Rebel Magisters (17 page)

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the figure dart from the shadows to the servants’ entrance below the front steps. “Oh, that’s good to know,” I said. “The sound woke me, and I wasn’t sure if I needed to do something to protect the children.”

“No, you’re perfectly safe, miss. We’re keeping an eye on the house. Nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll rest better knowing you’re out here.”

I hoped that had given Henry enough time to get inside unnoticed. I made my way back up the stairs. When I reached my floor, I heard a soft hiss from the landing above. I looked up to see Henry leaning over the railing. He gave me a salute, which I returned with a smile before heading to my room.

Once I was inside, I became aware of the scent of tea and noticed that the hem of my skirt was coated in tea dust. Mary was in on the cause, so I doubted she’d give me away, but would she be able to explain getting tea out of my clothes?

I took my petticoats off from under my nightgown and took them and my skirt into the bathroom. I couldn’t rinse them out without brewing a sink full of tea, so instead I shook them out as well as I could over the bathtub. After a little brushing, my clothes might have passed for regular wear that included a walk in the park. Only if you sniffed carefully would you know it was tea rather than dirt that soiled the hem.

I searched the floor for signs of tea dust, and I didn’t see anything obvious. I hoped I hadn’t left a trail down the hall that would lead to my room. It appeared that I’d made it without my clandestine activities being detected.

*

The sound of my door opening woke me the next morning, and for a moment I was disoriented, uncertain where I was. I sat bolt upright, ready to deal with the intruder, until I saw that it was Mary. “Sorry, miss, didn’t mean to startle you,” she said. “I just came in to make up the fire.”

I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision. “I’m not too late for breakfast, am I?”

“You can still make it without anyone noticing anything amiss.”

“Thank goodness!” I jumped out of bed and hurried to the wardrobe to find a dress I could wear.

“Late night, miss?” she asked, though I knew she knew exactly what I’d been doing, as she’d been there, herself.

“I stayed up far too late utterly engrossed in a novel.”

“I’m sure it was very exciting,” she said, her twinkling eyes ruining her attempt at a deadpan expression. “Would you like me to take your dress for cleaning?”

“I would appreciate it.”

She picked it up from the chair where I’d left it and raised an eyebrow. “I might be able to get a nice pot out of it while I’m at it.”

She helped me finish dressing, and I thought I looked somewhat presentable, if perhaps a bit hollow-eyed, when I went downstairs to breakfast.

Henry, Olive, and Rollo were in the breakfast room when I arrived. “Good morning, Lord Henry, Rollo, Olive,” I said as I headed to the sideboard to serve myself breakfast. “I trust you slept well.”

“Quite well,” Henry said, barely looking up from the newspaper. “And you, Miss Newton?”

“I’m afraid I was up far too late reading.”

“That’s funny, because stories always put me to sleep,” Olive piped up.

“That’s because the stories you like are boring,” Rollo countered.

“I like my stories,” Olive said, her jaw jutting stubbornly and her eyes narrowing at her brother.

While the children argued, Henry looked up and caught my eye over the tops of his glasses. I smiled, then tried to school my expression. I took a seat across from him, next to Olive, and forced myself to focus more on the children than on him.

Conversation became even more impossible when the governor joined us. He seemed to be in good spirits, humming to himself under his breath as he loaded his plate with food. Henry and I exchanged a look behind his back. Would he be that cheerful if he’d received word of the destruction of the tea?

“Good morning Miss Newton, Lyndon, children,” he said as he seated himself at the head of the table. “Miss Newton, did you have plans for this afternoon?”

“Nothing more than lessons, Your Grace,” I said.

“Would you mind receiving calls with Flora? Today’s the day for her to be at home. I’m sure a number of the local ladies and young people will call on her, and she needs to be suitably chaperoned.”

“I will assign work for Olive and Rollo during those hours and conduct the rest of the lessons this morning,” I said.

“Work?” Rollo moaned.

Henry opened his mouth to chastise his nephew, but the governor spoke first, saying, “Keeping up with your schoolwork was one of the terms of you coming along on this trip. You’ll have plenty of time to see things later.”

