\sqrt{f} } \frac{dt}{dt'} = \sqrt{2f} \,, \quad\text{i.e.,} \quad \frac{dt'}{dt} = \frac{v}{\sqrt{2} f} \,.
\end{aligned}$$
Then ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t')$, the lifted motion with respect to this new time variable, is indeed a Newtonian motion, that is, the particles positions ${\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha$, $\alpha=1, \ldots, N$, forming the configuration ${\boldsymbol{Q}}$ satisfy Newton’s equations $$\begin{aligned}
\label{neteqab}m_\alpha \frac{d^2{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha }{d {t' }^2} = -{\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_\alpha V ({\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ 1, \ldots {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ N )\,. \end{aligned}$$ One may wonder about the status of the time change . If one considers time to be absolute, ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ and ${\boldsymbol{Q}}'= {\boldsymbol{Q}}'(t )$ are two different motions. But if one takes a relational view about time, analogous to the relational view about space that we started with, ${\boldsymbol{Q}}= {\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ and ${\boldsymbol{Q}}'= {\boldsymbol{Q}}'(t )$ are the [*same*]{} motion. In other words, if time is relational, changes of speed, such as that given by , provide equivalent representations of the same motion. Accordingly, the use of one time variable instead of another is a matter of convenience, analogous to the choice of a gauge. The choice of time variable for which Newton’s equations hold is the gauge fixing condition that leads from the invariant gauge to the Newton gauge; for the sake of simplicity, from now on we shall call it $t$ instead of $t'$.
The invariant gauge has been defined by requiring that the path be horizontal. It turns out that this is equivalent to the following conditions: $$\begin{aligned}
&\sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha = 0 \label{P=0}\\
&\sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \times d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha = 0 \label{J=0} \\
&\sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \cdot d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha = 0 \label{D=0} \,.\end{aligned}$$ To see how this comes about, let $$\begin{aligned}
\delta {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha = {\vec{\mathsf{\epsilon}}} + {\vec{\mathsf{\theta}}}\times {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha + \lambda {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \end{aligned}$$ where ${\vec{\mathsf{\epsilon}}}$, ${\vec{\mathsf{\theta}}}$, and $ \lambda$ are the infinitesimal parameters of a translation, a rotation and a dilation respectively, and let $ \delta {\boldsymbol{Q}}= (\delta{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_1\, \ldots,\delta {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_N) $. Then $$\begin{aligned}
{\boldsymbol{Q}}\to {\boldsymbol{Q}}+ \delta {\boldsymbol{Q}}\end{aligned}$$ is an infinitesimal vertical transformation. Since the infinitesimal motion displacement $d{\boldsymbol{Q}}$ is purely horizontal, it must be orthogonal to $\delta {\boldsymbol{Q}}$, i.e., $
g(d{\boldsymbol{Q}}, \delta {\boldsymbol{Q}}) = 0 $, which implies that $${\vec{\mathsf{\epsilon}}} \cdot \sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha +
{\vec{\mathsf{\theta}}} \cdot \sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \times d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha
+\lambda \sum_ {\alpha=1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \cdot d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha = 0 \,.$$ This equality is satisfied (for all $\epsilon$, ${\vec{\mathsf{\theta}}}$, and $\lambda$) only if the terms multiplying ${\vec{\mathsf{\epsilon}}}$, ${\vec{\mathsf{\theta}}}$, and $ \lambda$ are separately zero, whence , , and .
The constraints , , and have a natural meaning for a theory aimed at describing the universe as a whole. So to speak, they minimize the amount of motion when the universe is described in the invariant gauge.
Moreover, the constraints and are equivalent, respectively, to the requirements that the motion $\mathbf{Q(}t)$ is such that the center of mass $(\sum m_\alpha)^{-1} \sum m_\alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_\alpha$ and the moment of inertia about the origin $\sum m_\alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_\alpha ^2 $ don’t change. Clearly, these are natural gauge fixing choices corresponding to translational and dilational (scaling) symmetry. However, there can be no function on absolute configuration space which corresponds in a similar way to . The constraint does not correspond to the constancy of a function on absolute configuration space.[^5]
In the Newton gauge, , , and can be expressed in terms of the familiar total momentum ${\vec{\mathsf{P}}}$, total angular momentum $ {\vec{\mathsf{J}}}$ and (maybe less familiar) dilational momentum $ D$ as $$\begin{aligned}
{\vec{\mathsf{P}}}&=&\sum_{ \alpha =1}^N m_ \alpha \frac{d {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha }{d t} = 0\label{constraint1}\\
{\vec{\mathsf{J}}}&=&\sum_{ \alpha =1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \times \frac{d {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha }{d t} = 0\label{constraint2}\\
{D}&=&\sum_{ \alpha =1}^N m_ \alpha {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha \cdot \frac{d {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_ \alpha }{d t} = 0\label{constraint3}\,.\end{aligned}$$
Some Remarks on Relational Space and Relational Time {#sec:potinshsp}
----------------------------------------------------
The first simple moral to draw form the foregoing is that free motion on shape space, i.e., for interaction energy ${\mathscr{V}}=0$, leads to interaction energy $V\neq 0$ in the Newton gauge and so to an interacting particle dynamics in absolute spacetime (governed by Newton’s laws ). In other words, the geometry on shape space defined by the conformal factor $f$ manifests itself as potential energy $V$ among the particles in the Newton gauge.
This remarkable fact is a direct consequence of the two main features of the theory under consideration. One is our starting point, namely that shape space is fundamental, that is, that [*space is relational*]{}. The other one has emerged in the analysis of how shape dynamics appears in the Newton gauge: motions following the same path with different speeds are indeed the [*same*]{} motion. And this corresponds to [*time being relational*]{}.
This remarkable fact notwithstanding, one may still wonder what sort of motion in absolute space corresponds to a shape dynamics with potential energy ${\mathscr{V}}\neq 0$. To answer to this question, let us go back to equations or defining interacting motion in shape space. Clearly, these equations are not in harmony with relational time: the acceleration in the LHS of or the Euler-Lagrange equations arising from rely on absolute time. On the other hand, the characterization of motion in terms of the Jacobi principle fits nicely with relational time. Adapted to the present case, this principle says that the path followed by a motion in shape space is the path that minimizes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{chXXrYYze77}
\int_{{q}_1}^{{q}_2} \sqrt{ \mathscr{E} -{\mathscr{V}}} |d{q}|\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\mathscr{E}$ is any given fixed constant. And this is in complete harmony with relational time: if time is relational all that matters is the path and not the speed along the path. Note, however, that for the relational dynamics defined by changing the potential by adding a constant changes the dynamics, unlike the dynamics defined by or .
Moreover, if interacting motion is defined according to , it will still be free motion, although with respect to a different metric: the one defined by the conformal factor $ f_{\mathscr{E},{\mathscr{V}}} = (\mathscr{E} -{\mathscr{V}}) f $ (with ${\mathscr{V}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) = {\mathscr{V}}(q)$, for any point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ on the fiber above $q$). As for the starting question concerning how the motion appears in the Newton gauge, the answer is rather obvious: just as above, but now for the conformal factor $ f_{\mathscr{E},{\mathscr{V}}}= (\mathscr{E} -{\mathscr{V}}) f $.
The motion on shape space characterized by is defined for any potential ${\mathscr{V}}$ on shape space; in particular, it is defined for ${\mathscr{V}}+ \mathscr{E}$. So the constant $\mathscr{E}$ can be absorbed in the potential; that is, without any loss of generality, we may set $\mathscr{E}=0$ and consider only $ f_{{\mathscr{V}}}= -{\mathscr{V}}f $. In this regard, it is important to observe that changing the potential by a constant changes the conformal factor and thus changes the dynamics. This is a peculiar aspect of [*relational mechanics*]{} (relational space and relational time), as opposed to the usual Newtonian mechanics (absolute space and absolute time), where a change of the potential by a constant does not change Newton’s laws.
Newtonian Gravitation {#newgra}
---------------------
In the previous sections we found that in the Newton gauge, when the physical law on shape space is free motion (or even non-free motion), the potential $V=-f$ appears, where $f$ is the conformal factor. We mentioned some choices for $f$ in Sect.\[conformalfactors\]. No such choices, which are necessarily functions homogenous of degree $-2$, seem to yield exactly the Newtonian gravitational potential $U_g$. While we believe the detailed exploration of the implications of the models discussed here is worthwhile, we nonetheless regard the models explored in this paper, both classical and quantum, as toy models, so that such an analysis of them, with the expectation of recovering well established physics, might be somewhat inappropriate or premature.
However, it should be observed that some of the conformal factors given in Sect. \[conformalfactors\], e.g., $f_a$ and $f_g$, indeed give rise to a force law in the Newton gauge that is very close to that of the Newtonian gravitational potential. Note for example that for the conformal factor $f_g$ the corresponding potential is of the form $V_g = {\mathrm{L}}^{-1} U_g$, where $U_g$ is the Newton gravitational potential and ${\mathrm{L}}$ in the Newton gauge is a constant of the motion. The force arising from this potential adds to the Newtonian force a very small centripetal correction that allows $I = {\mathrm{L}}^2$, the moment of inertia about the center of mass, to remain constant [@barbour2003scale].
Gauge Freedom, Symmetry Breaking, and Newton’s Bucket {#bucket}
-----------------------------------------------------
The structures in an absolute space involved in the formulation of the geometry of shape space—in particular, the metric $g$ given by the conformal factor—are invariant under translations, rotations, and scaling. So, of course, is the classical dynamics on shape space, since, by construction, translations, rotations, and scaling act trivially on shape space. The procedure defining the invariant gauge (Sect. \[cmng\]) respects all of these symmetries. But scale invariance is broken in the Newton gauge because the time change involved in the transition from the invariant gauge to the Newton gauge depends on the scale via $f$. This illustrates the obvious fact that the symmetries of the law of motion arising from the fundamental dynamics on shape space by a choice of gauge depends on the particular details defining that gauge.
A much larger class of symmetries for the shape space dynamics—also acting trivially—involves an independent group action ${\mathsf{g}}\in G$ at each “time" (but not so independent that smoothness is lost). The most important and familiar of these symmetries, when applied in a particular gauge, are uniformly growing translations (corresponding to Galilean boosts) and uniformly growing rotations (corresponding to the use of a rotating coordinate system or frame of reference). The former are a symmetry of the law of motion of the Newton gauge (ignoring the constraints -, which are obviously not preserved under boosts), since a change in position that depends linearly on time produces no change in the acceleration. The latter, however, is not a symmetry of the Newtonian law of motion.
The behavior of Newton’s bucket, which has been used to argue against a relational understanding of space, is thus seen, in fact, to be a natural consequence of the relational view. That behavior is a consequence of Newtonian-like laws akin to those that emerge as the description in the Newton gauge of the fundamental dynamics on shape space. However, in the Newton gauge the total angular momentum of the universe must vanish, and this is incompatible with a (non-negligible) uniform rotation of the “fixed stars." In a gauge corresponding to applying a uniformly growing rotation to the motion of the Newton gauge, the Newtonian law of motion is not obeyed, though the motion so obtained remains entirely compatible with the fundamental dynamics on shape space, a dynamics for which the behavior of the bucket depends essentially on its motion relative to that of the fixed stars.
The Emergence of Absolute Space and Time in the Quantum Case {#emergencestqu}
============================================================
Gauge Freedom in the Quantum Case
---------------------------------
As in the classical case, also the quantum theory is about shapes, if one takes the standpoint of Bohmian mechanics. In this formulation of quantum mechanics, the role of the wave function is that of governing the motion of shapes. Moreover, as in the classical case, there is [*gauge freedom*]{}: a huge host of motions in absolute space ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ are compatible with Bohmian motion in shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}$. But now the presence of the wave function makes the freedom larger and subtler at the same time, as we shall explain in the following.
The Schrödinger Gauge {#scg}
---------------------
Let ${Q}={Q}(t)$ be a Bohmian motion in shape space, that is, a solution of with the wave function ${\Psi}{} $ being a solution of Schrödinger’s equation on shape space. For simplicity, we shall assume that ${\mathscr{V}}=0$ so that becomes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{hamsf} i\hbar \frac{\partial {\psi}}{\partial t} = {\mathsf{H}}{\psi}\,, \quad {\mathsf{H}}= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \Delta_B \end{aligned}$$ with $ \Delta_B $ the Laplace-Beltrami operator on shape space.
As in the classical case, we wish to characterize motions in absolute space that are compatible with motions in shape space, that is, motions ${\boldsymbol{Q}}={\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)$ in ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ that project down to ${Q}={Q}(t)$ in ${\mathcal{Q}}$, i.e., such that $$\begin{aligned}
\pi ({\boldsymbol{Q}}(t)) = {Q}(t) \,, \end{aligned}$$ where $\pi$ is the canonical projection from ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ space to ${\mathcal{Q}}$. Clearly, there are a great many possibilities for compatible motions in absolute configuration space.
As in the classical case, one may restrict the possibilities by considering natural gauges. And as in the classical case where one looks for gauges such that the absolute motions satisfy Newton’s equations, in the quantum case we now look for gauges such that the compatible motions on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ are themselves Bohmian motions, i.e. motions generated by a wave function in the usual sort of way.
For example, suppose that we proceed as in the classical case and take a horizontal lift of a motion ${Q}={Q}(t)$ in shape space, that is, an absolute motion for which the infinitesimal displacements $d{\boldsymbol{Q}}$ are all horizontal. Let us now consider the lift to ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ of a wave function ${\Psi}{}$ on ${\mathcal{Q}}$, namely, the wave function $ {\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}$ on absolute configuration space such that $$\label{strhl} {\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) = {\Psi}{}(q)$$ for any point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ on the fiber above $q$. Let $\nabla_g$be the gradient with respect to the invariant measure . Then the vector $\nabla_g {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ in ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ is horizontal and the motions on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ defined by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{velogB} \frac{d{\boldsymbol{Q}}}{dt}= \hbar \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{\nabla_{g} {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}}{{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}} \end{aligned}$$ are horizontal lifts of motions on ${\mathcal{Q}}$. So, in the quantum case, horizontality is immediate.
Let us now consider the time evolution of the lifted wave function ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$. Let ${\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ be a lift to absolute configuration space of the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_B$ on shape space, namely an operator on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ such that $$\begin{aligned}
{\widehat{\Delta}_B}{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}= \Delta_B {\Psi}{} \,. \end{aligned}$$ Then $$\begin{aligned}
\label{hamsfac} i\hbar \frac{\partial{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}}{\partial t} = {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,, \quad
\text{with}\quad
{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\widehat{\Delta}_B}\,.\end{aligned}$$ It might seem natural to guess that ${\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ coincides with $\Delta_{g}$, the Laplace-Beltrami operator with respect to $g$, but this is wrong; nor is ${\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_1$ a familiar sort of Schrödinger Hamiltonian, with or without a potential term. While ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ need not obey any familiar Schrödinger-type equation, one may ask whether there exists a gauge equivalent wave function that does. By gauge equivalent wave function we mean this: If one writes ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ as $Re^{(i/\hbar) S} $ one sees that the velocity field given by is just $\nabla_g S$, so transformations of the wave function $$\begin{aligned}
\label{psiqtransf} {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\to{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}' = F{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,, \end{aligned}$$ where $F$ is a positive function, do not change its phase and thus the velocity. It turns out that there exists a positive function $F$ such that $ {\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}= F {\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}$ (why we use 3 here instead of 2 will be clearer in Sect. \[sec:qmsgpr\]) satisfies a Schrödinger type equation on absolute configuration space for a suitable potential $V$, namely, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{hamsf2} i\hbar \frac{\partial {{\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}}}{\partial t} = {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}{{\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}}\end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:Steptwo} {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}&=
- \frac{\hbar^2}{2} \sum_{\alpha=1}^N {\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{\alpha}\cdot\frac{1}{ f m_\alpha }{\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{\alpha} +V
\\
\label{eq:Steptwo} &= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\frac{1}{f}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}+V\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$ and ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}$ are the gradient and divergence with respect to the mass-weighted Eucidean metric , i.e., $$\begin{aligned}
\label{nsblab} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}= \left(\frac{1}{m_1} {\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{1} , \ldots, \frac{1}{m_N} {\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{N} \right) \end{aligned}$$ and $$\begin{aligned}
\label{nsblab2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}= \left({\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{1} , \ldots, {\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{N} \right) {\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\, .\end{aligned}$$ Here $f$ is the conformal factor, and $$\begin{aligned}
V &=V_1+V_2 \\
\label{V_1}
V_1 &=
-\frac{\hbar^2}{2}\frac{ {\widehat{\Delta}_B}J^{1/2}}{ J^{1/2}} \\
\label{exvtwo}
V_2 &= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} f^{\frac{n}{4}}\Delta_g\big(f^{-\frac{n}{4}}\big)\,,\end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{forforJ}
J= {\mathrm{L}}f^{7/2} \sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\mathrm{L}}={\mathrm{L}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ is given by equation and $\mathsf{M} = \mathsf{M} ({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) $ is the tensor of inertia of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ about any orthogonal cartesian system $x$,$y$,$z$ with origin in its center of mass and with matrix elements given by , and where $ {\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ is the canonical lift .
We shall now describe what we think is appropriate to be called the [*Schrödinger gauge*]{}, the true quantum analogue of the Newton gauge. If we take into account that time is relational, as we should, the fundamental equation for the wave function on shape space is presumably the stationary equation $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:bmonmany3}
-\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \Delta_B {\Psi}{} = \mathscr{E} {\Psi}{} \,,\end{aligned}$$ where, for simplicity, we have set ${\mathscr{V}}=0$ and $\mathscr{E}$ is any given fixed constant (for example $\mathscr{E}=0$).
As before, let ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ be the lift of ${\Psi}{}$ to ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, so that ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ satisfies the equation $$\begin{aligned}
\label{hamsfacst} ({\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_1 - \mathscr{E}) {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}=0 \,, \end{aligned}$$ with ${\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_1$ a lift of ${\mathsf{H}}$ as in , and the evolution on the absolute configuration ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ is still given by . But now, for relational time, [motions following the same path with different speeds are the same motion]{}. So, in the formula for the gradient on the right hand side of , $\nabla_g = f^{-1}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$, we may regard $f$ as a change of speed defining a new time variable that for the sake of simplicity we shall still call $t$ (“random time change”). Then in absolute space the guiding equation becomes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{bohmabsolu}
\frac{d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_\alpha}{dt} =\frac{\hbar}{m_\alpha} \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{{\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_{\alpha} {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}}{{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}} \,.\end{aligned}$$
Again, ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ need not obey any familiar stationary Schrödinger-type equation. However, as before, we may exploit gauge freedom to transform into a stationary Schrödinger-type equation. Indeed, we have an even greater gauge freedom in changing the wave function and the Hamiltonian, as will be shown below. In particular, there is a gauge, the Schrödinger gauge, in which becomes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{step31}
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}\Phi= 0 \end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{step312}
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}^2 + U\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}^2= {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$ is the mass-weighed Euclidean Laplacian, and $$\begin{aligned}
\label{step32}
U= f (V_1 -\mathscr{E}) - \frac{\hbar^2}{8} \frac{n-2}{n-1} f R_g \,,\end{aligned}$$ where $R_g$ is the scalar curvature of the invariant metric $g$.
Proofs of the Transitions to the Different Hamiltonians {#sec:qmsgpr}
-------------------------------------------------------
We shall now provide proofs of the transitions from Hamiltonian ${\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_1$ in equations and to Hamiltonian ${\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_3$, given by , in equation , and Hamiltonian ${\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_S$, given by , in equation . The material presented here and in the following subsections is of a more mathematical character and could be skipped in first reading.
The lift to ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ of the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_B$ on ${\mathcal{Q}}$ is by no means unique. There is however a “canonical lift” given by the formula $$\begin{aligned}
\label{basicforJ}
{\widehat{\Delta}_B}= {\mathfrak{J}}\,\operatorname{div}_g {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} \operatorname{grad}_g\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\mathfrak{J}}= {\mathfrak{J}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ is a positive function on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ (unique up to a constant multiple), $\operatorname{grad}_g$ is the gradient, given by (using the Einstein summation convention) $$\begin{aligned}
\label{gradcoo} \left( \operatorname{grad}_g\right)^i = g^{ij} \partial _j\end{aligned}$$ in a coordinate basis $(\partial_1, \ldots, \partial_n)$, and $ \operatorname{div}_g $ is the divergence whose action on a vector field ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{Y}}}=(Y^1, \ldots, Y^n)$ in the coordinate basis $(\partial_1, \ldots, \partial_n)$ is $$\begin{aligned}
\label{divcoo} \operatorname{div}_g {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{Y}}}= \frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}}\partial_i \sqrt{|g|} Y^i \,,\end{aligned}$$ where $|g| = |\det(g_{ij})| $ is the absolute value of the determinant of the metric tensor $g_{ij}$ in the given local coordinates. The existence of a positive ${\mathfrak{J}}$ such that defines a lift of $\Delta_B $ will be proven in Sect. \[derishjac\] and formula for ${\mathfrak{J}}$ will be derived in Sect.\[compshjac\]. We call ${\mathfrak{J}}$ the [*shape Jacobian*]{}.
While ${\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ does not coincide with $\Delta_g$, the Laplace-Beltrami operator on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, it is a minimal modification thereof. Just compare with $\Delta_g$ as “div-grad” operator, i.e., in local coordinates, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:LB}
\Delta_g = \operatorname{div}_g \operatorname{grad}_g &= \frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}}\partial_i \sqrt{|g|}g^{ij}\partial_j \\ &=
\frac{1}{f^{n/2}} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}f^{(n/2)-1} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}\,,
\label{eq:LB2} \end{aligned}$$ where in the second equality we have made explicit the invariant metric $g= f g_e$, with $g_e$ given by , in Euclidean particle coordinates: $g_{ij} = f m_{\alpha_i} \delta_{ij}$, so that $\sqrt{|g|}= \left( m_1 \cdots m_N \right)^{3/2} f^{n/2}$, with $n=3N$, and $g^{ij} =f^{-1} m_{\alpha_i}^{-1} \delta_{ij}$. Similarly, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:LBJJ}
{\widehat{\Delta}_B}&=\frac{{\mathfrak{J}}}{\sqrt{|g|}}\partial_i \frac{\sqrt{|g|}}{{\mathfrak{J}}} g^{ij}\partial_j \\ &= \frac{{\mathfrak{J}}}{ f^{n/2}} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\frac{f^{(n/2)-1}}{{\mathfrak{J}}} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}\,.\end{aligned}$$
Note that $\Delta_g$ is self-adjoint on $L^2(d\mu_g)$, the set of functions on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ square integrable with respect to the volume element defined by the metric $g$, $$\label{dmugdef}
d\mu_g = \sqrt{|g|} dx_1 \cdots dx_n \propto f^{n/2} d^3{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_1 \cdots d^3 {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_N$$ ($n=3N$). In contrast, $ {\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ is self adjoint with respect to the volume element $d\mu ={\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} d\mu_g$.
Let us now consider the effect of the gauge transformation on ${{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}= - ({\hbar^2}/{2} ){\widehat{\Delta}_B}$. Since $ {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\to {{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}= F{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ is a unitary transformation $$\begin{aligned}
\label{unitcond} U : L^2 (d\mu) \to L^2(F^{-2}d\mu)\,, \end{aligned}$$ the effect of is to transform ${{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}$ into the unitarily equivalent operator $$\begin{aligned}
\label{htilde} {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}= U {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}U^{-1} = F {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}F^{-1} \,,\end{aligned}$$ so that $\{
{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}, {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\}$ and $\{
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}, {{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}\}$ provide equivalent description of the dynamics.
A natural question is whether there is an equivalent description such that $ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}$ is Schrödinger-like with some potential. The key to answering this question is the following theorem concerning second order partial differential operators (see the Appendix for a proof): [*Suppose $H_1$ and $H_2$ are second order partial differential operators, both self-adjoint with respect to the same measure. If they have the same pure 2nd derivative parts then $$\begin{aligned}
H_2 = H_1 + V\,. \end{aligned}$$ Moreover, if $H_1 1 = 0$ (no constant part) then $V = H_2 1$.*]{}
We first apply this theorem to the operators $H_1= -({\hbar^2}/{2} )\Delta_g$ and $H_2= { {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}}$, unitarily equivalent to ${ {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}}$ according to . Choosing $F= {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1/2}$ in , $H_2$ is self-adjoint with respect to $\mu_g$. (According to , this operator is self-adjoint with respect to ${\mathfrak{J}}d\mu = {\mathfrak{J}}{\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} d\mu_g= d\mu_g$.) So, $H_1$ and $H_2$ so defined are self-adjoint with respect to the same measure, have the same pure 2nd derivative parts (namely, $- (\hbar^2/2) f^{-1} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$) and $H_1 1 = 0$. Thus, according to the theorem stated above, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{tildaH}
{ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}}= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \Delta_g + V_1 \end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Vone}
V_1=
-\frac{\hbar^2}{2}\frac{ {\widehat{\Delta}_B}{\mathfrak{J}}^{1/2}}{ {\mathfrak{J}}^{1/2}} \,.\end{aligned}$$ Let us now perform a further transformation on ${{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}}$ to make it unitarily equivalent to the operator ${ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}} $ (see ), which is self-adjoint with respect to the Lebesgue measure $d^3{\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_1 \cdots d^3 {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_N$. Observing the form of $\Delta_g $, the desired transformation is $$\begin{aligned}
\label{htilde2} {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}\to {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}&= f^{n/4} {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}f^{-n/4} \\
&= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} f^{n/4} \Delta_g f^{-n/4} + V_1 \label{htilde3}\\
&\equiv H_2 + V_1 \label{htilde4}\,.\end{aligned}$$
Consider now the operator $$\begin{aligned}
\label{H-1}
H_1= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}\cdot \frac1f {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}\end{aligned}$$ and note that $H_1$ and $H_2$ have the same pure 2nd derivative parts, are self-adjoint with respect to the same measure (the Lebesgue measure) and $H_1 1 = 0$. Thus, $$\begin{aligned}
H_2 = H_1 +V_2\end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{exvtwos}
V_2= H_21= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} f^{\frac{n}{4}}\Delta_g\big(f^{-\frac{n}{4}}\big)\,.\end{aligned}$$ Finally, by inserting $H_2$ into , we get $$\begin{aligned}
\label{exvtwoxx}
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}= H_1 + V_2 + V_1 = -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}\cdot \frac{1}{f}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}+V_1+ V_2\,,
\end{aligned}$$ which is formula with $V_1$ and $V_2$ given by and .
Consider now the stationary equation corresponding to equation , namely $$\begin{aligned}
\label{tildaHstat} \left( { {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}} - \mathscr{E}\right) {{{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}} = 0\end{aligned}$$ and observe that now we may allow a broader class of transformations $\{
{ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}} , {{{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}} \} \to \{
{{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}} , {\Phi} \}$ leading to an equivalent description of the dynamics. More precisely, with a change of ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}$ according to , $$\begin{aligned}
{{{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}} \to {\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}&= F {{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}}\end{aligned}$$ with $F >0$, we need not demand now that the Hamiltonian gets transformed according to ; the more general change $$\begin{aligned}
({ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}} -\mathscr{E}) \to {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}&= G ( { {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}} -\mathscr{E}) F^{-1} \,, \end{aligned}$$ with $G > 0$ not necessarily equal to $F^{-1}$ suffices. Recalling , we have $$\begin{aligned}
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}= H_2 + G F^{-1} ( V_1 - \mathscr{E})
\,,\end{aligned}$$ with now $H_2$ defined as $$H_2 = -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} G \Delta_g F^{-1} \,.$$ Observing the form of $\Delta_g $, for the choice $$\begin{aligned}
F= f^{\frac{n-2}{4} } \,, \quad G = f^{\frac{n}{2}} f^{-\frac{n-2}{4} } = f^{\frac{n+2}{4}} \,, \end{aligned}$$ $H_2$ has the same pure 2nd derivative part as $H_1\equiv
- ({\hbar^2}/{2} ) \Delta$; moreover, $H_1$ and $H_2$ so defined are self-adjoint with respect to Lebesgue measure and $H_1 1 = 0$. Thus, $$H_2 = -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}^2 + V_3$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
V_3 = -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} f^{\frac{n+2}{4}} \Delta_g f^{-\frac{n-2}{4} } \,.\end{aligned}$$
The potential $V_3 $ has a natural geometrical meaning. To see this, note that the scalar curvatures $R_{g}$ and $R_{\tilde{g}}$ of two conformally related metrics $g$ and $\tilde{g} = \Lambda g$ are related by the formula (see, e.g., [@marques2010scalar]) $$R_{\tilde{g}}=\Lambda^{-1}\left(R_g -\frac{4(n-1)}{n-2} \Lambda^{-\frac{n-2}{4} } \Delta _g \Lambda^{\frac{n-2}{4}} \right)\,.$$ Letting $g$ be the invariant metric on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, $\tilde{g} $ be the Euclidean metric on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ (so that $R_{\tilde{g}}= 0$) and $\Lambda = f^{-1}$, we obtain that $$\label{curpot}
R_g = \frac{4(n-1)}{n-2} f^{\frac{n-2}{4} } \Delta _g f^{-\frac{n-2}{4}} \,,$$ whence $$\begin{aligned}
V_3 = -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \frac{n-2}{4(n-1)} f R_g\,.\end{aligned}$$ Since $G F^{-1} = f$, we conclude that $$\begin{aligned}
{{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}= -\frac{\hbar^2}{2} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}^2 + f (V_1 -\mathscr{E}) - \frac{\hbar^2}{8} \frac{n-2}{n-1} f R_g \,,\end{aligned}$$ which coincides with for $U$ given by . This completes the proofs of the transitions to the different Hamiltonians.
Note that while $V_2$ and $V_3$ do not depend on the shape Jacobian ${\mathfrak{J}}$, $V_1$ does. So, to find $V_1$, we have first to find an explicit formula for ${\mathfrak{J}}$. This will be done in Sect. and Sect. .
Remarks on the Bohmian Motion in the Various Gauges {#rmkbm}
---------------------------------------------------
We have already stated that the usual Bohmian motion associated with $ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}$ is given by , see . This is true also for $ {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}$ and ${{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}$. To see this, consider a Hamiltonian of the form $$\label{genhamfg} H= -\frac{h^2}{2} F \nabla \cdot G \nabla + U \,,$$with $U$ a potential (multiplication operator), where $\nabla $ and $\nabla \cdot$ are, respectively, the gradient and the divergence with respect to a metric with associated volume element $d\mu$. Then $H$ is self-adjoint with respect to $F^{-1} d\mu$ and the velocity field generated by a solution $\widehat{\Psi}$ of the Schrödinger equation associated with $H$ is $$\label{eq:vgenea}
v = \hbar \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{FG \nabla \widehat{\Psi}}{\widehat{\Psi}} \,. $$ Thus, in the “1-gauge” for $ {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}$ involving ${\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ given by , the Bohmian velocity is indeed (with $\widehat{\Psi} ={\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}$), since in this gauge $\nabla= \operatorname{grad}_g$, $\nabla\cdot = \operatorname{div}_g$, $F= {\mathfrak{J}}$ and $ G= {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1}$. The same velocity arises in the “2-gauge” (with $\widehat{\Psi}=\widehat{\Psi}_2$), since now $F= G =1$ (and $\nabla= \operatorname{grad}_g$, $\nabla\cdot = \operatorname{div}_g$, as before), as well as in the “3-gauge” (with $\widehat{\Psi}={\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}$), since now $\nabla = {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$, $\nabla \cdot = {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}$, the usual divergence, and $F=1$, $G= 1/f$, so that equals since $\nabla_g = f^{-1} {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$. On the other hand, in the “$S$-gauge” for $ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{S}}}$ (the Schrödinger gauge) the Bohmian velocity is given by the usual formula , which, as already stated, arises from after a time change.
We shall address the status of probability measures in Bohmian mechanics on shape space and in the various gauges in Sect. \[probonpaths\]. Here we shall just state some mathematical facts about the quantum equilibrium measures (Born’s rule) associated with the Bohmian motions in the various gauges. These measures are the same in all the first three gauges, though they assume different forms. In each gauge, they are the quantum equilibrium measure associated with the solutions of the wave equation in that gauge.
By construction, and more explicitly, since is self-adjoint with respect to $F^{-1} d\mu$, $ {{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{1}}$, $ {{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{2}}}$, and ${{{\widehat{\mathsf{H}}}_{3}}}$ are self-adjoint with respect to the measures ${\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} d\mu_g$, $d\mu_g$, and $d{\boldsymbol{q}}$ (the Lebesgue measure on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$), respectively. Thus, the corresponding quantum equilibrium measures are, respectively,
$$\begin{aligned}
\label{born1}
\left.
\begin{aligned} & |{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}|^2 {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} d\mu_g\\
& |{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}|^2 d\mu_g\\
& |{\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}|^2 d{\boldsymbol{q}}
\end{aligned} \right\} \equiv d\mu^{\widehat{\Psi}}\,.
\end{aligned}$$
The equality of these measures (up to a constant multiple) readily follows from the relations between the various gauges, $$\begin{aligned}
{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) &= {\Psi}{}(q) \,,\\
{\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}&= {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1/2} {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,,\\
{\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}&= f^{n/4} {\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}\,,\end{aligned}$$ and formula for $d\mu_g$. We finally note that in the Schrödinger gauge, as for the velocity, Born’s probability law turns out to be the familiar one, namely, $$\label{muphi}
d\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} = |{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}|^2 d{\boldsymbol{q}}\,.$$ Note that in going from the 3-gauge to the $S$-gauge there is no change of measure for self-adjointness of the Hamiltonian, so that the change ${\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}\to {\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}$ leads in this case to a change in measure, $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} \neq \mu^{\widehat{\Psi}} $.
Derivation of the Shape Jacobian {#derishjac}
--------------------------------
We shall now derive formula . In order to do this, we shall compare the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_g$ on absolute configuration space ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ with the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_B$ on shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}={\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}/G$. This comparison would be easy if we could represent $\Delta_g$ in terms of coordinates $x^i =\{x^H, x^V\}$ such that the $x_V$ coordinate lines are all inside the $G$-fibers and the $x_H$ coordinate lines are orthogonal to them and thus yield a horizontal foliation. However, a coordinate system of this kind does not exist, not even locally, since the existence of a horizontal foliation of ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ is precluded by the curvature of the horizontal connection arising from the rotations (see footnote \[nontrivial\]). We shall not elaborate further on this. Nonetheless a splitting into horizontal and vertical components can be obtained by expressing the Laplace-Beltrami operator in terms of a basis formed by a suitable set of horizontal and vertical vector fields, as will be explained below.[^6]
First, we express gradient and divergence on a Riemannian manifold in terms of a general basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}$ of vector fields $ {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i$, $ i=1, \ldots, n$. We replace by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{gradgen} \left( \operatorname{grad}_g\right)^i = g^{ij} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $ g^{ij}= [g_{ij}]^{-1}$ with $g_{ij}= g({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j)$, and replace with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{divgen} \operatorname{div}_g {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{Y}}}= \left( \frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i \sqrt{|g|} + {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k \left([{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_k, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i] \right) \right) Y^i \,,\end{aligned}$$ where $|g| = |\det(g_{ij})| $, $\{{\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k\}$ is the dual basis in the cotangent space, i.e., $ {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i)= \delta_i^k$, $ [ \,{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\, ,{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\,]$ is the Lie bracket (or commutator) of vector fields, and $Y^i$ are the components of ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{Y}}}$ with respect to the basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i$.[^7] Accordingly, the Laplace-Beltrami operator becomes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{lapvecfi}
\Delta_g &=\left( \frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i \sqrt{|g|} + {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k \left([{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_k, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i] \right) \right)g^{ij}{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j \,,\end{aligned}$$ which generalizes the standard formula to an arbitrary basis.
Second, we specify a basis of vector fields that is adapted to the geometrical structure of absolute configuration space ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ as a principal fiber bundle with base ${\mathcal{Q}}$ and fibers isomorphic to the similarity group $G$, in particular, to the orthogonal decomposition of the tangent space $T_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ at any point ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ of ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ into horizontal subspace $T_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}^H $ and vertical subspace $T_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}^V $ and the corresponding decomposition $T {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}= T {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}^H \oplus T {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}^V $ of the tangent bundle. In the horizontal subspace we choose as a basis the horizontal lift of a coordinate basis $X= \{X_\alpha\}$ in ${\mathcal{Q}}$, $\alpha= 1, \ldots, n-7$. Note that while a lift of the vector field $X_\alpha$ is not unique (as any vector field on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ that projects down to $X_\alpha$ represents a lift of $X_\alpha$), there is only one horizontal lift of $X_\alpha$ which we shall denote by $ \widehat{X}_\alpha$. These vector fields form the basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H = \{\widehat{X}_\alpha\}\equiv \widehat{X}$, $\alpha= 1, \ldots, n-7$, in the horizontal subspace.
