Rebel Magisters (12 page)

His lips twitched into a lopsided smile. “Well, now, sneaking out with the governess and a maid my first night in Boston. It’s a pity I didn’t choose ‘incorrigible playboy’ as my cover persona.”

In Which

We Are Put to

the Test

Mary brought tea to me at the appointed hour. She set the tray on the nightstand and poured into a pretty blue-and-white china teacup from a matching pot. “There ye are, miss,” she said, handing the cup to me. “What did your Lord Henry have to say about tonight?”

“He accepts your invitation.”

She beamed as she dropped a sugar cube into my cup. “It’s good to hear that.”

“You said you had a way to get us out of the house?”

“Aye, leave that to me. I’ll come get you when they’re through with dinner and it looks safe.”

“What kind of gathering is it? How should I dress?”

“It’s no big, fancy party, that’s for certain. Dress plain.”

A glance down at my simple gray day dress made me smile. I’d have to go out of my way
not
to dress plainly. She left me alone with my tea, and I tried to force myself to relax. Mary obviously had things under control, so I had nothing to worry about in sneaking out of the house. I had no real agenda for the meeting other than getting acquainted, so there was no mission to succeed or fail. If the Boston Mechanics were anything like my New York friends, it would be more of a party than a real meeting, and that was something I realized I sorely needed. Aside from the recent show and party, my social life had disappeared with the rebel machines.

That evening at dinner, I was glad that I wasn’t dining with the adults because it was a lot easier to hide my eagerness. Olive and Rollo were so excited about the day’s voyage and being in a new place that they didn’t seem to notice anything odd about my behavior. My bearing might have drawn more attention among the adults.

It was worse when dinner was finished and I’d seen Olive to bed, because then I had nothing to do but wait. I tried reading, but barely registered the words. I jotted a few notes about the airship voyage and the Boston house, but I didn’t have enough information to make it into an article.

When Mary tapped lightly on my door, I jumped in shock, barely stifling a scream. This was no way for an experienced operative to behave, I told myself firmly as I forced my breathing to return to normal.

Mary grinned as she eased her way into my room, but whether she was amused by my reaction or by something else, I wasn’t sure. “Shouldn’t be long now, miss,” she said. “Your Lord Henry was forced to join the governor for port and cigars after dinner, but he declined the cigar. He was out of there within half an hour.”

“They don’t have much to talk about without arguing,” I said, trying not to smile as I imagined the awkward scene. I wasn’t sure which of them would have hated it the most.

“Both of them went off to their rooms, and I believe the governor’s valet has already left him for the night.”

I put my book down and stood. “So it’s time?”

“It is.”

“I’ll get my coat and hat.”

“You won’t need that. Just come with me.” She stuck her head out into the hallway before gesturing for me to follow.

I was curious about where I was going and how, without a coat. The weather was quite brisk. Did the Mechanics here have tunnels like in New York? Or did they have some fantastic conveyance that kept us out of the elements?

The truth proved to be rather disappointing. Mary opened the hidden door at the end of the hall that took us into the servants’ staircase, where two black coats hung over the railing. Mary handed me one of them, along with a black felt hat, and said “You put that on, and I’ll go get your handsome lord.” She went back out into the hallway.

I slipped on the coat, which was plain and made of rough material. The hat, likewise, was simple and unremarkable. I realized that she must be disguising us as servants. With so many temporary staff brought in for the governor’s visit, no one in the household was likely to notice an unfamiliar face.

Mary returned with Henry a moment later. He’d changed from dinner attire into the kind of tweed suit he usually wore to go searching for insects. He put on his plain coat and a black Derby hat, and we followed Mary down the stairs to the servants’ hall.

There, we waited while she put on her own coat and hat. She paused for a moment, studying us, before giving us a curt nod. “You’ll pass, I think.” We joined the flow of temporary staff who weren’t living at the house as they left for the day. If they suspected there were impostors among them, they showed no sign of noticing, though I doubted they cared all that much. As we passed through the servants’ door, Mary signaled to a boy standing nearby. He ran over to us.

