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Charlotte listened to my ideas when I had managed to rub most of the sleep out of my eyes and freshen up a little bit. Eating my breakfast and talking at the same time was hardly appropriate, but excitement had the hold of me and I was finding it difficult to keep to good form.

I told Charlotte about the results of my work, described in detail the workings of my special machine, the machine that I wanted her to build. She only shook her head when I spoke of parallel universes and the physics behind it but she lit up when I talked about the materials she had to use, the intricate workings of the mechanics inside and she was obviously excited by the prospect of working on something so complex whatever the purpose.

When I had finished by meal, I showed her the plans. She looked them over in detail and started asking questions. Her queries were very informed and I was pleasantly surprised that she grasped so much of the principles of my work. She commented on a few points where she doubted my construction would be practically viable.

"Your knowledge", she said, "of clockwork mechanics is limited. But I see the point of most of this." She smiled at me. "I'm certain that I can make it. But this part here." She pointed at a particular part of the central structure and a minute gearshift. "I can't possibly make this in gold." she announced. "It is much too soft."

"But that part has to be made of gold" I replied, "a lesser metal would oxidize during the transition phase because of the induction" she held up her hand and I stopped.

"It can't be done in pure gold. The answer could be to make it in a gold/platinum alloy. But it would be incredibly expensive."

I thought about this for a short while. "Yes, platinum would be acceptable. The other parts can be made of brass or steel, but this part here needs to be pure. That's where most of the induction takes place. But you are probably not even aware of what electricity is, are you?" I asked Charlotte and smiled. "It is a quite recent discovery after all. I won't pretend that I discovered it, but I am quite sure that I know more about electricity than any other living person. Most of that knowledge I have acquired through my calculations, it is all so very simple when you know the basic principles."

Charlotte once again raised her hand at me and I fell quiet.

"My dear Nathaniel." she stepped in closer and laid her hand on my shoulder. "You were always so excited by your fantastic theories of physics. You know that I find your enthusiasm thrilling but I do not have the same interest as you do for them. I enjoy working with my hands." she took my hand in hers, her fine-limbed dextrous digits playing with my fingers in a complex mesmerizing pattern.

I collected my thoughts, released her hands and stepped back. "My dear Charlotte, that is quite enough." She looked not abashed as a proper lady would but almost defiant. "Don't you look at me like that, you know as well as I do that it is not appropriate for a lady to be so intimate with a man she is not betrothed to."

She spun away from me, facing the window, obviously angered at my outburst. I found myself more than a little bit insecure and wanting to go up to her and tell her that I was sorry, but I steeled myself against my emotion. I knew that I had spoken and acted as a gentleman would.

"Will you build my machine?" I asked. She could not deny me, I knew. She wanted to build it as much as I did, for her own satisfaction. She needed to know if she would be able to. She of course agreed but left my apartment, with the plans, without as much as a goodbye as she left. It would be three months before I would lay eyes on her exquisite hands again.

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