In the vertical subspace we choose a basis formed by vector fields that represent the action of the infinitesimal generators of the group $G$ on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$. More precisely, observe that the action ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}\to {\mathsf{g}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ of $G$ on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, ${\mathsf{g}}\in G$, defines, for any given ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}\in{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ , the map $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}: G\to {\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ given by $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}({\mathsf{g}})= {\mathsf{g}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$, and the differential $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}'$ of this map defines a map from $T_e(G)$, the tangent space to the identity $e$ of $G$, to $T_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$. Since $T_e(G)$ is the Lie-algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ of the group $G$, the image under $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}'$ of any element $\mathsf{L} $ of $\mathfrak{g}$ is a tangent vector at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ and, varying ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, one obtains the vector field $\overline{\mathsf{L}}$ on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ associated with $\mathsf{L} $. In particular, if $\mathsf{L}_\beta$, $\beta=1, \ldots 7$, are the generators of $\mathfrak{g}$, their images under $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}'$ form the basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V= \{ \overline{\mathsf{L}}_\beta \} $, $\beta=1, \ldots 7$, in the vertical subspace. (It should be noted that the vertical vector fields so defined coincide with the image under $\varphi_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}'$ of the right invariant vector fields on $G$; in this regard, recall that the Lie-algebra of the group can be equivalently defined as the Lie-algebra of the right —or left — invariant vector fields on $G$.)
Third, we rewrite the Laplace-Beltrami operator in terms of the basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}= \{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V\}$ using the compact (and slightly ambiguous) notation $$\begin{aligned}
\Delta_g &=\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H \sqrt{|g|} g^{HH}{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H +
\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V \sqrt{|g|} g^{VV}{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V\notag
\\ \label{lapvecfi2}
&\qquad+ {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^{A} \left( [{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_A, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_A] \right) g^{AA}{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where repeated upper and lower indexes $H$, resp., $V$, stands for summation over all elements of $ \{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}^H\}$, resp., $ \{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}^V\}$. In the last term the summation is over $A=H,V$. Note, that no mixed contributions $H$-$V$ occur, since the vertical and horizontal vector fields are orthogonal and thus $g^{HV}=0$. Consider now $
\Delta_g {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$, the action of $\Delta_g$ on an invariant function ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) = \Psi(q) $. Since the second term in is purely vertical, it gives no contribution. We rewrite the last term more explicitly, keeping only the non zero part of its action on invariant functions, to obtain $$\begin{aligned}
\left( {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^H \left([{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H] \right) + {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^V \left( [{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H] \right) \right) g^{HH} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,. \end{aligned}$$ The first term in the round brackets gives no contribution, in fact $$\begin{aligned}
[{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H] = [\widehat{X}, \widehat{X}] = \widehat{ [X, X] } + \text{\sf Vertical} = \text{\sf Vertical}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where in the last equality we have used the fact that $X$ is a coordinate basis, and thus its elements commute; moreover, $ {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^H ( \text{\sf Vertical}
) $ is clearly zero. As for the second term, expressing the commutator of the vector fields by means of the Lie derivative $ \mathcal{L}$, $$[{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H] = \mathcal{L}_{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H = 0$$ by symmetry, i.e., the $G$-invariance of the vector fields ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H $. We conclude that for ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ an invariant function on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, we obtain $$\begin{aligned}
\label{deltagoninv}
\Delta_g{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H \sqrt{|g|} g^{HH}{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,.\end{aligned}$$
Fourth, we consider the Laplace-Beltrami operator on shape space acting on $\psi = \psi(q)$, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{deltabb}
\Delta_B \psi =\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g_B|}} X \sqrt{|g_B|} g^{BB} X \psi \,.
$$ Then the action of a lift of $\Delta_B$ on the invariant function ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}= {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ associated with $\psi$ is given by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{deltabh}
{\widehat{\Delta}_B}{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g_B|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H \sqrt{|g_B|} g^{HH} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\,.\end{aligned}$$ Comparing with , we write this as $$\begin{aligned}
\label{deltasb}
{\widehat{\Delta}_B}{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}= {\mathfrak{J}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} \, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} \sqrt{|g|} g^{HH} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H {{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}\end{aligned}$$ with $$\begin{aligned}
\label{forshjac}
{\mathfrak{J}}= \frac{\sqrt{|g|}}{ \sqrt{|g_B|} } \,.\end{aligned}$$
Fifth (and finally), we consider the operator $$O = {\mathfrak{J}}\, \operatorname{div}_g {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} \operatorname{grad}_g \,,$$ with ${\mathfrak{J}}$ given by , and observe that $$\begin{gathered}
{\mathfrak{J}}\, \operatorname{div}_g {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{Y}}}= {\mathfrak{J}}\left( \frac{1}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i \sqrt{|g|} + {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k \left([{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_k, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i] \right) \right) {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} Y^i \\
= \left( \frac{{\mathfrak{J}}}{\sqrt{|g|}} {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i {\mathfrak{J}}^{-1} \sqrt{|g|} + {\boldsymbol{\omega}}^k \left([{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_k, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i] \right) \right) Y^i \,.\end{gathered}$$ Thus $O{{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$, with ${{\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}}$ an invariant function, coincides with the right hand side of (for the same reasons that led us from to ). Therefore $O$, i.e. , is a lift of $\Delta_B$, with the shape Jacobian ${\mathfrak{J}}$ given explicitly by equation .
Computation of the Shape Jacobian {#compshjac}
---------------------------------
Our last task is to derive formula from equation for the shape Jacobian ${\mathfrak{J}}$.
First, we observe that in the basis $\{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V\}$ the metric $g$ has the block diagonal decomposition (slightly abusing notation) $$g = \begin{pmatrix} g_V & 0\\ 0 & g_H \end{pmatrix}\,,$$ where $g_H$ can be identified with $ g_B$ and $g_V$ is the restriction of $g$ to the vertical vector fields. Since $|g| =
|g_V| |g_H|$ and $|g_B|= |g_H|$, it follows from that $$\begin{aligned}
\label{J}
{\mathfrak{J}}= \frac{\sqrt{|g|}}{ \sqrt{|g_B|} } = \frac{\sqrt{ |g_V| |g_H|}}{ \sqrt{|g_B|} } = \sqrt{|g_V|} \,,\end{aligned}$$ so that ${\mathfrak{J}}$ turns out to be the invariant volume density in the vertical subspace with respect to fiber volume element corresponding to ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V$. Moreover, by we have that $$\begin{aligned}
\label{shja1}
{\mathfrak{J}}= f^{7/2} {\mathfrak{J}}_e\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\mathfrak{J}}_e$ is the vertical volume density for the mass-weighted Euclidean metric instead of the invariant metric $g$ involving the conformal factor $f$. For this we have $$\begin{aligned}
\label{shja2}
{\mathfrak{J}}_e ({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) = \operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V) ({{\boldsymbol{q}}})\,,\end{aligned}$$ the $7$-dimensional (Euclidean) volume of the parallelepiped in $T_{{\boldsymbol{q}}}{\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}^V $ generated by ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V$, i.e., by the vertical tangent vectors at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ obtained by evaluating at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ the $7$ vector fields that generate $G$.
Second, we may split $$\begin{aligned}
{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V = ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{rs})\,,\end{aligned}$$ where ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}$ refers to the $3$ generators of translations and ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{rs}$ to the $4$ generators of rotations and scaling. However, the vector fields ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{rs}$ are not in general orthogonal to those of ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}$. We therefore consider also $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rs} = P_\text{tr}^\perp {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{rs} $, the orthogonal projection of the vectors ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{rs}$ into the orthogonal complement of the subspace of the tangent space corresponding to translations. We thus have that $$\begin{aligned}
\operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V) &=\operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}) \cdot \operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rs}) \\
& \equiv \operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}) \widetilde{{\mathfrak{J}}}_\text{rs} = \operatorname{const}\widetilde{{\mathfrak{J}}}_\text{rs}\,,\end{aligned}$$ since $\operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr})$ is a constant, independent of ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ (which we may take to be $1$ by letting the translation vectors in ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_\text{tr}$ to be orthonormal). It should be observed that $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rs}$ consists of the generators of rotations and scalings about the center of mass of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$. To see this, note that if we represent ${{{\boldsymbol{q}}}}$ in center of mass and relative coordinates ${\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}= {{\boldsymbol{q}}}- {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}$, i.e., ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}= ({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}, {\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}) $, then for any rotation or scaling ${\mathsf{g}}$, we have that the action of ${\mathsf{g}}$ on ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ is given in these coordinates by ${\mathsf{g}}({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}, {\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}) = ({\mathsf{g}}({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}), {\mathsf{g}}({\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}})) $, while for the corresponding action $\widetilde{{\mathsf{g}}}$ about the center of mass, $\widetilde{{\mathsf{g}}} ({\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}, {\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}) = ( {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm}, {\mathsf{g}}({\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}})) $.
Third, we may split $$\begin{aligned}
\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rs} = (\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rot},\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{s})\,\end{aligned}$$ into generators $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rot}$ of rotations about the center of mass and a generator $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{s}$ of scalings about the center of mass. Then we have that $$\begin{aligned}
\label{prodovolel3}
\widetilde{{\mathfrak{J}}}_\text{rs} = \operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rs}) =
\operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rot}) \cdot \operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{s})\,,\end{aligned}$$ since $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{s}$ is orthogonal to $\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rot}$.
Fourth, we have that $$\begin{aligned}
\label{forforr}
\operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{s}) = {\mathrm{L}}\end{aligned}$$ up to a constant, independent of ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, where ${\mathrm{L}}={\mathrm{L}}({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ is given by equation . To see this, note that the effect of a scaling at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ about the center of mass is proportional to the value of ${\mathrm{L}}$ at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$. As for the other volume element in , we have $$\begin{aligned}
\label{widehatxrot}
\operatorname{vol}(\widetilde{{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}}_\text{rot}) = \sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\mathsf{M}$ is the tensor of inertia of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ about the center of mass, whose matrix elements with respect to an orthogonal cartesian system $x$,$y$,$z$ are given by equation . This formula for the volume element is presumably standard. A way to see how it comes about is the following.
To simplify the notations, let us drop “tildas” and “rot” and stipulate that in this paragraph $ ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i)$, $i=x,y,z$, denotes a basis for the generators of rotations about the center of mass ${\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm} $ ($x,y, z$ refer to any orthogonal frame with origin in the center of mass). Then the volume element in is given by $\sqrt{\det \mathsf{A}}$, where $\mathsf{A}$ is the matrix with entries $A_{ij} = g_e\left({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j \right)$. For $ {\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}= {{\boldsymbol{q}}}- {\vec{\mathsf{q}}}_\text{cm} $ a configuration relative to the center of mass, let ${\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}= ({{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_1,\ldots , {{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_N )$. Observe that a generator corresponding to the action of a rotation on configurations is of the form $ {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}( {\widetilde{\boldsymbol{{q}}}}) = ( {{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}\times {{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_1, \ldots,
{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}\times {{\vec{\mathsf{\mathcal{q}}}}}_N)$, where ${{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}$ is a 3-dimensional vector of components $\Omega^i$ (with respect to the $xyz$ frame). Thus the 3-dimensional Lie algebra corresponds naturally to the 3-dimensional vectors ${{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}$, with $\Omega^i $ being the coordinates of a general element $ {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}$ of the Lie algebra with respect to the basis $ ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i)$. A vector ${{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}$ corresponds to a general instantaneous rotational motion. Consider the kinetic energy $$\begin{aligned}
\label{kinenerrot} K= \frac12 g_e ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}) \end{aligned}$$ for such a motion. On the one hand, it is known to be given by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{kinenerrot2} K = \frac12 M_{ij} \Omega^i \Omega^j \,,
\end{aligned}$$ where $ \mathsf{M}= \{M_{ij} \} $ is the moment of inertia tensor. On the other hand, expanding the right hand side of by expressing $
{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}= \sum_i \Omega^i {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i
$ in the basis $ ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i)$, one obtains $$\begin{aligned}
g_e ({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_{{\boldsymbol{\Omega}}}) = g_e\left({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j \right) \Omega^i\Omega^j = A_{ij} \Omega^i\Omega^j \,.\end{aligned}$$ Thus equating the right hand sides of and , one sees that the matrix $\mathsf{A}$ is indeed the tensor of inertia $\mathsf{M}$, whence equation .
Fifth (and finally), substituting in the formula for ${\mathfrak{J}}_e$ given by , with $ \operatorname{vol}({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V)= \widetilde{{\mathfrak{J}}}_\text{rs}$, and using formulas ,, and for $ \widetilde{{\mathfrak{J}}}_\text{rs}$, we have that $${\mathfrak{J}}= {\mathrm{L}}f^{7/2} \sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}}\,,$$ which is formula for the shape Jacobian.
More Gauge Freedom
------------------
As we have already stressed, the lift to ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$ of the Laplace-Beltrami operator $\Delta_B$ on ${\mathcal{Q}}$ is by no means unique. The “canonical lift” , with ${\mathfrak{J}}$ given by equation , is very natural, but other choices are possible. This lack of uniqueness increases the gauge freedom we have in defining the [Schrödinger gauge]{}. In particular, we may use this freedom to define a shape Jacobian that is an invariant function on ${\pmb{\mathcal{Q}}}$, i.e., a function of the configuration ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$ which depends only on its shape.
Note that ${\mathfrak{J}}$ is not invariant: $f^{7/2}$ scales like ${\mathrm{L}}^{-7}$ and $\sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}} $ like ${\mathrm{L}}^3$. We thus have that $$\begin{aligned}
{\mathfrak{J}}= {\mathrm{L}}^{-3} {\mathfrak{J}}_B \,,\end{aligned}$$ where $$\begin{aligned}
{\mathfrak{J}}_B = f_1^{7/2} \sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}_1} \end{aligned}$$ is invariant. Here the subscript $1$ indicates the quantities have to be evaluated, not at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$, but at ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}_1$, the configuration with ${\mathrm{L}}=1$ obtained by rescaling ${{\boldsymbol{q}}}$.
To define a lift ${\widehat{\Delta}_B}$ of $\Delta_B$, we could as well have used the invariant $$\begin{aligned}
\label{formulaJB}
{\mathfrak{J}}_B = {\mathrm{L}}^3 {\mathfrak{J}}={\mathrm{L}}^4 f^{7/2} \sqrt{\det \mathsf{M}} \end{aligned}$$ instead of ${\mathfrak{J}}$. This would have in no way affected the results and the arguments in Sect. \[sec:qmsgpr\] and Sect. \[derishjac\], though it would yield somewhat different potentials $V$ and $U$ in and , respectively.
The Canonical Conformal Factor {#The Canonical Conformal Factor}
------------------------------
Instead of computing ${\mathfrak{J}}_B$ for a given $f$, we might read the other way round, and ask what is the conformal factor that gives rise to the simplest ${\mathfrak{J}}_B$. The simplest possibility is ${\mathfrak{J}}_B= 1$ and this is associated with $f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) \equiv f_c ({{\boldsymbol{q}}})$ given by equation , i.e., $$f({{\boldsymbol{q}}}) =f_c({{\boldsymbol{q}}})\equiv {\mathrm{L}}^{-\frac{8}{7}} (\det\mathsf{M})^{-\frac{1}{7}}\,,$$ the [*canonical conformal factor*]{}. Note that replacing ${\mathfrak{J}}$ in with ${\mathfrak{J}}_B= 1$ gives $V_1=0$ so that the potential in the Hamiltonian is $V=V_2$, with the form of $V_2$ unaffected. (Of course, one needs to evaluate it for $f= f_c$.) Similarly, the potential $U$ in becomes $$\begin{aligned}
\label{step32cc}
U= -f_c \mathscr{E} - \frac{\hbar^2}{8} \frac{n-2}{n-1} f_c R_{g_c}\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $R_{g_c}$ (cf. ) is now the scalar curvature of the metric $g=g_c$ associated with $f_c$.
Subsystems {#ss}
==========
Conditional Wave Functions
---------------------------
In physics we are usually concerned not with the entire universe but with subsystems of the universe, for example with a hydrogen atom or a pair of entangled photons. The quantum mechanical treatment of such systems involves the quantum state of that system, often given by its wave function—not the wave function of the universe. Bohmian mechanics provides a precise formulation and understanding of this notion in terms of the conditional wave function [@durr1992quantum] $$\label{conprobfor}
\psi(x)=\Psi(x,Y)\,,$$ where $\Psi=\Psi(q)=\Psi(x,y)$ is the wave function of the universe, with $x$ and $ y$ the generic variables for the configurations of the system and its environment, respectively, and where $Y$ is the actual configuration of the environment. The conditional wave function of a Bohmian system behaves exactly as one would expect the wave function of a system to behave, with respect to both dynamics and statistics. It is natural to ask how and whether the conditional wave function can be defined for Bohmian mechanics on shape space.
For this the following problem arises. There is no natural product structure $${\mathcal{Q}}={\mathcal{Q}}_{sys} \times {\mathcal{Q}}_{env}$$ for shape space: Here the system is a collection of (labelled) particles with its own shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}_{sys}=\mathcal{X}$, the set of possible shapes $X$ of the system, and the environment consists of the rest of the particles of the universe, with shape space ${\mathcal{Q}}_{env}=\mathcal{Y}=\{Q_{env}=Y\}$, with $Y$ the shape associated with the particles (labels) of the environment. The crucial fact is that it is not true that $${\mathcal{Q}}=\mathcal{X} \times \mathcal{Y}.$$ $X$ and $Y$ don’t involve sufficient information to determine the complete shape $Q$. What is missing is the spatial relationship between these shapes.
Nonetheless we have that ${\mathcal{Q}}$ can be identified with $$\mathcal{X}_Y\times_y\mathcal{Y}=\{(X,Y)|Y\in{\mathcal{Q}}_{env}, X\in{\mathcal{Q}}_Y\}\,,$$ where $${\mathcal{Q}}_Y=\{Q\in{\mathcal{Q}}| Q_{env}=Y\}.$$
We may then define the conditional wave function for the subsystem, for $Y\in{\mathcal{Q}}_{env}$ and universal wave function $\Psi$, by $$\label{cwfu}\psi(x)=\Psi(x,Y), \quad x\in {\mathcal{Q}}_Y.$$ This looks like the usual conditional wave function, but it is important to bear in mind that, unlike with the usual conditional wave function, here $x$ represents the shape of the universe for a fixed $Y$ and there are no obvious natural coordinates to efficiently describe it.
To obtain such a thing the notion of a frame might be useful: Given $Y\in{\mathcal{Q}}_{env}$, a frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ is a choice of point in the fiber over $Y$ in the absolute configuration space of the environment. (${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ corresponds roughly to the usual notion of frame of reference.)
Given $Y$ and a frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$, we obtain natural coordinates for ${\mathcal{Q}}_Y$: Given $X\in{\mathcal{Q}}_Y$ there is a unique ${\boldsymbol{X}}\in\mathbb{R}^{3M}$ (with $M$ the number of particles of the subsystem, which we shall assume from here on is such that the number of particles in the environment $N-M\ge 3$) such that $({\boldsymbol{X}},{\boldsymbol{Y}})$ is in the fiber above $X\in{\mathcal{Q}}_Y$. The map $X\mapsto{\boldsymbol{X}}$ is a one-to-one correspondence between ${\mathcal{Q}}_Y$ and $\mathbb{R}^{3M}$.
Given the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$, we may represent the conditional wave function by $$\label{psihat} {\widehat{\psi}}({\boldsymbol{x}})=\psi(x),$$ where $x$ corresponds to ${\boldsymbol{x}}$. In other words, $$\label{psihat2} {\widehat{\psi}}({\boldsymbol{x}})={\widehat{\Psi}}({\boldsymbol{x}}, {\boldsymbol{Y}}),$$ with ${\widehat{\Psi}} $ the lift of $\Psi$ to absolute configuration space, ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ a lift of $Y$, ${\boldsymbol{x}}$ the lift of $x$ in the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$, and the “hat” refers to any of the gauge equivalent representations ${\widehat{\Psi}_{1}}$, ${\widehat{\Psi}_{2}}$, ${\widehat{\Psi}_{3}}$ (and presumably ${\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}$) of the universal wave function that we have described in Sect. \[sec:qmsgpr\]. Thus, the absolute configuration space level conditional wave functions ${\widehat{\psi}}_1$, ${\widehat{\psi}}_2$ and ${\widehat{\psi}}_3$ (and ${\widehat{\psi}}_S$) are at the same time different representations of the shape space conditional wave function. Moreover, the ${\widehat{\psi}}$s obtained using different frames are in an appropriate sense equivalent.
This conditional wave function ${\widehat{\psi}}$ behaves like the wave function of the subsystem, both with respect to the dynamics of configurations, via the guiding equation, and with respect to probabilities for the subsystem, via what has been called the fundamental conditional probability formula [@durr1992quantum]. With regard to the dynamics, this is clear from the form of the dynamics on absolute configuration space. The latter, while true, is not at all so clear. That it is so follows from the analysis in Sect. \[probonpaths\].
Subsystems and the Role of Projectivity
---------------------------------------
The time-parameter corresponding to the use of the denominator in footnote \[fn:proj\] has the nice feature that the dynamics using that time-parameter depends on fewer details of the wave function than would be the case if the denominator were deleted: with the denominator the dynamics depends only on the ray of $\psi$, with $\psi$ and $c\psi$ yielding the same dynamics for any constant $c\neq0$. This has a particularly nice implication for the behavior of subsystems. With this choice of time-parameter the dynamics for a subsystem will often not depend upon the configuration of its environment, with the subsystem evolving according to an autonomous evolution involving only the configuration and the (conditional) wave function of the subsystem itself [@durr1992quantum]. This would happen when the subsystem is suitably decoupled from its environment, for example for a product wave function when there is no interaction between system and environment. Without the denominator this would not be true, and there would appear to be an additional nonlocal dependence of the behavior of a subsystem on that of its environment that would not be present with a time-parameter associated with the use of the usual denominator.
The Emergence of Metrical Time
------------------------------
By metrical time we refer to any objective physical coordination of the configurations along a geometrical path in a configuration space with the points of a one-dimensional continuum: a (continuous) mapping from the continuum onto the path. The continuum is usually represented by the real numbers, but it need not be. However, it should be physically distinct from the particular continuum that is the path itself.
Understood in this way, metrical time does not exist, from the relational point of view, for the universe as a whole. However, for subsystems of the universe metrical time naturally emerges: the continuum with which the geometrical path corresponding to the evolution of the subsystem is coordinated can be taken to be the path of its environment, with the obvious mapping between the paths.
Probability {#probonpaths}
============
Bohmian Mechanics and Probability {#bmap}
---------------------------------
In Bohmian mechanics, for a non-relativistic system of particles, the configuration of a system is regarded as random, with randomness corresponding to the quantum equilibrium distribution $\mu^\psi$ given by $|\psi|^2dq$. What this actually means, in a deterministic theory such as Bohmian mechanics, is a delicate matter, involving a long story [@durr1992quantum] with details and distinctions that we shall ignore here. However a crucial ingredient for that analysis—for an understanding of the origin of quantum randomness in a universe governed by Bohmian mechanics—is the [*fundamental conditional probability formula*]{} for the conditional distribution of the configuration $X_t$ of a system at time $t$ given that of its environment $Y_t$ at that time: $$\label{condprob}
P^{\Psi_0}(X_t\in dx\, | Y_t) = |\psi_t(x)|^2 dx,$$ where $\Psi_0$ is the initial wave function of the universe and $P^{\Psi_0}$ is the probability distribution on trajectories arising from the Bohmian dynamics with an initial quantum equilibrium distribution, and $\psi_t$ is the (normalized) conditional wave function of the system at time $t$.
A crucial ingredient in proving is [*equivariance*]{} [@durr1992quantum]: if at any time the system configuration is randomly distributed according to $|\Psi_0|^2$, then at any other time $t$ it will be distributed according to $|\Psi_t|^2$. Equivariance is an immediate consequence of the continuity equation arising from the Schrödinger equation: $$\label{continuityequation}
\frac{\partial \rho^\Psi}{\partial t} + \operatorname{div}J^\Psi = 0\,,$$ with $\rho^\Psi= |\Psi|^2$, the quantum equilibrium distribution, and $$\label{quantumcurrent}
J^\Psi = \rho^\Psi v^\Psi \,,$$ the quantum probability current, where $v^\Psi$ is the Bohmian velocity in the right hand side of , $$\label{bohmvelocity}
v^\Psi= \hbar \, \mathrm{ Im } \frac{ \nabla {\Psi}}{ {\Psi}}$$ (as usual here, the masses are absorbed in the gradient).
More generally, for Bohmian mechanics on a Riemannian manifold with metric $g$, the quantum equilibrium distribution $\mu^\Psi$ is given by $|\Psi|^2d\mu_g$. In terms of any coordinate system $x=(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$, we have that $$\label{dmugdx} d\mu_g=\sqrt{|g|}dx,$$ where $dx=dx_1\cdots dx_n$ and $g=g_{ij}=g({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i,{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_j)$, with $ {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i =\partial/\partial x_i$.
Moreover, as already indicated several times, the Bohmian velocity on a Riemannian manifold is still given by with $\nabla= \nabla_g$, the gradient with respect to the metric $g$. Furthermore, letting $\rho^\Psi $ be the density of $\mu^\Psi$ with respect to $\mu_g$, i.e., $\rho^\Psi = |\Psi|^2$, the current is most conveniently represented as a density with respect to $\mu_g$ as in ; in this representation the continuity equation holds for $\operatorname{div}=\operatorname{div}_g$, the divergence with respect to $g$. So, all the Bohmian structure, including the quantum equilibrium measure, transfers straightforwardly from the familar Euclidean setting to a general Riemannian manifold.
The Problem of Non-Normalizable Measures {#pnnm}
----------------------------------------
Note that since it is translation and scaling invariant, the wave function in the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge or in any of the gauges discussed in Sect.\[scg\]) are not normalizable.
In other words, $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} $ and $ \mu^{\widehat{\Psi}} $ given by and , respectively, are non-normalizable.
However, since the non-normalizability arises from unobservable (and, from a shape space point of view, unphysical) differences and dimensions it should somehow not be a problem. Nonetheless, the real question is how the empirical distributions arising from the fundamental shape space level compare with those coming from the physics in a gauge. While the different gauges, such as the [Schrödinger ]{} gauge, correspond to theories that, we argued, are empirically equivalent to the fundamental shape space theory, that was only in purely dynamical terms. We have not yet addressed the possible differences in empirical distributions that may arise. We would like to see that they don’t.
There are several considerations that suggest that the non-normalizability should not be a genuine problem:
- As just mentioned, the non-normalizability arises only from non-observable dimensions, suggesting that it should be physically irrelevant.
- It is the universal wave function ${\widehat{\Psi}}$ (in any of the gauges) that is not normalizable. But the universal wave function is rarely used in practice. In quantum mechanics we usually deal, not with the entire universe, but with small subsystems of the universe. The wave functions with which we usually deal are thus conditional wave functions, and there seems to be no reason why these should fail to be normalizable.
- In statistical mechanics the Lebesgue measure on the phase space for a gas in a box is non-normalizable. Why is this not a problem? It is because the energy is a constant of the motion, and the restriction of the Lebesgue measure to the energy surface is normalizable (for suitable potentials). Similarly here, with Bohmian mechanics in the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge, or in any of the gauges on absolute configuration space, the center of mass and the moment of inertia about the origin, or about the center of mass, are constants of the motion. Thus, it would seem that the appropriate measure that we should be considering here is $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}_{\Gamma}$, the conditional distribution for $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$ given $\Gamma$, the one given by $|{\widehat{\Psi}}|^2$ on a surface $\Gamma$ of constant center of mass and moment of inertia about the origin, and not on the entire absolute configuration space, and this is presumably normalizable. Moreover, all such probability distributions, for different choices of $\Gamma$, are physically equivalent, since they correspond to the same probability distribution on shape space.
The probability distributions described in 3), while they seem to correspond to the appropriate measures on shape space, appear to be entirely inappropriate insofar as the fundamental conditional probability formula is concerned. For example, for a single-particle system the configuration of that system would be completely determined by the configuration of its environment, rather than being randomly distributed according to the quantum equilibrium distribution. What gives?
The Fundamental Conditional Probability Formula for Evolving Wave Functions {#fundaconform}
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In order to answer the last question, as well as to obtain a sharp resolution of the non-normalizability issue and an understanding of how to carry out the usual quantum equilibrium analysis [@durr1992quantum] yielding the Born rule, the following observation is crucial: The conditional distribution, arising from $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, of the configuration of a system given its environment in absolute configuration space is unphysical, and is thus not relevant to an appropriate quantum equilibrium analysis. That is because (from the shape space point of view) the absolute configuration of the environment is unphysical. What is physical, and what we should be conditioning on, is the shape of the environment. And when we condition on this, the result will be given in terms of the conditional wave function ${\widehat{\psi}}$ .
In fact, on the fundamental level, with respect to the quantum equilibrium distribution on shape space, $ d \mu^{\Psi}_{B} = |\Psi |^2 d\mu_B $ (where $d\mu_B \equiv d\mu_{g_{B}}$), the conditional distribution of the configuration of a system (i.e., of the configuration of the universe, see ) given the shape of its environment is perhaps most naturally expressed on the absolute level, via the use of a frame and of the corresponding conditional wave function ${\widehat{\psi}}$ in any one of the first three gauges—for example, the conditional wave function in the first gauge we considered, namely the straightforward lift —using the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ rather than the shape $Y$. And since the quantum equilibrium distribution for this conditional wave function represents the corresponding conditional distribution on shape space [(as we shall argue below)]{}, it follows that the conditional wave function on absolute configuration space is normalizable.
That this is in fact so, i.e., that the lift to absolute configuration space of the fundamental conditional probability formula on shape space is given by the Born rule for the conditional wave function on absolute configuration space, can be seen as follows:
- Unlike marginal distributions, conditional measures are well defined, up to a constant multiple, even for a non-normalizable measure $\mu$.
- Suppose we condition on something, for example, the environment ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ of a subsystem, corresponding to a leaf $\Gamma_\mathscr{E}$ of a foliation $\mathscr{E}$ (e.g., into the level sets of the random variable ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$). We would obtain the same result if we had first conditioned on a leaf $\Gamma_\mathscr{F} $, $\Gamma_\mathscr{E} \subset \Gamma_\mathscr{F} $, of a coarser foliation[^8] $\mathscr{F}\subset \mathscr{E}$, obtaining the conditional measure $\mu^{}_{\Gamma_{\!\mathscr{F}}}$, and then, with respect to $\mu^{}_{\Gamma_{\!\mathscr{F}}}$, conditioned on $\Gamma_\mathscr{E}$.
- For $\mu= \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, the (non-normalizable) quantum equilibrium distribution on absolute configuration space, we can choose $\mathscr{F}$ so that the measures $\mu^{}_{\Gamma_{\!\mathscr{F}}}$ all correspond to the quantum equilibrium distribution on shape space, and $\mathscr{E}$ so that it corresponds to the shape of the environment.
- If this can indeed be done we obtain our desired result.
In more detail, fix now the subsystem, and let $\mathscr{E}$ correspond to the configuration ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ of its environment. $\mathscr{F}$ must be chosen so that the following is true: Each leaf of $\mathscr{F}$ must provide a representation of shape space as a measure space. Not only must there be a smooth bijection between shape space and each leaf of $\mathscr{F}$, but under this bijection we must have that each of the measures $\mu^{}_{\Gamma_{\!\mathscr{F}}}$ corresponds to $\mu^{\Psi}_{B}$. Moreover, we must also have that (i) the leaf of $\mathscr{F}$ to which an absolute configuration belongs is determined by the configuration of its environment, i.e., $\mathscr{F} \subset { \mathscr{E}}$, and that (ii) different leaves of $\mathscr{E}$ belonging to the same leaf of $\mathscr{F}$ correspond to environmental configurations with different shapes, so that with respect to the bijection, the configuration of the environment corresponds to its shape.
Such an $\mathscr{F}$ can be generated from a cross-section of the absolute configuration space of the environment regarded as a bundle over its shape space. Such a cross-section naturally induces a cross-section in the universal absolute configuration space regarded as a bundle over shape space (since for any shape there is a unique absolute configuration compatible with the environmental cross-section). The cross-section so obtained provides a single leaf $\Sigma_1$ of $\mathscr{F}$; the other leaves of $\mathscr{F}$ are obtained by the application of the symmetry group $G$ to $\Sigma_1$. In this way, absolute configuration space can be identified with $G\times\Sigma_1$, with $\mathscr{F}$ corresponding to $G$, i.e., having leaves $\Sigma_{{\mathsf{g}}}={\mathsf{g}}\Sigma_1$.
Note that with this $\mathscr{F}$ we have, essentially by construction, that the shape of the environment corresponds, on each leaf of $\mathscr{F}$, to its absolute configuration. Note also that this would not be true for the foliation corresponding to the (quotient under rotations of the) surfaces $\Gamma$ described in 3) of Sect. \[pnnm\], for which a single shape of the environment would correspond to many different absolute environmental configurations on each leaf (even after rotations have been factored out).
We now check that for this [$\mathscr{F}$ ]{}the conditional measures $\mu^{}_{\Gamma_{\!\mathscr{F}}}$ correspond to the quantum equilibrium distribution on shape space. For this we will use the following general formula for the Riemannian volume element $\mu_g$ in terms of a general basis of vector fields ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_i$: $$d\mu_g= \sqrt{|g|}\,d\omega_1\cdots d\omega_n\,,$$ where $|g|$ is defined below . This formula is similar to for the case when the vector fields are coordinate vector fields, but with $dx_1\dots dx_n$ replaced by $d\omega_1\cdots d\omega_n$, the volume element arising from the $n$-form $d\omega_1\wedge\dots \wedge d\omega_n,$ where $\omega_1,\dots, \omega_n$ is the basis of 1-forms dual to the basis ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_1,\dots, {\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_n$ of vector fields, see Sect. \[derishjac\].
For the basis of vector fields ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}=({\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V,{\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H)$ described there, we obtain that $$d\mu_g= \sqrt{|g|}\ d\omega_V d\omega_H
$$ = d\_V d\_H, $$ where $\ d\omega_V$ is the volume element arising from ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_V$, a volume element on the fibers of absolute configuration space, and $d\omega_H$ corresponds to the volume element on shape space arising from the coordinate system involved in the definition of ${\boldsymbol{\mathsf{X}}}_H$.
Since $\sqrt{|g_H|}\ d\omega_H$ corresponds to $\sqrt{|g_B|}dx=d\mu_B$, where $dx$ is the coordinate measure on shape space for these coordinates, we have that $d\mu_g$ corresponds to $\sqrt{|g_V|}\ d\omega_V d\mu_B.$ Moreover, $d\omega_V$ is, up to a constant factor, the image of the right Haar measure $\mu_G$ on $G$. We thus have, using the representation $G\times\Sigma_1$ for absolute configuration space, that $$d\mu_g= {\mathfrak{J}}d\mu_Gd\mu^1_B,$$ where [${\mathfrak{J}}$ is given in and]{} $\mu^1_B$ is the image of $\mu_B$ on $\Sigma_1$.
Now since $\widehat{\Delta}_B$, see Sect. \[scg\], is self-adjoint, not with respect to $d\mu_g$, but with respect to ${\mathfrak{J}}^{-1}d\mu_g= d\mu_Gd\mu^1_B,$ we have that, for $\widehat{\Delta}_B$, and any wave function $\Psi$ on shape space, the quantum equilibrium distribution $\mu^\Psi$ is given by $$d\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}} = |\widehat{\Psi}|^2 d\mu_Gd\mu^1_B.$$ Thus, for $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, the conditional probability distribution given $G$ is $|\widehat{\Psi}|^2 d\mu^1_B,$ i.e., the image of $\mu^{\Psi}_B$, just as we wanted.
Finally, as we indicated earlier in Sect. \[rmkbm\], as we proceed through the first three gauges, each involving its own wave function and measure for self-adjointness, the transformations connecting the gauges have been so defined as to leave invariant the corresponding quantum equilibrium distributions $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$. For each gauge, we are in fact dealing with the same measure on absolute configuration space, and hence the same conditional measure given a leaf $\Gamma_{\mathscr{F}}$ of the foliation [$\mathscr{F}$ ]{}and the same conditional measure given a leaf $\Gamma_{\mathscr{E}}$ of the foliation [$\mathscr{E}$ ]{}. Thus in each gauge, the conditional distribution of the quantum equilibrium measure given the configuration of the environment yields, in fact, the conditional distribution on shape space given the shape of the environment, which is what we wanted to establish.
In summary, we have obtained that the conditional distribution of the configuration $X$ of a system given the shape $Y$ of its environment is given by $$\begin{aligned}
\label{last1} \mu_B^\Psi (X\in dx\, | Y) = {\mu}^{\widehat{ \Psi}} ({\boldsymbol{X}}\in d{\boldsymbol{x}} | {\boldsymbol{Y}})\,.\end{aligned}$$ As a consequence, we have (from equivariance) the [*fundamental conditional probability formula on shape space*]{}, for the conditional distribution of the configuration $X_t$ of a system at time $t$ given the shape $Y_t$ of its environment at that time.
