Victorian Evil Scientists

Steampunk Romantasy story set in an alterntaive mid-19th century Europe.   Clothilde is a chemist in a French research laboratory. Yet, despite having a PhD, she is stuck doing menial laboratory work; after all, real research is reserved for men. Unwilling to get married and become nothing more than her husband's assistant, Clothilde tried to get funding to start her own lab from the French, Belgium and British governments. All for nothing, of course.   Yet, she does not even have time to swallow her fury at their refusal before she is kidnapped by an evil Dark Lord. He drags her to his secret base to get her to do some terrible experiments for him, giving her threats and... unlimited budget?