Delon looked him
up and down before he asked with a grim expression, "You swear you are not
an anarchist?"
Maggiormente
clapped his hands together. He did not mind the question, although it seemed
his countrymen were unfairly maligned with this charge. "Monsieur, I swear
on the life of my mother and all the she holds holy that I am not an
anarchist."
Delon looked at
Fabien, who nodded. "You cannot be too careful, monsieur. There are many
strange ideas in the world at present."
"Indeed,"
the alchemist agreed, though he had no idea to what the mechanic might be
referring. When it came to politics, the alchemist was a bit like a child. His
opinions tended toward fairness, respect and all freedom for alchemical
experimentation.
"As long as
you are not an anarchist planning to create chaos with your explosions, I am
willing to sell this motor to you," Delon said. He clapped the alchemist
on the shoulder. "I would not want to have such a thing on my
conscience."
"Nor
I."
Fabien nodded
agreement. "I have known M. Maggiormente for some weeks now and I can say
he and Eduardo are most agreeable and only dangerous by accident."
Eduardo snorted.
"I am dangerous on purpose."
The alchemist
frowned at his familiar. "Yes, on purpose, but not often."
"And not to
most people," Fabien agreed.
Eduardo raised
his head a little higher. "I am selective."
"Indeed."
Maggiormente was eager to change the subject before Eduardo began boasting of
his exploits. "This motor will offer a great chance to develop—"
"I once
killed a duke," Eduardo began.
"Not a
duke," the alchemist corrected.
"What is it
he was then? Something like a duke."
"He was an
alderman."
Eduardo sniffed.
"And he
didn't die. He was rather frightened though." Brigitte crowed from the
lion's back and bounced up and down as if delighted with the thought of
startling a minor official.
"The
pigeons did not survive."
"That is
true. So, monsieur, the price?" Maggiormente and Delon haggled amiably for
a bit and at last agreed on a mutually satisfying amount and exchanged francs
for the motor.
"Well, what
will you attach it to?" Delon asked as the alchemist tucked the motor
under his arm.
Maggiormente
stared. "Attach it to?"
"Yes, to
test it you'll need to attach it to something."
"But I do
not need to propel anything, just to see how the motor works."
"And what?
Hold it in your hand while you fire it up?" Delon and Fabien both laughed,
as much at Maggiormente's puzzled expression as at his failure to see the
issues at hand. "Monsieur, the motor will get very hot as it works."
"Ah,"
the alchemist said, enlightened.
"You could
attach it to Mme. Gabor," Eduardo suggested. This provoked even more
laughter, but Maggiormente did not join in.
"You are
only making things worse, Eduardo." He frowned.
Delon
disappeared into the depths of the garage once more and returned with a short
wooden plank. "Let's see if we can attach the motor to this. It will offer
some stability."
The mechanic and
the alchemist bent over the plank and in a few minutes the motor had been
secured to the wood.
"Eccellente! Now we shall go try it out."
Delon shook his
hand. "Now, no explosions, monsieur."
"I shall
endeavour," Maggiormente said with grave solemnity. "I think we are
nearly there. To perfection!"
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