[**Fundamental conditional probability formula on shape space:**]{} [ *$$\begin{aligned}
P^{\Psi_0}(X_t\in dx\, | Y_t= Y) = {\mu}^{\widehat{ \Psi}_t} ({\boldsymbol{X}}\in d{\boldsymbol{x}} | {\boldsymbol{Y}})\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $\Psi_0$ is the initial universal wave function on shape space (at $t=0$), $ {\boldsymbol{Y}}$ is a lift of $Y$, ${\boldsymbol{x}}$ the lift of $x$ in the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$, $\Psi_t$ is the universal wave function at time $t$, with $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_t} $ the non-normalizable quantum equilibrium measure on absolute configuration space—the lift of the quantum equilibrium distribution $\mu^\Psi_B$ on shape space.* ]{}
In the 3-gauge this can be written in a more familiar and explicit manner: $$\begin{aligned}
{{P}}^{\Psi_0}(X_t\in dx\, | Y_t= Y) &=
| {\widehat{\psi}}_{3, t}({\boldsymbol{x}})|^2 d {\boldsymbol{x}} \\ &= C
|\widehat{\Psi}_{3 , t}({\boldsymbol{x}}, {\boldsymbol{Y}} )|^2 d {\boldsymbol{x}}
\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $ {\widehat{\psi}}_{3, t}$ is the (normalized) conditional wave function in the 3-gauge in the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ and $C$ is a normalization constant.
The Physical Significance of the Conditional Distribution for Stationary Wave Functions {#FCPSW}
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However, what has just been said is not quite right for the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge corresponding to the transition from to . As already indicated at the end of Sect. \[rmkbm\], this involves no change of measure for self-adjointness, so that $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} \neq \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$. This might seem bad. On the other hand, the change in $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$ is precisely the one implied by the random time change arising from replacing $f^{-1}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$ by ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$, as described above . This seems sort of good. But one should be puzzled by the fact that this random time change leads to a change in the measure $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, which would seem to have some physical significance. But how could it, since the random time change has no physical significance?
So there are several questions here that need to be understood better: (i) What is genuinely physically significant in $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$? (ii) How does that resolve the apparent problem that in the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge we are dealing with a $\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}}$ that is incompatible with $\mu^\Psi_B$ and thus apparently one that would yield an incompatible fundamental conditional probability formula in the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge?
A crucial ingredient in an answer to these questions is the claim that it is not exactly $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, resp. $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S}$, that is physically relevant. Rather what is physically relevant is the associated current $J^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}=\rho^{{\widehat{\Psi}}} v^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, resp. $J^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S}=\rho^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S} v^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S}$, where $\rho^{{\widehat{\Psi}}} \propto \rho^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_3}$, resp. $\rho^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S} $, is the density of $\mu^ {{\widehat{\Psi}}}$, resp. $\mu^ {{\widehat{\Psi}}_S}$, with respect to the Lebesgue measure. The current is invariant under all the transitions, either because both factors are or because the changes in the factors compensate each other.
Now why should the current be what is physically relevant? Because it yields the same crossing probabilities for hypersurfaces—that either yield the probability distribution on geometrical paths in configuration space, or the probability distribution associated with the return map for Poincaré sections corresponding to physical situations on which we wish to condition. Concerning the former, this could correspond to conditioning on the value of a suitable clock variable, for which the corresponding conditional wave functions have more familiar quantum evolutions, so that first conditioning on such a clock variable would put us back in a more familiar situation to which the argument described above would apply.
Be that as it may, let’s return to the question of why the change in the measure $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$ ($\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} = f^{-1}\mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$) arising from the random time change has no physical significance. We have argued that the main physical relevance of $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$ resides in the implied conditional distribution of a subsystem given its environment. Suppose $f$ depends only upon the environment. In this case, the change in measure associated with $f$ produces no change in the corresponding conditional distribution.[^9] And it seems likely that for reasonable choices of $f$, such as those given [in Sect.\[conformalfactors\]]{} above, it will approximately be a function of the environment, with negligible error for subsystems of reasonable size, much smaller than that of the universe.
But even if this is so, the question remains as to exactly what of physical significance this conditional distribution represents. After all, the transition to the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge required relational time, but if we take relational time seriously, what is physical is not the configuration $Q_t$ of the universe at some time $t$, but the geometrical path of the full history of the configuration, with no special association of the configurations along a path with times. In this (more physical) framework, the conditional distribution of the configuration $X_t$ of a subsystem given the configuration $Y_t$ of its environment is not meaningful.
What is meaningful is (i) a probability distribution ${\mathbb{P}}$ on the space $\mathscr{P}$ of (geometrical, i.e. unparametrized) paths (determined by the current, for example by using a cross-section, as we shall explain in Sect. \[pathmeasures\]) and (ii) the conditional distribution relative to ${\mathbb{P}}$ of the configuration $X_Y$ of the subsystem when the path $\gamma\in \mathscr{P} $ has environmental configuration $Y,$ [*given*]{} that the path passes through a configuration with environment $Y$, $Y \in \gamma$.[^10] We assume here that there is at most one such configuration for (any) $Y$.[^11]
The Association Between Measures on Path Space and on Configuration Space {#pathmeasures}
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We shall now elaborate on the relations between measures on a configuration space $\mathscr{Q}$ and measures on a set $\mathscr{P}$ of (smooth) paths on $\mathscr{Q}$ forming a one-dimensional foliation of $\mathscr{Q}$. First, let us fix the notations: we shall denote by $\gamma$ a path in $\mathscr{P}$, by $q$ a point in $\mathscr{Q}$ and by $\gamma (q)$ the path passing through $q$.
We introduce the notion of [*time function*]{} on $\mathscr{Q}$: a smooth real-valued function $\tau=\tau (q)$, $q\in \mathscr{Q}$, which is monotonic (and extends from $-\infty$ to $+\infty$) on each path $\gamma \in \mathscr{P}$. The latter is related to, but different from, the notion of [*dynamics*]{} on $\mathscr{Q}$ (in the sense of the theory of dynamical systems): a one parameter family of (invertible and smooth) maps $T=T_s$ on $\mathscr{Q}$, with time $s$ varying on the reals. Clearly, a time function $\tau$ generates a dynamics $T=T^\tau$ such that $$\label{compat}
\tau (T_s (q)) = \tau (q) + s\,.$$
Let $\tau$ be a time function and denote by $d\tau_\gamma (q)$ the infinitesimal increment of time (with respect to the time function $\tau$) along a path $\gamma$ passing through $q$. Consider the function on path space (random variable) giving the time spent in the region $A\subset \mathscr{Q}$ by the path, relative to the time function $\tau$: $$\tau (A) = \tau_\gamma (A) = \int_A d \tau_\gamma (q)\,.$$ Let $$\begin{aligned}
\label{exptaua}
{\mathbb{E}}\left(\tau(A)\right) =\int_{\mathscr{P}}
\tau_\gamma (A) {\mathbb{P}}(d\gamma) \end{aligned}$$ be the expected value with respect to ${\mathbb{P}}$ of $\tau (A)$ (i.e., the expected time spent by the path in $A$) [*relative to the time function $\tau$*]{}. We say that [*$\mu$ is associated with ${\mathbb{P}}$ and $\tau$ if* ]{} $$\begin{aligned}
\mu(A)={\mathbb{E}}\left(\tau(A)\right) \,.\end{aligned}$$
The measure $\mu$ can also be described as follows. We may identify configuration space $\mathscr{Q}$ with $\mathscr{P}\times \mathbb{R}$ by associating any configuration $q$ with the path to which it belongs and the time along the path: $$q \mapsto (\gamma(q), \tau (q) ) \,.$$ Under this identification $\mu$ is the product of ${\mathbb{P}}$ and the Lebesgue measure, $d\mu = d {\mathbb{P}}\, dt $.
If $\mu$ is associated with ${\mathbb{P}}$ and $\tau$, then we have that $ {\mathbb{P}}$ arises from conditioning $\mu$ on $\tau$, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{probpathcon} {\mathbb{P}}(S) = \mu(\check{S}\, | \, \tau=t) \end{aligned}$$ where $S$ is a set of path and $\check{S}=\{ q\in \mathscr{Q}\, | \gamma(q) \in S \} $. Note that the right hand side of does not depend on $t$. (It follows from and that $\mu$ is stationary with respect to the dynamics $T_s$ generated by $\tau$ according to .) Conversely, when $\mu$, ${\mathbb{P}}$, and $\tau$ are related as in , $\mu$ is associated with ${\mathbb{P}}$ and $\tau$.
Suppose now that $\mu$ is stationary for [*a dynamics $T$ for which $\tau$ is a time function*]{},[^12] i.e., such that is satisfied. Let ${\mathbb{P}}$ be a measure on $\mathscr{P}$, the path space of the dynamics. Then the following are equivalent:
$$\begin{aligned}
{\mathbb{P}}(S) &= \mu \left( \left\{ q\in\mathscr{Q}\, | 0\le \tau(q) \le 1 \;\text{ and }\;
\gamma(q)\in S \right\} \right)\\
{\mathbb{P}}(S) &= \mu(\check{S}\,| \, \tau = t) \,.
$$
When $\mu$ and ${\mathbb{P}}$ are associated in this way then say that [*${\mathbb{P}}$ is generated by $\mu$ and $T$*]{}, and if this is so, then $\mu$ is associated with ${\mathbb{P}}$ and $\tau$. In particular, if $\tau$ is a time function for any Bohmian dynamics with stationary $\Psi$ (or $\mu^\Psi$) then $\mu^\Psi$ is associated with ${\mathbb{P}}^\Psi$ and $\tau$, where ${\mathbb{P}}^\Psi$ is the measure generated by $\mu^\Psi$ and the Bohmian dynamics.
Furthermore, if the dynamics $T$ is given by a vector field $v$, ${\mathbb{P}}$ is generated by $\mu$ and $T$ if and only if $$\begin{aligned}
\label{probpathcur} {\mathbb{P}}(S) = \int _{\Gamma_S} J {\boldsymbol{\cdot}}d\sigma\,,\end{aligned}$$ where $J= J(\mu, T)$ is the current associated with the dynamics. Here $\Gamma_S = \Gamma \cap \check{S}$, where $\Gamma$ is any cross section of the foliation $ \mathscr{P}$, for example the level surface $\tau (q) = t $. If $\mu$ is absolutely continuous with density $\rho$ (with respect to the coordinate measure in some coordinate system), then $J= v \rho$ (with $v$ represented in that coordinate system) and the surface integral above is given by the usual formula.
A Conditional Probability Formula for Path Space Measures
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In this section and the next we consider a fixed system (and its environment), with configuration $Q=(X,Y)$. We also fix the configuration $Y$ of the environment. We prove a crucial fact for establishing in Sect. \[fucofor\] the fundamental conditional probability formula for stationary wave functions, a general fact that we call the [*path space conditional probability formula*]{}.
In this formula we condition on the path space event $\{ Y\in \gamma\} \subset \mathscr{P}$ that the path $\gamma$ contains a configuration with environmental configuration $Y$, i.e., on the set of paths $\gamma$ that pass through a configuration with environment $Y$. And in this formula we are interested in the conditional distribution of $X_Y$, the configuration of the system when the path passes through the configuration with environment $Y$, a function (random variable) on the subset $\{ Y\in \gamma\}$ of path space $\mathscr{P}$.
[**Path space conditional probability formula:**]{} [ [*Let ${\mathbb{P}}$ be a measure on the path space $\mathscr{P}$. Suppose $\mu$ is the measure on the corresponding configuration space $ \mathscr{Q}$ associated with ${\mathbb{P}}$ and a time function $\tau$ that depends only upon the configuration $Y$ of the environment. Then $$\label{paspconfor}
{\mathbb{P}}(X_Y\in dx|Y\in\gamma) = \mu(X\in dx|Y) \,.$$* ]{}]{}
This follows more or less as before (see the second bullet of Sect. \[fundaconform\]) with $\mathscr{E}$, as before, corresponding to the configuration of the environment and now $\mathscr{F}$ corresponding to the foliation given by the time function. In more detail, since the time function depends only on $Y$, $\mathscr{E} \subset \mathscr{F}$. Under the natural identification of path space with any leaf of $\mathscr{F}$, the event $\{X_Y\in dx\}$ becomes $\{ X\in dx\}$, the event $\{ Y\in \gamma\}$ becomes the event that the environment has configuration $Y$, and by ${\mathbb{P}}$ becomes the appropriate conditional measure.
The Fundamental Conditional Probability Formula for Stationary Wave Functions {#fucofor}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
We assume now that there exists a time function for the Bohmian dynamics that depends only on the configuration of the environment, an assumption that we call [*the existence of clock variables for the Bohmian dynamics*]{}. Under this assumption the conditional distribution ${\mathbb{P}}^\Psi(X_Y\in dx|Y\in\gamma) $ is given by the usual Born’s rule on absolute configuration space.
[**Fundamental conditional probability formula for stationary wave functions:**]{} [*Suppose that there exists a clock variable for the Bohmian dynamics generated by a stationary wave function $\Psi$ on shape space, as well as one for the Bohmian dynamics in the Schrödinger gauge. Then* ]{} $$\label{cp2}
{\mathbb{P}}^\Psi(X_Y\in dx|Y\in\gamma) = \mu^{\widehat{\Psi}} ({\boldsymbol{X}}\in d{\boldsymbol{x}}|{\boldsymbol{Y}} )$$ [*in any of the first three gauges,*]{}[^13] or $$\label{cp1}
{\mathbb{P}}^\Psi(X_Y\in dx|Y\in\gamma) = C |{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}({\boldsymbol{x}},{\boldsymbol{Y}})|^2d{\boldsymbol{x}}$$ [*in the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge (as before, $C$ is a normalization constant)* ]{} [*where ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ is a lift of $Y$ and ${\boldsymbol{x}}$ is the lift of $x$ in the frame ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$. Here $\widehat{\Psi}$ and $\widehat{\Psi}_S$ are the lifts of $\Psi$ in any of the first three gauges or in the Schrödinger gauge, respectively.* ]{}
This is a consequence of the path space probability formula . Applying it to the Bohmian dynamics (i) on shape space, (ii) in the first three gauges, and (iii) in the Schrödinger gauge, we obtain the following: $$\begin{aligned}
\label{bas1}
{\mathbb{P}}^\Psi(X_Y\in dx|Y\in \gamma) &= \mu_B^\Psi (X\in dx|Y) \\
\label{bas2}
{\mathbb{P}}^{\widehat{\Psi}}({\boldsymbol{X}}_{{\boldsymbol{Y}}} \in d{\boldsymbol{x}}|{\boldsymbol{Y}} \in \boldsymbol{\gamma}) &= \mu^{\widehat{\Psi}} ({\boldsymbol{X}}\in d{\boldsymbol{x}}|{\boldsymbol{Y}}) \\
\label{bas3}
{\mathbb{P}}^ {{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} ({\boldsymbol{X}}_{{\boldsymbol{Y}}} \in d {\boldsymbol{x}}|{\boldsymbol{Y}}\in {\boldsymbol{\gamma}}) &= \mu^ {{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} ({\boldsymbol{X}}\in d{\boldsymbol{x}}|{\boldsymbol{Y}})\,,\end{aligned}$$ given the existence of clock variables for the Bohmian dynamics. Here $\boldsymbol{\gamma}$ is a path for the dynamics on absolute configuration space.
By the right hand sides of and agree when ${\boldsymbol{x}}$ and ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ are appropriate lifts of $x$ and $Y$, so that follows. Since the currents $J$ associated with $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}}$ and $ \mu^{{\widehat{\Psi}}_S}$ arising from their respective dynamics are the same, it follows that ${\mathbb{P}}^{\widehat{\Psi}} = {\mathbb{P}}^ {{\widehat{\Psi}_{S}}} $, so that the right hand sides of and are also the same. Thus follows as well.
Typicality
----------
As a partial summary, we find that on the absolute configuration space level the dynamics and the probabilities for subsystems should be of the usual form. While it is true that on the universal level the connection between $|\Psi|^2$ and probability, or, more precisely, typicality, would be broken, this would not be visible in any of the familiar every day applications of quantum mechanics, which are concerned only with subsystems and not with the entire universe.
In particular the patterns described by the quantum equilibrium hypothesis will be typical with respect to a measure, not on absolute configuration space, but on shape space, on the fundamental level, which is fine. There is a widespread misconception with respect to Bohmian mechanics that $|\Psi|^2$ for the universe and $|\psi|^2$ for subsystems play, physically and conceptually, similar roles. They do not, since the role of $|\Psi|^2$ is typicality while that of $|\psi|^2$ is probability. If this distinction is too subtle, the fact that, from a relational perspective, these objects live on entirely different levels of description, $|\Psi|^2$ on the fundamental level, i.e., on shape space, and $|\psi|^2$ on absolute configuration space, might make it easier to appreciate how very different they are.
Outlook
=======
[The basic problem in cosmology is to determine which laws govern the universe as a whole. The traditional approach is that of building a story about the universe starting from the physical laws operating at small scales, such as the Standard Model of particle physics, and incorporating them within a theory containing a now missing quantum theory of gravity. However, the relational point of view suggests that there is something basically wrong in treating the universe as a whole as a mere combination of the systems that compose it, say galaxies or cluster of galaxies. We elaborate.]{}
[Shape space physics is genuinely holistic, and suggests the holistic character of quantum physics associated with entanglement and quantum nonlocality. To appreciate this point, note that for relational space the state of the universe at a particular location is not, in and of itself, meaningful. In that sense, for shape space physics, there are no local beables, so that locality itself can’t easily be meaningfully formulated. Similarly one can’t meaningfully consider the behavior of individual particles without reference to other particles, since there is no absolute space in which an individual particle could be regarded as moving. And even for a pair of particles, to speak meaningfully of the distance between them, a third particle would be required, to establish a scale of distance. And similarly for galaxies.]{}
[There is one rather conspicuous relational aspect that we’ve ignored. For indistinguishable particles we should have taken one further quotient and enlarged the similarity group $G$ to include the relevant permutations of particle labels. We believe that this would not be too difficult to do, but have chosen not to do so here.]{}
[Quite a bit more difficult is the connection between relational physics and relativistic physics.]{}
- [A simple point: In relational physics as discussed here the traditional separation of space and time is retained. While configuration space is replaced by shape space, and time becomes non-metrical, shape space retains an identity separate and distinct from that of (non-metrical) time. This is in obvious contrast with relativistic physics, in which space and time lose their separate identities and are merged into a space-time.]{}
- [[*Simultaneity regained and simultaneity lost:*]{} Perhaps the most characteristic feature of relativity is the absence of absolute simultaneity. Not so for relational physics. Since it retains the separation of space and time, an absolute simultaneity is built into the very structure of relational physics as described here. Nonetheless, there is a sense in which simultaneity is lost. As discussed in Sect.\[FCPSW\], with relational time the notion of the configuration (or shape) $Q_t$ of the universe at “time $t$” is not physically meaningful. And with what is meaningful—geometrical paths in the space of possible configurations (or shapes)—one can no longer meaningfully compare or ask about the configurations for two different possible histories at the same time. Given the actual configuration of the universe, it is not meaningful to ask about the configuration of an alternative history at that time without further specification of exactly what that should mean.]{}
- [Can the relational point of view be merged with or extended to relativity? Can we achieve a relational understanding of space-time? General relativity is certainly a step in that direction, but it does not get us there. Space-time in general relativity is metrical—in a way that neither space nor time are in relational physics. A complete extension, if at all possible, is a real challenge.]{}
- [Another possibility: relativity is not fundamental, but—like Newtonian physics in the Newton gauge and quantum physics in the Schrödinger gauge—is, instead, a consequence of a suitable choice of gauge. This possibility, which is suggested by the work of Bryce DeWitt [@dewitt1970spacetime] and Barbour and [coworkers]{} [(see, e.g., [@barbour2002relativity], [@gomes2011einstein], and [@barbour2012shape])]{}, would be worth carefully exploring.]{}
The discussion in Sect. \[FCPSW\], with its focus on geometrical paths as more fundamental from the point of view of relational time (and, more generally, with regard to what is more directly observable), was based on a Bohmian approach to quantum physics. This approach involves a law for the evolution of configurations, yielding geometrical paths, the analysis of which leads ultimately to the Born rule (on absolute space) in a more or less familiar form. Without such an approach—and the paths that it provides—it is not easy to see how one could begin to proceed in a principled manner.
As is well known, non-normalizable wave functions tend to occur in quantum cosmology. Such wave functions would normally be regarded as problematical and unphysical (since the formal structures of orthodox quantum mechanics, with their associated probabilities, are crucially based on the notion of a Hilbert space of square-integrable, i.e. normalizable, wave functions).
However, for our analysis starting in Sect. \[FCPSW\] the connection between a measure on path space and a (stationary) non-normalizable measure on configuration space turned out to be crucial. By the very nature of this connection the measure on configuration space and its associated wave function in fact had to be non-normalizable. Hence what from an orthodox perspective is a vice is transformed into a virtue in relational Bohmian mechanics.
We are grateful to Florian Hoffmann for his input to a very early draft of this paper and to Antonio Vassallo for his insights. We thank Sahand Tokasi for stimulating discussions. We thank Eddy Chen and Roderich Tumulka for a careful reading of the manuscript and useful suggestions. The many discussions with Julian Barbour are gratefully acknowledged, especially for sharing with us in his well known enthusiastic way his ideas on shape dynamics. N. Zanghí was supported in part by INFN.
Appendix: Some facts about second-order partial differential operators {#App .unnumbered}
======================================================================
In local coordinates, any second order partial differential operator (PDO) with real coefficients, self-adjoint with respect to some volume element $\mu(dq)$ is of the form $$\begin{aligned}
\label{transrhpop}
{\mathsf{L}}=\sum_{ij} A^{ij}\partial_i \partial_j + \sum_i B^i\partial_i + {C}\end{aligned}$$ with symmetric matrix function $A= (A^{ij} ) $, vector $B =(B^i) $, and scalar ${C}$. So it can be compactly written as $$\begin{aligned}
\label{transrhpop1}
{\mathsf{L}}= A\nabla \nabla + B \cdot \nabla +{C}\,.\end{aligned}$$ Note that, while the explicit functions $A= A(q)$, $B= B(q)$ and ${C}={C}(q)$ depend on the coordinate system chosen, $A$ is in fact a tensor, so that the fact that two second order PDOs $L$ and $L'$ have equal $A$-parts (pure second-derivative parts) is invariant.
Note that for a Laplace-Beltrami operator ${C}=0$. Moreover, we shall need the $A$-part of the Laplace-Beltrami operator with respect to the invariant metric $g= f g_e$, where $g_e$ is the mass-weighted Euclidean metric. According to , we have $$A= { f ^{-1}} I \,,$$ where $I$ is the identity matrix.
Here are some relevant facts: Suppose ${\mathsf{L}}$ and ${\mathsf{L}}' $ are second order PDOs on a manifold $M$. If
1. they have the same $A$-part, and
2. are self-adjoint with respect the same measure $\mu$,
then they differ by at most a multiplication operator $D=D(q)$, i.e., $${\mathsf{L}}' = {\mathsf{L}}+ D\,.$$ This is so because their difference, which must be of the form $B\cdot \nabla + D$, must also be self adjoint. Since $D$ is as well, $B\cdot \nabla$ must also be. But for no measure $\mu$ can $B\cdot \nabla$ be self-adjoint on $L^2(d\mu)$, unless $B=0$. Moreover, if ${\mathsf{L}}$ has no ${C}$-part, then $$D = {\mathsf{L}}' 1 \,,$$ where $1$ is the constant function equal to $1$.
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[^1]: For more details on this issue, see, e.g., [@le1993riemannian] and reference therein.
[^2]: Here and in the following examples the conformal factors are modulo dimensional factors.
[^3]: \[fn:proj\]The general form of the guiding equation is $$\label{Bohm}
\frac{d{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_\alpha}{dt} = \frac{\hbar}{m_\alpha} \mathrm{Im} \frac{{\Psi}{}^*
{\vec{\mathsf{\nabla}}}_\alpha{\Psi}{}}{{\Psi}{}^* {\Psi}{}} ( {\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_1, \dots ,{\vec{\mathsf{Q}}}_N )\,.$$ If ${\Psi}{}$ is spinor-valued, the products in numerator and denominator should be understood as scalar products. If external magnetic fields are present, the gradient should be understood as the covariant derivative, involving the vector potential.
[^4]: Our goal is to show that the simplest dynamics on shape space leads to a nontrivial dynamics in a suitable gauge. The case ${\mathscr{V}}\neq 0$ will be considered in the next subsection.
[^5]: This corresponds to the fact that the subspaces of the tangent spaces (at the points in absolute configuration space) orthogonal to the fibers don’t correspond to a foliation of absolute configuration space into submanifolds orthogonal to the fibers. This is related to the fact that the curvature of the connection relating the tangent spaces sitting at different points is non-vanishing and this, in its turn, is related to the Berry phase.\[nontrivial\]
[^6]: Moreover, the vertical vector fields that we shall need correspond to the Lie algebra of $G$, which is noncommutative, and thus do not arise from a coordinate system.
[^7]: Formula is probably in the literature, but we have not succeeded in finding any reference. It is a straightforward consequence, for a manifold with a distinguished volume form (up to sign), of the fact that the divergence of a vector field times the volume form is the exterior derivative of the contraction of the vector field with the volume form.
[^8]: identifying $\mathscr{F}$ and $\mathscr{E}$ with the $\sigma$-algebras they generate, consisting of the measurable sets that are unions of the leaves of the respective foliations
[^9]: Letting ${\boldsymbol{x}}$ and ${\boldsymbol{y}}$ be the configuration variables of system and environment, respectively, note that if $f$ does not depend on ${\boldsymbol{x}}$, the kinetic energy term in the Hamiltonian will be $$-\frac{\hbar^2}{2} \left[ \frac{1}{f} ( {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}^2 )_{{\boldsymbol{x}}}+
( {\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}\frac{1}{f}{\boldsymbol{\nabla}})_{{\boldsymbol{y}}} \right] \,,$$ where ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}$ and ${\boldsymbol{\nabla}}{\boldsymbol{\cdot}}$ are the mass-weighted Euclidean gradient and divergence and the subscripts refer to their restrictions to the ${\boldsymbol{x}}$-variables and the ${\boldsymbol{y}}$-variables, respectively. Accordingly, whenever the system is decoupled from its environment, its conditional wave function ${\widehat{\psi}}_{3} ({\boldsymbol{x}}) = {\widehat{\Psi}}_{3}({\boldsymbol{x}}, {\boldsymbol{Y}}) $ will evolve (after suitable rescaling) according to the standard Schrödinger Hamiltonian with masses $ f ({\boldsymbol{Y}}) m_\alpha$, $\alpha = 1, \ldots M$, where ${\boldsymbol{Y}}$ is the actual configuration of the environment. Thus, in this case, the effect of the environment on the system corresponds just to a (possibly time-dependent) rescaling of the masses. Then it turns out that the 3-gauge is more similar to the Schrödinger gauge than one may have expected.
[^10]: This seems to involve a new sort of conditional probability analogous to the so-called Palm measure. In particular, it does not appear to be a special case of the conditional distribution relative to a $\Sigma$-algebra or a foliation or given the value of another random variable. That is because any path will involve configurations with many different environments $Y.$
[^11]: When $\Psi_t$ is time-dependent, it is natural to suppose that the time-parameter $t$ has physical significance via the changes in typical configurations arising from changes in $\mu^{\Psi_t}$. In this situation, treating time as if it were physical and observable seems to be a reasonable approximation. In any case, this is an approximation we almost always make, and it seems to often work quite well.
[^12]: Note that, as a consequence of Poincaré recurrence, in general there might be no time function associated with a dynamics $T$. However, if one does exist, it cannot be unique, because it would depend on the choice of an initial cross section.
[^13]: These formulas, for the different gauges, may appear to be incompatible. But for the condition relating $\Psi$ and the time-parameter to hold for both the [Schrödinger ]{}gauge and any other gauge, the condition on $f$ mentioned above would presumably have to be satisfied, in which case the formulas would agree.
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June 21, 2013
The Video-Game Propaganda Wars
Authoritarian regimes are making games—and dissidents, too
A popular video game begins with a small, tactical team of highly trained commandos on a delicate mission behind enemy lines. Two nuclear scientists have been kidnapped, and are being held in a hostile country governed by a cabal of crazed military maniacs. To prevent Armageddon, the commandos—chiseled, professional, and patriotic—must blow away hordes of faceless and murderous opponents, brutes as skilled in combat as they are devoted to their extreme ideology. The game is short—only eight levels—so play it through, and you’ll feel proud to belong to the greatest nation on earth.
Which is, of course, Iran.
The PC game, Special Operation 85, came out in 2007, and is virtually indistinguishable from any American-made, war-themed first person shooter. The only difference is that instead of being named Huxley or McCullin, your character is Bahram Nasseri, Iran’s top agent, and his enemies—portrayed with the same silly relish reserved almost exclusively for Bond villains—are nefarious Americans and Israelis. The game sold tens of thousands of copies, a tremendous achievement in a country where technology is not frequently accessible and copyright laws are not frequently obeyed.
The game’s success was encouraging. That same year, the Islamic Republic inaugurated the government-sponsored Iran National Foundation of Computer Game, which has proven to be instrumental in commissioning, financing, or otherwise supporting scores of games designed to promote the regime’s values at home and abroad. There’s Breaking the Siege of Abadan, which recreates one of the bloodiest battles of the Iran-Iraq War, or, for the more timid, Sara’s New Life, in which a young woman must “protect her morality" from carnal temptations. “The government,” as Vit Sisler, the world’s foremost researcher of the topic, put it in a recent talk at New York University, “believes in games.”
It isn’t hard to see why. From an authoritarian regime’s standpoint, video games serve two complementary purposes: They appeal to the young—about 70 percent of Iran’s population is under 30—much more intuitively than other forms of official communications; and they involve not just passive consumption of information but interactive, pulse-quickening engagement. Teaching kids about the great war with the neighbors to the west is one thing; making them relive it by gleefully slaying virtual Iraqis is another.
But while Iranians are one target of the new initiative—the government has reportedly funded 140 games to date—Westerners are another. To hear Fars, the semi-official Iranian news agency, tell it, a state of Iranian gaming domination is upon us. “Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution Mokhber Dezfouli,” read one recent statement, “said Iran’s wide stride in designing and developing cultural products, specially computer and video games, for domestic and international markets has worried the west.” Evidence of this worrying does not exist. Iran regularly dispatches its representatives to international game expos around the world—although never to ones held in the United States—and has yet to find any major market for its virtual exports.
While the scope of Iran's commitment to video games is exceptional, other regimes in the Middle East—as well as terrorist organizations—have followed its lead. Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group, released Special Force in 2003, claiming it had sold 100,000 copies of the game. And the Chinese army produced Glorious Mission, more or less a remake of the popular, U.S. Army–produced America’s Army, but with Americans as the villains.
Both of these efforts failed, and for the same reason. Video games make for excellent educational tools when it comes to some skills—tackling math, say, or learning how to play the piano—but as a conduit for ideology, they are problematic. Belief, like every other product of the human heart, is riddled with ambiguity and nuance. Games, even the best ones, have no room for such uncertainties. They depend on a rigid and algorithmic progression. Couple that with an overt attempt at indoctrination, and you get the crudest sort of propaganda, the kind that appeals to none but the already convinced.
All of this, of course, is not to say that games are incapable of stirring up complex feelings. But to overcome the repetitive, fast-paced, and frequently desensitizing nature of gameplay, they must present not only particularly compelling plotlines, but also the sort of emotional engagement that feels inherent to the game itself. Tetris, to name but one famous example, does that very well; to see those lines rushing down is to feel a jolt of existential anxiety, of time running out, of death looming large. Producing such raw and mercurial emotions is hard enough; harnessing them in the service of ideas and beliefs is nearly impossible. Yet that’s just what one Syrian game designer managed to do.
Although he recently fled his native Damascus for the safety of Hong Kong, Radwan Kasmiya had always been an astute observer of the gaming scene in the Arab and Islamic world. And what he saw didn’t please him: Most games, he noticed, did little more than, to quote Vit Sisler, reverse “the polarities of the narrative and iconographical stereotypes … by substituting the Arab Muslim hero for the American soldier.” And Kasmiya wanted to do something different. The result was a series of games that not only convey a significant amount of historical information—history, unlike theology, is easier to reduce into bite-sized, game-ready bits—but also a rare emotional impact.
Play Under Siege, for example, a game focusing on five Palestinians and their reactions to the Israeli occupation, and it soon becomes evident that any attempt at picking up a gun and joining the violent resistance is doomed to have you killed. Non-violent efforts are equally futile and just as deadly. This makes for a disturbing game-play experience: Unable to experience the cathartic moment of victory at the end of most video games, anyone playing Under Siege is forced not only to think about the desperation of the Palestinian situation but to feel a tiny fraction of it, too.
And while Kasmiya’s work appeals to the heart, other agit-prop designers have focused on cool rationality. An independent Italian game called Riot, for example, is a tactically minded interactive manual for activists set on clashing with the police. Allowing players to assume the role of both the boys in blue and the anarchists in black, it is a highly effective tool for playing out potential confrontational scenarios. Very little of the traditional titillation of video games is on offer here; the game is little more than a whiteboard for an uprising.
Of course, in terms of production values and popularity alike, both of these games pale in comparison to the blockbusters that dominate the industry, but they have gained a greater following than the polished, big-budget titles produced by China, Iran, or Hezbollah. What separates effective and ineffective propaganda games, after all, isn't the producer—whether a government or dissident—but the production: whether the story is conventionally told or delivered as a revolutionary alternative to the mainstream.
This debate is nothing new: The Soviet filmmakers working in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution were equally divided between experimentalism and realism. And as the propaganda-game genre continues to grow—the North Koreans, never ones to miss out on a good opportunity for brainwashing, released their own terrible game earlier this year—we’re likely to see more contenders in both categories. And if film history is anything to go by, then straight-forward, big-budget, uncomplicated games are likely to outsell over anything demanding a greater intellectual and emotional investment. But today, almost a century after it was made, we still revere the ground-breaking Battleship Potemkin, even as we’ve forgotten nearly all of the Soviets' realist propaganda schlock. It’s likely we’ll judge Under Siege and Riot just as kindly, even if some of us disagree with their political messages. After all, in video games, like in revolutions, relentless innovation and challenging conventions are what keep the cause alive.
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Climate action groups on Monday applauded the government of Wales for demonstrating that it is taking seriously the existential and planetary threat posed by fossil fuels by announcing that the country would end its extraction of coal.
Wales' new proposed plan to reject all future coal mining applications is set to be finalized by the end of the year, a government spokesperson told the BBC last week, as part of the country's new energy strategy which will aim to ensure that 70 percent of Wales' energy is derived from renewable sources by 2030.
"We applaud the Welsh government in taking these vital steps for a climate safe future. Their actions are in direct contrast to its English neighbor who this week has given the green light to start fracking and created an unfavorable environment for renewable energy," said Anna Vickerstaff, spokesperson for 350.org, referring to fracking operations which restarted in Blackpool, England recently—days before five small earthquakes were recorded in the area.
"It is a historic moment. This is the end of coal in Wales after a long association and history." —Haf Elgar, Friends of the Earth Cymru
The announcement came days weeks after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a harrowing report on the steps the world's government must take immediately in order to avoid the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis which would come about by 2040 if the Earth warms more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
"We have to be aware of our global responsibility and the impact all of the coal has had over the years and to make sure that we really do play our part in Wales now to be globally responsible and to reduce our carbon emissions," Haf Elgar, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, told the BBC.
Payal Parekh, program director for 350.org, praised Wales for heeding the call of the IPCC and expressed urgent hope that other countries follow in its footsteps.
"The IPCC report released last week should act as a wake-up call for leaders worldwide. More countries must rapidly follow the path of Wales in leaving fossil fuels in the ground and transitioning to renewables," said Parekh in a statement.
The government's decision was significant for a country which once counted the coal industry as its single biggest employer, producing 57 million tons of coal in one year at the beginning of the last century. Production has slowed significantly over the last 100 years, with the country extracting 2.5 million tons in 2014—but green groups expressed optimism about the plan to eliminate the fossil fuel from Wales' economy.
"It is a historic moment. This is the end of coal in Wales after a long association and history," said Elgar.
The announcement makes Wales one of a small but growing group of nations which have pledged to take bold action and abandon long relied-upon energy sources for the sake of the planet and future generations.
Earlier this year, Costa Rica announced it would shift to 100 percent renewable energy by 2021, and fracking has been banned in Uruguay, Scotland, Germany, Australia, and a number of U.S. states.
The IPCC's report noted that putting a stop to fossil fuel emissions could feasibly be achieved, but that successfully limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius "would require rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land, urban, and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems"—the kind of change to which the Welsh government has now committed.
