The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (Watchmaker of Filigree Street, #1)

by Natasha Pulley

More octo … pi?’ Thaniel said, knowing that it sounded wrong, though so did puses and podes. He tried to think where he had heard it last, but he did not often have business with more than one octopus at a time.

‘Think of horse races. People like to bet on the one with three legs and a wheeze. They don’t bet on that one because they think it will win, but because they can see how very glorious it would be if it were to win.’ Grace looked up. ‘Sounds like religion to me.’ He laughed. ‘You poor pedantic thing. Your science can save a man’s life, but imagination makes it worth living.

She seemed to acknowledge that while numbers were a necessary part of life, they were, like French postcards, not suitable for a lady.