Late for Dinner

Meanwhile back at Lady Elizabeth's Mansion

Lily was watching Dr. Jackal work in his lab. If she could earn enough favor from Lady Elizabeth, she could become independent of her father and at least choose her own future. She knew that she was making some dangerous choices at her age, but at least it was her decision instead of the ones forced on her by her father, her ex-butler and her posh standing. Living in the high society was exhausting for her and many nights she dreamed about living a free life with excitement and fun instead of drinking tea and pretending to care about the latest gossip. She sipped the coffee and ate another biscuit as she watched the good doctor toil away.

After leaving the good doctor to finish up his work, Lily headed back to the house to finish up her mail work. She was in a good mood now and felt she had made some progress in her goal of independence. Granted she nearly got kidnapped and had to join a secret society, she felt it was a vast improvement to her fake and empty life before. Sure she would like to reconcile with her father, but he would have to be found first and he would have to be willing to accept her and free her from his petty goals. Once she was in the house she greeted the servants again along the way to be polite as she made her way back to the library to work on her task of handling the mail for Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung.

She checked her notes and made a few changes to make it easy to identify the contents of each basket with proper labels, numbers and color coded ribbons to match the book marks in lady Elizabeth's address book. She made sure sample letters were in each basket to copy from as well as the proper instructions for each basket to reduce confusion. Then she added a basket for bill collectors and worked with Harold on the list of acceptable bill collectors. She also made a basket for unknown bill collectors that would need to be looked into. This would reduce the need to investigate a lot of places in the future. Granted Lady Elizabeth had a rather large purse, that didn't mean it was proper to let others take advantage of her. After seeing the fruits of her work she felt satisfied worked with Harold on the proper design for the cupboard to put the baskets in.

Once the cupboard was installed in the office the labeled wicker baskets would be put in the slots in an order to easily manage and the additional stationary supplies would go in the bottom of the cupboard. Lily made sure it would be organized and well stocked to make it easy for anyone to do this task in the future. Of course this would not happen till the next day at the earliest since the cupboard would have to be purchased and delivered. Harold showed Lily the office she would be using and where they would put the new mail cupboard. Since the office had a proper desk, chair and wall paintings installed already she would not need much added to it. However she did request phonograph and some records to make the boring task of mail more pleasant. After talking to Harold they saw the existing ones in the house that were not being used and moved it to the office along with the stand and record holding tray.

They made sure to put the phonograph in a proper spot to avoid being bumped or damaged while working as well as setting it up so the crank was easy to access. Then the record holder was placed under the stand between the legs so they would not be kicked by accident since they were rather pricey. Harold and Lily cleaned it up a bit to removed any dust from not being used and checked the needle for damage. Since the needles were important the stand contained several replacement needles in case they were damaged over time. Once it was working properly Lily picked out the record that would be used to test it and placed it on the player before turning the crank a few times. Then Harold waited to the record was turning on the disk and gently placed the needle down on the record as the music began to echo from the phonograph.

Songs

As the music played both Lily and Harold found the music both soothing and uplifting to listen to. This did make the room less dreary to work in and the music would improve the mood when doing boring work such as handling mail. After they were happy with the design of the room Lily worked with Harold to make picture frame label for the "Mail Room" to hang next to the door way so the maids could find it easily. Once that was completed they moved the mail baskets from the library to the mail office and placed them on the floor by the desk so they were easy to get to when needed. They also collected a stack of stationary, envelopes, wax, seals, ribbon, quills, ink and ink pads to be put in the cupboard when it was brought in.

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Meanwhile Dr. Jackal was working on breaking down the contents of two serum samples and the autopsy of a mutated field mouse. The more focused he got the more he forgot to take a break and only took a minute to drink a quick cup of coffee for an energy boost while still working. In his lab many chemistry bottles were bubbling away under Bunsen burners as he separated the liquid, gas and solids to test each part with chemical markers to identify what they were. The clock continued to turn as the good doctor toiled away working and documenting his work. He had no idea that he missed dinner till he heard a knock on the door, while taking another shot of coffee. He was puzzled by who was knocking till he opened the door to see a few rather annoyed maids and a rather annoyed Lily holding trays full of food and drink. It took him a moment to realize something as he looked at the clock and dropped his jaw in embarrassment.

Dr. Jackal: I'm terribly sorry I lost track of time.

Lily: We noticed.

Dr. Jackal: Thank you for bringing me a meal despite my bad form.

Lily: Its very polite of you to admit your fault good doctor. However it would be improper to have you each alone since you can't seem to keep track of time. So I will be joining you for dinner here today to ensure you take time from your work and eat properly. You should not depend on coffee to get you through the day good doctor.

Dr. Jackal: I take it this is nonnegotiable?

Lily: Very astute doctor. You don't have a say in the matter.

Dr. Jackal sighed as he knew he could not win an argument with Lily since she was smart and twisted his words into guilt if he argued with her. Seeing as the food was still outside he moved out of the way as the maids brought in the trays from the cart and set things up in the break room. It was a lovely meal with water, tea, juice and fresh coffee to drink along with some nice desserts. Dr. Jackal was at a stopping point in his work and washed up while the maids set things up before he sat down. Lily then thanked the maids and asked them to return in an hour for the clean up.