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Bitcoin Atom (BCA) is a cryptocurrency . Users are able to generate BCA through the process of mining. Bitcoin Atom has a current supply of 21,000,000 with 18,418,931.25 in circulation. The last known price of Bitcoin Atom is 0.11274689 USD and is down -11.61 over the last 24 hours. It is currently trading on 1 active market(s) with $200.07 traded over the last 24 hours. More information can be found at https://bitcoinatom.io/
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Q:
JavaScript critical error at line 120, column 85 in http://localhost:50754/page.aspx SCRIPT1015: Unterminated string constant
I have a following code in visual basic. When I call it on a button click event I get the error 'SCRIPT1015: Unterminated string constant'. Can I use PL/SQL like this from vb code:
strInsert = "DECLARE "
strInsert = strInsert + " in_xml_value varchar2(32767) "
strInsert = strInsert + " BEGIN "
strInsert = strInsert + " in_xml_value := "
strInsert = strInsert + " '" + dv1.Table.Rows(j).Item("XML_Report")
strInsert = strInsert + "' " + "INSERT into Report (ID,USER, XML_Report)"
strInsert = strInsert + " VALUES(" + CStr(dv1.Table.Rows(j).Item("ID"))
strInsert = strInsert + ", '" + dv1.Table.Rows(j).Item("USER")
strInsert = strInsert + "', XMLTYPE.CREATEXML(in_xml_value)" + ");"
strInsert = strInsert + " commit; "
strInsert = strInsert + " END; "
clsREPORTS.strInsert = New SqlTypes.SqlString(strInsert)
When debug I get this error:
ORA-06550: line 1, column 40:
PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "BEGIN" when expecting one of the following:
:= ; not null default character
The symbol ";" was substituted for "BEGIN" to continue.
ORA-06550: line 1, column 4078:
PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "INSERT" when expecting one of the following:
* & = - + ; < / > at in is mod remainder not rem
<an exponent (**)> <> or != or ~= >= <= <> and or like like2
like4 likec between || multiset memb
A:
strInsert = strInsert + " in_xml_value varchar2(32767) "
This should be with semicolon at the end. So it becomes :
strInsert = strInsert + " in_xml_value varchar2(32767) ;"
Also every statement should end with semicolon so you need to have one before your INSERT too.
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Fundamental aspects in tumor photochemotherapy: interactions of porphyrins with membrane model systems and cells.
Some molecular aspects underlying photochemotherapy and photodiagnosis of tumors with porphyrins are reviewed. The nature of the clinically used photosensitizer HpD is first presented along with structures of molecules found to be efficient in vitro. The possible role of pH in the preferential retention of dicarboxylic porphyrins by tumors is discussed in light of results obtained with membrane models. The uptake of dicarboxylic porphyrins by cells most likely involves passive mechanisms. Cell photoinactivation using a purified porphyrin does not depend upon the incubation time but only on the intracellular concentration of the dye. This likely reflects a poor specificity of the photoinactivation processes with regard to the cellular localization of the dye. The properties which should be presented by more efficient photosensitizers are discussed.
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Yuki Sakai (footballer, born 1989)
is a Japanese football player. She plays for Mynavi Vegalta Sendai. She played for Japan national team.
Club career
Sakai was born in Chiba Prefecture on January 10, 1989. After graduating from high school, she joined Tasaki Perule FC in 2007. However, the club was disbanded in 2008 due to financial strain. So, she moved to INAC Kobe Leonessa in 2009. In 2012, she moved to new club Vegalta Sendai (later Mynavi Vegalta Sendai).
National team career
In November 2008, Sakai was selected Japan U-20 national team for 2008 U-20 World Cup. In March 2011, she was selected Japan national team for 2011 Algarve Cup. At this competition, on March 9, she debuted against Sweden.
National team statistics
References
External links
Japan Football Association
Category:1989 births
Category:Living people
Category:Association football people from Chiba Prefecture
Category:Japanese women's footballers
Category:Japan women's international footballers
Category:Nadeshiko League players
Category:Tasaki Perule FC players
Category:INAC Kobe Leonessa players
Category:Mynavi Vegalta Sendai Ladies players
Category:Women's association football defenders
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return axe.commons.dom.isSkipLink(node) && axe.commons.dom.isOffscreen(node);
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Q:
Using Mutex and lock_guard with a vector in C++
I am a newbie in Threading in C++. I need your help regarding usage of mutex and lock_guard (this part doesn't matter). I have a main function and a secondary functions.
Please tell me why multithreading doesn't work when I add lock_guard(mtx);
When I remove it, it runs faster but wrongly. Can you help me with it?
I need a correct access to the vector vec and enabling threading.
#include <vector>
#include <thread>
std::mutex mtx;
void threadCall(std::vector<int> &vec, int start, int end){
std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(mtx);
for(int i=start; i<end; i++)
vec[i] = i;
}
void ThreadFunc(std::vector<int> vec){
std::vector<std::thread> threads(2);
threads[0] = std::thread(&threadCall, std::ref(vec), 0, 10);
threads[1] = std::thread(&threadCall, std::ref(vec), 10, 20);
threads[0].join();
threads[1].join();
}
int main(){
std::vector<int> vec(20);
ThreadFunc(vec);
return 0;
}
A:
The mutex is preventing the threads from doing any work in parallel. As long as you can guarantee that each thread is not going to write to the same part of the vector you don't need the mutex at all.
The other problem is you are passing your vector by value. You should instead pass by reference:
void threadCall(std::vector<int>& vec, int start, int end){
for(int i=start; i<end; i++)
vec[i] = i;
}
void ThreadFunc(std::vector<int>& vec){
std::vector<std::thread> threads(2);
threads[0] = std::thread(&threadCall, std::ref(vec), 0, 10);
threads[1] = std::thread(&threadCall, std::ref(vec), 10, 20);
threads[0].join();
threads[1].join();
}
int main(){
std::vector<int> vec(20);
ThreadFunc(vec);
}
Live demo.
A:
The problem is that mutex is taken by the first thread and second thread can't work until it's released.
So, essentially you receive a multi-threaded application that where all threads do their job serially.
You can move your guard into for-loop
for(int i=start; i<end; i++) {
std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(mtx);
vec[i] = i;
}
That will give threads a possibility to work together over the passed vector.
BUT:
You need to take into account that multiple threads not always give a performance boost jut because concurrency != parallelism.
I would expect from this application in this way be actually slower than a single-threaded implementation because the following:
Threads are blocking each other by a mutex so only one thread runs at time
You spend time on context switch between threads
SOLUTION IDEA:
If you want to run it truly parallel, you need to make threads work on independent data and then join the result.
A:
To start with, stop passing the vector by value, pass references. After that is resolved, your particular example doesn't need a mutex at all, actually. Your vector has a fixed size:
std::vector<int> vec(20);
And all elements are default constructed from the get go. Since all you do is assignment:
vec[i] = i;
The vector won't reallocate any storage or adjust its item count. So there's no need to lock access to the vector as a whole. Couple that with the fact that each thread operates on a separate sub-range, and there aren't any data races present. You don't need synchronization primitives.
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Introduction
============
Recent years have seen several exciting advancements in the development of active immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Sipuleucel-T, an active immunotherapy comprised of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with a fusion protein composed of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), was shown to provide a significant increase in overall survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer (Kantoff et al., [@B44]). Additionally, ipilimumab, an antibody blocking cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) that facilitates T cell activation, was found to provide a benefit in overall survival in individuals with metastatic melanoma (Hodi et al., [@B40]). While the success these agents had in Phase III clinical trials represented a ground shift in our understanding of the potential of anti-tumor immunity, the results from these trials also illuminated challenges with the clinical evaluation of immunotherapies. As opposed to therapies with direct cytotoxic effects, like chemotherapy or radiation therapy, immune-modulating therapies require time to activate the immune system and induce T-cell proliferation to sufficient levels where it can achieve clinical benefit, a process which may take place over weeks to months. As such, while randomized trials evaluating sipuleucel-T and ipilimumab both achieved the clinical endpoint of increased overall survival, they were not able to meet interim markers of efficacy such as increased time to disease progression. This emphasizes the importance of identifying short-term markers of efficacy that can be used to identify individuals who are responding to therapy, or those who would benefit from moving on to alternative treatments.
As one of the central goals of tumor immunotherapy is to elicit and/or augment cytotoxic T-cell responses that can recognize and lyse tumor cells, the development of interim biomarkers of immunotherapeutic efficacy have largely focused on assays that measure these inflammatory, Th1-type anti-tumor responses. This has led to the near universal use of assays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assays, intracellular cytokine staining (ICCS), and HLA-peptide multimer analysis. However, as our understanding of the nature of the relationship between the tumor and immune response has matured, tumor immunologists have come to appreciate that these effector responses are only one aspect of the immune system that can impact anti-tumor immunity. The immune system (and the tumor itself) is also able to mount suppressive immune responses that target effector responses and can lead to the amelioration of anti-tumor responses. These suppressive immune responses are predominantly composed of regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), which are able to survey the tumor microenvironment for effector immune responses to inhibit, which leads to the avoidance of anti-tumor immunity and further tumor growth. The monitoring of changes in regulatory immune responses, consequently, could theoretically serve as an additional biomarker of response to immune therapies, particular in the case of immune-modulating therapies or whole tumor vaccines where a specific antigenic target is unknown.
While there has been interest in monitoring suppressive immune responses following immunotherapeutic intervention, this has been a challenge given the difficulty in defining a set of cellular surface markers that can be used to easily identify and quantify regulatory immune responses. Furthermore, when evaluating antigen-specific vaccine approaches, there has been a noticeable paucity in the evaluation of antigen-specific regulatory responses following immunization. In addition, the intrinsic plasticity in regulatory immune function further complicates this analysis, as data in preclinical models indicates that immune responses can gain and lose suppressive activity depending on the microenvironment, which is particular important in the case of lymphocytes that infiltrate the suppressive tumor microenvironment. In this review, we will describe these regulatory cell populations, how they can suppress anti-tumor immune responses, how they have been used in the immune monitoring of clinical trials, and challenges associated with the implementation of regulatory cell detection into clinical trial immune monitoring.
Immune Regulatory Populations and Their Effects on Cancer
=========================================================
Regulatory T cells
------------------
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a subset of T lymphocytes identified in the early 1970s (Gershon and Kondo, [@B30]) that have the ability to suppress the activity of effector T cells. In healthy individuals, Tregs play a crucial role in maintaining peripheral immune tolerance, preventing the generation of autoimmunity by limiting T-cell activity. However, in the case of malignant disease, these cells can act to limit anti-tumor immune responses and confound the efforts of immunotherapeutic approaches. A variety of malignancies have been shown to have increased frequencies of both peripheral and tumor-infiltrating Tregs, including patients with lung, pancreas, ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer (Woo et al., [@B99], [@B100]; Liyanage et al., [@B56]; Miller et al., [@B61]; Kiniwa et al., [@B47]; Pages et al., [@B68]). Additionally, the detrimental impact Tregs can have on anti-tumor responses is further suggested by their prognostic value, as higher frequencies of Tregs correlate with disease stage and poor prognoses in a variety of malignancies (Curiel et al., [@B23]; Beyer et al., [@B6]; Wolf et al., [@B98]; Betts et al., [@B5]; Hiraoka et al., [@B39]; Kono et al., [@B49]; Kobayashi et al., [@B48]; Akin et al., [@B2]; Katz et al., [@B45]).
These regulatory responses are broadly broken up into either "natural" or "adaptive/induced" Tregs. Natural Tregs (nTregs) are produced by the thymus and constitutively express CD25, CTLA-4, and Foxp3 (a transcription factor that helps mediate the suppressive activity of this regulatory population), and are able to suppress both adaptive and innate immune responses (Read et al., [@B74]; Takahashi et al., [@B81]; Mougiakakos et al., [@B63]). These cells are generated in the thymus by the selection of thymocytes that have T-cell receptors with high avidity for self-antigens -- thus, nTregs are responsible primarily for maintaining self-tolerance (Jordan et al., [@B43]). They are able to maintain this self-tolerance through a variety of mechanisms including the secretion of inhibitory cytokines (such as IL-10, TGF-β, and IL-35), direct cytotoxicity, disruption of T-cell metabolism, or targeting the activity of DC through inhibitory surface molecules such as CTLA-4 or LAG-3 (Vignali et al., [@B89]).
As opposed to nTregs, induced Tregs (iTregs) enter the periphery as naïve T cells. However, rather than gain an effector phenotype, these iTregs encounter their specific MHC-peptide complex under conditions that promote the development of a regulatory phenotype, such as high levels of suppressive cytokines (Lohr et al., [@B57]). This is particularly relevant to tumor immunology, as the tumor microenvironment is saturated with factors that can promote the generation of iTregs, including factors that are directly produced by tumor cells such as TGF-β, IL-10, IL-35, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO; Liu et al., [@B55]; Collison et al., [@B19]; Heckel et al., [@B37]; Wang et al., [@B93]). This has led to numerous reports of lymphocytes which infiltrate tumors as effector cells, but are then converted to have a regulatory phenotype, further confounding the efforts of tumor immunologists to generate productive anti-tumor immunity (Valzasina et al., [@B83]; Liu et al., [@B55]; Shafer-Weaver et al., [@B80]; Collison et al., [@B19]).
Inducible Tregs are further subdivided into Tr1, Th3, and Tr35 cells, which are loosely divided based on their mechanisms of suppression. Tr1 cells rely largely on IL-10 secretion to mediate suppression, are developed in the presence of high doses of IL-10, and express very low or no Foxp3 and CD25 (Groux et al., [@B33]; Roncarolo et al., [@B75]; Levings et al., [@B52]). Th3 cells produce high levels of TGF-β to mediate suppression, and contrary to Tr1 cells, also express CD25 and Foxp3 (Chen et al., [@B17]; Weiner, [@B95]). The final population, iTr35 cells, is a population of induced regulatory T cells that rely on IL-35, a suppressive cytokine that was identified as having the ability to potently suppress T-cell proliferation and T-cell induced autoimmunity and anti-tumor responses (Collison et al., [@B20], [@B19]). One of the hallmarks of iTr35 cells is that while they do not express Foxp3, their production of IL-35 has the ability to convert conventional T cells, nTreg, and other iTreg populations into iTr35 cells, resulting in mixed expression of Foxp3 and CD25 (Collison et al., [@B19]). As a result, while it can be difficult to identify iTr35 cells based on surface molecule expression, these iTr35 cells have a significant ability to propagate infectious tolerance \[the transfer of suppressive function from one cell to another (Gershon and Kondo, [@B31]; Qin et al., [@B73])\].
While these natural and induced regulatory T cells are conventionally viewed as CD4+ T cells, some of the earliest work into suppressive T cells identified that CD8+ T cells could also mediate the suppression of immunity *in vivo* (Gershon and Kondo, [@B30]). This has been reinforced by research in the last decade, with the identification of CD8+ T cells with potent suppressive activity (Cortesini et al., [@B22]; Sarantopoulos et al., [@B77]; Wei et al., [@B94]; Chaput et al., [@B16]; Olson et al., [@B66]). These CD8+ regulatory T cells can also be divided into natural and induced regulatory T cells, which can also mediate suppression by contact-dependent and -independent mechanisms. However, our understanding of the nature of these CD8+ regulatory T cells remains mercurial and a topic of continued investigation.
While research characterizing regulatory cells has made significant progress, one of the challenges that have come to light from these studies is the difficulty in defining a phenotype that can be used to reliably identify a regulatory T cell. Common markers used to identify Tregs are CD25, Foxp3, CD39, CD122, CD127, CTLA-4, LAG-3, and GITR (Mougiakakos et al., [@B63]). The expression of CTLA-4 is especially important, as therapies designed at blocking the activity of Tregs have been developed that specifically target this molecule. However, each of these markers can be expressed by other T cell subtypes, including activated effector T cells, preventing them from being used as exclusive markers associated with Tregs. Furthermore, CD4+ Tr1 cells have negligible levels of CD25 and Foxp3, further complicating a complete analysis of Tregs.
While research studying regulatory T cells has focused on antigen non-specific populations, emerging evidence has also shown a role for antigen-specific regulation in cancer. These antigen-specific Tregs require their cognate antigen to activate their suppressive activity; however, once active, these cells can suppress in an antigen non-specific fashion, so-called "bystander suppression" (von Herrath and Harrison, [@B90]). CD4+ regulatory T cells have been identified that are specific for a variety of tumor antigens, including antigens commonly targeted by vaccination such as gp100, NY-ESO-1, HER2/neu, and CEA (Wang et al., [@B91], [@B92]; van der Burg et al., [@B84]; Vence et al., [@B87]; Lehe et al., [@B51]; Welters et al., [@B96]; Bonertz et al., [@B10]; Mougiakakos et al., [@B63]). Additionally, antigen-specific CD8+ T cells with suppressive function have also been identified (Andersen et al., [@B3]; Olson et al., [@B66]). We recently identified CD8+ suppressor T cells that were present in peripheral blood samples from patients with prostate cancer that were specific for PAP (the antigen targeted by sipuleucel-T), and prevented the detection of effector responses following vaccination with a DNA vaccine targeting PAP (Olson et al., [@B66]).
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells
--------------------------------
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells are a diverse population of myeloid cells which have been shown to have the ability to suppress the proliferation and effector function of T cells. MDSCs consist primarily of immature myeloid cells and myeloid progenitor cells, cells which have not finished their differentiation into DCs, macrophages, or granulocytes. In healthy individuals, MDSCs represent a very small fraction of total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), as these immature cells rapidly differentiate into mature cells. In a variety of malignancies, however, this differentiation process is blocked, leading to the generation of a sizable fraction of MDSCs. This is true in patients with many types of cancer, including lung, breast, colon, and melanoma, where patients have an increased frequency of peripheral and tumor-infiltrating MDSCs, and in some cases these frequencies correlate with disease grade (reviewed in Montero et al., [@B62]).
Studies in mouse models have identified two categories of CD11b+ MDSCs based on their expression of the myeloid differentiation antigen Gr1 (which recognizes the Ly6G and Ly6C epitopes) -- granulocytic MDSCs (CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C^low^) and monocytic MDSCs (CD11b+Ly6G−Ly6C^hi^). However, as humans lack a Gr1 homolog, the phenotypic characterization of human MDSCs has proved more complicated. While several surface molecules have been used to delineate MDSC subpopulations, common markers used to identify these subtypes include CD14 and CD15, with human granulocytic MDSCs being CD11b+CD33+CD14−CD15+ and monocytic MDSCs being CD11b+CD33+CD14+CD15−. Other markers that can be used in combination to identify MDSCs include CD13+, CD34+, IL-4Rα+, and HLA-DR− (Peranzoni et al., [@B69]).
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells can mediate the suppression of effector immune responses using a variety of mechanisms (Gabrilovich and Nagaraj, [@B28]). One of the most common mechanisms of suppression is focused on disrupting T-cell metabolism. This includes the production of arginase and IDO (which can deplete arginine and tryptophan, each of which are required for T-cell activity) (Mellor and Munn, [@B60]; Bronte and Zanovello, [@B12]). Additionally, MDSCs have been shown to express inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which leads to the generation of nitric oxide (NO), as well as producing reactive oxygen species (ROS), both of which can target T-cell function (Mazzoni et al., [@B59]; Kusmartsev et al., [@B50]). Research has suggested that the production of these two molecules may demarcate subtypes of MDSCs, with monocytic MDSC producing NO and granulocytic MDSC producing ROS (Movahedi et al., [@B64]). MDSC can also produce peroxynitrite, which can result in T-cell receptor nitration and a decrease in T-cell activity (Nagaraj et al., [@B65]). In addition to these mechanisms that directly target the activity of effector T cells, MDSCs have also been shown to induce the expansion of regulatory T cells, which may be due in part to their expression of regulatory cytokines like IL-10 or TGF-β, or the inhibitory receptor CTLA-4 (Huang et al., [@B41]; Yang et al., [@B101]; Serafini et al., [@B79]).
Tumor-associated macrophages
----------------------------
Macrophages are closely linked with the development of cancer-related inflammation. In the context of cancer, these cells are divided into either type 1 or type 2 macrophages. Type 1 macrophages (M1) have the ability to present antigens and activate T-cell responses, as well as being able to directly kill tumor cells. However, in the presence of Th2-biased cytokines such as IL-10, macrophages can be diverted to gain a type 2 phenotype. These immunosuppressive type 2 macrophages (M2) are marked by the expression of CD163 (the scavenger receptor) and CD206 (the mannose receptor), as well as traditional monocyte markers such as CD14, HLA-DR, and CD11b (Mantovani et al., [@B58]; Biswas and Mantovani, [@B7]). The tumor microenvironment promotes the generation of type 2 macrophages, as tumor cells can secrete factors (such as CCL-2) that recruit macrophages to the site of the tumor, and once there the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment is able to drive these macrophage toward a type 2 phenotype (Bottazzi et al., [@B11]; Heusinkveld and van der Burg, [@B38]). These TAM are then able to contribute to the suppressive tumor microenvironment, expressing high levels of suppressive cytokines (such as TGF-β and IL-10), promoting tumor angiogenesis, and inhibiting anti-tumor immunity (Vasiljeva et al., [@B86]; Coffelt et al., [@B18]). The detrimental impact of these type 2 macrophages is illustrated by their elevated frequency in a variety of cancers and the correlation between high frequencies and poor patient prognosis (as reviewed in Heusinkveld and van der Burg, [@B38]).
Regulatory Cell Monitoring with Immunotherapy Clinical Trials
=============================================================
Regulatory cell populations -- biomarkers of immune and clinical response to treatment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given the importance of regulatory immune responses in the development and progression of a variety of cancers, there has been interest in characterizing the effects of immunotherapies on the frequency of suppressive immune populations. Reports to date have predominantly focused on evaluating the effects of these therapies on regulatory T cells (particularly CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Tregs), though the effects of immunotherapies on MDSC frequency has begun to be implemented in clinical trial analyses. Most reports have focused on enumerating the frequency of Tregs following immunotherapy, with several immunotherapeutic approaches being shown to decrease the frequency of peripheral Tregs. This includes a report by Pohla et al. ([@B70]) evaluating both Tregs and MDSCs following treatment with a allogeneic gene-modified tumor cell line in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In this study, they found that vaccination resulted in a decrease in Tregs in peripheral blood samples, which they identified using extensive phenotype analysis (CD4+CD25^hi^CD127^−/lo^Foxp3+CD39+). However, when they looked for changes in MDSCs using a variety of cell phenotypes (CD14+CD124+, CD15+CD124+, Lin-HLA-DR-CD33+SSC^hi^, SSC^imm^CD14+HLA-DR-, and CD14-CD15+CD11b+), they found that vaccination did not significantly alter any of these populations. This illustrates that while vaccination can certainly impact the frequencies of suppressive immune populations, not all populations are uniformly affected by treatment, highlighting the importance of analyzing multiple regulatory populations to get a full picture of the immune response following immunization.
While many immunotherapies have been shown to alter the frequency of regulatory cells, these changes alone do not provide information on the immune and clinical efficacy of these therapies. However, as immunotherapeutic clinical trials have begun to elicit immune and clinical efficacy, it has become possible to determine how changes in regulatory populations correlate with the efficacy of these therapies, as shown in Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}. In nearly all these studies, it was found that a decrease in the frequency of regulatory cells (predominantly Tregs, but also a few reports evaluating MDSCs) was found to correlate with enhanced clinical benefit. For example, in two Phase II trials in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, the investigators evaluated both Treg frequency and function following treatment with a viral vaccine (Gulley et al., [@B34]; Vergati et al., [@B88]). In these studies, while there was not a significant change in the frequency of Tregs (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) following immunotherapy, they found that an increase in the ratio of effector-to-regulatory CD4+ T cells (CD4+CD25− effector T cells to CD4+CD25+CD127−Foxp3+CTLA−4+ Tregs) correlated with enhanced prognosis. Furthermore, when they isolated CD4+ Tregs and analyzed their ability to suppress autologous T cell proliferation, they found that individuals with a decrease in Treg function post-immunization had an enhanced clinical prognosis (Gulley et al., [@B34]; Vergati et al., [@B88]). This illustrates a problem common in immune monitoring, especially of regulatory immune responses -- the preponderance of immune monitoring focuses on the quantity of regulatory populations rather than evaluating the quality of these suppressive populations. While the enumeration of cell populations can provide some perspective as to the efficacy of immunotherapeutic interventions, it is also possible that a smaller frequency of cells (but with more potent effector activity) can be of greater significance than a high frequency of cells with poor effector functions.
######
**Clinical trials evaluating the effect of immunotherapy on regulatory cell frequency, and correlations with immune and clinical efficacy**.
Disease type Immunotherapy Cell population Effects of immunotherapy on regulatory cells and responses Reference
-------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------
Glioblastoma DC vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25+CD127^lo^) Decreased frequency of Tregs correlated with enhanced survival Fong et al. ([@B26])
CD4+CTLA-4+T cells CD8+CTLA-4+T cells Decrease in CTLA-4 expression on CD4+ and CD8+T cells correlated with enhanced survival
Malignant glioma DC vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25+CD127^lo^) Decreases in Treg frequency correlate with increased survival Prins et al. ([@B72])
B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia DC vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) Patients with clinical responses had a significant decrease in Treg frequency Hus et al. ([@B42])
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma DC vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) Decrease in Treg frequency correlated with clinical responses Di Nicola et al. ([@B24])
Renal DC vaccine+therapy Treg (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) Non-responding patients had significantly higher expansion of Tregs compared to responding patients. Schwarzer et al. ([@B78])
Sarcoma DC vaccine + irradiation MDSC (CD11b+CD14− CD33+) Higher frequencies of MDSC in non-responders Finkelstein et al. ([@B25])
Treg (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) No correlation between changes in Tregs and responder status
Melanoma Neoadjuvant ipilimumab Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) Higher frequencies of Tregs correlated with enhanced progression-free survival Tarhini et al. ([@B82])
Monocytic MDSC (HLA-DR^lo^CD14+) No correlation between changes in MDSC and survival
Melanoma DC Vaccine + IL-2 Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^) Significant decrease in Tregs in patients with clinical responses Bjoern et al. ([@B8])
Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) No correlation between changes in Treg and clinical responses
Melanoma APC vaccines Treg (D4+CD25+) Expansion of Tregs correlated with decrease in CTL frequency Chakraborty et al. ([@B15])
Prostate Viral vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) Decrease in Treg function post-immunization correlated with enhanced prognosis, and increased Treg function correlated with poor prognosis Gulley et al. ([@B34])
Prostate Viral Vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) Decrease in Treg function post-immunization correlated with increased overall survival Vergati et al. ([@B88])
Effector:Treg ratio (CD4+CD25−: CD4+CD25+CD127-Foxp3+CTLA-4+) Increased effector:Treg ratio post-immunization correlated with enhanced prognosis
Prostate Tumor cell vaccine + ipilimumab Treg (CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) Increases in frequency of Tregs correlated with decreased overall survival Santegoets et al. ([@B76])
Effector:Treg ratio (CD4+CD45RO+: CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+) Increases in effector: regulatory T cell ratio correlated with enhanced survival
Lung, colorectal, gastric, breast, uterine, and renal cancer Low-dose IL-2 Treg (CD4+CD25+) Patients with controlled disease have a decline in number of Treg cells Lissoni et al. ([@B54])
Effector:Treg ratio (CD4+:CD4+CD25+) Patients with controlled disease have an increase in effector:Treg ratio
Breast Peptide vaccine Treg (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) Decrease in Tregs correlated with enhanced effector immune responses Gates et al. ([@B29])
The observation that decreased regulatory cells following immunotherapy correlates with enhanced clinical responses is not wholly unexpected; as Tregs have been shown to correlate with more advanced disease and poorer prognosis in many disease types, it would be logical to conclude that a decrease in these Tregs would result in a better disease outcome following immunotherapy. However, this trend is not uniform; in a clinical trial report evaluating neoadjuvant ipilimumab in melanoma patients, the authors found that this treatment resulted in an increase in circulating Treg (both CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+ and CD4+CD25^hi^CD39+ T cells), and that increases in these Tregs correlated with enhanced progression-free survival (Tarhini et al., [@B82]). Interestingly, this group also evaluated the presence of circulating monocytic MDSCs (HLA-DR^lo^CD14+), which they found decreased following therapy. This could be a result of the treatment with ipilimumab, which targets CTLA-4 and would thus be expected to specifically target the Treg population and not MDSCs. However, it again demonstrates the importance of fully analyzing the immune response following these therapies.
Another challenge associated with regulatory cell immune monitoring is that the techniques used to identify these populations can affect results. This is exemplified in the results from three studies evaluating ipilimumab in early stage clinical trials, each of which suggested different effects of ipilimumab on Treg frequency. In a Phase I trial in prostate cancer patients, treatment with ipilimumab was found to increase Treg frequency \[as measured by circulating CD4+Foxp3+ T cells (Kavanagh et al., [@B46])\]. In another trial evaluating ipilimumab in a variety of malignancies (colon, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or prostate cancer), this treatment was found to induce a long-term decrease in CD4+ Tregs (CD4+CD25+CD62L+) (O'Mahony et al., [@B67]). And in yet another clinical trial in which bladder cancer patients were treated with ipilimumab, it was found that treatment-induced no consistent changes in Treg frequencies (CD4+Foxp3+, CD4+Foxp3+ICOS^hi^, or CD4+Foxp3+ICOS^lo^ T cells) (Liakou et al., [@B53]). The discrepancy in treatment-induced effects of Tregs based on phenotype is not only seen in patients treated with ipilimumab -- in a study evaluating melanoma patients receiving a dendritic cell vaccine along with IL-2, the authors observed that a decrease in CD4+CD25^hi^ T cells correlated with a clinical response; however, they also found that there was no correlation between changes in CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+ T cells and disease stabilization (Berntsen et al., [@B4]). This highlights the importance of using well-defined and universally accepted parameters to identify regulatory populations, as well as including functional analysis of regulatory activity, to obtain the most accurate reflection of how regulatory responses are being affected by immunotherapy. This is especially important considering the plasticity of T cell function, where an effector cell can gain suppressive activity (and vice-versa) depending on the immune context (Bluestone et al., [@B9]; Addey et al., [@B1]). While immune monitoring by its nature is only a snapshot in time of this plasticity, it emphasizes that a comprehensive phenotypic and functional analysis will help provide the most accurate interpretation of that moment in time.
Regulatory cell populations -- predictive biomarkers prior to treatment
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
While an increase in circulating regulatory cells following immunotherapy is usually associated with a poor prognosis, and increased frequencies of regulatory cells in untreated individuals portends poor prognosis, the characterization of these populations as a prospective biomarker of immunotherapeutic efficacy remains relatively untested. Some reports have found that pre-existing Treg frequency does not correlate with vaccine efficacy one way or the other (Gulley et al., [@B34]; Bjoern et al., [@B8]). However, recent reports have found correlations between the frequency of pre-existing regulatory responses and clinical responses following immunization. In a report by Santegoets et al. ([@B76]), evaluating combined tumor cell vaccination with ipilimumab in prostate cancer patients, the authors found that elevated frequencies of CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+ Tregs prior to treatment correlated with decreased overall survival following treatment. As with regulatory responses following vaccination, this is not necessarily surprising; lower frequencies of Tregs in untreated patients correlate with enhanced prognosis. However, somewhat contradictory to the other results obtained, the authors also found that increased pre-treatment frequencies of CD4+CTLA−4+ T cells correlated with enhanced survival. While CTLA-4 is expressed by activated T cells, it is also constitutively expressed by nTregs, again illustrating a potential dichotomy between results based on the phenotypic definitions of regulatory cells and necessitating additional methods of detection.
While this report found that elevated levels of CD4+CD25^hi^Foxp3+ Tregs predicted for poor prognosis, other clinical trials have found opposing results. In a report by Correale et al. ([@B21]), the authors evaluated Treg frequencies in patients with colorectal cancer who received chemoimmunotherapy. In these individuals, the authors found that increased frequencies of Foxp3+ T cells prior to treatment correlated with enhanced overall survival and progression-free survival following treatment. However, this report differs from that of Santegoets and colleagues (and most reports monitoring the effects of immunotherapy on regulatory cell populations) in that rather than measuring circulating levels of Foxp3+ T cells, they instead measured the frequency of tumor-infiltrating cells that expressed Foxp3+ using pre-treatment biopsy samples from patients. Interestingly, another report by Hamid et al. ([@B36]) evaluating ipilimumab in patients with melanoma also found that increased expression of Foxp3 and IDO in pre-treatment biopsy samples correlated with enhanced clinical benefit. These studies demonstrate the importance of not only evaluating the frequency of circulating regulatory cells, but also quantifying the frequency of these suppressive cells that infiltrate the tumor. As immune monitoring efforts focused on measuring peripheral effector responses have been shown to not necessarily correlate with effector responses at the site of tumor, immune monitoring efforts focused on regulatory responses should perhaps also aim to evaluate the effects of immunotherapy on tumor-infiltrating suppressive cells.
Methods of regulatory cell detection for clinical trial analysis -- beyond enumeration
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While the enumeration of suppressive cell populations has been the central focus of regulatory immune monitoring, quantification alone may not be sufficient, as illustrated above. Immune monitoring efforts aimed at analyzing effector immune responses do not rely solely on quantifying the frequency of effector T cells -- rather, they include functional analysis to determine the activity of these responses with respect to proliferation, cytokine expression, expression of cell surface molecules, and cytolytic activity. Similarly, immune monitoring of regulatory immunity should also include functional analysis of suppressive activity. This is particularly relevant to the analysis of regulatory immune responses, given the lack of distinct phenotypic markers that can be used to identify regulatory cells. The importance of analyzing regulatory function is clearly illustrated by the previously described reports evaluating a viral vaccine in prostate cancer patients, where immunization did not induce changes in Treg frequency that were associated with clinical responses, but decreases in Treg function were associated with an enhanced prognosis (Gulley et al., [@B34]; Vergati et al., [@B88]).
To evaluate the function of Tregs, most of the studies to date have largely focused on one of two aspects of Treg activity: suppression of T-cell proliferation and Treg expression of immunosuppressive cytokines. To measure Treg suppression, peripheral blood cells are sorted to isolate a purified Treg population (usually based on CD4+CD25+ expression), and these cells are then co-incubated with autologous CD4+CD25− conventional T cells that are non-specifically activated. T-cell proliferation can then be measured using standard techniques, including thymidine uptake, or by dilution of cell-labeling dyes such as carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester or PKH26, in CD4+CD25− cells. These assays can also be combined with assays measuring the effect on expression of cytokines by the effector T cells, collecting supernatants and measuring cytokine secretion by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
In addition to measuring the effect of Treg on the proliferation and cytokine secretion of effector T cells, another common assay of Treg function is measuring the cytokine expression by Tregs themselves. This has typically been performed by ELISA (where isolated Treg populations are stimulated non-specifically and cytokine release into the supernatant is measured) or ICCS. Intracellular cytokine staining has the benefit of not requiring isolation of Tregs, as whole PBMC can be isolated and stimulated, following by surface staining to identify the population of interest. Furthermore, ICCS also has the benefit of permitting concurrent staining for Foxp3, helping to identify Treg populations. While suppression assays and cytokine expression are most commonly used to evaluate Treg function, other methods employed to monitor Treg function in clinical trials include evaluating serum cytokine levels, evaluating tumor biopsies for expression of suppressive factors such as IDO, or evaluating the methylation status of the Foxp3 promoter as a surrogate for Treg activity (Polansky et al., [@B71]; Wieczorek et al., [@B97]).
A fairly comprehensive clinical characterization of regulatory T cell activity was reported by François and colleagues, in which melanoma patients were immunized with a MHC class II peptide (Francois et al., [@B27]). Patient PBMC samples were sorted for CD4+Tetramer+ cells, which were then cloned by limiting dilution and expanded. They found that 5% of these CD4+ T-cell clones also expressed CD25 and Foxp3, and were able to suppress the proliferation of naïve T cells *in vitro* as well as the secretion of IFNγ, IL-2, IL-10, and TNFα by effector T cells. These CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T-cell clones expressed TGF-β, and had unmethylated Foxp3 promoters, consistent with the patterns observed in Tregs (Polansky et al., [@B71]). While this report did not observe any correlations between Treg frequency and responses to immunization, it exemplifies the type of functional analysis that can shed light on Treg activity.
As a measure of antigen-specific regulation not requiring *in vitro* amplification, an alternative methodology that can be used is the trans vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity (tvDTH) assay. This assay has been commonly used to evaluate antigen-specific tolerance in transplant recipients, but has rarely been used to evaluate regulation in tumor immunotherapy clinical trials (Carrodeguas et al., [@B14]; VanBuskirk et al., [@B85]; Cai et al., [@B13]; Olson et al., [@B66]). For this assay, peripheral blood samples from patients are injected into the foodpads of SCID mice along with a recall antigen (such as tetanus toxoid or inactivated Epstein-Barr virus) and an experimental antigen being evaluated for regulatory immune responses. As with other antigen-specific regulatory immune responses, the experimental antigen-specific regulatory cells require their cognate antigen for activation, but once activated can suppress in a non-specific fashion (thus suppressing the tetanus bystander immune response). Twenty-four hours later, footpad swelling can be measured as an indicator of an inflammatory immune response, which can be suppressed by the activation of antigen-specific regulatory responses. Thus, this assay does not rely on measuring any single metric of suppressive activity, but rather measures how all of these mechanisms act in concert to suppress inflammation *in vivo*. However, by including blocking antibodies specific to particular suppressive functions (such as antibodies blocking TGF-β, IL-10, or IL-35, or surface molecules such as CTLA-4 or PD-1), it is possible to identify mechanisms that contribute to suppression. Furthermore, by conducting the assay with particular T-cell subsets, it is possible to identify the cell population that mediates suppression.
