Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(43)

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.