With a deep sigh, Rollo poked around on his plate with his fork.

“I like to do my schoolwork,” Olive said. “May I have an extra assignment, Miss Newton?”

Just as Rollo opened his mouth to respond, the butler entered and presented a card on a silver tray to the governor. The governor read it, a flush rising from his collar. He gave a loud snorting cough and said to the butler, “Is he still here?”

“He is waiting in the hallway, Your Grace.”

The governor rose, shoving his chair back violently, and stalked toward the doorway, pausing to mutter a gruff, “If you will excuse me,” to us before leaving.

Even the children were silent as we all strained to hear. The governor’s deep voice carried throughout the house, but I could still only make out phrases like, “Are you sure?” or “Magisters? Really?” and “What kind of counterspell?”

Henry and I looked across the table at each other. He raised one eyebrow, and I gave a slight shrug. The children were so busy staring at the doorway that I didn’t think they noticed our reactions. I thought it was a safe bet that the governor had learned about the tea party.

He didn’t return by the time we had finished our breakfast. The children left first, then Henry excused himself. I waited an appropriate amount of time before taking my leave, even though the only person left in the room was a footman.

I found Henry waiting for me in the hallway outside the schoolroom. “The governor must know what happened,” I whispered.

“Yes, and I’m trying to decide if I should brave the bear in his den to ask about that or if I should ignore it. What would I do if I were entirely innocent?”

“I believe that the Lord Henry who studies insects would be curious enough to ask questions. It would seem uncharacteristic of you to ignore it.”

He grimaced and sighed. “I suppose you’re right. If I encounter him, I’ll have to ask him whatever’s the matter without sounding too interested.”

I barely stifled a yawn. “I hope we’re staying in tonight.”

“Had your fill of intrigue, have you, Miss Newton?” he asked with a wry smile.

“I merely need to rest between clandestine operations.”

With that, I swept into the schoolroom to begin the day’s lessons. Keeping Rollo’s attention engaged was a challenge, but I hated to see the classroom time end because social calls were my least favorite activity. At the appointed time, I put on my one tea dress—the one for the occasion, not the one that was currently covered in tea—and tidied my hair before joining Flora in the parlor.

Much to my surprise, the governor met me outside the parlor. “Might I ask you a favor, Miss Newton?” he said.

“Of course, Your Grace.”

“There have been recent events involving some young people among the magister class. We can’t permit destructive behavior to continue. I would appreciate it if you would keep a watchful eye on any visitors today and see if you notice anything unusual. I’ll ask the same of Lady Flora, but you’re a level-headed young woman, and I trust you to observe details.”

I was so stunned by his request that I had to blink a few times to be sure I was actually awake. “Of–of course I can do that for you, Your Grace,” I stammered. “But I don’t know any of these people well enough to know what behavior is unusual.”

“I trust you to tell if anything strikes you as odd. Thank you, Miss Newton.”

It was rather flattering that the royal governor of the American colonies had asked for my assistance, even though it put me in a difficult position. Obviously, I couldn’t actually report on anyone who was involved. If he weren’t making the same request of Flora, I might have been able to get away with claiming not to have noticed anything, but any report I made would have to match Flora’s report. It was easy to assume that Flora would only notice her visitors’ attire, but I’d learned not to underestimate Flora’s intelligence.

“Flora, my dear,” the governor said as we entered the parlor. “Might I ask you to keep your eyes and ears open as you visit with callers today?”

“I don’t expect them to say anything interesting,” she said.

“There have been some unusual events here that might be related to magisters. Young people would be more likely to talk to you about their activities.”

“Only if they’re foolish. Who would tell the governor’s granddaughter about unseemly behavior?”

She had a point, and that made me feel better. Even firebrands like Maude and Camilla were unlikely to parade their exploits in this house, and besides, no matter what they’d planned, they hadn’t actually done anything.

The governor smiled fondly at his granddaughter. “That’s likely the case, but I would like to hear about your visits, nonetheless. Miss Newton will provide a report, as well.”