The tvDTH assay is also useful in that it can be used to detect effector responses that are suppressed by concurrent regulatory responses. As we have described in a report evaluating a DNA vaccine in patients with prostate cancer, we found that we were not able to detect antigen-specific effector responses in peripheral blood samples from multiple patients when the antigen of interest was injected into the footpads of SCID mice alone. However, when we blocked regulatory responses using antibodies specific to CTLA-4, we were able to uncover antigen-specific effector responses that were otherwise undetectable (Olson et al., [@B66]). These suppressed effector responses can also be detected using standard *in vitro* techniques using peripheral blood samples that have been depleted of regulatory cells, as has been reported -- however, these assays still only measure particular aspects of Treg activity (Gnjatic et al., [@B32]; Hadaschik et al., [@B35]). However, the masking of effector responses by concurrent regulatory illustrates one of the most important reasons to include analysis of regulatory populations in clinical trials evaluating immunotherapies; given the interaction between effector and regulatory populations, it is possible that ignoring one population could compromise the analysis of the other.
Concluding Remarks
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As immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer begin to show clinical benefit and become approved for use in the clinic, it is of crucial importance to identify biomarkers of efficacy that can also be incorporated into the clinic, both to identify which patients may optimally respond to therapy, as well as to determine whether individual patients are responding to therapy. This is particularly relevant because most immunotherapy clinical trials have relied on measuring overall survival as a primary clinical endpoint, and while overall survival remains the gold-standard for determining clinical efficacy, it is an impractical endpoint for making clinical treatment decisions. In addition, many treatments rely on repetitive administration (vaccines, for example), and it is conceivable that tolerance/regulation may be elicited that can prevent the generation of productive anti-tumor effector responses. As such, it is critical to monitor for these regulatory responses to determine if/when additional booster immunizations or other immune-modulating agents should be employed.
As our understanding of immune suppression has expanded from the identification of regulatory cell populations to current research aimed at elucidating the plastic nature of immune function and the interplay between effector and regulatory immunity within the tumor microenvironment, it has become evident that regulatory cells play a central role in the development and progression of cancer, and can influence the outcome of tumor immunotherapies. Therefore, it is important to include analysis of these regulatory populations in the immune monitoring of clinical trials, as it can complete the picture of how immune responses are affected by immunotherapeutic intervention. Furthermore, as our understanding of how these regulatory responses are affected by immunization develops, it will be possible to design more optimal combinatorial approaches that seek to activate effector responses as well as inhibit or deplete these suppressive cells.
However, as our understanding of regulatory cells continues to expand, it is important that immune monitoring efforts tracking these cell populations continue to grow as well to address the current challenges associated with the monitoring of regulatory populations. This includes identifying combinations of phenotypic markers that can be used to more reliably track suppressive populations, or alternatively using multiple definitions of regulatory cells to confirm results obtained by examining a single phenotype. It will also be important to incorporate the use of functional analysis of regulatory cell function as is done with effector cells, as this can provide a more complete picture of both the quantity and quality of suppressive responses. Additionally, as our knowledge of the plastic nature of suppressive activity in nominally non-regulatory immune cells expands, it will be important to incorporate this information into immune monitoring, which can help expand this monitoring from defining a single moment in time to generating a more complete understanding of the suppressive potential of the immune response following immunotherapeutic intervention. Equally important, it will be crucial to gain a better understanding for how pre-existing regulatory responses affect the ability to respond to immunotherapy, as this can be used to prospectively identify individuals who are most likely to respond to therapy.
Conflict of Interest Statement
==============================
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
This work was supported for Brian M. Olson and Douglas G. McNeel by NIH (R01 CA142608), by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Prostate Cancer Research Program (W81XWH-11-1-0196), and by the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.
Abbreviations
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CTLA-4, cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4; DC, dendritic cell; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ELISPOT, enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot; GM-CSF, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor; ICCS, intracellular cytokine staining; IDO, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; IL, interleukin; iNOS, inducible nitric oxide synthase; iTreg, induced Treg; MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cell; NO, nitric oxide; nTreg, natural Treg; PAP, prostatic acid phosphatase; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cells; ROS, reactive oxygen species; TAM, tumor-associated macrophage; TGF, Transforming growth factor; Treg, Regulatory T cell; tvDTH, trans vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity.
[^1]: Edited by: James L. Gulley, National Cancer Institute, USA
[^2]: Reviewed by: Lokesh Jain, Food and Drug Administration, USA; Jacalyn Rosenblatt, Harvard Medical School, USA
[^3]: This article was submitted to Frontiers in Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics, a specialty of Frontiers in Oncology.
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Pesticides Make a Comeback; Many Corn Farmers Go Back to Using Chemicals as Mother Nature Outwits Genetically Modified Seeds
May 22, 2013
May 21, 2013, 8:28 p.m. ET
Pesticides Make a Comeback
Many Corn Farmers Go Back to Using Chemicals as Mother Nature Outwits Genetically Modified Seeds
By IAN BERRY
Insecticide sales are surging after years of decline, as American farmers plant more corn and a genetic modification designed to protect the crop from pests has started to lose its effectiveness. The sales are a boon for big pesticide makers, such as American Vanguard Corp.AVD +0.94% and Syngenta SYNN.VX -2.64% AG. But it has sparked fresh concerns among environmental groups and some scientists that one of the most widely touted benefits of genetically modified crops—that they reduce the need for chemical pest control—is unraveling. At the same time, the resurgence of insecticides could expose both farmers and beneficial insects to potential harm.Until recently, corn farmers in the U.S. had largely abandoned soil insecticides, thanks mostly to a widely adopted genetic trait developed by Monsanto Co. MON -1.59% that causes corn seeds to generate their own pest-killing toxins, but which the Environmental Protection Agency says doesn’t hurt humans.
The modified seeds, first introduced in 2003, proved to be largely effective against the corn rootworm, a voracious bug that is the main scourge of the nation’s largest crop. Today, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two-thirds of all corn grown in the U.S. includes a rootworm-targeting gene known as Bt.
As more farmers switched to the modified seed, the share of corn acreage treated with insecticide fell to 9% in 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, from 25% in 2005, according to USDA data. Those farmers who continued to use insecticide applied less in 2010, the data showed.
In 2011, however, entomologists at Iowa State University and the University of Illinois started to document rootworms that were immune to the Monsanto gene, and have found these resistant pests scattered across the Midwest. Now, many farmers have decided they need to spray their soil to kill any rootworms that have developed Bt resistance, as well as growing populations of other pests.
Scott Greenlee, who farms 1,700 acres in Sac City, Iowa, said he planned to start using a soil insecticide this year after part of his crop succumbed to rootworms in 2012. The 53-year-old Mr. Greenlee, who had planted Monsanto’s Bt corn, said the affected fields produced just 50 or 60 bushels per acre, about a third of his normal yield. “It was a train wreck,” he added.
Also driving insecticide use is the rising share of farmland planted to corn, as farmers seek to take advantage of corn prices that are about double their historic norms. U.S. farmers planted 97 million acres of corn last year, the most since the 1930s and up from 75.7 million in 2001.
The government doesn’t track insecticide use annually, but U.S.-based American Vanguard and FMC Corp. FMC -0.51% and Switzerland-based Syngenta, which account for more than three-quarters of the market for soil pesticides, reported significantly higher sales last year and in early 2013.
Syngenta, one of the world’s largest pesticide makers, reported that sales of its major soil insecticide for corn, which is applied at planting time, more than doubled in 2012. Chief Financial Officer John Ramsay attributed the growth to “increased grower awareness” of rootworm resistance in the U.S. Insecticide sales in the first quarter climbed 5% to $480 million.
American Vanguard bought a series of insecticide companies and technologies during the past decade, betting that insecticide demand would return as Bt corn started losing its effectiveness. In the past couple of years, that wager has paid off.
The Newport Beach, Calif., company reported that its soil-insecticide revenue jumped 50% in 2012, and company earnings climbed 70% as its stock price doubled. Its insecticide sales rose 41% in the first quarter to $79 million, with gains driven by corn insecticide.
FMC, based in Philadelphia, reported a 9% increase in first-quarter sales in its agricultural business, which includes insecticides and herbicides, following a 20% increase in the fourth quarter. The gains are due in part to concerns about resistance, company officials said.
“The whole industry has seen a resurgence,” said Aaron Locker, marketing director for FMC, which has annual revenue of more than $3 billion.
Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company by sales, became the first company to sell rootworm-resistant corn to farmers a decade ago and has licensed the Bt gene to other seed makers.
In approving the original Monsanto product, the EPA said reduced insecticide use was one of the “significant benefits.” The seed, the EPA said, would “provide the grower and other occupational workers greater safety, protect water bodies from [agricultural] runoff and mitigate” potential harm to birds and other organisms.
Monsanto said it continues to recommend that farmers rotate their fields from corn to other crops, such as soybeans, which “breaks the rootworm cycle.” The St. Louis company also said it and other companies are selling seeds with more than one rootworm-resistant trait.
Scientists have confirmed rootworm resistance only to the Monsanto seed that includes just one rootworm trait. Monsanto is phasing out that seed in favor of a multiple-trait version. And Monsanto says it is developing new technology to fight rootworms, which it hopes to put on the market by the end of the decade.
But some scientists say rootworm resistance could be a persistent problem. The EPA has said that rootworms that have developed resistance to Monsanto’s first trait are more likely to develop resistance to other rootworm traits as well.
Crop consultants and researchers said the population of pests other than rootworm has increased in many parts of the Midwest because farmers are planting corn every year, and because some stopped using pesticides altogether after adopting Monsanto’s Bt corn, even though it isn’t designed to kill pests other than rootworms.
“When Bt hybrids were introduced, one upside was a reduction in soil insecticides,” said Michael Gray, an entomologist at the University of Illinois. “Some of those gains are quickly being reversed.”
Mr. Gray, in surveys this past winter, found that roughly 50% of corn farmers planned to use both the Bt seed and a soil insecticide. He found that about a quarter of them planned to use insecticide as “cheap insurance” against the possibility of pest problem.
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The Queen, in her annual speech, has said "small steps" and not giant leaps bring about the most lasting change.
She also acknowledged that 2019 had been "quite bumpy".
Her message comes after a year of intense political debate over Brexit, as well as a number of personal events affecting the Royal Family.
Her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, left hospital on Tuesday after four nights for a "pre-existing condition".
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Privacy and Security
How To Protect Your Privacy When Conducting Business on Public Wi-Fi Networks
How To Protect Your Business Communications on Public Wi-Fi
Unsecured, public Wi-Fi poses great threats to your online privacy and security - especially when conducting business. An excellent way to protect the privacy of your business communications when using these networks is to use a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN encrypts your Internet connection to keep your information safe on public and unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
To protect your privacy on public Wi-Fi, follow these 5 steps:
Sign up for a VPN service. VyprVPN for Business offers multiple user management and a dedicated account manager.
Follow the instructions for downloading your VPN on all of your devices.
Log in and connect to VyprVPN.
Enable VyprVPN's Connect on Untrusted Wi-Fi feature, so VyprVPN connects every time you're on an untrusted or unknown network.
Connect to public Wi-Fi networks in any location without worrying, knowing your business communications are protected at all times.
What Are Unsecured Public Wi-Fi Networks?
An unsecured Wi-Fi network is any Wi-Fi network that does not require you to enter a password or login credentials to use it. Unsecured Wi-Fi networks are located in public places such as coffee shops, airports, hotels or conference centers. These networks are frequently found when traveling, and can be offered to customers and travelers free of charge. There are a large number of unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots located around the world.
What Business Information is at Risk on Unsecured Wi-Fi Hotspots?
When using an unsecured public Wi-Fi network, a great deal of information may be at risk. This includes information like your IP address; your location; the websites you visit; your business communications and documents; your chat program; and other sensitive data. When using free Wi-Fi this information is vulnerable to hackers or snooping network providers, so it's essential to protect your connection with a VPN like VyprVPN every time you connect. A VPN will keep valuable business communications and intelligence safe and secure, reducing your risk.
Using a VPN to Secure Your Business on Free Wi-Fi
Whether you’re conducting business while traveling, or simply scrolling through your inbox in line at the coffee shop on your way to work, it's clear using public Wi-Fi networks is a real risk. The risk becomes even greater when conducting business - imagine the consequences if your sensitive business information was intercepted! A VPN is a great tool to use online, as it encrypts your Internet connection to offer a layer of privacy and security. This allows you to conduct business on-the-go without worrying. VyprVPN has apps for all devices and platforms, so you can protect your connection from any location. Whether you work remotely or are traveling for business, a VPN is an essential tool for conducting business on public Wi-Fi.
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Q:
Bash script: Unable to move a file to another directory
I'm having an issue with my script. The variables X and Y are assigned the last octet of an IP address and work fine. Z is supposed to take X and Y and put the values into a new txt file.
X=$(ssh -i key.txt "$USER"@A.B.C.D "awk -F' ' '{print \$2}' /etc/openvpn/ccd/lastip.txt | awk -F'.' '{print \$4+4}'")
Y=$(ssh -i key.txt "$USER"@A.B.C.D "awk -F' ' '{print \$3}' /etc/openvpn/ccd/lastip.txt | awk -F'.' '{print \$4+4}'")
Z=$(ssh -i key.txt "$USER"@A.B.C.D "touch $NAME.txt | chmod 700 $NAME.txt mv $NAME.txt /etc/openvpn/ccd | echo -n "$X $Y" > /etc/openvpn/ccd/$NAME.txt")
I keep getting messages say permission denied:
mv: bash: /etc/openvpn/ccd/almost.txt: Permission denied
cannot move `almost.txt' to `/etc/openvpn/ccd/almost.txt': Permission denied
The directory exists and the permission for it are fine. How would I go about being able to move $NAME.txt into my desired directory?
EDIT: Even without Z=$() and using the command line, I still get permission denied errors
A:
This bit needs some work:
touch $NAME.txt | chmod 700 $NAME.txt mv $NAME.txt /etc/openvpn/ccd | echo -n "$X $Y" > /etc/openvpn/ccd/$NAME.txt
At minimum, you need to replace the pipes with semicolons, and one of the spaces too:
touch $NAME.txt; chmod 700 $NAME.txt; mv $NAME.txt /etc/openvpn/ccd; echo -n "$X $Y" > /etc/openvpn/ccd/$NAME.txt
It does not look plausible that you want to execute $NAME.txt; you should not use 700 but 600 permissions.
Since you didn't have a semicolon before the mv, the chmod program tried to change permissions on files mv, $NAME.txt a second time, and /etc/openvpn/ccd.
Unless you are running as root, you should not be able to write in /etc/openvpn/ccd. However, you have not shown us the permissions on the current directory, though since touch appears to have worked, you can presumably write in that. Nor, at the time I wrote this, were the permissions on /etc/openvpn/ccd given — but see below.
And, as John Kugleman notes in a comment, in the larger context where the command string I dissected is inside a set of double quotes, the double quotes around "$X $Y" should be escaped with backslashes:
Z=$(ssh -i key.txt "$USER"@A.B.C.D "touch $NAME.txt; chmod 700 $NAME.txt; mv $NAME.txt /etc/openvpn/ccd; echo -n \"$X $Y\" > /etc/openvpn/ccd/$NAME.txt")
Source of 'no permission' error
Given that the permissions on /etc/openvpn/ccd are:
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2013-01-16 15:01 /etc/openvpn/ccd
we can infer that you are not running as root and are not permitted to write in the directory. You may need to get permission to use sudo on the target machine.
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Post navigation
Habit of the Month – October
In September, I started 3 years of training to become a Nutritional Therapist. We’ve already started learning about the finer detail of the digestive system. One of the things I found fascinating is the process of digestion, and how our habits can have a really big impact.
For example, the first stage of digestion begins before we even put anything in our mouths! We often say that the thought or smell of a particular food makes our mouth water, and it’s literally true. The anticipation of eating increases the production of saliva, a core component in digestion, as well as prompting our stomachs to produce the gastric juices vital to breaking down the food we eat. Once we put food into our mouths, chewing is also vital to good digestion – not only does it give the food the chance to mix with saliva, it also mechanically breaks it down into smaller pieces. This increases the surface area and gives all those lovely enzymes more room to work.
But think about our lifestyles today – often we’re eating on the run (literally walking down the street) or mindlessly at our desks or in front of the TV. I invest quite a lot of time in planning, preparing and cooking nice food, then pretty much inhale it without tasting it half the time. Which is frankly bonkers. My Mum’s side of the family describe themselves as “good trencher folk”, i.e. there is complete silence for 5 minutes after a meal is served whilst the “who can finish the quickest” competition takes place and then the conversation can begin, probably amid much burping thanks to the amount of air we’ve all ingested during our frantic shovelling.
My October goal is going to be to eat more mindfully and spend more time chewing. I’m not going to adopt the chewing 100 times habit of “the Great Masticator”, Horace Fletcher (although I love his catchphrase: “Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate”), but I will aim to chew my food for thoroughly and just down my cutlery between mouthfuls to slow myself down. This should also help the feedback loops that tell me that I’m full the time they need to work, so I won’t be hunting for seconds 5 mins after firsts!
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MGM Bids on Osaka Resort Casino License
May15
Osaka, Japan - MGM Resorts Japan CEO Ed Bowers recently announced that they are submitting a proposal for a resort casino license in one of Japan’s major cities, Osaka. The application process officially began on April 25 and will be open until May 24.
Although Bowers did not reveal details regarding the proposal’s content, he did say that they have partnered with Japanese financial services group ORIX for the application, but their partnership is not exclusive. This would mean other corporations operating within the city could still join the project as minority partners.
Casinos in Japan
Casinos were illegal in Japan for many years, which was understandable, considering their staunchly anti-gambling culture. Things only changed in 2016, when the Japanese legislature finally legalized casinos after over 15 years of debate. And it was only towards the end of 2018 when it also became legal to operate resort casinos.
Only three licenses for resort casinos that are up for grabs, which is why MGM isn’t wasting any time and has started the process of securing one of those licenses. There are some strict requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to get a license. The proposed project should have a large-scale hotel, should have exhibition space and convention capacity, should act as a tourism gateway to other Japanese regions, and should attract people to Japan and its culture.
Besides fulfilling the requirements, proposals should also outline countermeasures that seek to address problem gambling, and indicate how the operator plans to address community safety issues. The government is already implementing a ban on casino ads, except in a few place, such as international airport terminals. They expect resort casino operators to do their part in ensuring safety and combating problem gambling.
MGM Joining the Fray
It makes sense for global casino operators like MGM to show significant interest in obtaining the licenses. After all, these resort casinos are expected to be highly lucrative operations and Japan is set to become a major player in the Asian gambling scene. And although no cities have yet been chosen, nor have licenses been granted, Osaka is almost guaranteed to get one, as it is a tourist hotspot and is scheduled to host the 2025 World Expo.
The tie-up between MGM and ORIX is the first partnership to be announced between a domestic company and an international casino operator. And this partnership fits perfectly into the “Osaka First” policy that MGM has recently announced. They have decided to focus all their energy on Osaka, and they have just enough time to complete the resort casino project and have the opening coincide with the 2025 World Expo, which is expected to draw about 28 million visitors.
But while Osaka is a shoo-in for getting a license, MGM can’t be too cocky. They have stiff competition from several other international casino operators, including Galaxy Entertainment, Genting, Melco International, and LVS. It is worth noting that MGM has entered into an equal partnership with ORIX, which means it will not be a controlling partner. Other casino operators may not be as keen to enter a project where they do not have full control. The world will soon find out whether giving up control in favor of domestic ties was a good strategy for MGM.
The Buffalo Bills announced that they have signed a deal with Seneca Resorts and Casinos to be their casino sponsor, thus becoming the fifth team in the National Football League to have a deal of this nature.
The historic collaboration was made publ
Lady luck paid a sports bettor at the MGM Resorts in Mississippi a visit as he came away $131,200 richer for hitting all eight football games of a parlay after betting $900 on the multi-team play.
A parlay is defined as a single bet on multiple game
The CEOs of three of the United Kingdom’s most prominent gambling firms — Flutter Entertainment (previously Paddy Power Betfair), GVC Holdings (Ladbrokes owner) and William Hill — have pulled out of a scheduled meeting with Members of Parliament (MP)
iGaming operator ComeOn has declared that it would be leaving the UK market and shifting its focus to other markets.
The European-focused online gambling firm initially acquired its license from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) five years ago. The
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The present invention relates to the baking of semiconductor wafers and more particularly to apparatus for performing such a baking in a vapor sheath which both treats the wafer and removes heat from the environment.
While most baking treatments of semiconductor wafers are typically performed in batch furnaces or in large ovens through which the wafers are transported on belts, it has also been proposed to bake semi-conductor wafers by means of small local heaters which may be incorporated, on an in-line basis, in a continuous semiconductor fabrication line. For example, two different forms of hot plate constructions, for different purposes, are disclosed in copending, coassigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 263,928 and 373,978. In each of these constructions, however, the process is, to some extent, open to the environment and, accordingly there is some unavoidable heat loss. As is understood by those skilled in the art, semiconductor fabrication is inherently a precision process and it is typically desired to carefully control all parameters affecting each of the various process steps. It is therefore highly undesireable to have a disruptive heat source located within the process area. It has also been found advantageous to perform certain reactive treatments of the wafers simultaneously with the baking and the prior art in-line systems do not facilitate such treatment.
Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of apparatus for performing in-line baking of semiconductor wafers; the provision of such apparatus which does not release unacceptable quantities of heat into the environment; the provision of such apparatus which sheathes the baking semiconductor wafer in the controlled vapor stream; the provision of such apparatus which performs reactive treatment of the wafers during baking by vapor supplied to the wafer surface; the provision of such apparatus which prevents release of reactive vapors into the environment; the provision of such apparatus which will treat wafers under precisely controllable and repeatable conditions; the provision of such apparatus which is not wasteful of reactive constituents; the provision of such apparatus which is highly reliable and is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
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Hitherto, for example, in migration of a Java application between devices, one device stores the execution status, converts the execution status in an internal format into a byte sequence, and transmits the converted byte sequence to the other device, during the execution of the application. The other device converts the received execution status in the form of a byte sequence into the internal format, and restarts the execution status converted into the internal format. The technique for storing the execution status is referred to as “Checkpoint”. The technique for restarting the execution status is referred to as “Restart”. The technique for converting the execution status in the internal format into a byte sequence is referred to as “serialization”. The technique for converting the execution status in the form of a byte sequence into an internal format is referred to as “deserialization”.
A technique in which in order to separate a Java applet from a browser and display the separated Java applet, on a unique window, the separated portion is clearly identified on the source code of the Java applet by a developer or the like, is available. Furthermore, a technique in which the layout or page size of a graphical user interface (GUI) of an application to be migrated is dynamically changed so as to correspond to a target platform, is also available. Furthermore, a technique in which for migration of an application between devices, when a source device includes a fixed resource that does not achieve serialization, variables are rebound so that a fixed resource in a destination device is referenced, is also available.
Examples of related art are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 11-167489 and 2003-330715.
A further example of related art is disclosed, for example, in Andrew S. Tanenbaum, “Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms, Second Edition”.
|
Q:
EF Code First: How to get random rows
How can I build a query where I would retrieve random rows?
If I were to write it in SQL then I would put an order by on newid() and chop off n number of rows from the top. Anyway to do this in EF code first?
I have tried creating a query that uses newid() and executing it using DbSet.SqlQuery(). while it works, its not the cleanest of solutions.
Also, tried retrieve all the rows and sorting them by a new guid. Although the number of rows are fairly small, its still not a good solution.
Any ideas?
A:
Just call:
something.OrderBy(r => Guid.NewGuid()).Take(5)
A:
Comparing two options:
Skip(random number of rows)
Method
private T getRandomEntity<T>(IGenericRepository<T> repo) where T : EntityWithPk<Guid> {
var skip = (int)(rand.NextDouble() * repo.Items.Count());
return repo.Items.OrderBy(o => o.ID).Skip(skip).Take(1).First();
}
Takes 2 queries
Generated SQL
SELECT [GroupBy1].[A1] AS [C1]
FROM (SELECT COUNT(1) AS [A1]
FROM [dbo].[People] AS [Extent1]) AS [GroupBy1];
SELECT TOP (1) [Extent1].[ID] AS [ID],
[Extent1].[Name] AS [Name],
[Extent1].[Age] AS [Age],
[Extent1].[FavoriteColor] AS [FavoriteColor]
FROM (SELECT [Extent1].[ID] AS [ID],
[Extent1].[Name] AS [Name],
[Extent1].[Age] AS [Age],
[Extent1].[FavoriteColor] AS [FavoriteColor],
row_number() OVER (ORDER BY [Extent1].[ID] ASC) AS [row_number]
FROM [dbo].[People] AS [Extent1]) AS [Extent1]
WHERE [Extent1].[row_number] > 15
ORDER BY [Extent1].[ID] ASC;
Guid
Method
private T getRandomEntityInPlace<T>(IGenericRepository<T> repo) {
return repo.Items.OrderBy(o => Guid.NewGuid()).First();
}
Generated SQL
SELECT TOP (1) [Project1].[ID] AS [ID],
[Project1].[Name] AS [Name],
[Project1].[Age] AS [Age],
[Project1].[FavoriteColor] AS [FavoriteColor]
FROM (SELECT NEWID() AS [C1],
[Extent1].[ID] AS [ID],
[Extent1].[Name] AS [Name],
[Extent1].[Age] AS [Age],
[Extent1].[FavoriteColor] AS [FavoriteColor]
FROM [dbo].[People] AS [Extent1]) AS [Project1]
ORDER BY [Project1].[C1] ASC
|
package com.ctc.wstx.dtd;
import java.util.*;
/**
* Model class that encapsulates set of sub-models, of which one (and only
* one) needs to be matched.
*/
public class ChoiceModel
extends ModelNode
{
final ModelNode[] mSubModels;
boolean mNullable = false;
BitSet mFirstPos, mLastPos;
/*
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Life-cycle
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*/
protected ChoiceModel(ModelNode[] subModels)
{
super();
mSubModels = subModels;
boolean nullable = false;
for (int i = 0, len = subModels.length; i < len; ++i) {
if (subModels[i].isNullable()) {
nullable = true;
break;
}
}
mNullable = nullable;
}
/*
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Public API
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
*/
@Override
public String toString()
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0; i < mSubModels.length; ++i) {
if (i > 0) {
sb.append(" | ");
}
sb.append(mSubModels[i].toString());
}
sb.append(')');
return sb.toString();
}
/**
* Method that has to create a deep copy of the model, without
* sharing any of existing Objects.
*/
@Override
public ModelNode cloneModel()
{
int len = mSubModels.length;
ModelNode[] newModels = new ModelNode[len];
for (int i = 0; i < len; ++i) {
newModels[i] = mSubModels[i].cloneModel();
}
return new ChoiceModel(newModels);
}
@Override
public boolean isNullable() {
return mNullable;
}
@Override
public void indexTokens(List<TokenModel> tokens)
{
// First, let's ask sub-models to calc their settings
for (int i = 0, len = mSubModels.length; i < len; ++i) {
mSubModels[i].indexTokens(tokens);
}
}
@Override
public void addFirstPos(BitSet firstPos) {
if (mFirstPos == null) {
mFirstPos = new BitSet();
for (int i = 0, len = mSubModels.length; i < len; ++i) {
mSubModels[i].addFirstPos(mFirstPos);
}
}
firstPos.or(mFirstPos);
}
@Override
public void addLastPos(BitSet lastPos) {
if (mLastPos == null) {
mLastPos = new BitSet();
for (int i = 0, len = mSubModels.length; i < len; ++i) {
mSubModels[i].addLastPos(mLastPos);
}
}
lastPos.or(mLastPos);
}
@Override
public void calcFollowPos(BitSet[] followPosSets)
{
// need to let child models do their stuff:
for (int i = 0, len = mSubModels.length; i < len; ++i) {
mSubModels[i].calcFollowPos(followPosSets);
}
}
}
|
The present invention relates to a leader block rotating mechanism, a read/write device, and a method of rotating a leader block. For example, the present invention relates to a leader block rotating mechanism for rotating a leader block holding a film of a web (e.g., a leader pin of a magnetic tape cartridge), and a web (e.g., a tape) cartridge driving unit equipped with this leader block rotating mechanism).
As a web (e.g., a magnetic tape cartridge in which a magnetic tape is contained), for example, an LTO (Linear Tape-Open) system of a cartridge for data storage is known. A reel around which a magnetic tape is wound is contained in this kind of magnetic tape cartridge, and a leader pin is provided in an end of the magnetic tape.
The web driving unit, for example, the tape cartridge driving unit, for performing recording and reproduction for information to the magnetic tape of this magnetic tape cartridge, includes a loading mechanism for transporting the magnetic tape cartridge inside a unit, a threading mechanism having a leader block holding the leader pin of the magnetic tape cartridge and for drawing the magnetic tape in a unit side reel, and a leader block rotating mechanism for rotating the leader block to a holding position of holding the leader pin, and to a release position of releasing holding of the leader pin.
A conventional leader block rotating mechanism, includes a leader block picker for rotating a leader block, a rotator lever which rotates this leader block picker, a torsion spring which energizes this rotator lever, a rotator cam which rotates the rotator lever, and an extension spring which energizes this rotator cain (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-220713).
In this conventional leader block rotating mechanism, the leader block picker rotating the leader block waits in a state of rotating the leader block to a release position by a bias (e.g., an energizing force) of each coil spring. Then, the leader block is rotated to the holding position of holding the leader pin by the leader block picker rotating while resisting the bias (e.g., the energizing force) of each coil spring by the rotator cam rotated by a cam portion provided in a gear rotatably driven by a motor.
|
/********************* */
/*! \file term_enumeration.cpp
** \verbatim
** Top contributors (to current version):
** Andrew Reynolds
** This file is part of the CVC4 project.
** Copyright (c) 2009-2020 by the authors listed in the file AUTHORS
** in the top-level source directory and their institutional affiliations.
** All rights reserved. See the file COPYING in the top-level source
** directory for licensing information.\endverbatim
**
** \brief Implementation of term enumeration utility
**/
#include "theory/quantifiers/term_enumeration.h"
#include "options/quantifiers_options.h"
#include "theory/quantifiers/term_util.h"
#include "theory/rewriter.h"
using namespace CVC4::kind;
namespace CVC4 {
namespace theory {
namespace quantifiers {
Node TermEnumeration::getEnumerateTerm(TypeNode tn, unsigned index)
{
Trace("term-db-enum") << "Get enumerate term " << tn << " " << index
<< std::endl;
std::unordered_map<TypeNode, size_t, TypeNodeHashFunction>::iterator it =
d_typ_enum_map.find(tn);
size_t teIndex;
if (it == d_typ_enum_map.end())
{
teIndex = d_typ_enum.size();
d_typ_enum_map[tn] = teIndex;
d_typ_enum.push_back(TypeEnumerator(tn));
}
else
{
teIndex = it->second;
}
while (index >= d_enum_terms[tn].size())
{
if (d_typ_enum[teIndex].isFinished())
{
return Node::null();
}
d_enum_terms[tn].push_back(*d_typ_enum[teIndex]);
++d_typ_enum[teIndex];
}
return d_enum_terms[tn][index];
}
bool TermEnumeration::mayComplete(TypeNode tn)
{
std::unordered_map<TypeNode, bool, TypeNodeHashFunction>::iterator it =
d_may_complete.find(tn);
if (it == d_may_complete.end())
{
// cache
bool mc = mayComplete(tn, options::fmfTypeCompletionThresh());
d_may_complete[tn] = mc;
return mc;
}
return it->second;
}
bool TermEnumeration::mayComplete(TypeNode tn, unsigned maxCard)
{
bool mc = false;
if (tn.isClosedEnumerable() && tn.isInterpretedFinite())
{
Cardinality c = tn.getCardinality();
if (!c.isLargeFinite())
{
NodeManager* nm = NodeManager::currentNM();
Node card = nm->mkConst(Rational(c.getFiniteCardinality()));
// check if less than fixed upper bound
Node oth = nm->mkConst(Rational(maxCard));
Node eq = nm->mkNode(LEQ, card, oth);
eq = Rewriter::rewrite(eq);
mc = eq.isConst() && eq.getConst<bool>();
}
}
return mc;
}
bool TermEnumeration::getDomain(TypeNode tn, std::vector<Node>& dom)
{
if (!mayComplete(tn))
{
return false;
}
Node curre;
unsigned counter = 0;
do
{
curre = getEnumerateTerm(tn, counter);
counter++;
if (!curre.isNull())
{
dom.push_back(curre);
}
} while (!curre.isNull());
return true;
}
} /* CVC4::theory::quantifiers namespace */
} /* CVC4::theory namespace */
} /* CVC4 namespace */
|
Conflict management styles among Iranian critical care nursing staff: a cross-sectional study.
Conflict among nurses has been recognized as an extremely important issue within health care settings throughout the world. Identifying the conflict management style would be a key strategy for conflict management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of conflict management styles and its related factors among Iranian critical care nursing staff. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 149 critical care nurses who worked in the critical care units of 4 teaching hospitals in Sari (Iran) were evaluated. A 2-part self-reported questionnaire including personal information and Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory II was used for data collection. Although Iranian critical care nurses used all 5 conflict management styles to manage conflict with their peers, the collaborating style was the most prevalent conflict management style used by them, followed by compromising, accommodating, avoiding, and competing. Male gender was a predictor for both compromising and competing styles, whereas position and shift time were significant predictors for compromising and competing styles, respectively. Based on the results of this study, nurse managers need to take these factors into account in designing programs to help nurses constructively manage unavoidable conflicts in health care setting.
|
107 F.3d 415
Delos M. PALMER, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant,v.FOX SOFTWARE, INC.; Fox Holdings, Inc.; Richard G.LaValley, Jr.; David A. Fulton; FultonAssociates, Inc., Defendants,Richard G. LaValley, Sr.; Gerard Associates, Inc.,Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
Nos. 94-3994, 94-4009.
United States Court of Appeals,Sixth Circuit.
Argued March 12, 1996.Decided Feb. 20, 1997.Rehearing and Suggestion for RehearingEn Banc Denied April 7, 1997.
John R. Crossan, argued and briefed, William J. Cook, Barry F. Irwin, Willian, Brinks, Olds, Hofer, Gilson & Lione, Chicago, IL, Vincent Leland Barker, Jr., Thomas A. Meehan, Christina Lou Brown, Willian, Brinks, Olds, Hofer, Gilson & Lione, Toledo, OH, for Plaintiff-Apellee Cross-Appellant.
Ernie L. Brooks, argued and briefed, Thomas A. Lewry, briefed, Brooks & Kushman, Southfield, MI, Reginald S. Jackson, Jr., briefed, Thomas G. Mackin, Janine Thompson Avila, Sarah Steele Riordan, Connelly, Soutar & Jackson, Toledo, OH, for Defendant-Appellant Cross-Appellee.
Before: JONES, BOGGS, and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges.
BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge:
1
The plaintiff filed this diversity action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded damages. Before us are numerous appeals and cross appeals. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the final judgment of the district court.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A. THE CAST
2
This action has three related "foxes": Fox Research, Inc., Fox Software, Inc., and Fox Holdings, Inc.
3
Fox Research was formed in 1983 by Defendant-Appellant Richard LaValley, Sr. ("LaValley"), who became chairman and a director. Plaintiff-Appellee Delos Palmer was one of nine original Fox Research investors, each of whom invested $25,000. In 1984, seven of the nine, including Palmer and LaValley invested an additional $15,000. LaValley subsequently acquired the interest of the remaining two of the nine investors, resulting in his having a 3/9 ownership interest. Defendant David Fulton was president of Fox Research. Fulton was not a shareholder in Fox Research.
4
Defendant-Appellant Gerard Associates, Inc., a management company that LaValley owns, became the tenth investor in Fox Research in 1984 and 1985, acquiring a 1/10 interest. As a result, Palmer's 1/9 interest became a 1/10 interest, and LaValley's 3/9 interest became a 3/10 interest. Other ownership interests in Fox Research diminished similarly.
5
Defendant Fox Software was a corporation that LaValley and Fulton owned. In 1992, Microsoft Corporation acquired Fox Software.
6
Fulton and his wife ran a software consulting firm, Dacor Computer Systems, Inc. Under a subcontract from Fox Software, Dacor wrote computer programs.
7
Fulton formed Fulton Associates in 1985 after selling his interest in Dacor to his wife as part of a divorce settlement.
8
In 1986, LaValley and Fulton formed defendant Fox Holdings as a joint venture between Gerard Associates and Fulton Associates. Fox Holdings developed programs called FoxBASE, FoxBASE+, FoxBASE/Mac, and FoxPro ("Fox Programs"), each subsequent version being an improvement over the previous one. When Microsoft acquired Fox Software, Fulton became a Microsoft vice president. He and his programming team from Fox Holdings moved to Seattle.
9
LaValley was a longtime lawyer to Palmer, Palmer's family, Fox Research, Fox Software, Fulton, Fulton Associates, Dacor, and Gerard Associates. He is the father of defendant Richard LaValley, Jr. ("LaValley, Jr."), also a lawyer.
