Murder at the Merton Library (Wrexford & Sloane #7)

by Andrea Penrose

She said nothing. We both know that Life is unfair would sound like a platitude, which both of them despised.

“Carefully, if you please,” he said as they moved to the chair and took hold of the librarian’s corpse. That all humanity was eventually reduced to a lifeless jumble of flesh and bones was a fact Wrexford accepted with scientific detachment. However, watching his foully murdered friend being lifted like a sack of stones stirred a sudden wave of sadness.

“It will require a very clever pen to cast your subject in a favorable light,” drawled the earl. Von Münch finally allowed a twitch of his lips. “It is the victorious who usually get to write history, so yes, I understand that I may feel compelled to use some artistic license.”

Fiercely independent, even as a child, she had always imagined that letting someone take hold of her heart would make her weaker, not stronger. And that, Charlotte decided, was the magic of Love. It was a beautifully inexplicable contradiction.

Raven made a rude sound. “Ha! You know very well that we’re not gentlemen.” “Yes,” said the dowager, a wink of mischief lighting her sapphirine eyes. “But Polite Society doesn’t know that, which makes it all the more amusing to cock a snoot at them.”

But Truth is Truth, no matter how ugly, he reflected. If I begin to pick and choose when it matters, then I’m lost. I will no longer possess a moral compass.

“Science is a wondrous force in and of itself,” mused Sheffield. “What a shame that it can be used for Evil as well as Good.” “The forces of the cosmos depend on us to define the morality of their astounding powers.” Wrexford pocketed the sample. “Alas, human nature is the weak link in the chain of events.”

“As our friend Mr. Sheffield recently remarked,” observed Charlotte, “it’s the right idea but has the misfortune of being conceived ahead of its time.” “That is the nature of innovations,” said Wrexford. “For the few momentous successes, there are countless failures which for any number of reasons lie buried in the shadows.” Scientific breakthroughs require both genius and luck, reflected Charlotte.