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I dropped my eyes to her naked ring finger. “I just, um, hadn’t heard, that’s all.”
She noticed my attention and held up her hand. “Both of us work around a lot of machines, so it’d be stupid to wear our rings.”
“Do you believe Lady Trent knows of your connection?” Ben inquired.
Aria’s lips curled into a sneer. “Probably. I posted the notice in my paper a couple of weeks back. One of her lackeys probably told her about it and she heard about the book from her husband.”
“But can we do anything about this?” I asked my compatriots. “I mean, Trent’s going to publish her review no matter what.”
Aria crossed her arms over her chest and half-turned to the huge machine. “I wish I had half the reach I used to, otherwise I would print hundreds of ads for the book and send them out.”
Ben’s eyes lit up. “Perhaps you still have the reach, and your difficulty is reaching the audience.”
Aria frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
Ben looked down at me with a twinkle in his gaze. “We know quite a few people who would be interested to know about a book about thunders being published, don’t we?”
I stared dumbly at him for a brief moment before realization struck and my eyes widened. “The thunder races!”
He grinned. “We could not ask for a better audience for such a book. We need only the advertising documents to inform them of the publishing.”
Aria leaned one bent arm on her printing press and a Cheshire smile spread across her face. “I think I have just the thing for your document problem.”
Ben reached into his pocket and drew out his coin purse. He held it out to her. “This will help with your expenses.”
She scowled at him. “I don’t take charity.”
He chuckled. “And so you won’t. I’m purchasing five hundred pamphlets, and I expect good work for the price I’m paying.”
Her eyes flitted between the purse and his face before she snatched the bag from his hand. “Alright. When do you need them?”
“Tomorrow is the last day, so we’ll need them all by then,” Ben told her.
She winced and looked down at the single paper she had printed. “That is an onerous duty. There’s the typeface to set and the documents to be printed, and I have to do this on my own.”
A mischievous thought slipped into my mind and I clapped a hand on Serena’s shoulder. “I have just the assistant for you.”
Serena looked at me in horror and Aria had a dubious expression on her face. “This girl?”
“She could use a hobby other than hanging around with the same social class,” I insisted as I gave my friend a little push in the right direction. Literally, as she stumbled forward in Aria’s direction. “And you need an assistant to avoid this being an all-nighter. It’s a win-win for both of you.”
Serena clasped her hands in front of her and inclined her head to the still-doubting Aria. “I-I’ll try my best.”
Aria rolled her eyes and sighed. “Do you have any experience with printing machines?”
Serena bit her lower lip as she looked over the huge mechanism. “N-no, but I do like puzzles. That’s what the typeface plate is, right? Figuring out where each piece goes so it looks right?”
The printer lifted an eyebrow. “I suppose it is.” She narrowed her eyes as they rolled over to Ben. “And wipe that smirk off your face. This doesn’t mean I’ll have these things ready in time.”
Ben wiped his smile off his face and bowed his head to her. “I have faith in your skill. Should you need to communicate with us, we’ll be at my villa.”
She rolled her eyes. “Alright, we’ll stay and do all the work, but you need to do something for me.”
Ben nodded. “Anything.”
She pursed her lips and cast a side glance at him. A faint blush accented her cheeks. “Could you tell that fool at the races that I’ll be there tomorrow?”
A twinkle slipped into Ben’s eyes, but he bowed his head. “We would be very glad to do so.”