B. THE COMPLAINT
10
Palmer filed this four-count action individually and derivatively, as a shareholder, on behalf of all of the shareholders of Fox Research, Inc., alleging that the defendants improperly took knowledge which Fox Research paid for and owned, and opportunities which Fox Research should have had, and used them to develop the Fox Programs under the ownership of Fox Holdings. According to the complaint, Fox Research was established to own and finance development of computer database software programs conceived and developed by Fulton and marketed by Fox Software. Palmer alleges that LaValley promised the Fox Research shareholders, all of whom were clients of LaValley or his law firm, that they would have database software development opportunities beyond the initial application programs and FoxBASE. The complaint also alleges that LaValley and Fulton improperly increased their own interest in and control over Fox Research without presenting corporate opportunities, such as the additional 2/9 interest in Fox Research that LaValley acquired, to all shareholders, and that, without the approval of Fox Research shareholders, LaValley and Fulton made deals which harmed Fox Research yet benefited LaValley, Fulton, and the corporations which they owned and in which Palmer and all other Fox Research shareholders except LaValley had no interest. Finally, when Microsoft sought to buy out Fox Software, LaValley is alleged to have induced Fox Research shareholders, some of whom were still his or his law firm's clients and some of whom were not, to meet and to execute (1) an exclusive, irrevocable license of their right, title, and interest in FoxBASE software to Fox Holdings, which would enable the merger with Microsoft to proceed, and (2) a release from any claims to clarify, release, or ratify all acts of Fox Research vis-a-vis Fox Holdings, Fox Software, and their shareholders, officers, and directors.
11
Count I is a claim for misappropriation of corporate opportunities, and alleges breach of corporate fiduciary duties; Count II alleges unjust enrichment and constructive trust, and Count III alleges attorney malpractice. Palmer dismissed Count IV before trial.
C. TRIAL COURT PROCEEDINGS
12
Prior to trial, the district court granted partial summary judgment to the defendants on the "plaintiff's derivative claim."1 The case then proceeded to trial on the remaining claims. Using a special-verdict form, the jury awarded Palmer $22 million in compensatory damages, which the district court later remitted to $13.7 million.
13
On Counts I and II, the jury found that neither LaValley nor Fulton "performed his duties in good faith and in the manner he reasonably believed to be in the best interests of Fox Research, Inc., and its shareholders...." The jury was asked:
14
Do you find that the material facts as to LaValley['s] relationship or interest and as to the contract or transaction were disclosed or were known to the shareholders and the contract or transaction was specifically approved at a meeting of the shareholders held for such purpose by a vote of the majority of the shareholders not interested in the contract or transaction?
15
The answer was "no."
16
After concluding that Fulton had engaged in self dealing, the jury was asked:
17
Do you find that the material facts as to Fulton's relationship or interest and as to the contract or transaction were disclosed or were known to the shareholders and the contract or transaction was specifically approved at a meeting of the shareholders held for such purpose by a vote of the majority of the shareholders not interested in the contract or transaction?
18
Again, the answer was "no."
19
Moreover, the jury found that LaValley, as an officer, director, or controlling shareholder of Fox Research--and Fulton as an officer of Fox Research--"acquired knowledge and information about a possible investment or business opportunity in Fox Research's line of business, or advantageous to Fox Research[,]" an investment which Fox Research had the financial ability to make.
20
There were originally nine equal shareholders in Fox Research. LaValley bought out two, leaving seven shareholders altogether. LaValley originally had 3/9 of Fox Research, and the remaining six each had 1/9. The jury further found that Palmer--one of the six--was entitled to a 1/7, instead of a 1/9, interest in Fox Research.2
21
Also with respect to Counts I and II, the jury found that LaValley, as an officer, director or controlling shareholder did not keep correct and complete corporate books, records, and minutes; he knowingly made false entries with an intent to deceive; he did not hold legally required annual meetings of Fox Research; Fulton was obligated to assign copyrights to Fox Research; and the defendants fraudulently concealed their misconduct from Palmer. Although the jury found that Palmer had breached his duty as a Fox Research director to keep informed of corporate affairs with the care of an ordinarily prudent person under similar circumstances, it did not find that Palmer knew or should have known of the injuries he claims and their cause by June 23, 1988, four years before he filed his complaint, a finding which was significant for the statute of limitations.
22
On Count III, the jury found that LaValley had an attorney-client relationship with Palmer vis-a-vis Fox Research,3 and that LaValley breached a duty to provide competent legal services.
23
The jury found Palmer was damaged as a result of all of these actions. Finally, with respect to all three counts, the jury found that LaValley, Fulton, and LaValley, Jr., acted with malice toward Palmer. The jury added a handwritten note on the special-verdict form after each of the questions respecting malice that said, "Regarding extremely reckless behavior only."
24
The district court ordered judgment entered against LaValley, Fulton, Gerard Associates, and Fulton Associates, and dismissed with prejudice the action as against LaValley, Jr., apparently recognizing that the jury's finding that LaValley, Jr., acted with malice toward Palmer "[r]egarding extremely reckless behavior only" was inconsistent with its finding that LaValley, Jr., was not liable. Consistent with the settlement agreement that the plaintiff and Fulton had reached before trial, Fulton's liability, given the size of the verdict, was limited to $3 million.
25
After the trial, the district court summarily denied several motions by the defendants. Among them were a motion for judgment as a matter of law, and a motion for a new trial on the issue of damages, which the district court denied on the condition that the plaintiff accept a remittitur of $8,328,545, leaving a verdict in the amount of $13,671,455, which the district court calculated to be the maximum the jury could reasonably find to compensate the plaintiff for his loss. The plaintiff accepted the remittitur. The court also denied the plaintiff's motion to award him $88 million in punitive damages from LaValley, $22 million in punitive damages from Fulton, and $50,000 punitive damages from LaValley, Jr., and more than $1.7 million in attorneys' fees and expenses. Finally, the court denied the plaintiff's motion under FED.R.CIV.P. 59(e) to amend the judgment to add an award of $2.3 million in prejudgment interest.
26
Defendants LaValley and Gerard Associates timely appeal the final judgment, including the denial of their post-trial motions. Plaintiff Palmer cross-appeals the denial of pre-judgment interest, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
II. DISCUSSION
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW
27
In a diversity action, a federal court applies state substantive law to state-law claims. See Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 822, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938) (citing Baltimore & O. R. Co. v. Baugh, 149 U.S. 368, 401, 13 S.Ct. 914, 927, 37 L.Ed. 772 (1893) (Field, J., dissenting)).
28
The appellants and plaintiff together present several issues for review. We consider first the appellants' contention that the district court erred in denying their motion for judgment as a matter of law. Since the appellants prevail on that claim, we need not address the remaining issues raised on appeal.
29
We have recently held that a federal court sitting in diversity reviews de novo legal determinations raised by a Rule 50 motion, and must apply the forum state's standard of review "only when a Rule 50 challenge is mounted to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a jury's findings. No deference is appropriate in diversity cases to the trial court's resolutions of legal questions." K & T Enterprises, Inc. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 97 F.3d 171, 176 (6th Cir.1996). Importantly, "it is clear that we need show no deference to the trial court's assessment of the sufficiency of the evidence before a jury, even if state law so requires." Id. To the extent that Appellant's Rule 50 motion is based on a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury's verdict, we must look to the law of Ohio to determine the standard under which we review the motion. Ohio law requires that we construe the evidence most strongly in favor of the nonmovant. See Sanek v. Duracote Corp., 43 Ohio St.3d 169, 172, 539 N.E.2d 1114, 1117 (1989) (citations omitted).4
30
B. THE NATURE OF THE MISAPPROPRIATION CLAIMS
31
After the closing arguments at trial, the district court instructed the jury that Palmer could recover his pro rata share of any injury to the corporation. The appellants say this was erroneous, because it allowed recovery of derivative relief after the district court had granted the appellants' summary judgment motion on the derivative claims. Citing Griffin v. Michigan Dep't of Corrections, 5 F.3d 186, 190 (6th Cir.1993), they claim this violated the law of the case.
32
Appellants' reliance on Griffin is misplaced. There, we made it clear that the prior order that constituted the law of the case was a final order that the state had a duty to appeal timely. Here, the order of partial summary judgment, although the law of the case, was not final until the district court entered its judgment disposing of the entire case. However, that order, although not a final order for purposes of appeal at the time it was entered, nonetheless dismissed the derivative claims in the complaint, and became final when the district court entered the judgment from which defendants and plaintiff now appeal. Although he could have done so, the plaintiff does not challenge that order dismissing the derivative claims in this appeal.
33
The district court's order did not consider whether the plaintiff's claims were derivative; rather, the court assumed that they were derivative and dismissed them because the plaintiff was not properly representative of the other allegedly wronged shareholders. Although the plaintiff has not challenged that order, we think that to decide this appeal properly, we must consider whether the complaint raises derivative claims only or whether it has raised claims that the plaintiff may bring directly. We address first the misappropriation claims in Count I.
34
The general rule in Ohio is stated in Adair v. Wozniak, 23 Ohio St.3d 174, 492 N.E.2d 426 (1986) (syllabus):
35
[O]nly a corporation and not its shareholders can complain of an injury sustained by, or a wrong done to, the corporation. However, this general principle has no application where the wrongful acts are not only against the corporation but are also violations of a duty arising from contract or otherwise owed directly by the wrongdoer to the shareholder.
36
Id. at 176, 492 N.E.2d at 428 (internal citations omitted).
37
In Crosby v. Beam, 47 Ohio St.3d 105, 548 N.E.2d 217 (1989), the Ohio Supreme Court announced an exception to the general rule for actions brought by minority shareholders in close corporations. There, the court held that majority shareholders owe a fiduciary duty to minority shareholders, and where the majority shareholders use their control to prevent the minority from having equal opportunity in the corporation, and the minority shareholder is injured in a way that is separate and distinct from the injury to the corporation, the complaining shareholder has a direct, as opposed to a derivative, action. Id. at 108-110, 548 N.E.2d at 220-21. Subsequently, in Weston v. Weston Paper & Mfg. Co., 74 Ohio St.3d 377, 379-80, 658 N.E.2d 1058, 1060-61 (1996), the Ohio Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Crosby exception to the general rule was an exception peculiar to closely held corporations, and would not be extended to corporations not closely held.
38
The Ohio Supreme Court has not addressed the issue of direct versus derivative actions in the circumstances presented by the case before us. The essence of Palmer's claim is that LaValley, another minority shareholder in Fox Research, used his position as chairman of Fox Research to advance the interests of his own separate companies, to the detriment of Fox Research, and thus injured Palmer as a minority shareholder. The actions of which Palmer complains were not the actions of a majority or controlling shareholder at all; neither did the actions complained of injure Palmer in a way that was separate and distinct from the injury to the corporation. To the contrary, Palmer specifically complains that LaValley injured Fox Research by taking from it opportunities that Palmer contends belonged to it, and by preventing the corporation from making profits. Those injuries were shared by all of the other shareholders, including LaValley, whose minority shares were diminished in value to the same extent as all other shares.
39
We note that at least one appellate court in Ohio has extended the Crosby rationale to apply to actions by a "controlling" shareholder who was not a majority shareholder. See McLaughlin v. Beeghly, 84 Ohio App.3d 502, 506-07, 617 N.E.2d 703, 705-06 (1992). The facts in that case, however, are sufficiently different from those here, that we cannot conclude that the Ohio Supreme Court would extend McLaughlin to this case.5
40
We hold that Palmer's claims of misappropriation in Count I are wholly derivative. Having granted judgment to the defendants on the derivative claim prior to trial, the district court erred in permitting the jury to consider any evidence relative to that count, and the judgment as to Count I must be reversed.
41
The jury made no finding on the claims in Count II--unjust enrichment and constructive trust. But as the district court correctly noted in its order of February 4, 1994, Count II raises no basis for recovery in addition to what the plaintiff asserted in Count I. Therefore, because the plaintiff may not recover on Count I, neither may he recover on Count II.
C. ATTORNEY MALPRACTICE
42
The appellants contend that the district court's grant of summary judgment on the derivative claims left Palmer with, at best, an individual claim for attorney malpractice. The appellants point out that Count III of the complaint, which alleged attorney malpractice, claims no injury to Palmer separate and distinct from that to the corporation, and that, in any event, Palmer failed to prove any such individual and non-derivative claim. For the reasons explained above, we agree that Palmer is not entitled to recover for acts of malpractice that resulted in injury to the corporation, and are therefore solely derivative claims. Because we think, however, that read broadly, Count III can be construed to allege a claim of separate injury to Palmer, in addition to the derivative claims, we review the record to determine whether Palmer presented sufficient evidence of attorney malpractice resulting in injury peculiar to him to sustain the jury's verdict.
43
The elements of legal malpractice in Ohio were stated early in this century. See Jablonski v. Higgins, 6 Ohio Misc.2d 8, 10, 453 N.E.2d 1296, 1298 (Ohio Com.Pl.1983) (citing Long v. Bowersox, 19 Ohio Dec. 494, 500-01, 8 Ohio N.P. (N.S.) 249, 255-58 (C.P.1909)). As recently stated, the elements are "(1) an attorney-client relationship giving rise to a duty, (2) a breach of that duty, and (3) damages proximately caused by the breach." State ex rel. Sellers v. Gerken, 72 Ohio St.3d 115, 117, 647 N.E.2d 807, 810 (1995) (citing Krahn v. Kinney, 43 Ohio St.3d 103, 105, 538 N.E.2d 1058, 1060 (1989)).
44
Palmer points first to the fact that LaValley had for many years been the attorney for Palmer in all of his personal, business and family affairs, claiming that under those circumstances, he "felt and expected" that LaValley was acting as his attorney with respect to Fox Research matters as well. However, the reasonableness of that expectation is undermined by the fact that in the offering circular LaValley sent to prospective investors in Fox Research, including Palmer, LaValley identified himself as counsel for the corporation. Further, as the appellants point out, Palmer himself states in his brief that the damages he claims as a result of the alleged acts of malpractice "were what Fox Research should have obtained and ultimately paid pro rata to Palmer--but did not obtain or pay to him because of LaValley's wrongdoing." The fact that Palmer claims only his pro rata share of those damages does not change the character of his claim. The injury claimed was to the corporation.
45
We have reviewed the voluminous record in this case, and conclude, albeit reluctantly, that the evidence of attorney malpractice presented by Palmer falls short of meeting the requirements for establishing an attorney malpractice claim resulting in injury to Palmer individually. We do not, by this conclusion, condone the conduct of LaValley, which we think the jury disapproved of with good cause. However, because the evidence supports only derivative claims of injury as a result of LaValley's actions, we hold that the judgment on Count III must be reversed.
III. CONCLUSION
46
We REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND this action with instructions to enter judgment for the appellants.
1
After reviewing the complaint, the motion for summary judgment, and the district court's memorandum and order, we conclude that, although the order might have been more clear, it dismissed each count of the complaint to the extent of the derivative claims contained therein
2
The appellants do not challenge this finding
3
The jury found no such relationship between Palmer and LaValley, Jr
4
Sanek addresses motions for directed verdict and for J.N.O.V., see 43 Ohio St.3d at 172, 539 N.E.2d at 1117, which Rule 50 incorporates into the motion for judgment as a matter of law. K & T Enters., 97 F.3d at 175 (citing Black v. Ryder/P.I.E. Nationwide, Inc., 15 F.3d 573, 583 (6th Cir.1994))
5
In McLaughlin, the evidence established that although the shares were equally held by three individuals, the "controlling" shareholder held voting rights of one of the others and "[t]o all intents and purposes, [he] controlled the voting power of [that other shareholder] as fully as if he actually owned those shares." 84 Ohio App.3d at 507, 617 N.E.2d. at 706
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using System.Runtime.Serialization;
namespace StrumpyShaderEditor
{
[DataContract(Namespace = "http://strumpy.net/ShaderEditor/")]
[NodeMetaData("Normalize", "Function", typeof(NormalizeNode),"Sets the length of the input to one. Most of the time you only want this to occur for the first three channels, so it is likely pertinent to mask out alpha. A normalized vector multiplied by it's length yields the original, and this function is primarily used for combining directions, though can be used to take advantage of certain compression schemes.")]
public class NormalizeNode : FunctionOneInput {
private const string NodeName = "Normalize";
public override string NodeTypeName
{
get{ return NodeName; }
}
public override string FunctionName
{
get{ return "normalize"; }
}
}
}
|
Tuesday is a dark day for American jurisprudence and the values we hold dear as a nation. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Under the false guise of protecting national security, the justices sanctioned a policy that targets people because of their religion.
The ruling is an example of what happens when the government bases a policy on prejudice and bigotry and the court fails to stop it.
As children, Americans are taught that the role of the Supreme Court is to check the power of the president and Congress. It is supposed to defend the Constitution and stay above politics and bitter partisanship. This duty is especially important at a time when an autocratic president is attacking our basic norms and institutions.
Sadly, in issuing this decision, the court abdicated that responsibility. The five justices ruling in the majority performed a routine of judicial acrobatics to construct a legal argument sanctioning religious discrimination.
During his campaign, Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslimsentering the United States.” He made good on that promise during his first days in office with an executive order that banned people from seven predominantly Muslim countries. He then adjusted the list of nations subject to his ban as several courts repudiated his order as unconstitutional. The current ban — applying to five Muslim-majority nations and North Korea and Venezuela — is no less the result of anti-religious animus than the previous bans.
As Justice Sonia Sotomayor points out in Tuesday’s opinion, the Supreme Court failed to heed evidence that “a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.” Instead of applying the reasonable person standard, political affiliation seemed to carry the day with the five Republican-appointed justices.
In the days before the decision, the ACLU commissioned a poll to find out what a reasonable observer might think. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats surveyed said they believed it was a Muslim ban, while 69 percent of Republicans said it was not.
Sadly, the Supreme Court vote broke down the same way. The justices appointed by Democratic presidents saw a Muslim ban. The justices appointed by Republicans did not. Even Sotomayor laments the decision’s impact on the stature and standing of the Supreme Court: “Our Constitution demands, and our country deserves, a judiciary willing to hold the coordinate branches to account when they defy our most sacred legal commitments.”
The Supreme Court missed a historic opportunity to rise above partisan politics and to say constitutional principles must be upheld, notwithstanding the Kabuki theater of partisan politics or White House pundits. In the Muslim ban, there are core principles — equality under the law and freedom of religion — that are so central to American democracy that one would hope that all Americans regardless of party affiliation would unflinchingly reject such discrimination. Tuesday is not that day. Let us hope that better days are ahead of us — for the Supreme Court and for the nation.
This article was originally published at USA Today.
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Since its debut in 1975, "Saturday Night Live" has been the birthplace for many of our favorite comedians. From John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Tina Fey, "SNL" has left its mark on American humor. And now, with 22 Emmy nominations for the 2017 ceremony, the sketch comedy show is also the most Emmy-nominated series of all time. Here are 29 other classic TV shows that changed American comedy: NBC
In 1948, Americans were still getting used to the idea of owning a small screen that beamed entertainment directly into their homes -- not to mention of watching a TV comedy. That's where "Texaco Star Theater" broke the mold. Adapted from a popular radio show, the program turned Milton Berle, right, into "Mr. Television" and became the forefather of the sketch shows and sitcoms we know today. NBC
With Phil Silvers, center, as the scheming Master Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, "The Phil Silvers Show" influenced latter-day comedians such as Robin Williams and Larry David. "My favorite show of all time was Bilko," David once told The New Yorker. "I just thought that was head and shoulders above any other show I had seen." Silver Screen Collection/Moviepix/Getty Images
Before NBC had "Saturday Night Live," the network was home to the original groundbreaking sketch comedy series "Your Show of Shows." The 1950s program starred comic legends Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca and had a wealth of talent in the writers' room, including Carl Reiner, also a performer. With its devotion to superb writing and detailed performances, "Your Show of Shows" became a comedy series that "would redefine television," the entertainment website A.V. Club said. Max Liebman Productions
One way "Your Show of Shows" was influential was through the inspiration it gave writer and performer Carl Reiner. He went on to create "The Dick Van Dyke Show" based on his experiences at "Your Show of Shows." With "Dick Van Dyke," Reiner changed what an American sitcom looked like as it introduced audiences to the life of TV writer Rob Petrie at work and at home. Calvada Productions
Thanks to "The Dick Van Dyke Show," Americans fell in love with another comedic star: Mary Tyler Moore, who played Van Dyke's wife from 1961 to 1966. By 1970, Moore had a groundbreaking comedy of her own with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," credited as the first program featuring an independent, single, professional woman. MTM Enterprises
"I Love Lucy" can claim plenty of firsts, including the pioneering use of filming a sitcom with three cameras before a live audience. Star Lucille Ball often found herself in wacky situations as the unpredictable wife of a Cuban bandleader, played by Ball's real-life husband, Desi Arnaz. Not only did "I Love Lucy" showcase Ball as a great physical comedian, it also offered a master class in television comedy, from its writing to its performances. Desilu Productions
Born out of a recurring skit on Jackie Gleason's variety show, "The Honeymooners" reflected a slice of America that viewers recognized from their own lives. The Hollywood Reporter called the "classic sitcom ... one of the first US TV series to portray working-class married couples in a gritty setting." Jackie Gleason Enterprises
During a time of immense change, writer-producer Norman Lear emerged as the man who could help viewers talk about and process what was happening in the country while keeping a sense of humor. It started with "All in the Family" in 1970, addressing difficult subject matter such as race, US military action and class. Lear kept reinventing the sitcom, from "All in the Family" spinoffs "The Jeffersons" and "Maude" to other socially aware comedy hits such as "Good Times." Bud Yorkin Productions
This Emmy-winning comedy revolved around a group of New York taxi drivers employed by the Sunshine Cab Co. -- which in and of itself was hilarious since there was nothing sunny about their gig. Yes, "Taxi" had the performances -- including a memorable one from comic maverick Andy Kaufman, left -- but it was the sarcastic, witty and heartfelt writing that made this show one of the all-time best. ABC
Carol Burnett didn't think her iconic sketch series would last for a few weeks, let alone 11 seasons. As the first woman to host a variety show, Burnett recalled to CNN that she didn't think she could do it. Viewers, she explained, "had an image of a fellow in a tuxedo coming out and doing a monologue. ... Will they take a woman doing this?" They did, and "it worked," Burnett said. CBS
When it debuted in 1989, animated family comedy "The Simpsons" was "one of the most inventive shows ever broadcast," CNN's Todd Leopold noted on the show's 20th anniversary. With its ability to tackle "high and low culture" and become "engrained within the culture at large," the show "was revolutionary," he said. Today, you can see the long-running series' influence on everything from "SpongeBob Squarepants" to "The Daily Show." 20th Centurty Fox
In its four years on the air, "In Living Color" was groundbreaking, both in the subjects it skewered and in the diversity of its cast. As a result, "In Living Color" left an unmistakable mark on culture, from launching the careers of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx to laying the groundwork for future comedy series such as "MADTv," "Chapelle's Show" and "Key and Peele." Ivory Way Productions
Many comedy fans will say it doesn't get any better than "Cheers." Amy Poehler told GQ she considers it to be "the best TV show ever" and hopes "every good comedy writer, no matter the age, has a moment where they discover how great 'Cheers' is." Paramount Television
The genius of "Seinfeld" was in its simplicity. The running joke was that it was a "show about nothing," but in reality it was a show about everything -- all the weird little quirks that we encounter in everyday life. Turns out those small, conversational details make for classic comedy -- so much so that Entertainment Weekly ranked "Seinfeld" as one of the 10 best shows of all time. NBC
Like "The Honeymooners" and "All In the Family," '90s sitcom "Roseanne" put America's working class front and center -- but this time led by a woman. With comedian Roseanne Barr as the wise-cracking matriarch of the blue-collar Conner household, "Roseanne" gave humor and insight into America's class struggle through a feminist's voice. It also upended the concept of what a TV mom should look and act like, opening the door for far more imperfect parents than sitcoms had reflected before. ABC
"The Cosby Show" earned its place in comedy history for its distinct portrayal of a black American family, for the way it captivated TV viewers of all backgrounds and for the doors it opened for more diverse storytelling on television. More recently, it's become difficult for fans to view the 1980s comedy hit in the same cherished light after sexual misconduct accusations emerged against its creator and star, Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby/Carsey-Werner Company
It's not that TV fans had never seen an ensemble cast before -- the year before "Friends" entered the comedy landscape, the quirky crew over at Boston bar "Cheers" had raised a last glass with 80 million viewers watching. But "Friends" wasn't an ensemble comedy about grown-ups or an obvious family. It was about 20-somethings trying -- and amusingly failing -- to figure out what this "adulting" thing was, and that even when you make your worst mistakes, you could still rely on your "Friends." Warner Brothers
"The Office" was often so funny it hurt -- in a cringeworthy kind of way. An office-based mockumentary originally developed in the UK, "The Office" came stateside in 2005 and provided us with proof that the most awkward, uncomfortable situations can also be the most hilarious (especially if there's a reaction shot involved). NBC
"30 Rock" tapped into what was in vogue in the 2000s -- a mockumentary-style production, a nose-crinkling amount of awkwardness in the workplace -- and raised the stakes by transferring the storytelling power from lead male characters to a leading woman. Tina Fey's Liz Lemon became a comedic character for the ages. NBC
This Paul Feig-created, Judd Apatow-produced comedy proved that the class outcasts weren't people to laugh at but to laugh with. "Freaks and Geeks" survived only one season, but its influence as an emotionally rich comedy is so long-lasting even the creators of Netflix hit "Stranger Things" cite it as inspiration. Apatow Productions
It's hard to overstate how crucial Larry David has been to everything we know and love about American TV comedy. Not only did he help bring us one of the greatest comedies of all time, "Seinfeld," but he did us one better by delivering the uncomfortable but endlessly watchable "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2000. David's antisocial, awkward characterizations changed what we look for in comic leading men. Production Partners
Television has never seen a family quite like the Bluths. This hilariously dysfunctional clan redefined what a family situational comedy looked and sounded like with its running gags and love for wordplay. 20th Century Fox
Louis C.K.'s award-winning series could just as easily be a drama; aside from the moments when C.K. takes the stage for standup, there's nothing obviously funny about the half-hour show. But therein lies its genius: By stripping away the hallmarks of the traditional TV comedy and replacing them with darker and more difficult emotions, C.K. has stretched the definition of what a sitcom looks and sounds like. 3 Arts Entertainment
Comedians weighing in on politics are a dime a dozen, but no one turned it into an art like Jon Stewart. During his reign on "The Daily Show," Stewart could have simply parodied modern cable news shows and called it a day, but he raised the bar much higher. He and his team provided comedic insight on the news of the day that was so sharp, their fictional newscast actually began to influence real policy. Comedy Central
By the time "Chappelle's Show" debuted on Comedy Central in 2003, Americans already had several stalwart sketch comedy shows. But Dave Chappelle took the format and elevated it into something that felt completely new. Yet it wasn't just his creativity with sketch comedy that won legions of fans -- it was his ability to innovate while also dropping incisive commentary on issues of the day. Comedy Central
At first glance, "Parks and Recreation" was the natural follow-up to "The Office" and "30 Rock": It had the reality TV-camera style and the smiling-through-gritted-teeth workplace awkwardness. But "Parks and Rec" ditched the sourness of those shows and went straight for the sweet, proving that a comedy filled with warmth and optimism could be just as inventive and funny as those with more teeth. 3 Arts Entertainment
The success of NBC's "Will & Grace" was remarkable on two levels: One, it was undeniably funny. And two, it was so funny that it actually changed America. There were gay characters on TV before "Will & Grace," but with this sitcom sexuality was no longer the heavy-handed "special topic"; it just was. NBC
George Carlin had "seven dirty words"; the foul-mouthed kids of "South Park" seemingly have a limitless supply of them. With their intentionally crude animated series, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker show that no topic is off-limits if the jokes are on point. Comedy Central
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Ukraine Markets Daily (November 18, 2014
Market comment
The UX Index was down by 2.7% in UAH terms on Monday, and down by 2.2% in the US dollar terms. At the same time, the PFTS index was up by 2.8% in UAH terms. Nine out of ten companies in the UX index were down in the UAH terms, with the largest decrease in prices observed for Enakievo MP (-8,7%), Azovsteel (-6.8%) and Bank Aval (-5.0%).
Ukraine Markets Daily (November 17, 2014)
Market comment
The UX Index was up by 3.0% in UAH terms on Friday, and up by 4.0% in the US dollar terms. At the same time, the PFTS index was up by 0.6% in UAH terms. Nine out of ten companies in the UX index were up in the UAH terms, with the largest increase in prices observed for Ukrnafta (7.0%), Alchevsk MP (5.0%) and Bank Aval (4.3%).
Ukraine Markets Daily (November 14, 2014)
Market comment
The UX Index was down by 1.6% in UAH terms on Thursday, and down by 0.7% in the US dollar terms. At the same time, the PFTS index was down by 3.4% in UAH terms. Seven out of ten companies in the UX index were down in the UAH terms, with the largest decrease in prices observed for Ukrnafta (-6.0%), Avdiivka Coke (-5.4%) and Bank Aval (-3.5%).
Ukraine Markets Daily (November 12, 2014)
Market comment
The UX Index was down by 7.6% in UAH terms on Tuesday, and down by 10.0% in the US dollar terms. At the same time, the PFTS index was down by 5.4% in UAH terms. All ten companies in the UX index were down in the UAH terms, with the largest decrease in prices observed for Enakievo MP (-21.6%), Alchevsk MP (-14.2%) and Avdiivka coke (-13.1%).
Ukraine Markets Daily (November 13, 2014)
Market comment
The UX Index was down by 1.5% in UAH terms on Wednesday, and down by 0.3% in the US dollar terms. At the same time, the PFTS index was down by 3.9% in UAH terms. Nine out of ten companies in the UX index were down in the UAH terms, with the largest decrease in prices observed for Alchevsk MP (-10.1%), Ukrnafta (-6.1%) and Bank Aval (-2.8%).
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Product #: 17-16-PC Discover options. River valve trim is available in four distinctive finishes. Choose one to create the exact look you want in your shower. Whether designing a master bath or secondary bath, you can achieve the clean, modern look you want and have confidence in the functionality with River trim.
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Lebanon: Beirut's piles of trash continue to grow after plan to export waste to Russia collapses
A river of rubbish snakes through Beirut's northern suburbs, and vast mountains of trash surround the Lebanese capital. Mounds of rotten waste crawling with maggots fester near the mouth of the city's river, leading to a fly infestation. The air is filled with foul smoke containing carcinogens caused by the burning of waste. Rubbish has been dumped in rivers, leading to major concerns about diseases such as typhoid, cholera, jaundice, dysentery and diarrhoea, which are infectious and spread through contaminated water. The city's harbour is dominated by a growing pyramid of garbage bags.
The government came up with a radical plan to get rid of the rubbish: shipping it to Russia. However, this plan has fallen through, sending Beirut's six-month waste crisis back to square one.
A river of rubbish snakes along a road in Jdeideh, in the northern suburbs of BeirutHasan Shaaban/ReutersA lorry carrying more rubbish is driven past thousands of bags of rubbish lining a road in JdeidehHasan Shaaban/ReutersA truck is driven on a highway past a mountain of rubbish in BeirutAziz Taher/ReutersSeagulls roam over rubbish on the shore of Beirut's southern suburb of OuzaiAziz Taher/ReutersA vehicle is parked on an enormous mountain of waste constructed in the harbour of the Lebanese capital, BeirutJoseph Eid/AFPRubbish is piled up near Beirut's portMohamed Azakir/ReutersThe Beirut skyline is seen behind a mound of rubbish along a highway at a northern entrance to the cityJoseph Eid/AFP
The British firm chosen to export the rubbish to Russia for disposal, Chinook Urban Mining, failed to obtain documents proving Russia had agreed to accept the waste by the deadline, annulling the deal, according to government agency the Council for Reconstruction and Development (CDR). It said this meant the Lebanese government could now claim $2.5m (£1.8m) from Chinook which the waste management firm put up as a guarantee that it would get the required permissions. The CDR said the company apologised for not being able to provide the documents. Chinook declined to comment.
The plan would have cost $193 per ton to get rid of the waste, Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb told Reuters. That is more than a third more than the $140 a ton Beirut's waste management company Sukleen says it charged to clear away waste before the landfill closed last year. Six months is a long time in waste management: the area produced around 3,000 tons of refuse a day before the crisis, according to the company that collects it, meaning around half a million tons of untreated rubbish has had nowhere to go.
A boy walks near a stream filled with rubbish inside Fayda Syrian informal refugee camp in Zahle, LebanonMohamed Azakir/ReutersA phone booth is surrounded by rubbish in Wadi al-Zayneh, Chouf districtAziz Taher/ReutersOverflowing rubbish bins are seen by the side of a mountain road in the village of al-Barouk, south-east of the Lebanese capitalPatrick Baz/AFPCars drive past rubbish piled up next to a highway bridge at the eastern entrance to the Lebanese capitalJoseph Eid/AFPA man pushes his bicycle past a pile of rubbish in the town of Jdeideh northeast of the Lebanese capitalPatrick Baz/AFPA man rides a motorbike past rubbish piled up on the street in Jdeideh, north-east of BeirutPatrick Baz/AFPThe town of Dbayeh is seen in the background behind rubbish piled up at a temporary rubbish dump on a beach in Zalka, north of BeirutPatrick Baz/AFP
Frustrated activists and citizens point the finger at Lebanon's paralysed political system, made worse because of sectarian tension that has increased with Syria's civil war next door. The government has not passed a budget since 2005 and has been without a president for more than a year and a half.
The Lebanese system of government stitched back together after the war carefully balances the interests of Sunni, Shia, Christian and Druze groups. But the need for consensus in decision-making makes it easy for regional and community leaders to veto planning decisions. The country's infrastructure is under extra pressure from more than a million Syrian refugees who have joined the 4.5 million Lebanese.
A long-term recycling and waste management plan proposed by a committee of experts late last year failed to make it off the ground because communities rejected proposed new landfill sites. In Akkar, 120km (75 miles) north of Beirut, residents rejected plans to upgrade an existing rubbish dump into a managed landfill to take some of Beirut's waste, despite being offered around $100 million in development grants, local campaigner Antoine Daher told Reuters.
As rubbish rotted in last year's suffocating summer heat, protests broke out and anti-government movements such as You Stink and We Want Accountability crystallised. Protests were frequent but have now largely fizzled out after a security crackdown.
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The Oregonian's online Voter Guide includes detailed information about all the candidates for local, state and federal office plus state and local measures.
It
also includes a close look at Portland's hotly contested mayoral race
with Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith answering questions about
pressing topics at Portland City Hall.
Here -- in an excerpt pulled from the guide -- the two candidates address the thorny topic of parking in Northwest Portland.
Question: Another proposal likely to come from Mayor Sam Adams before his term
expires: parking meters in Northwest Portland. Do you support parking
meters along Northwest 21st and 23rd avenues and nearby side streets?
Why or why not?
Charlie Hales:
Not yet. I want to ensure we are not using any short-term measures
that will turn off residents or shoppers. I believe other steps are
needed before we install parking meters on NW 21st and 23rd. Another
approach I will look at is working with the hospital and Conway to
explore more options for shared use parking since they do not use every
single spot they have available.
Jefferson Smith:
I support the Northwest District Association’s compromise proposal.
From what I’ve seen, local businesses benefit when parking meters are
installed because they keep people moving and make it easier for
customers to find spaces to park. The proposal would allow employees of
neighborhood businesses to purchase permits, and it balances the needs
of residents and shopkeepers.
There’s been a lot of time spent on this issue, and though the proposal isn’t perfect, it’s time to move forward.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
We all scream for ice cream.....!