He left us, and I took a seat in the back corner and began to knit. I would have preferred to read, but that was apparently considered rude, even if I was being treated like I was invisible. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do as a chaperone if anything untoward did happen. I imagined hurling myself bodily between Flora and a caller and had to smile. It was more likely that my presence was expected to serve as a deterrent. My existence suggested that chaperones weren’t just a useless social custom, though I suspected that my mother’s magister paramour had been beyond an age to be chaperoned. That proved how foolish the rules were. How many others like me were there?

Much to my surprise, I recognized our first callers. When Camilla and Maude were escorted into the parlor, I barely remembered not to greet them, and they didn’t openly acknowledge me, though I thought Maude darted a glance at me. They wore aesthetic dress, which I thought rather daring when visiting the governor of the colonies, and Flora barely managed to get through the initial social niceties, she was so dumbfounded by their loose clothing.

“I don’t suppose dear Henry is in,” Camilla said. “He and my brother were such good friends in school, and I would dearly
love
to talk to him today.” I thought I detected a hint of menace in her voice and tried not to wince. The magisters probably weren’t too happy with Henry at the moment.

“I have no idea where Henry is,” Flora said. “If you know him at all, you know how little use he has for social conventions.”

“But I would hope he has use for old friends,” Maude said. “We hope we’ll see him at the ball. Such exciting things have been planned for that night. I’d hate for him to miss it.”

I was glad I was sitting behind Flora because I wasn’t able to stop myself from flinching. Maude’s tone and the glint in her eyes suggested that the exciting plans had nothing to do with gowns, music, or dancing and everything to do with making up for not being able to carry out their own tea party. But would Flora pick up on that, or was I only getting that impression because I already knew about Maude’s affiliations?

“I’m sure Grandfather will force him to attend,” Flora said. Her tone made her sound like she didn’t much care.

“We’re quite looking forward to it,” Camilla said, and her smile was fierce enough that I thought surely it would be obvious that she had dangerous intentions, even to one who didn’t know her. I hoped that Flora was so distracted by talk of a ball that she wouldn’t notice if her guests did handsprings around the room.

“I’m afraid my heart isn’t in a ball,” Flora said with a deep, dramatic sigh. “Alas, the one I love will not be there. I’ll likely never see him at a ball.”

I barely managed not to groan out loud. I’d thought she’d have forgotten Colin by now. I bit my tongue and bent my head over my knitting, glancing upward to peer at our guests.

“Oh, do you have a beau?” Maude asked with a trilling laugh. She did such a good job of portraying a vapid society girl that it was hard to believe she was the same person who’d been rallying the troops and arguing with the Mechanics the night before.

Again, I wished I could see Flora’s face. “Not exactly,” she said. “But there is a man I admire who’s likely far more worthy than any pampered nobleman.” She hurried to add, “But you can’t tell anyone!”

“You can trust us,” Maude assured her. “Pampered noblemen are nice to dance with, though.”

Both visitors stood. “We look forward to seeing you again, Lady Flora,” Camilla said. “We’re sure you’ll find our Boston ball quite diverting.”

“Well, they were certainly suspicious,” Flora said when they were gone.

My heart thudding painfully, I tried to keep my voice from shaking when I replied, “What makes you think so?”

“Did you see the way they were dressed? They might as well go out in their nightgowns. It’s positively scandalous.”

“I hardly think that indicates that they’re troublemakers,” I said as mildly as I could manage.

“But they aren’t proper ladies.”

“I don’t think that’s what your grandfather is concerned about.”

“True. He cares little for ladies’ fashions. I honestly have no idea what he expects me to tell him.”

The rest of the visitors were far more conventional, and far more boring. I couldn’t find even the slightest thing that I thought Flora might report to the governor. At the end of the afternoon, the governor rejoined us. He moved stiffly, like he was too tense for his limbs to function normally. “Well?” he demanded, skipping all pleasantries.

“Nothing more than terrible fashion sense, Grandfather,” Flora said. “I never thought I’d see someone paying calls wearing aesthetic dress.”