“These are the friends I told you about,” she said to him. “When they come back, you’re to let them in and get them to the servants’ stairs, without lettin’ anyone else know. Have ye got that?”

“Got it!” he said, snapping to attention like a soldier who’d been given an order.

Henry took a silver coin out of his pocket and handed it to the boy. “Here’s to thank you for your trouble, and there’ll be another just like it once we make it safely back to our rooms.”

The boy’s eyes went as wide as the coin as he studied it carefully. “Yes, sir!” he said. “You can count on me. My name’s Harry. Ask for me if you need me, but I’m the hall boy tonight, so I’ll be the one to open the door.”

“Harry, eh?” Henry said. “My name’s Henry, but my brother used to call me Harry.”

Harry beamed. “We Harrys have to stick together, sir.”

Mary gave Henry an approving nod before nudging us to get going. The servants’ door opened into a space under the house’s front steps, and we had to climb a short flight of stairs to reach the sidewalk. We walked past a row of grand mansions like the one we’d just left, and I hoped Henry was sure of the address because they all looked alike to me. I wouldn’t know which one to return to.

After a few blocks, the houses were a little less grand. They were tall and narrow, shoved together in a row. A few more blocks, and we reached a neighborhood of shabby tenements. The streets were more lively here, with people out and about. Some shops were still open, and loud voices came from within pubs. Henry edged closer to me, and his glance darted warily around our surroundings.

Mary led us to a set of steps down to a basement apartment and rapped on the door in a distinctive sequence. A moment later, the door opened, and we entered into a darkened vestibule. A bright light suddenly hit me in the face, blinding me. I threw up a hand to shield my eyes from the glare.

“Are these the ones?” a voice behind the light asked.

“Yes, they’re the ones from New York,” Mary said. “Colin vouched for them.”

“This way,” the voice said. Abruptly, the light swung around and lit the way for us down a short hallway to another door. I blinked, trying to readjust my eyes to the darkness so I could follow.

Once that door opened, we found ourselves in a large room lit by electric lights. I saw then that the light that had met us was set into the band of a top hat worn by one of the most attractive men I’d ever encountered. He looked like something out of one of the paintings hanging in the halls of the Lyndon mansion. His cheekbones were chiseled, his jaw strong and square, with the slightest hint of cleft in his chin. When he swept the top hat off his head to bow to me, he revealed wavy golden hair. Although he wore the eclectic mix of styles favored by the Rebel Mechanics, he seemed to have visited a tailor after taking items from the rag bag, for his clothes were perfectly fitted to his form. And what a form! He had broad shoulders and a barrel-like chest, with his torso tapering to narrow hips.

I distrusted him immediately, not so much because he was attractive but because of the way he smiled as he bowed to me. He knew he was attractive and counted on that affecting me. I’d been burned by flirtatious Mechanics before, so I steeled myself against his charms.

“Ah, the infamous Miss Newton. Colin didn’t tell us how lovely you were,” he said, taking my hand to kiss it.

“That’s because Colin respects me as an ally and as a valuable operative,” I said, withdrawing my hand from his. “My appearance is not relevant.”

He smoothly recovered. “Well, of course he mentioned how valuable you are.” Barely missing a beat, he turned to Henry. “And your lordship, as well. I understand we owe the survival of our movement to you. We are honored to have you among us. I’m sure you’ll understand if we don’t share our names, but you can call me Adonis.”

I had to restrain myself to keep from snickering. I hoped he was aware of how ridiculous he seemed. It was hard to believe he might be sincere.

Either I’d done a good job of hiding my amusement or he was oblivious, because he didn’t react to my barely hidden snort. With a practiced smile, he said, “May I take your coats and hats and offer you refreshment?” If he was being at all sarcastic to Henry, I couldn’t detect it. Either he was more open-minded about magisters than most Mechanics tended to be, or he was the rare man who was even more glib than Colin.

As I unbuttoned my coat, I took stock of my surroundings. The large basement room seemed to be one part shabby but gracious parlor and two parts laboratory. There were upholstered chairs that could have come from a fine house decades ago, and pieces of machinery covered all the tables. Only about half a dozen people were present, with no musicians, no dancing, and no elaborate machines dispensing drinks. Unlike the New York Mechanics’ raucous parties, this seemed to be more of a polished salon, for conversation about social issues.