Goodness gracious me!! As Peter Sellers might have exclaimed at the hullabaloo over Haagen Dazs and its rather silly ad campaign. To begin with, it’s a pretty lousy ice cream. I mean, I find it lousy, over rated and over priced. Upar se, the brand’s entry into India has raised hackles over the tasteless ad campaign that has since been ‘modified’. Are we really that sensitive as to go ballistic over a cup of a hazel nut and raspberry duo that costs the earth? Come on, guys! That corny line about entry restricted to ‘ international passport holders only’ was exactly that – corny! ALL passports by definition are international, remember? What’s a ‘local’ passport?? It was obviously the brainchild of an immature copy writer taking a shot at being extra clever. Clearly, the ad agency got it all wrong, and now the excreta has hit the ceiling. Various groups have banded together to scream, “ Racism’’ and demand an apology if not an immediate closure of the Delhi outlet. My guess is that the person guffawing all the way to the bank must be the marketing director of the ice cream brand. Without spending an extra paisa, Haagen Dazs has become a pretty well known ( or notorious) national name. How easy was that? If one thinks ‘brand recall’ – well, it doesn’t get any better than this. They say nothing works as brilliantly as publicity that hammers home a message – regardless of what that message is. Repeated often enough, it sinks into our khopdis and there it stays. After a point, not many people remember why they remember it – but the fact remains, they do! Target achieved. So it might be with the Indian consumer and Haagen Dazs – the ice cream with attitude. The one that cheekily and blatantly discriminates against citizens of the host country by excluding them completely. Whether or not it’s true, people fervently believe the brand was serious about banning Indians from its premiere outlet in Delhi. But common sense should tell us this cannot be so. For one, it is illegal. For another, it’s asking for trouble. Big trouble. At the time of writing, public outrage was beginning to snowball into something major. This may change if something juicier diverts media attention, and bloggers discover a new bete noire. But for now, tweets by the nano second are flying around the world mobilizing opinion against the brand’s provocative advertising that got tweeple into overdrive, tearing into the foolish campaign like it was an American conspiracy to keep desis out and destabilize the region. Which , on deeper analysis makes zero sense – I mean which brand in the world would want to keep its main customers out? That’s as good as committing professional hara-kiri. Haagen Dazs is in India to sell ice cream - tons of it - to Indians. I doubt they’d survive if their client base didn’t go beyond the expats of Delhi. They’re here to make us fat on their gooey ice cream – so, why would they keep us out? Make sense?? Excuse me, what’s all the fuss about in that case? I think it is about our thin skins. We have taken offence ( count me in!) at what is seen as a racial slur, a national insult, a crime. Our izzat is at stake and we shall go to any length to protect it. How dare Haagen- whatever from wherever, come into our country and insult our pride? Would this be tolerated by any other nation? Never. But we are all so bloody phus, these arrogant fellows can walk in here and spit on our face. This is too much! It is time we asserted ourselves and told these people where to get off. Haagen Dazs may claim to be the greatest ice cream in the world, so what? We won’t take their barbs and taunts lying down, either. Oh no. We’ll show them! God alone knows what we want to show them. But right now, we have shown them how hyper we are. By over reacting , we have done the brand a huge favour. And made Haagan Dazs into the Raj Thackeray of the ice cream world. It has become a newer, trendier version of the outsider\insider issue. I have watched various people with considerable amusement condemning the ice cream and swearing not to lick a single spoon. This is crazy, considering what a non-issue it is. Haagen Dazs is to India what sarson- da- saag is to America – an acquired taste. We are used to uncomplicated, simple ice creams – vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ( with and without nuts ). Now along comes this fancy brand at an even fancier price and has us frothing at the mouth instead of salivating. Please guys, think ! Haagen Dazs needs our patronage. We don’t need Haagen Dazs. Geddit? Jaaney do. The latest controversy has led to a free national awareness campaign that would otherwise have cost the brand a huge amount of money. The ice cream is front page news…and a matter of heated debate across channels at prime time. Fortunately for the brand, there is no George Fernandes around to chase it out of India, the way Georgie Boy had chased out Coca Cola. The naara of patriotism and national pride has been raised ( “Yankees go home!”) by alert watch dogs who spotted the offensive line and started a roaring, country wide controversy in a flash ( long live twitter! ). I heard several Dilliwallas holding forth on national television about the audacity of the brand to demand passports before letting customers into the parlour. Someone pointed out India’s fixation with foreign brands and how Haagen Dazs was cleverly cashing in on our weakness by establishing its ‘exclusivity’ and creating an edge over competing products. Frankly, I think the whole hoo- hah is a load of humbug. Indians are bored at the moment. Apart from Sehwag’s performance, there is very little action to distract our attention. Strange that an ice cream brand that chose to launch itself during winter, is generating so much heat. It makes me recall a childhood ditty most of us have repeated at some point : I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Only this time, we are screaming to throw one particular one out. Chalo – throw it out. But then you’ll have to start looking for a substitute rightaway. We desperately need something\someone to fill the vacated spot. It is called ‘the flavour of the season.’ Right now, the flavour is a bit too bitter for anyone’s taste. Haagen Dazs, hai hai! Kulfi, zindabad!! *********************************About the picture.... it was taken near the famous graffiti wall across Bondi Beach. This is where spray can artists make their name and attract a fan following that can elevate them to overnight cult figures. I am standing in front of a portrait of Chloe - the young Aussie girl who was swept away by the tsunami while she was holidaying in Bali. At least, that is what Marina, our lovely escort in Sydney told me. I was most touched by this memorial and tribute. What a lovely way to remember....
I think, the Haagen Dazs marketing gimmick was as stupid as the company's name. As is known, the name Haagen Dazs is just a comical creation by the Polish founders Reuben and Rose Mattus. When the company was started in 1961 in New York, they did not know what to call their company so after several strange sounding names, they hit upon this name and added the letter 'a' with an umlaut to give it a Germanic or Danishy touch.
I do not know how much it costs in India but here in the US the cup is around $1.99. (During my last visit to India a year ago, I had spotted a cup of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in one of the supermarkets in Navi Mumbai and it was tagged @ Rs.650.) As for the quality of HD, it is accepted as an average quality in America.
@ kirsh:I am tired of seeing apologetic remarks from retarded Indians who are quick to bring up instances of ethnic/racial prejudice from some Indians so as to justify this shameful, racist and vile campaign launched by Haagen Dazs. YES, so there is prejudice in every community. How does that negate the unadulterated racial nature of the HD campaign?
And to the Indians who herald all Indians as racist to defend HD you are probably the sort of people who came up with that banner. You guys have serious inferiority complex issues.
It is ironic that YOU talk about Indians being racist against themselves when you yourself (krish) are such an excellent example of the backward colonial slave mentality
Have we ever raised that kind of fuss over all those desi show rooms which display banners outside their stores which say in bold letters "Export Quality Goods". We make a beeline for that because the banner also says "Clearance Sale".
We are OK with the stuff which was actually not meant for us locals since it was superior hence was meant only for export. But due to some unknown reasons it has been put for sale in the domestic markets.
The most intelligent way to promote the brand!!! You fell for it, blogged it and word of mouth goes on... Pretty soon, the name HD is on every Indian's tongue! Easy way to entice Indians, poke their ego and see the fun, as they are the most egoestic people on Earth!
mz de, all this hoopla in a country which has poked fun at every regional dialect and people for years!! remember mehmood in "padosan"? or rajindernath as a sikh in most old movies? or when the bengali accent or the bihari bhaiyya makes an entry into a movie? we laugh the loudest! hypocrites, all. the campaign was innocuos, it meant that by entering the HD outlet, we are going to be transported, tastebuds-wise, to europe, hence we need travel documents!! 3 idiots? 1.7b idiots!!anyway, people being faithful to the 3 basic flavours is so true. in an ice-cream parlour, the only nut i want to see, should be the one behind the cash register!!
shobha ma'am..u really make me affirmative on my opinions every other time i read your take on any of the issues and this one is no exception. I am with you in the protest march....haagel dazs hai hai..!! kulfi zindabad! :)
You mustnt attribute this to a sole trait that Indians possess. As far as I know, businessmen have been using negative publicity as a form of advertisement from ages. Hence, the adages - "I dont care what they say about me as long as they get my name right." (Was that P.T. Barnum?)
OR "There's only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about." (Oscar Wilde)
People react, maybe irrationally, but yea, its a fact. We dont like to have a guest in our house, who throws us out of the room we gave to him. Its quite resentful. So quite naturally, we make a big deal.
Whether this was an error, or a shrewd advertisement tactic, the net result is... I heard about this ice-cream and I probably wouldnt have if not for this hulla bulla...
I dont think anyone is to blame here. If I am not happy with the way they are manipulating the situation, I think I wont have their ice creams. If I dont like their ice-creams... I think I wont have it. I feel, we need to take the whole situation at face value and just focus on the content of the message and not the way it was said.
"Haagen Dazs Bharat chodo". I guess India has become a dumping ground of all inferior goods from the world. Our socilites, hi flyers think it is a kind of status symbol and promotes the crap like this one.
Time to take Indian kulfi to the world! I am interested in a start up...partners anyone? :)
Wow thats a clever marketing gimmick, Haagen Dazs has played. It kicked in the right place where it do not hurt but pleases. We are truly hyper reactive & never loose a moment to react (Never think too hard before). Haagen Dazs is here to stay & wud rip the profits.Once more.... U look complete in that picture. Adorable!!!
Silly, Cheap and Funny. This dazs will go phuss soon. We are more of the Bacholer's icecream, and amul / quality/ natural's lovers. Haagen Dazs doesnt know the indian taste bud, it can never understand.
the god forbidden ad agency could have done some other gimmick. It is the sheer menopause of creative ideas... and the lethargy of the copywriter thats exhibited here. Lets give the icecream a return ticket. And do a blog-tweet-revolt on the ad agency, I Say. Atleast the ad agency, i presume must have been indian... or should have understood and respected indian sensibilities.
Now "you" did a favour to the campaign of Haagen Dazs which was unknown to me and mostly 1831 of your blog followers..Assuming 50% of that crowd discuss Haagen Dazs over a coffee with a gossipy crowd , it promises another mouth publicity spree..I would have preferred a smaller blog space for the stupid "Haagen Dazs" ;) ur say?
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Saturday, March 7, 2020
Governor Laura Kelly has confirmed the first positive case of coronavirus in Kansas.
During a press conference Saturday, Kelly said a woman in Johnson County, under 50 years old, tested positive in early March.
The state will send the testing over to the CDC to be confirmed, but the state is treating it as positive unless determined otherwise by the CDC.
Health officials say she may have contracted the virus in an area in the northeast part of the U.S, but could not say if she contracted it from another person with the virus. They believe that she did not travel outside of the country.
State officials said she "did everything right" in her efforts to avoid spreading the virus by calling her doctor before going in and wearing a mask.
Right now, the state is working to contact those she may have been in contact with. She's currently isolating herself at home and doing well.
Health officials say as of right now, there will be no closing of events.
Kelly says the state is still considered 'low risk' for spread of the virus.
U.S. Congressman Roger Marshall, M.D. released the following statement in response to the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Kansas:
“Kansas has now joined 19 other states in its first case of covid-19. This is not a time to panic at all. This is the time to implement plans we’ve been urging families and organizations to prepare. I remain in contact with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the CDC. President Trump, his administration, and Kansas have been preparing for this possibility for years, and have ramped up their protocols over the past several weeks. Every school, workplace and public area should be using their best judgement. As a physician, I’ll say what I’ve been saying for weeks: Keep houses and businesses well-ventilated with fresh Kansas air. Nursing homes and hospitals need to have restricted visitation. Every school, workplace and public area should be using their best judgement. Again, this is not the time for panic. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick. Use common sense.”
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Friday, March 6, 2020
Kansas currently has no confirmed cases of coronavirus, but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says there are two people currently under investigation for the virus.
Right now, we don't know anything about the patients or their symptoms.
KDHE says 11 people previously under investigation all tested negative for coronavirus.
"The Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL) remains ready to test with the CDC/ FDA-authorized Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) kits. At this point, KHEL has adequate capacity to support the needs of Kansas," said KDHE in its latest update.
While there are no cases of coronavirus in Kansas, the virus has been confirmed in surrounding states, including Colorado and Oklahoma. Fifteen people evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan are also being monitored in Omaha, Neb.
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Oregon’s marijuana program has failed to keep up with mandatory inspections, its weak testing system threatens to expose consumers to contaminants and regulators haven’t done enough to address black market diversion, according to an unsparing new audit the Secretary of State released Wednesday.
The audit represents the first detailed examination of Oregon’s regulation of the legal cannabis market since voters said yes to legalization in 2014, when supporters promised that state oversight would rein in an industry that had flourished for decades in the underground market.
Auditors concluded that regulators have failed to meet even basic promises. It found, for instance, that just 3 percent of recreational marijuana retailers had been inspected and only about a third of growers. It said the state’s medical marijuana program, long a source of black market diversion both in the state and nationally, has “structural weaknesses” that “greatly increase the risk of diversion.”
The audit also found an inadequate testing system. For years, Oregon has struggled with its pesticide testing regulations, which are intended to ensure that products meet certain standards before they land on retailers’ shelves.
In 2015, The Oregonian/OregonLive exposed critical gaps in the state’s pesticide regulations that resulted in tainted products entering the regulated market. The series tested cannabis products and found they contained more than a dozen chemicals, including a common household roach killer.
The state has since imposed tighter regulations, but the audit found that it lacks a way to verify the accuracy of test results. It also said that while the state requires certain tests for recreational cannabis, testing isn’t required for most medical marijuana.
And while other states require tests for heavy metal and microbiological testing, Oregon does not.
“Oregon’s marijuana testing program cannot ensure that test results are reliable and products are safe,” the audit says, adding that the Oregon Health Authority, which regulates marijuana testing labs, has “limited authority, inadequate staffing and inefficient processes.”
It found that pressure in the highly competitive cannabis industry “may affect lab practices and the accuracy of results.”
FEW CHECKS ON SELF-REPORTING SYSTEM
Growers are identified in the audit as the most likely to sell marijuana on the black market because they have taken the brunt of a drop in prices in Oregon. They also self-report how much they grow and where it goes.
It would take an inspector going through the self-reported figures and then matching them with the inventory and records to verify if those numbers are true.
That rarely happens, the audit says.
Even as the state’s tracking system catches errors and strange inputs, there is little capacity for inspectors to determine if the problems come from typos or deliberate fudging.
Another way to determine if everyone is honest is conducting proactive inspections both of retail stores and growers. But only 32 percent of all recreational marijuana growers have had what is called a “harvest inspection” in the fall when they cull marijuana, clean it, sort it and send it off for sale. None of those who have been inspected are indoor growers.
When a harvest inspection was done, the audit found that the majority of growers had followed all the state’s rules. But 12 percent had serious enough violations that they risked license cancellation.
And only 16 out of 591 licensed retail stores have been inspected as of October 2018, when auditors checked. That’s likely 3 percent of all stores in Oregon -- but the exact figure is unknown because managers for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency that regulates the state’s recreational marijuana program, haven’t tracked inspections consistently.
Part of the problem is the workload.
The liquor control commission projected that it would receive between 800 and 1,300 applicants for the first two years of the state’s new recreational market. By the end of December 2017, the agency had fielded more than twice the top estimate.
The load became so burdensome that in June 2018, the agency placed a moratorium on processing new applications, but it still struggles to keep up with the 1,400 backlog of new applicants plus operations that must renew their applications.
Washington and Nevada when legalizing recreational marijuana eventually limited or capped the number of plants that growers are allowed to produce or licenses the state gives out.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has 23 inspectors who are supposed to inspect applicants before they receive a license and launch proactive inspections on already-licensed growers, producers and retail stores.
With a ratio of one inspector for every 88 operations with a license, the program is far behind.
The commission plans to ask Oregon lawmakers to fund five more inspector positions in the February session, but that would still leave Oregon with a higher ratio than many other states.
Nevada inspects all its marijuana businesses at least once a year and has one inspector for every 48 of those companies. Rhode Island and Maryland have ratios that barely crack double-digits, according to the audit.
Commission officials have said they want to do more inspections and also send decoys into retail stores to catch people who sell to minors. But they don’t know how many people they would need to achieve that because no one has analyzed current inspectors' responsibilities and workloads.
The medical marijuana program is even worse.
Less than 3 percent of all medical marijuana growers have ever been inspected. The Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the medical program, has six inspectors to cover 6,850 grow sites. That leaves the agency with a ratio of one inspector for every 1,142 growers.
Many medical marijuana growers grow so few plants that they don’t have to account for how many they have and where that marijuana goes. The ones above the threshold are supposed to self-report in the state’s tracking system or send monthly reports to the Oregon Health Authority.
Only 40 percent of those nearly 7,000 growers who were supposed to send monthly reports actually did, the audit found. The state has no way of knowing how much marijuana they’re producing.
Last year, a tiny proportion -- about 11 percent -- of medical marijuana growers began to transition to the same tracking system that the recreational marijuana system uses. The state has little idea whether the information they input is accurate because there’s little capacity for inspections.
On top of that, during the transition, almost 200 growers said they would shut down but the state doesn’t know if most of them actually did, auditors said.
Oregon is one of the few states with a sophisticated recreational market that shows such leniency to medical growers. Several other states require all medical marijuana growers to track plants and products with a state database.
Medical marijuana operations are also exempted by state law from any of the surveillance and security measures that recreational growers must follow, such as installing surveillance cameras and keeping footage on hand. They also don’t need inspections before receiving a license.
Both the recreational and medical programs heavily rely on fines and fees for funding. The recreational marijuana program is entirely paid for this way, even though Oregon has some of the lowest fees among all states with recreational marijuana.
The medical program is also largely funded solely through fees -- which becomes more of an issue the fewer participants there are. With only five dispensaries dedicated to medical marijuana and three processors, that leaves few resources to hire more inspectors. The Legislature also has diverted more than $25 million from the medical marijuana program to other public health programs in the past two budget cycles.
The risk, the audit says, is that the lack of rigorous inspections could indicate to federal authorities that Oregon isn’t serious about keeping homegrown marijuana off the black market and out of the hands of minors. The Trump administration has signaled an inclination to crack down on state programs and the audit posits that Oregon could make itself a target.
TESTING MAY LEAVE USERS AT RISK
Since The Oregonian/OregonLive found that harmful pesticides were present in recreational marijuana, Oregon officials have made an effort to create standards for what growers are allowed to use.
The auditors found success. From January 2017 to July 2018, the number of marijuana samples that failed pesticide tests dropped from nearly 6 percent to just over 2 percent. That percentage continued to drop into the first half of 2018.
Yet auditors found troubling examples of laboratory staff who appeared to doctor results to gain more customers. The report notes that many growers will shop around for labs that will return the results they want -- high THC levels on potency tests and passing grades on pesticide tests. It’s up to the professionalism of staff to ensure they follow state guidance because the agency that accredits Oregon’s labs doesn’t proactively enforce those standards.
In fact, some labs have operated for months to years on provisional accreditation while they await inspection or after they have failed tests of their systems, the audit said.
Like most states, Oregon doesn’t have the capacity to verify lab results. If a lab says a marijuana sample meets pesticide standards, that’s rarely challenged. While marijuana regulators have supported the idea of an independent state-funded lab to do that work, there has never been money allocated for it.
But perhaps even more problematic, auditors said, is that while the level of rigor in testing has increased, Oregon doesn’t look for mold, heavy metals, E. coli or other harmful germs that could be in marijuana.
Oregon pioneered testing in many ways, but has fallen behind other states in the breadth of what it tests for.
Auditors encouraged state regulators to look to other states. Maryland, for instance, found that 30 percent of all marijuana samples had yeast, mold and chromium when the state first started to test for those. Within months, that dropped to 5 to 10 percent -- an indication that testing is an effective deterrent.
Medical marijuana in Oregon is still largely untested. Only medical marijuana that is sold in stores must submit to tests -- a near anomaly in the national medical marijuana market. The vast majority of medical marijuana in Oregon remains untested because it’s sold between growers and patients directly, which allows some of the state’s most vulnerable people to potentially take in large amounts of carcinogens and other harmful elements.
Similar to inspections, the lab accrediting body is overloaded. The state conducts assessments on 150 labs in multiple states and countries for various state and federal benchmarks, including clean water and air as well marijuana. The only money those assessors receive for marijuana lab regulation is from fees that cover just paperwork processing and an initial inspection.
The auditors say that leads to marijuana labs falling to the bottom of the priority list, which perpetuates a backlog of work.
AGENCIES LOOK TO LEGISLATURE
Both state agencies that regulate the recreational marijuana and medical marijuana industry supported the audit’s findings. Oregon Liquor Control Commission Executive Director Steve Marks said in a statement that his agency has made great strides in enforcing state laws and holding bad actors accountable.
“Over three short years the OLCC has established a strong foundation for a recreational marijuana market that accounts for and contains marijuana within the state," Marks said. "It is true, though, that Oregon as a whole can do more to account for all marijuana supply and expand proactive compliance inspections to ensure that all licensed and legal operators are conducting their business in accordance with Oregon’s laws and rules — and being punished if they are not.”
He said the commission will ask for money from the Legislature this year to tackle many of the secretary of state’s recommendations.
Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said the audit mirrors an internal audit from early 2018. He also called for the Legislature to tweak state laws to allow the medical marijuana program to be more stringent in its requirements of growers and its ability to provide oversight.
“The issues heightened the risk for medical marijuana to be diverted from patients, who rely on cannabis to treat medical conditions, into the black market,” said a health authority statement.
U.S. Attorney Billy Williams, who has repeatedly talked about Oregon’s failure to do enough to address the black market for marijuana, said the audit confirms his fears. He said he has not had time to digest the details of the report but said he’s happy to see auditors focused on the state’s marijuana program.
“I think the key findings are obviously things to be concerned about,” he said Wednesday. He said it appears regulators “are taking it seriously.”
Auditors’ warnings about Oregon’s failure to keep marijuana from seeping into the black market also echo concerns raised by the Oregon State Police in a 2017 draft report. Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had seized on the report to raise concerns in a letter to Gov. Kate Brown. In response, the governor took the unusual step of publicly discrediting her own law enforcement agency’s findings.
On Wednesday, The Oregonian/OregonLive asked the governor if she agreed with auditors’ findings about black market diversion and why she had not pushed for the state’s marijuana regulators to hire more inspectors. The news organization also asked Brown if she could assure marijuana consumers that Oregon products are safe, given the problems with testing.
Through a spokeswoman, Brown declined to answer any of the questions, saying the questions “don’t align with the findings of the audit.”
Oregonian staff writer Hillary Borrud contributed to this report.
-- Noelle Crombie
503-276-7184
[email protected]
@noellecrombie
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People should get the chance to throw out their local MP if they are found guilty of sexual harassment, a senior Labour MP has said.
Stella Creasy said the government should consider new "recall" legislation that would trigger a by-election if a certain percentage of constituents signed a petition.
She warned that in any other job, a person found guilty of sexual assault or harassment would be sacked.
Yet even if MPs are kicked out of political parties for such behaviour, they are allowed to continue with their duties – holding local surgeries and attending the House of Commons – until the next election.
Creasy spoke out after Commons leader Andrea Leadsom announced on Thursday that a new system would be set up to deal with complaints about bullying and harassment in parliament.
Leadsom said a cross-party working group had been created to determine exactly what this new system would look like. But she came under pressure from several MPs to spell out what the sanctions would be for those found guilty.
Creasy told the Commons this was the "elephant in the room" and called on her to consider giving constituents the right to recall their MP.
She later told BuzzFeed News: "They say they're looking at sanctions but didn't clarify recall was one of them. And it is a problem because the parties take away the whip but parliament has a duty to make the space safe.
"It is very difficult to see a scenario where if you know your MP has been found to be sexually inappropriate that you would want to go and see him or her for advice, let alone the impact of having that person in parliament.
"In any other job, you'd lose your job. How do you make that happen? Unless this working group is looking at that, then it's a process without teeth."
Creasy suggested that the recall process could be started after an MP is found guilty of sexual misconduct after an investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner.
That MP would then face a by-election if a certain percentage of their constituents signed a petition. This would require new legislation to amend the Recall of MPs Act 2015, which only allows for a petition to be triggered if an MP is jailed or suspended from the Commons for at least 21 sitting days.
Back in 2014 Tory MP Zac Goldsmith attempted to widen this by proposing that MPs should face recall if 5% of voters in a constituency sign a "notice of intent to recall" and then 20% sign a "recall petition".
But his amendment was overwhelmingly defeated in the Commons amid fears that the process could be misused.
Tory MP Anna Soubry also called on Leadsom to underline the sanctions faced by MPs if they misbehave. "There must be sanctions somewhere along the line and everyone must sign up to it," she said.
Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith said there was a "real issue" with parties suspending the whip from an MP facing allegations. He said investigations must be carried out swiftly "because members of parliament stand accused, and the longer this goes on the more difficult it becomes".
Leadsom said: "Sanctions is absolutely integral to this. It is absolutely in scope to the work of the working party. But it is early days and we will be taking advice from a number of different expert groups."
A number of Conservative and Labour MPs are currently being investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct, including Tory Charlie Elphicke and Labour's Kelvin Hopkins, who have been suspended from their respective parties.
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Google is working to collect information about Internet users that it can't get from just monitoring its own browser, services, and Android devices. The company has set up a new program called Screenwise, which offers money to users who install a black box on their home network to "measure Internet use." A smaller amount of money will go to those who install a browser extension on their computers that will do the same thing.
Google quietly started up the Screenwise data collection program Tuesday night, taking the e-mail addresses of people who are interested in "add[ing] a browser extension that will share with Google the sites you visit and how you use them." For their participation, Google offers the extension users a $5 Amazon gift card for signing up and another $5 gift card for every three months they stay with the program. Less publicly, Google also started looking for people who would install a piece of hardware on their network to do more extensive monitoring.
Google has offered the box to members of Knowledge Networks, a company that pays users small amounts to participate in surveys and data collection by other companies. A tip from a Knowledge Network user who wishes to remain anonymous included the screenshots in this article, which show the signup process, as well as shots of the legal agreements presented to Knowledge Networks participants.
If KN users opt to participate, they receive a black box, called the Screenwise Data Collector. The box sits on users' home networks, acting as a router and WiFi access point that monitors the traffic of connected devices. According to the program's FAQ, it captures a "household's web access," but doesn't collect information from "other devices" in the house, such as game consoles.
Google is offering $100 just for users to sign up, and an additional $20 for every month the device is installed for up to a year's time. The data-collecting box has a supposed value of $150, and Google was accepting the first 2,500 Knowledge Networks members who signed up for the program.
According to legal agreements displayed during signup, Google will share the aggregated data with third parties, including "academic institutions, advertisers, publishers, and programming networks." The agreement notes that the data collected will be personally identifiable, with some exceptions: https addresses and private browsing windows of people using the router will not be tracked. The browser extension, however, will track private or incognito browsing, though the data will not be personally identifiable. For all other collected data, Google will "attempt" to remove that identifiable info before sharing it—no guarantees, though.
The company did not respond to requests for comment on either the Screenwise browser extension, Cisco router, or the program in general.
The Screenwise program and data collecting box have appeared shortly after Google announced broad changes to its privacy policy, changes that allow the company to use data collected from all its services to help target ads.
The new privacy policy affords Google a look well beyond what people are Google-searching for. Everything done on Android phones, Chrome browsers (outside Incognito windows), YouTube, docs, calendars, and Blogger blogs are now prime to be culled and integrated into a single profile, held internally at Google. That profile will facilitate more tightly targeted ads and demographics than the company can currently deliver.
With its own services fully optimized for data collection, the router-based Screenwise program looks like it will let Google get its hands on everything else that is done on the Internet, too. That includes use of competing services, as well as metadata, like how much and how often people use those services and the Internet in general. The program will also allow Google to collect data in markets that it plans to enter in the future, or even data it's not interested in but others might be. The most interesting entity that may share in the information is the "programming networks" Google mentions above.
We can only speculate about the possible lucrative uses for this data. For instance, Google could give all the info about how these people use Netflix and Hulu to TV networks. It could tell every online retailer about every shopping cart the users ever abandon. It could tell Spotify exactly how users use competing services like Rdio or Grooveshark, and vice versa. The business prospects of all that raw information are huge.
The company is laying out the details of this program pretty plainly to anyone who reads the legal agreements. It's easy to forget that Google is one of the biggest advertising companies in the world; Screenwise could be a step toward becoming one of the biggest consumer data companies in the world, too.
Update: A Google spokesperson has given Ars the following statement:
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GM Muscle Car Tach Voltage Requirements
I've got a '69 Chevelle SS396 with the factory tach. I'm planning on replacing the stock points with a PerTronix Ignitor electronic ignition module, along with the PerTronix Flame-Thrower coil. These modules require an ignition-switched 12-volt DC source. The Flame-Thrower is capable of handling 12 volts as well. My plan was to bypass the stock factory resistance wire and run a new wire from the ignition switch to power the coil and module. However, I don't know if I can safely connect the factory tach, since it normally doesn't see more than approximately 6 volts (except when cranking). I would really like to keep the tach original, but I don't want to burn it out, either. If it isn't possible to run it at 12 volts, can a resistor be added in the tach circuit. If so, what value would it need to be?
Edgar Gaudet
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
2/5Here, the yellow ammeter reads 0, indicating no current flow in the ignition circuit, yet (even with a resistance wire present) all three voltmeters show more than 12 volts (the minor differences are only accuracy discrepancies between meters). This confirms the brown tach pulse wire that connects to coil (-) will see no less than 12 volts when the points are open.
Edgar, it turns out that most muscle car-era GM factory tachs (including the one in your Chevelle) actually run on full 12-volt power. These GM tachs are a three-wire design: The main power-up wire supplies full system voltage fed to it by the ignition-switched, fuse-protected, gauges circuit. Like any normal electrical circuit, there's also a conventional standard ground terminal or wire for the tach. The tach's third wire (usually brown in color) is the one that actually connects to the negative (-) side of the coil; it serves as the tach's trigger or sensing circuit. Internal tach circuitry translates the ignition system open/closed-circuit pulse-signal received through the brown wire into needle movement on the tach's face. This brown wire will actually receive extremely high voltage spikes in excess of 12 volts under running (not just cranking) conditions-even with a stock resistor wire.
Huh? How is that even possible? There are two separate issues you raise that need to be addressed: First we'll look at voltage drop through the resistance wire. M.A.D. Enterprises' electrical guru Mark Hamilton points out that with any conventional resistor, the amount of resistance remains constant (equal to the resistor's rating in Ohms), except for small changes caused by a change in temperature. The amount of current flow (amperes) is the same in all parts of a closed circuit, but-with resistance serving as an obstruction to current flow-the amount of voltage present will be reduced at the downstream side of any resistance.
3/5In the ignition circuit, electrical current flows from the ignition switch, through the resistor wire and the ignition coil primary winding to the breaker points in the distributor. Only when the breaker points are closed will the circuit be complete to ground. The factory tach is a three-wire design, receiving a full 12 volts from the gauges fuse. It has a conventional ground terminal plus a third "sense" wire connected to the coil (-) terminal that sees 12 volts or more with the points open and near-zero volts with the points closed.
This is shown by Ohm's Law, which can be used to calculate the amount of voltage drop resulting from a specific amount of current flowing through a specific amount of resistance. As used to calculate voltage drop, Ohm's Law is:
VOLTS = AMPS × OHMS
When the distributor points are mechanically open, the result is the same as with any open electrical switch: An open circuit condition exists because there is no longer a path to ground through the distributor; with no connection to ground, there is no longer any current flow through the circuit; with no current flow (0 amps) Ohm's Law tells us (because the product of multiplying anything by zero is zero) there cannot be any voltage drop in the circuit up to the location where the breaker points have the circuit open; with no voltage drop, you will still have full system voltage.
4/5Battery voltage (red meter) still exceeds 12 volts, but with 3.01 amps flowing through the fully closed circuit, there's only 5.55 volts at coil (+), indicating a voltage drop of 6.59 volts across the ballast resistor. With the coil consuming most of the remaining voltage, the left gray meter hooked to coil (-) reads near zero (0.64 volts). You'll always see significant voltage drop between coil (+) and (-) when the points or electronic ignition switch is closed.
0 AMPS ×2.19 OHM = 0 VOLT (drop)
It's only when the breaker points close (during the dwell period) that the circuit to ground through the distributor is completed and current flow causes voltage drop across the resistor wire.
With 12.14 volts coming from the ignition switch and a 6.59-volt drop occurring across the resistance wire, 5.55 volts would now be measured at the coil (+) terminal (12.14 - 6.59 = 5.55).
5/5The PerTronix Ignitor adds a new red wire to power its electronic switch inside the distributor. For optimum performance when running this ignition with PerTronix's recommended Flame-Thrower coil, remove the resistor wire or ballast resistor between the ignition switch and coil (+) and connect the new red wire directly to coil (+) (top). If running a stock coil, prevent it from overheating by splicing the new red wire into the full 12-volt, ignition-switched wire before the stock resistor (right).
However, the voltage at coil (-), the ground side of the circuit, will no longer be the same value as the (+) side. In fact, in the now complete circuit, it will be near zero because most of the volts are used up by the coil (and its internal resistance). Any slight remaining voltage at coil (-) will be due to the slight, but further downstream, resistance in the copper-conductor distributor lead wire and the resistance of the conductors in the breaker points.
These values correspond to some real-world measurements taken on a classic-era GM muscle car, as shown in the accompanying photos. In these photos, the red voltmeter connects to a full 12-volt source (the same junction that feeds power to the ignition switch); the yellow ammeter, in-series between the coil (-) and the distributor lead wire so it can measure the circuit's current-flow; the righthand gray voltmeter, to coil (+) where the resistor wire connects; and the left-hand gray voltmeter, to coil (-), where the wire to the distributor breaker points and (if present) the brown tach wire also connect. The full-page photo shows actual measurements with the points open; the smaller photo (page 114) shows the points-closed measurements.
The second point is the voltage seen at the tach. One thing these voltmeters won't show is when the points open and the coil's internal magnetic field collapses, pushing high voltage through the secondary circuit, there are also momentary, millisecond voltage spikes from 12 volts to as high as 250 volts at coil primary (-). Only an oscilloscope can detect them, and they're needed for correct tach function.
The bottom line is that there is no voltage drop at the resistance wire or the primary-side internal coil windings during the open-circuit portion of the ignition cycle. That means with or without an original resistance wire in place, the brown tach sense wire will be exposed to 12 volts minimum when either the points or electronic ignition switch are in an open-circuit condition. Only during the closed-circuit portion of the ignition cycle will there be a significant voltage drop at coil (-) due to internal coil resistance (again, whether or not a resistor wire is present).
So, no worries about tach not tolerating high voltage. But when deciding whether to discard the ballast resistor in a points-to-electronic ignition conversion, you do need to take into account whether the coil can operate safely under full system voltage without overheating. Standard PerTronix Ignitor ignitions will work with either the stock points-ignition coil or PerTronix's proprietary coil. In general, for optimum performance the coil's amount of internal resistance should ideally be closely matched to the overall ignition system characteristics as recommended by the system manufacturer.
Another point to remember is that if you are doing a full 12-volt electronic ignition conversion and testing for the presence of a resistance wire in the system, you won't get a valid voltage reading with the ignition key on if the points or electronic ignition switch happen to be in the open position, or if you are just checking for voltage with the ignition feed wire disconnected from the distributor. To get a correct reading, the breaker points must be in the closed position with the ignition in the "on" position. If there is no distributor in place, connect coil (-) to ground. A running engine will not serve for a voltage-drop test across a resistor wire. Cranking over the engine without starting it won't do it, either, because the yellow bypass wire from the starter solenoid R terminal delivers full system voltage to coil (+) during crank.
As for where to bypass, on most GM cars like yours, the portion of the ignition feed wire on the passenger side of the dash will be a nonresistor, 12-gauge, pink wire (as shown in the schematic); only the wire on the engine side of the firewall has resistance characteristics (typically, it'll be a 20-gauge purple or white wire).
Finally, PerTronix reports that a very small percentage of GM tachs may behave erratically with its system. This is not due to voltage, but because of the wave shape of the ignition system's pulse output. If that's the case, either of the following fixes installed in series between coil (-) and the tach should work: one 0.01 microfarad 1,000 VDC capacitor, or two 400 VDC 3A diodes (Radio Shack PN 276-1144 or equivalent). The band on the diodes should face the tach.
The preceding advice is valid only for a conventional inductive ignition circuit-be it points or electronic. It does not apply to a Capacitive Discharge (CD) system (including MSD multispark systems). They are completely different. Never connect factory (or even most aftermarket) electric tachs directly to the ignition coil terminals on a CD system. The capacitors in a CD box can deliver energy bursts to the coil's primary windings that exceed 400 volts. Obviously, that would completely fry the tach. CD system makers usually include a separate, dedicated tach terminal on their CD modules.
This advice also does not apply to certain early GM inductive two-wire tachs (typically found on some '67 or earlier models) , which won't work properly without the original system's designed-in ballast resistor present.
Finally, remember that it works is not the same thing as it's accurate. Old-school stock tachs are notoriously inaccurate, even in the original production configuration. If you are relying on the tach for critical shift-point information, an instrument restoration expert such as Redline Gauge Works can preserve the old tach's outward appearance but thoroughly update and make accurate its internal circuitry using modern electronic components (Redline uses VDO guts).
Just so everyone's on the same page, a cam's LSA or lobe-separation angle (aka the lobe-displacement angle or lobe spread) is the distance in camshaft degrees between the point of peak lift on the intake lobe and the peak lift on the exhaust lobe. On a conventional single-cam V8, LSA is ground into the cam when it's manufactured and can't be changed by the end user. The reason for the difference in LSA is related to the inlet runner length, and, to a lesser extent, the use of fuel injection.
Looking at runner length first, for the purposes of this discussion we mean the entire inlet runner length from the intake manifold's plenum floor to the intake valve seat in the cylinder head. Short runners tend to work better with tighter lobe-separation angles; longer runners like wider separation. A runner that is longer and/or has a longer length compared to the port's cross-sectional area (has a higher ratio) has more inherent inertia and can tune better at low rpm without the need for the increased overlap provided by a similar cam with a tighter lobe-separation angle. An extreme example is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine: It has almost no runner length, and responds well to 102- to 104-degree LSAs. Modern, LS-style small-block cams typically have 112-degree-or-wider LSAs because their combined inlet port and intake manifold runner lengths are longer than the classic Chevy small-block, which usually likes 110-degree-or-narrower LSAs in normally aspirated applications.
Bolting on a different inlet manifold design that significantly changes the overall runner length means the cam LSA should also change to achieve optimum performance. For example, a serious 5.0L Ford running a single-plane intake manifold runs strong on a 104- to 106-degree LSA, but add a typical long-runner EFI inlet to the brew and a similar performance-level 5.0L wants a 110- to 116-degree LSA.
Their generally longer runner length is not the only reason fuel-injection apps work well with wider LSA cams. A carburetor meters fuel under the principles of vacuum differential and needs a strong signal to get fuel moving through the carb's main jets. Tightening up the LSA provides the needed stronger signal. On the other hand, an EFI system meters fuel in response to a preprogrammed computer, so a strong initial signal isn't required. A wider LSA also tends to promote a more stable idle, which makes the EFI system's electronic sensors happier and (with less overlap) tends to lower emissions.
