Arthur didn’t return from his mission until dinnertime. Once the covers had been removed and the servants had retreated downstairs, he laid seven sheets of paper on the table. “Here you go, ladies. My haul!”
“These are what he saw?” Ella rose from her chair and went around the table for a closer look.
“Most likely. Some of ’em at any rate.”
The illustrations were similar to those one found in magazines, caricatures drawn in ink and then tinted with color. Three of them featured Catherine, Empress of Russia. She was depicted as an obese giantess riding the puny figure of her husband, the man she’d overthrown to seize Russia’s throne.
Ella picked up one of those illustrations for a closer look. “Goodness.”
There was nothing titillating about the scene. On the contrary, it was quite dist
