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"Maybe if you could explain why you need to see the physical book" Lucy trailed off

But how could I tell Lucy I needed the book so I could use ic on it?

This was the Beinecke Library, for heaven’s sake

If anyone found out, it would ruin my career

"I’ll look at the Voynich tomorrow" Hopefully, I would have another plan by then, since I couldn’t very well haul out my mother’s book of shadows and devise new spells in front of a curator Jugglingdifficult "Did the other books I requested arrive?"

"They did" Lucy’s eyebrows lifted when she slid the collection ofwith several early printed books "Changing your research focus?"

In an effort to be prepared for any ical eventuality when finally it ca pages, I had called up books that ic spells Though my mother’s spell book was a valuable resource, I knew from my own experience how far modern witches had fallen when coic aren’t completely distinct," I told Lucy defensively Sarah and Eet me to see that for years At last I believed theical ils that reramarye that was precise and potent The early-modern books on witchcraft, most of which I knew only by title and reputation, were horrifying, however Each one brimmed with hatred--for witches and anyone else as different, rebellious, or refused to confor over Jean Bodin’s vitriolic insistence that all foul opinions about witches and their evil deeds arranted, I returned the books and manuscripts to Lucy andto view the Voynich manuscript with the head curator

I tramped up the staircase to the lass-encased books fore and ideas around which the collection was built Rows and rows of rare books were lined up on the shelves, bathed in light It was a breathtaking sight, one that reminded me of my purpose as a historian: to rediscover the important truths contained in those old, dusty voluainst the loall overlooking the Beinecke’s stark sculpture garden, his legs crossed at the ankles, thu my presence, he looked up and smiled

Not a creature alive could have resisted that sreen eyes

"Hoas your day?" he asked after giving me a kiss I’d asked him not to text me constantly, and he’d been unusually cooperative As a result he genuinely didn’t know

"A bit frustrating I suppose my research skills are bound to be rusty after so many months

Besides"--my voice dropped--"the books all look weird to me They’re so old and worn compared to how they looked in the sixteenth century"

Matthew put his head back and laughed "I hadn’t thought about that Your surroundings have changed, too, since you last worked on alchemy at Baynard’s Castle" He looked over his shoulder at the Beinecke "I know the library is an architectural treasure, but I still think it looks like an ice-cube tray"

"So it does," I agreed with a smile "I suppose if you’d built it, the Beinecke would look like a Nor of soo ho to leave Jean Bodin behind"May I?"

Usually Matthew didn’t ask He was trying not to s to rein in his overprotectiveness I rewarded him with a ser?" I asked Lucy, looking down at ranted exactly thirty minutes with the Voynich er called in sick, just as he always does on the first day of classes He hates the hysteria and all the fresh for directions You’re stuck with me" Lucy picked up the box that held Beinecke MS 408

"Sounds good" I tried to keep the exciteht be exactly the break I needed

Lucy ledthe reading roo, and a beat-up foah on the walls would deter any reader fro one of the Beinecke’s priceless books

"I won’t start the clock until you unwrap it" Lucy handedThere were no papers, reading materials, or even a cell phone to distract her froh I nores, I wanted to take my time with the Voynich I slid the --the early-es floodedthat the present cover was put on the book several centuries after it ritten and at least fifty years after I’d held it in Dee’s library

I could see the bookbinder’s face and seventeenth-century hairstyle when I touched the spine

I carefully laid the Voynich in the waiting foam cradle and opened the book I lowered e

"What are you doing, Diana? Shed softly

"As ato cooperate with , I needed to be as honest as possible

Openly curious, Lucy caood sniff, too

"Se" She swung her reading glasses down and took an even closer look

"Robert Hooke examined bookworms under his microscope in the seventeenth century He called thee of the Voynich, I could see why It was riddled with holes in the upper right corner and the bottoin, both of which were stained "I think the bookworers transferred to the parchment"

"What makes you say that?" Lucy asked It was just the response I’d hoped for

"The dae is worst where a reader would have touched to turn to the next folio" I restedto so

That brief contact set off another explosion of faces, oneinto another: Emperor Rudolf’s avaricious expression; a series of unknownfro careful notes; another wo up a box of books And the dae into the Voynich’s cover

"There is a lot of dae, too, where the ainst the body if you were carrying it" Ignorant of the slide show playing before e "The clothes of the time were probably pretty oily Didn’t most people ool?"