Once they were sitting they began to eat and Dr. Jackal didn't realize he was hungry till the food hit his mouth. He rather enjoyed the melody of juicy meat and vegetables in his mouth since he was famished. Lily let the doctor eat in silence to make sure he did in fact eat properly and not go back to work right away. When he was almost done she began to speak to him.

Lily: Can I assume it was to your liking doctor?

Dr. Jackal: Yes it was very good. I didn't realize I was famished till now.

Lily: Understandable for one who puts his work before his health.

Dr. Jackal smirked at Lily's comment on his bad habits. He decided not to push his luck with her since she was a very determined, young, fearless woman. So he decided to turn the conversation on her.

Dr. Jackal: So what have you been up to today?

Lily smiled at him with a sly smile and raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea and swallowed to clear her throat.

Lily: My my doctor. Are we asking out of pure interest in me or are we asking to get me change topic of your bad manners?

Dr. Jackal was embarrassed that she outwitted him again and knew he needed to be honest with her or things could get difficult for him later on.

Dr. Jackal: Would you believe me if I said both?

Lily: Fair enough. Lady Elizabeth has tasked me with being a temporary secretary for now. So I worked with the butler named Harold and set up the new mail office and process to handle the mail.

Dr. Jackal: Does it need to be so complicated?

Lily: It does for Lady Elizabeth since she has a high status and has many patrons asking for her time, help and money. Did you not have to address your mail when you were in the science community?

Dr. Jackal: Sadly I ignored most of them and only addressed them when a servant was pounding on my door. I had a tendency to ignore things that didn't aid my work.

Lily: Ah I see this is a long standing bad habit then.

Dr. Jackal: I apologize and have no excuse.

Lily: Don't worry doctor. I now know you will need to be forced to take breaks and be requested for meal times in advanced.

Dr. Jackal: I take you will have the maids nag me on such matters?

Lily: As if that would work dear doctor. I will discuss this with Lady Elizabeth as ask that I be tasked with making you take your breaks and escort you to dinner as needed.

Dr. Jackal: Do I get a say in the matter?

Lily: Not likely, but if you wish to beg I be more than happy to listen and mock you as needed.

Dr. Jackal: Wow.......... If I didn't know better I'd think I have earned your ire.

Lily: Does that worry you doctor?

Dr. Jackal: I'd be a liar if I said no.

Lily: I see. So have you finished your work yet?

Dr. Jackal: Almost. I just have to write my report down and turn it in.

Lily: Good then after we eat you can write it up and turn it into me.

Dr. Jackal: Oh yeah that is your job now huh?

Lily: Indeed. Lady Elizabeth only has so much time in a day to address her pressing matters.

After that Lily and Jack talked over dessert with tea for her and coffee for him. Then he talked to Lily about what he did and began to write a letter to lady Elizabeth on his findings. He was very detailed on the recipes for the various samples he had found so far including the first serum sample in the broken syringe he received. Once he was done the maids arrived and they all cleaned the lab and food up before calling it a day and returning to the house. Dr. Jackal went to his room to bathe and do some light reading before he went to sleep. Lily dropped off the doctor's report on Lady Elizabeth's desk and then headed to her room to bathe and write in her journal before going to sleep.

Letter Report
To Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung,

I have managed to discover the recipe used by Dr. Lemaire for two serum samples and the autopsy of the field mouse.

Dr. Lemaire's Formula of serum sample #1 from the syringe:
1/3 cup pure distilled white sugar.
2/3 cup hot distilled spring water.
1 cup cold electrolyte water.
2 oz. butterfly pea flower extract.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) fine crushed sea salt.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) citric acid juice of half a lime.
3 oz Hemlock extract in liquid form
1 oz Ghost Pepper extract
1 oz fine powdered Radium dust
1 Hippopotamus Brain

Dr. Lemaire's Formula of serum sample #2 from the vial:
1/3 cup pure distilled white sugar.
2/3 cup hot distilled spring water.
1 cup cold electrolyte water.
2 oz. butterfly pea flower extract.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) fine crushed sea salt.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) citric acid juice of half a lime.
3 oz Queen Anne's Lace extract in liquid form
1 oz Trinidad Scorpion pepper extract
1 oz fine powdered Radium dust
1 Gorilla Brain

Dr. Lemaire's Formula of serum sample #3 from the vial:
1/3 cup pure distilled white sugar.
2/3 cup hot distilled spring water.
1 cup cold electrolyte water.
2 oz. butterfly pea flower extract.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) fine crushed sea salt.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) citric acid juice of half a lime.
3 oz Hemlock extract in liquid form
1 oz Naga Viper extract
1 oz fine powdered Radium dust
1 Tiger Brain

Dr. Lemaire's Formula found autopsy of the field mouse.
1/3 cup pure distilled white sugar.
2/3 cup hot distilled spring water.
1 cup cold electrolyte water.
2 oz. butterfly pea flower extract.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) fine crushed sea salt.
1 pinch (1/16 tsp) citric acid juice of half a lime.
3 oz Heroine extract in liquid form
3 oz Hemlock extract in liquid form
1 oz Naga Viper extract
1 oz fine powdered Radium dust
A rare form of Rabies I labeled as Beta Rabies

Sincerely,
Dr. Jackal

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