None of the other Mechanics made any move to speak to us, and no one other than the greeter introduced themselves. That much I was accustomed to. It could be dangerous for us to know their identities, and I couldn’t much blame them for being uncertain they could trust us.

Adonis took our coats and handed them over to another Mechanic before escorting us to a seating arrangement. He gestured me to a wingback chair and Henry to a velvet settee across from me. “Would you like coffee, wine, sherry, hot chocolate?” Adonis offered.

“A cup of chocolate would be lovely,” I said.

“The same for me, thank you,” Henry said. His posture was tense, and he sat on the edge of his seat, most of his weight still on his feet, as though he was ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. I didn’t feel like we were in danger, but I also didn’t feel entirely comfortable. There was something odd about this situation.

Adonis sent one of his people to get the chocolate and sat next to Henry on the settee. I noticed that he wore the most elaborate Rebel Mechanics insignia I’d ever seen. Most of the members merely put a red ribbon through a gear, but he’d put together multiple gears inside one larger one in a complex pattern, and instead of a simple red ribbon, he had an intricately braided lanyard holding his gear. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he and Colin ever ended up in the same room with each other, and I made a mental note to never let this man go anywhere near Flora.

“Did you have a pleasant journey to Boston?” he asked. “I assume you came by airship.”

“Yes, we did, and it was pleasant enough,” Henry said. “If your people keep making progress on the electrical storage battery, you should soon be able to make trips this far with your ships.” I felt a subtle shift in the mood of the room and had a feeling Henry had just scored some points by suggesting a hint of mechanical knowledge and interest.

“We work on smaller-scale projects here,” Adonis said. “The New York crowd has their big engines, but we have more esoteric interests.”

A huge, bearded man wearing a plaid waistcoat in colors that never should have been put together entered the room bearing a tray and offered us dainty cups of chocolate that seemed much more normal-sized once they were away from him and in our hands.

“Clearly you have a dynamo,” Henry said, indicating the electric lights with a gesture.

“Not of our own invention. We share technology with our brothers throughout the colonies. What we’re working on is rather more specialized.” His tone remained friendly and casual, but I didn’t like the way he kept his phrasing so vague.

“How so?” I asked.

He gave a careless wave. “Oh, small devices to make daily life easier. Anything that saves us physical labor gives us more time to devote to our cause and less dependence on the thieving magpies. No offense,” he added with a slight nod toward Henry.

“I’ll assume you’re not including me in that group,” Henry said politely, but I thought his eyes looked a little harder than they usually did.

“But perhaps you have some connections with others of your class who share your beliefs.”

“I might.”

“You see, we’re having a little problem with them here. They’re quite active, but either they’re pretending to be us or the authorities assume it’s us, so every time they do anything, we get the blame, and the authorities crack down on us.”

“You’re sure it’s not another group of Mechanics?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Adonis said, nodding firmly.

“I’ll mention it to my friends and see if they know anything—” Henry began, but he cut off abruptly.

At the same time, I found it hard to breathe. My entire body was frozen. Even my ribs refused to expand with my breath, leaving me feeling suffocated. Once the initial shock wore off, I had the presence of mind to notice that none of the Mechanics seemed to be affected. I suspected that these feelings must have something to do with magic. I didn’t want the Mechanics to know I was part magister, so I forced myself not to let any sort of reaction show.

Not that they would have noticed me. All their attention was on Henry, who sat perfectly still. His breath came in short, shallow gasps, and he hadn’t managed to complete his sentence. I thought he looked a little paler than normal, but it was hard to tell under the unusual lighting.

I noticed then a tall, slender woman in a severe gray dress standing by a machine set on a table behind the settee. The machine consisted of tubes through which some glowing
material flowed, all coming from and going to a central wooden box with knobs on it. A web of copper wiring surrounded it all. The woman kept glancing between her machine and Henry. I deduced that the machine had something to do with whatever was happening to us.