Epoxying Runners, Mopar Six-Pack EFI
I am building a '41 Chevy four-door street rod. It will have a Dodge (yes, Mopar in a Chevy) 360 with 340X heads and Six-Pack intake (will bore 0.030 over and stroke to 4 inches to build a 408), backed by a 46RH transmission. I picked up the Six-Pack manifold used after it had already been ported for W-2 heads. The manifold ports are bigger than the already-ported 340 heads. Is there an epoxy or liquid aluminum that can be safely used to build up the manifold ports so they can be ported to match the 340 heads?
Second question: I would like to put fuel injection on the manifold that would work in stages just like the original Six-Pack. Any advice or sources you can recommend? Don't tell me to stick with a four-barrel, because it's not just about cost or performance. Funds are not unlimited, but nostalgia, the look, and being different are important.
Jim Graham
Chesapeake, VA
Hard-core racers have used various epoxies for years, but the conventional wisdom on epoxying ports and runners was that it just wasn't durable enough for long-term street use. Heating and cooling cycles eventually cause a loss of adhesion, resulting in engine ingestion and major parts damage. But Joe Mondello at the Mondello Tech Center says that epoxy compounds have come a long way. "We now have a stable, two-part epoxy called A788 that maintains good adhesion if properly prepped." It works on intake head and manifold ports (but not on exhaust ports). It's not affected by gasoline, but it should not be used with methanol. To apply it, the surface must be totally clean and free of oil. Prep the walls with coarse-grit sandpaper. After taking a set, it retains a hard finish but ports and polishes with ease. Call the Tech Center and ask for Joe; he'll talk you through the critical prep process step by step. A788 is available in an 8-ounce kit as well as in 1-quart cans.
That said, brand-new Six-Pack intake manifolds for big- and small-block Mopars are available from Mopar Performance, Chrysler's performance parts division (order PN P4529054 for your 360). Sell your existing modified intake to someone running W-2 heads and you may even break even on the deal.
As for EFI, it's your lucky day, Jim. F&B Performance sells Six-Pack EFI setups for small- and big-block Chryslers. These kits include three two-barrel billet throttle-bodies of F&B's own design that bolt to the original two-barrel Holley carb mounting pattern, fuel rails, injectors, progressive linkage, and a choice of air cleaners. F&B can even supply the intake.
Speedo Restoration
I have a '69 427 Vette convertible. It has the speed-warning speedo. Everything works OK except for the speed warning. There is a plastic socket where the reset cable goes into (inside the speedo). Somewhere in its time it was broken, and now the speed warning cannot be reset. I hope you can help-you always have an answer for the most obscure items.
Cef Saiz
Nanuet, NY
Cef, it's only obscure until it's your car or part that's down. You'll need to contact an instrument and speedometer restoration specialist to get the unit repaired. There are a number of them around the country. One shop that's about a three-hour drive from your location is Instrument Specialties in Rhode Island, which does both mail-in and drive-in repairs on most gauges, instruments, and speedometers from the early 1900s through the early 1980s (including your Corvette). It has relocated, and the contact info on the website hadn't yet been updated when this was written. The corrected info is shown below.
LS Management On LT1
Is there a kit for installing an LS1 engine management system onto a Gen II LT1?
Erin Wickizer
Shawnee, OK
EFI Connection specializes in LS fuel management systems for Chevy small-block Gen I (classic), LT1/LT4 Gen II engines, and late 7.4L big-blocks (not Mark IV or Gen V). It has all the parts you need to run the modern LS computer, sensors, and coil ignition system. Yay-no more trouble-prone LT1 Opti-Spark distributor!
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Q:
Querying an indexed MySQL table with 67156 Rows, checks 162880 Rows, Does index not work?
I query wp_posts table in my database.
Current indexes are as below:
I run the followin query:
SELECT MIN(post_parent)
FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_type = 'product_variation' and post_parent > 365191;
it checks 162880 rows as you can see below:
However there the following query returns just 67156 rows.
SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_type = 'product_variation' and post_parent > 365191;
So why my index is not working as I expected ?
P.S: post_parent is a bigInt
A:
Your index is "working", but it is not useful for this query.
Basically, one purpose of an index is to reduce the number of data pages that need to be read. When have a query that reads 67,156 out of 162,880 rows, the optimizer figures that every data pages needs to be read anyway. So, why bother using the index.
As a note, for this query:
SELECT MIN(post_parent)
FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_type = 'product_variation' and post_parent > 365191;
The optimal index is on wp_posts(post_type, post_parent). I am guessing that this index would actually be used, because it is a covering index for the query. So reading the index has advantages over reading the original data pages.
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It is a Final Fantasy cosplay world! Actually, Final Fantasy cosplay show does bring us special pleasure and could help us express our personalities and lifestyles to some extent.Let's enjoy it together!
Monday, March 25, 2013
There are always so many charming and individual female characters of
Final Fantasy series. And Fran of course is one of them. And it is a safe bet
that a lot of boys and guys are into this sexy ff girl.
As for final fantasy xii Fran, she is a viera warrior and the oldest
character of this series but still possesses young appearance with white hair, and
wears different clothing from the other characters of FF XII, we would
recognize her as long as we see the sexy accoutrement.
When speaking of thesexy final fantsy girls, Fran would
come to our mind, right? Because of the revealing and sexy clothes and the dark
skin tone, plus outstanding skill and intelligence, Fran cosplay holds tons of
cosplayers’ interest all the way. Take a look at these Fran cosplay girls, they
are eye-catching, right?
Monday, March 18, 2013
It looks like that I would always
be attractive by final fantasy Aerith Gainsborough cosplay, what about you? On the one hand, it is because that Aerith is one of my favorite
FF characters, and the hairstyle and the costumes of this elegant girl is quite
noticeable on the other hand. And today I would like to share a beautiful
cosplay girl who is showing beautiful and vivi Aerith Gainsborough.
FF Aerith Gainsborough is an independent, kind and outgoing girl.The typical long brown hair is drawn back in a
thick plait with a large pink ribbon tied around it with the bangs framing her
face on the sides, and she has emerald green eyes. In one word, she is a
charming and popular girl.
As for
Aerith cosplay, there are different costumes of her for girls to make choice. And
this red piece is one of the most popular choices, which would make girls
become elegant and pretty Aerith. This final fantasy cosplay is relatively easy
but quite recognizable.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Hey, this is sexy and beautiful
final fantasy vii advent children Tifa Lockhart cosplay!! And it of course is
one of the best Tifa cosplays I have seen in 2013, yeah, this cosplayer
Princess just makes amazing job, probably, many of us would be misled by her
look-alike face and body shape, “wow, it’s Tifa Lockhart, eh, it is Tifa
cosplay!!”
The black Tifa cosplay costume
looks indeed beautiful and fits this charming girl perfectly. And Princess has
beautiful figure, especially her bust :D I also love the gloves and shoes :D I
am attracted by this final fantasy vii Tifa Lochart cosplay. So, I am here
sharing it with you, hope you like it or get inspiration from it^^
Monday, March 4, 2013
Have you seen this beautiful final fantasy x Lulu cosplay? I found her by chance and I was attracted by her the
minute I saw her :D This is one of the best ff Lulu cosplays I have ever seen,
what do you think of it?
Finl fantasy Lulu is one of my favorite
characters, she is elegant, beautiful and sexy in my heart, and cosplay Lulu is
also a challenging job, hence some girls would avoid such kind of imitation,
but some are just into complicated style of clothing. Anyhow, we would admit
that final fantasy x Lulu cosplay would make cosplayers quite striking as long
as they put on the gorgeous costume.
This cosplay girlhas look-alike
face and body shape as Lulu, so she just find the great cosplay for herself
that could help her express her charm to the fullest. What a pretty black mage
here! It would be perfect if she has larger bust.
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The effect of sodium fluoride preservative and storage temperature on the stability of 6-acetylmorphine in horse blood, sheep vitreous and deer muscle.
This study examined the in vitro stability of 6-acetylmorphine (6AM) in horse blood, sheep vitreous humour (VH) and homogenised deer muscle stored under different storage conditions. The stability of 6AM in horse blood is of interest because many toxicological laboratories utilise this matrix for the preparation of blood calibration and check standards and the latter are typically stored during routine use. Data on the storage stability of 6AM in human VH is extremely limited and no data has been reported in muscle. In the absence of human samples, 6AM stability was demonstrated in sheep vitreous and deer muscle. Blood and VH were stored with and without NaF at room temperature (RT), 4 and -18°C for 84 days. Muscle tissue homogenates were prepared in water with and without NaF and also in phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) containing NaF. Homogenates were stored for 31 days at RT, 4 and -18°C. Morphine and 6AM were extracted using SPE and quantified by GC-ion trap-MS/MS. In the absence of NaF, 6AM could not be detected after 7 and 14 days in blood stored at RT and 4°C, respectively. Although at -18°C 6AM was stable for 7 days (12% loss), only 54% was detected by day 84. The addition of NaF to horse blood increased 6AM stability substantially at every temperature. Further, the rate of degradation was found to be significantly slower in blood preserved with 2% NaF compared with 1% NaF (p=.05). 6AM was stable for the study period in preserved blood (1 and 2% NaF) stored at -18°C. For laboratories utilising horse blood in the preparation of standards, preservation with 1% NaF (minimum) and storage at -18°C is recommended. The addition of NaF to VH was essential for 6AM stability. Irrespective of temperature substantial losses (≥ 42%) were observed in unpreserved sheep VH by day 7. In preserved VH the concentration declined by only 22% on day 7 following storage at RT and no loss observed in VH stored at 4 and -18°C at the same time. In muscle, 6AM was stable for 7 days in preserved samples stored at RT and in all samples stored at 4°C and below. The addition of NaF increased the stability of 6AM substantially in muscle. The increased stability of 6AM in VH and muscle preserved with fluoride was attributed to inhibition of bacterial action and the subsequent reduction in the rate of putrefaction of these tissues.
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# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
# Copyright 2016, Intel Corporation
#
# Makefile -- Makefile for pmemdetect tool
#
TOP = ../../../..
TARGET = pmemdetect
OBJS = pmemdetect.o
LIBPMEM=y
TOOLS_COMMON=y
LIBPMEMBLK_PRIV=btt_info_convert2h
SCP_TO_REMOTE_NODES = y
include $(TOP)/src/tools/Makefile.inc
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Barbecue grills are very widely used today. Presently, one of the most popular grills is manufactured by the Assignee of the present invention WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS COMPANY. This barbecue grill is a kettle-type grill and consists of a generally semispherical bottom bowl that has a circular open top with a cooking grate slightly below the upper rim of the bowl. A generally semiellipsoid top cover can be placed on the bottom bowl. Also, the bowl is supported on a tripod leg arrangement.
Barbecue grills that are designed for burning charcoal as a fuel have a charcoal grate for supporting the charcoal below the cooking surface. Both the bowl and cover have vent openings to provide the necessary oxygen for combustion of the charcoal while the cover is closed.
One type of barbecue kettle that has received very favorable acceptance by consumers is disclosed in U.S. Re. Pat. No. 33,091. U.S. Re. Pat. No. 33,091 is owned by the Assignee of the present invention and sold under the trademark ONE-TOUCH.RTM. GRILL.
In use, an individual places food items to be cooked on the cooking grate above hot charcoal. Many food items cooked on a grill can be adequately cooked on a grate. However, an individual may prefer to cook some food items on a griddle rather than on a grate. For example, pancakes, bacon, eggs, vegetables, potato hash browns and grilled cheese sandwiches are typically cooked on a griddle. Such food items may not be suitable for cooking on a cooking grate or the items may even fall through the cooking grate.
Therefore, a need exists to improve barbecue grills, and more specifically, cooking grates. There is a need to provide easier barbecue cooking of some food items and flexibility to barbecue cook a variety of food items. The present invention satisfies this need. The present invention improves barbecue grills by providing a cooking grate assembly that has a removable and interchangeable cooking insert. The cooking insert can be utilized in gas barbecue grills, such as the Assignee's GENESIS.RTM. gas grill, in addition to charcoal grills.
Other advantages and aspects of the present invention will become apparent after reading this disclosure and reviewing the accompanying drawings.
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"Previously on Desperate Housewives." " I love you." " You're having sex with your best friend's mother?" "An affair was revealed..." "You must promise me that you won't say anything to her psycho husband." "{\pos(192,230)}A good time was brought to an end... {\pos(192,230)}" " Back off!" " Who do you think you are talking to?" "We're done here." "And a man's past was uncovered..." "We're just trying to get some info on this guy." "He just moved to Fairview," " and he's really creeping people out." " You're in Fairview?" "Why?" "Does that mean something to ya?" "Once a year, the owner of the White Horse bar would host a competition known..." "As The Battle Of The Bands." "Give it up for Cold Splash." "And young musicians would come..." "With their drums..." "And guitars..." "And dreams of stardom." "This year, those young musicians were joined by a group of middle-aged men..." "Who came with their stiff joints..." "And high cholesterol..." "And dreams of being young again..." "If only for one night." "God, look at those guys." " They're so young." " No wonder they went first." "They probably have homework." "Would you guys relax?" "Rock 'n' Roll's not just for young people." "Why are they so loud?" "Not helping." "They're really good, and, we're really old enough to be their fathers." "We may look a little old up there, and we may hit a few clams, but who cares" " we're here to have fun." " Yeah, tonight we're not the plumber and a masseur and a guy that makes pizzas." "We're a Rock 'n' Roll band." "Right, Dave?" "Absolutely." "I've gotta check with the guy about the light cues." "You're sure we're not gonna humiliate ourselves?" "I promise you it'll be a night to remember." "And it was In ways they could never have known." "Oh, my god!" "Fire!" "It's locked." "Subs by Jayson.sosweet Picard, Wisteria Team" "The next morning, news of the tragedy began to spread... {\pos(192,230)}Along with rumors that the blaze" "{\pos(192,230)}had been set intentionally." "{\pos(192,230)}It wasn't long before the police began" "{\pos(192,230)}using the word "arson"..." "And someone was taken into custody." "The Day Before" "Look at my little girl." "{\pos(192,230)}Isn't she adorable?" "I missed her so much." "{\pos(192,230)}" " I can't wait to meet her." " Not yet." "{\pos(192,230)}I wanna give her new boyfriend the once-over." "{\pos(192,230)}He's as cute as she said... {\pos(192,230)}Nice smile, and look at that hair" "{\pos(192,230)}Don't you just wanna run your fingers through it?" "{\pos(192,200)}Fortunately for you, no." "{\pos(192,210)}I'm very good at first impressions." "{\pos(192,210)}I'm gonna like this guy." "{\pos(192,210)}Why is the cab driver handing Julie's boyfriend money?" "{\pos(192,210)}Why is Julie's boyfriend getting back in the cab?" "{\pos(192,230)}And why is the middle-aged cab driver kissing Julie?" "{\pos(192,230)}" " I think what's going is..." " I know what's going on." "{\pos(192,230)}Let me enjoy my denial." "Honey, I'm home." "You wouldn't believe the traffic..." "Hello, Grabielle." "{\pos(192,230)}Virginia came by to say hello." "Isn't that a nice surprise?" "I have news I wanted to share." "You don't seem happy to see me." "{\pos(192,230)}Maybe that's because the last time we spoke," "{\pos(192,230)}you called me a greedy bitch, and I called you a scary old hag." "{\pos(192,230)}Weren't we a fine pair of hotheads." "{\pos(192,230)}But what family doesn't have its squabbles?" "{\pos(192,230)}Family?" "!" "You had Carlos fired." "That was a terrible misunderstanding." "{\pos(192,230)}And she straightened it out, and I got my job back." " Isn't that nice?" " Delightful." "{\pos(192,210)}Now leave before there's a terrible misunderstanding between my foot and your ass!" "C{\pos(192,210)}an I see you in the kitchen..." "Now?" "{\pos(192,210)}Save your breath." "There is no way we're letting grandma" " screw-loose back into our lives." " She put us in her will." "{\pos(192,210)}Oh, my god!" "That woman is crazy." "Is she crazy or just desperately lonely?" "{\pos(192,210)}" " I don't care." " All she wants is some human contact... {\pos(192,210)}To hang out with us on the occasional weekend, maybe a holiday or two." "{\pos(192,210)}Right, and in exchange, when she kicks the bucket, we wind up with a lamp." "I'm sorry, Carlos." "{\pos(192,210)}We're the sole heirs of her entire fortune." "And her blood pressure is 220/90." "{\pos(192,210)}Virginia!" "Why can't I stay mad at you?" "{\pos(192,210)}All right, then, we'll see you soon." "{\pos(192,210)}The reporter's almost here." "I am so nervous." "{\pos(192,210)}Why?" "You've done lots of interviews." "{\pos(192,210)}That was all local." "This is "The New York Dispatch."" "{\pos(192,210)}If this goes well, my cookbook could be on the front page of their weekend style section." "{\pos(192,210)}What did you do to your hair?" "{\pos(192,210)}I've never seen it look so thick and lustrous." "I'm already planning to say nice things about you." "{\pos(192,210)}Good." "I can check that off my list." "{\pos(192,210)}" " When's the reporter coming?" " Any minute." "{\pos(192,210)}Oh, my gosh." "Don't you look sharp today?" "Don't worry." "I won't tell her I'm gay." "Check and check." "Do you know anything about this reporter?" "{\pos(192,210)}Only that her name is Sandra Birch." "We spoke," "{\pos(192,210)}- and she seemed very nice." " She isn't." "I went online and pulled a bunch of her articles, and a lot of them are complete hatchet jobs." "{\pos(192,200)}"A deeper look suggests something darker, something more ominous," "{\pos(192,210)}"a woman whose perky surface conceals a deep," "{\pos(192,210)}"almost demonic thirst for power."" "{\pos(192,210)}I doubt Betty White saw that coming." "{\pos(192,210)}If this woman tanks you, I could kill sales of the book." "{\pos(192,210)}You're gonna have to figure out a way to handle this." "Knock, knock?" "I'm looking for Bree." "You must be Sandra." "What a sharp outfit." "{\pos(192,210)}And look at that hair..." "so thick and lustrous." "You got a minute?" "{\pos(192,210)}I do." "{\pos(192,210)}Why do I have a sense you're gonna take it away from me?" "{\pos(192,210)}Porter got Anne Schilling pregnant." "Mom, are you okay?" "{\pos(192,210)}Yeah, I'm great." "That it?" "{\pos(192,210)}No." "There's more." "{\pos(192,210)}They're planning to run away." "Your minute's up." "Aren't you gonna go talk to him?" "I have to talk to someone else first." "Remember when you left that soda can on the coffee table, and it left a ring, and I yelled at you," "I take it all back." "And we always sell out, so I want the band there by 6:00." " Any questions?" " Sounds good." " When are we on?" " Second." "You got the primo spot as a favor to my wife." "Since she rented you the space, she feels like part of the band." "Rock on, Anne Schilling." "If she requests "Free Bird," we're doing it." "I saw Porter at my house the other day." "He and Kirby were shooting hoops." "I can't believe how big he's getting." "They grow up fast." "Little too fast." "Hey, doc, I know I owe you a phone call." "I'm gonna cut to the chase." "Are you in Fairview?" "What?" " Where did that come from?" " Doesn't matter where it came from." "Are you in Fairview?" "I don't know what brought this on, but I'm really busy right now." "I'll call you tomorrow." "I promise." "And we can talk about it then." "Excuse me." "Could you tell me how to get to Wisteria Lane?" "So there we were, huddled under this broken umbrella, and..." "He just kissed me." "It was so romantic." "She's skipping the part where one of the spokes got me in the eye." "I'm gonna take your suitcases upstairs." "I'll come with you." "I need to check my e-mail." "Be right back." "So, Susan..." "I'm sensing that, you're a little freaked out about my age." "When your 24-year-old daughter calls you and tells you she's bringing home a boy from college, you sort of expect it to be," "a boy." "I just want you to know that we didn't start dating until after the semester was over I don't date students." "That's a rule with me." "And a damn good one." "Although strictly speaking, I suppose my third wife was my teaching assistant, but she was really more of my employee than my student." "Your what?" " Student." " Before that." " Employee." " Before that." "Third wife." "That's the one." "So you've been married three times?" " Didn't Julie tell you that?" " I don't believe so." "Although I may have blacked out after she told me you were 40." "So how does a man your age get married and divorced three times?" "My first wife and I were only married a few months, so," " I almost don't like to count it." " Did someone throw rice at you?" "It counts." "Is this upsetting you?" "I thought you'd understand." "Julie said you'd been divorced yourself." "Only twice." "Two." "Small number." "Much smaller than three." "And my first cheated on me, so that doesn't even count." " Did someone throw rice at you?" " Shut up." "You and I both know that sometimes it just doesn't work out." "That's true." "And besides, it's different with Julie." "I love her so much." "It's very important that you know I take my commitments seriously." "Why?" " Oh, my god." " Lloyd, come here." "I can't find my cell phone charger." "Please, don't say anything." "I want it to be a surprise." "Thanks..." "Mom." "And this is my own little kitchen." "I'm pretty sure my husband's here somewhere." "Dear, are you decent?" "In here, love." "Nice to meet you." "I've had the most delightful time with your wife and stepson." "Your home is stunning." "You cannot run a business and do all this, too." "Tell me you have a housekeeper." "Why would I pay someone to do work that gives me such joy?" "Who wants a little snack?" "The idea was for me to spend a typical day with you." "So this is legit?" "You're really this Donna Reed housewife from the '50s?" "You say that like it's a bad thing." "I think that decade had a lot to recommend it." "People had values then..." "Values this family strives to uphold." "But not everyone can keep a perfect house for a perfect family with perfect food and perfect flowers." "Of course they can." "If they read my book, that is." "Truth be told..." "I'm far from perfect." "Only yesterday, I burned a whole tray of biscotti." "And to think, I was worried about finding a lead." "Andrew, please." "The machine can get it." "We never answer the phone while entertaining." "So rude to one's guests." "May I pour you some more tea?" "This is Mr. Jones for Orson Hodge." "Due to vacation schedules, I'll be filling in for your parole officer." "Give me a call, please." "So, Mr. Hodge..." "You've been to prison." "Now can I be gay?" "Kirby, is that you?" "I thought you went to the movies." "Are you really pregnant?" "Yes." "A couple of months back, Warren and I..." "We fought." "I was pretty banged up, and..." "Porter came by looking for Kirby, and..." "He was so..." "Kind and..." " And gentle." " Don't." "Don't try and justify this." "This is sick." "You are sick." "Your son..." "Loves me." "And I love him." "And you know what?" "I'm glad I'm having Porter's baby." "Damn." "Not exactly what a husband wants to hear coming in the door." "I suppose dinner's not ready, either." "Warren, I'm sorry that..." "Thank you." "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." "Don't go." "I need to talk with my wife right now." "I'm sorry for any pain this has caused your family, Mrs. Scavo." "Damn it." "You think you can humiliate me?" "!" "You piece of filth!" "Get off of her!" "I'm calling the police!" "Stay out of this!" "Just so you know, I hit back." "Call the police." "I'd love to hear her explain her way out of statutory rape." "You don't live here anymore." "Oh, my god!" "Thank you..." "For coming back." "Here we are, boys." "Are you psyched or what?" "I feel like I'm gonna puke again." " You guys Cold Splash?" " Yes, sir." ""Sir"?" " We're Blue Odyssey." " I can see that." "After the gig, we're having a party at our manager's loft." " You guys should come." " Abso-tively." "We just gotta check with our wives." "Why were you talking to that woman?" "She just walked up and asked if we knew you, wanted us to confirm a bunch of rumors." "What kind of rumors?" "Just..." "Stuff she'd heard around the neighborhood." "Were you really a boozehound?" "I wish I'd have known you then." "We'd have been such good friends." "She seemed to know an awful lot about you." "Key word..."awful."" "I cannot let this happen." "I have to find her." "She's gonna be at the Battle Of The Bands tonight." " Why?" " She wants to hear Orson, and I quote," ""sing harmony with the guy he tried to kill."" "Dear god." "This woman is determined to make my life sound ten times worse than it actually is." "Was your first husband really into S and M hookers?" "And you wonder why we're never invited anywhere." "Girls, mommy's leaving." "I love you!" "I'm planning on having a massive hangover, so keep the girls up late so we can all sleep in." "My, don't you look festive." "What are you doing here?" "What do you mean?" "We're going to watch Carlos' band play." "You invited me this morning, remember?" "What I remember was you asking me to the movies tonight, and me saying I couldn't because I was going to watch Carlos' band play." "You got invitation out of that?" "I'm here now, dear, and I have this lovely limo." "So come on." "We'll ride over to the club in style." "Here's the thing." "I'm supposed to go with my girlfriends." "Please, I was so looking forward to this." "Don't make me go all alone." "I guess we're all going to the same place." "I'll just see my friends there." "Goody!" " Where's Anne?" " She's asleep." "She's fine." " What happened?" " I went over to talk to Anne about recent developments." " You went to her house?" " Yes, I did." "I had to talk to Anne." "I didn't know that her husband was there, and he overheard us and..." "The doctors say she's gonna be fine." "Where are you going?" "Damn it!" ""Tonic water, bourbon, ketchup." This is your grocery list?" "There's got to be something else on Dave's phone bill that'll help us." "There isn't." "Don't get broccoli." "It is not your friend." "You're telling me that you cross-checked all those other numbers," " and there was nothing?" " Squat." "The key is this doctor guy." "Maybe we should just bite the bullet and go to Boston." "Maybe we can get more out of him face-to-face." "You wanna go to a rock show tonight?" "Me?" "With you?" "I'm a little out of your league, but if it'll get you there, sure." "I don't think I can, but thanks." "Here, in case you change your mind." "And then I noticed that Maria's pockets were stuffed with silverware." "I'm telling you, it's impossible to find good help these days." "You'll know soon enough when my cholesterol finally gets the better of me." "Don't talk like that." "You want a cheeseburger or something?" "That has got to stop." "I'm gonna do something." "Why?" "Julie's a grown woman." "She's a grown woman with stars in her eyes who's in love with a 3-times loser." "If she wants to accept his proposal, that's her business." "But in the meantime, you're not gonna ruin his surprise." " Aren't I?" " No." " Aren't I?" " No." "You're right." "I'll stay out of it." "Where is the little girls' room?" " Why did that guy hand you a CD?" " Your name isn't Julie, is it?" "Why?" "He wants me to play a song." "I guess he's gonna propose to his girlfriend." "Tonight?" "!" "Isn't that lovely?" "Hey, you two." "What's going on?" "Nothing." "What's going on with you?" "I just love this song." "And Jackson doesn't like to dance, so..." "Isn't this fun?" "It was." "Reminds me of being young and single." "I wish I'd never given up that." "I don't want to sound rude or anything, but this is really a moment that's meant for two." "Right." "You mind easing away so I can dance with my daughter?" "What are you doing?" "I'm..." "Just movin' to the music." "You're coming with me." "All right!" "But no matter what he asks you, promise me you'll say "no."" "Lloyd, I'm sorry." "I can't help it." "I don't want my daughter" " to be someone's fourth wife." " Wife?" "Were you gonna ask me to marry you?" "Were we not clear on that by now?" "You can't be serious." "We've only been dating three months." "I know, but I have such a good feeling about us." "Right, better feelings than you had about wives one, two and three?" "You are very sweet, but," "I'm not getting married..." "Ever." "What do you mean, "ever"?" "We'll talk about this later." "I just really need a moment to myself." "Thank you." "Bree, darling." "Spare me your "darling."" "I know you've been trying to dig up dirt on me." "Just doing my job." "And frankly, I didn't have to dig all that hard." "I wrote a cookbook..." "Meatloaf, pot pies, peach cobbler." "Why are you trying to crucify me?" "Because it's not a cookbook." "It's a "look how great I am" book..." "One designed to make every woman who reads it feel like a failure if she doesn't measure up." "What you're selling's a total sham." "But it isn't, because I don't think I'm great." "I have fallen down more times than I can count, just like so many other housewives out there." "We're all just barely holding on, and we all think that we're alone." "So maybe you're right." "Maybe it isn't a cookbook." "It's a lifeline from me to those other women, because I want them to know there's always a chance to get something right." "Even if it's just a casserole." "Why didn't you just tell me that right up front?" "That's an angle I can work with." "I got some good news today." "I've been speaking with the headmaster at Greenbrier country day school, and I got them to reserve two spots for the girls." "They start next term." "Thanks, but the girls already have a school." "I know..." "A public school." "This is a good school." "They're happy where they are." "They love Fairview." " Besides, Greenbrier's an hour away." " So I'll get them a driver." "That would be a real treat for them." "I want them to be close by." "They could need me..." "get sick or something." "That's what school nurses are for." "Dear, this is a decision I feel very strongly about," "I'm afraid I have to insist." "Excuse me." "You don't get to insist on anything when it comes to my daughters." "I think, given the extent of my investment in this family," "I should have some say." "I'll just give you some time to think about it." "I don't need any time to think about it." " Keep your money." " You're being reckless." "You know something?" "I like money." "I like it a lot." "A couple years ago, you could've bought me with that big fortune of yours." "But I'm a mom now, and I make the decisions for my kids." "And that is something that cannot be bought." "I can make a decision, too." "I can call my lawyer and take you out of my will." "And that is your right as a crazy old rich lady." "Thank you." "Screening your calls now, Dave?" "Let me guess." "You can explain everything." "I'm really, really sorry, doc." "You changed your name and didn't tell me." "You're living in Fairview..." "The one place you swore you wouldn't go." "I didn't change my name to be deceptive." " I just wanted a fresh start." " Fairview is not a fresh start for you." "My wife Edie... she's from here, and she really wanted to move back and I said okay." "Did you tell her your history?" "Did you tell her why it's not healthy... or safe," "for you to be here?" "She knows everything, and I'm in a really good place right now." "But..." "Can we talk about this after the show?" "These guys..." "They're my friends, and they're depending on me." "The moment you're finished playing." "Let's start this year's Battle Of The Bands with our first group." "Give it up for Cold Splash!" "Spare me the apology for butting into my life for the millionth time." "What is this about you never getting married?" "Why would I?" "If there's one thing I've learned from your experience, marriage is a joke." "I believe in marriage." "Why?" "First there was dad, who left you for his secretary, and then Mike..." "He was the love of your life, and it still went to hell." "Honestly..." "Just tell me what the upside is." "You're way too young to be this cynical." "I am not cynical." "I'm realistic." "I'm just trying to protect myself." "Putting a wall around your heart doesn't protect you." "It just keeps people out." "I learned that the hard way." "Now with Jackson..." "I remember that I like feeling hopeful." "I like believing in "happily ever after."" "I really wish that you felt that way, too." "Sorry about the tip, but I just lost $50 million." "Have you seen Porter?" "No, I haven't." "Is he supposed to be here?" "If you see him, please tell me." "Thanks." "Come on." "Tonight, we're not a plumber and a masseur and a guy that makes pizzas." "We're a Rock 'n' Roll band." "Right, Dave" "Absolutely." "I'm gonna check with the guy about the light cues." "Hey, doc." "He's in your band?" "!" "Oh." "I know." "It sounds crazy, but we've worked through everything." " It's cool." " No." "This is too dangerous." "I need to speak to him right now." "You just have to trust me." "Now, Dave." "I speak to him right now..." "Or I call the police." "You win." "Come on." "I hope you realize..." "I'm only doing this because I want to help you." "I genuinely care about you." "I know you do, Dr. Heller." "And I like you." "Actually, I like you a lot." "I'm sorry." "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I can actually smell our fear." "If I could see where the exits are, I'd run for 'em." "I can't believe we let Dave talk us into this." "By the way, where is Dave?" "Where are you going?" "The guys are about to start." " Bathroom." "Back in a sec." " The men's room's packed, but there's an employee bathroom back there." "Thank you." "Is that the bathroom?" " I think that's it there." " Okay, thanks." " We're up." "Where the hell is Dave?" " Sorry." "We thought you ditched us." "Where were you?" "Needed a little liquid courage." "Come on, boys." "Let's do it." "Ladies and gentlemen, the Battle Of The Bands is back, so please give a big welcome to Blue Odyssey." "Hey, Warren." "Get up, you little basrd!" " Don't you touch him!" "Go home now!" " I know what you did to Anne." "Better listen to your mommy, little boy." "Go home." "You're dead." "I don't care what it takes." "You're dead." "Stop it!" "Go on!" "Hitting women and children?" "You must be so proud." "Lock that door." "What were you thinking?" "You could've gotten hurt in there!" "You are responsible for this." "Whatever happens is your fault." "Oh, my god!" "Fire!" "What's happening?" " Jackson, he's in the bathroom." " There's an exit there." "He'll get out." "Come on." "We have to go now." "Open up!" "Gaby!" "Your friend!" "Crap!" "Come on." "Let's get you out of here." "Let's go." "Since I'm saving your life and all, you wanna think about maybe keeping us in your will?" "It was worth a shot." "It's locked." "Look out!" "Quit pushing!" "Come on." "No, I gotta make sure everyone gets out of here." "Go!" "Don't push!" "One at a time!" " What are you doing?" "Get the hell out!" " Jackson... he's still in there." "He's in the bathroom." "I'll get him." "Go." "Just go." "Get out!" "Go!" "Thank god." " Where's Mike?" " I don't know." "I didn't see him." " Is he still in there?" " Yeah!" "He went in there to find you." "Mike's still in there?" "Dave, no!" "Mom!" "Dad." "I told you to go home." "What are you doing here?" "You son of a bitch!" "You did this!" "Stay away from my kid!" "Your kid burned down my club." "Do you think he's still in there?" "I didn't see him." "My husband's still inside." "You've gotta go back in there!" "I'm sorry." "That roof is about to collapse." "Please get back." "Someone's coming!" "Hang in there." "I'm not done with you yet." "There was a fire last night in Fairview." "If you open up your morning paper, you can read about those who survived..." "And those who were injured..." "Those who barely escaped with their lives..." "And those who didn't." "You can also read about a man who risked his life to rescue his neighbor." "What you won't read about are the reasons for this bravery." "You're the one who pulled that guy out of the fire." "Can I interview you?" "And that's because..." "No one ever doubts..." "A hero."
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A Wavelength-Division-Multiplexed (WDM) transmission link often includes multiple segments of transmission fiber separated by one or more optical amplifiers and other fiber optic components. Generally speaking, it is desirable that these links exhibit uniform signal transmission for all wavelengths. Unfortunately however, non-uniformity in gain and loss accumulate and eventually cause transmission errors unless the signal is equalized.
Such equalization in wavelength division multiplexed systems may be achieved by a variety of means including signal pre-emphasis, fixed fiber gratings, and individual attenuators placed between wavelength routers. Each of these approaches represents a tradeoff in network operator flexibility.
An approach to WDM equalization was described by the inventors of the present application in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/690,696 filed on Jul. 31, 1996 for an Attenuation Device For Wavelength Multiplexed Optical Fiber Communications and is incorporated herein by reference. This previous approach, involved multiple wavelength signals in an optical fiber spatially dispersed by wavelength over a row of voltage-controlled variable reflectivity modulators in which reflected (and attenuated) signals are combined into a single optical output fiber. Despite advantages of this technique, a continuing need exists in the art for equalization apparatus and techniques that provide enhanced optical performance.
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/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
========= |
\\ / F ield | OpenFOAM: The Open Source CFD Toolbox
\\ / O peration |
\\ / A nd | Copyright (C) 2014 OpenFOAM Foundation
\\/ M anipulation |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
License
This file is part of OpenFOAM.
OpenFOAM is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
OpenFOAM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with OpenFOAM. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
Class
Foam::immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture
Description
An immiscible incompressible two-phase mixture transport model
SourceFiles
immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture.C
\*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#ifndef immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture_H
#define immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture_H
#include "incompressibleThreePhaseMixture.H"
#include "threePhaseInterfaceProperties.H"
// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //
namespace Foam
{
/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*\
Class immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture Declaration
\*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
class immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture
:
public incompressibleThreePhaseMixture,
public threePhaseInterfaceProperties
{
public:
// Constructors
//- Construct from components
immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture
(
const volVectorField& U,
const surfaceScalarField& phi
);
//- Destructor
virtual ~immiscibleIncompressibleThreePhaseMixture()
{}
// Member Functions
//- Correct the transport and interface properties
virtual void correct()
{
incompressibleThreePhaseMixture::correct();
threePhaseInterfaceProperties::correct();
}
};
// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //
} // End namespace Foam
// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //
#endif
// ************************************************************************* //
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The derived interest rate is 100 - 99.8, so 0.2%.
The reason it is different from the actual bank rate of 0.5% is because this is the average rate that banks charge each other to borrow/lend.
The banks setting these rates are largely crooked so be careful !
jas-105 wrote:The derived interest rate is 100 - 99.8, so 0.2%.
The reason it is different from the actual bank rate of 0.5% is because this is the average rate that banks charge each other to borrow/lend.
The banks setting these rates are largely crooked so be careful !
But the actual bank rate of 0.5% is actually reflecting those borrow/lend activities between banks, will it be more representative than derived interest rate at 0.2%?
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