Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(54)

“No, no plans today. I have meetings. Miss Newton, I would appreciate it if you kept the children quiet and out of the way. We’ll have luncheon served for all three in the schoolroom, as I have guests coming.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” I said with a nod.

He looked rather grave, and that made me curious as to what his meeting was about. Rebel activity didn’t seem to be very high here, so there must have been other governmental concerns.

I didn’t relish being trapped in the schoolroom with all three children all day. Fortunately, Flora remained in her room, and although I checked in on her to suggest that she read a book, I didn’t try to make her do anything too much like work. It was challenging enough keeping the other two occupied. Rollo had his assignments from school, and I had my planned lessons with Olive, but our days were usually broken up by art and music lessons or walks.

By lunchtime, they had already completed everything I had planned for the day, and only an afternoon rainstorm kept them from demanding to go outside. I couldn’t even supervise piano practice, since the governor had asked us to be quiet. I set them to drawing the view from the window while I headed down to the house’s well-stocked library to find a book to read aloud that would entertain both of them.

Unfortunately, the library was very short on novels, focusing primarily on local history. I finally settled upon a book of biographies, thinking that there might at least be some interesting personages to discuss with the children. As I was well aware, real life could be as exciting as any novel.

I was making my way toward the stairs when I heard raised voices. After making sure no servants were nearby, I tiptoed closer to the room the governor was using as a study and strained to make out what the voices were saying.

“How did it get this bad?” the governor boomed.

The other person spoke more softly, so I had to move even closer to hear what he said, and I still only caught the occasional word. “…oversight. We caught the discrepancies, but…more widespread than we realized.”

I held my breath. This sounded like something that might be useful to our cause. “In every colony?” the governor shouted, accompanied by a pounding sound, as though of fists on a desk.

“It appears so, Your Grace.”

“How did this happen?”

“We’ve conducted a thorough investigation.”

“And?”

“We still aren’t sure.”

“The money?”

“Unsure. But the treasury is dangerously close to empty. You’ll have to raise taxes, I’m afraid.”

“We already have magisters joining the revolt. We don’t dare do that. Who else knows about this?”

“No one, Your Grace.”

“Keep it that way. I may be able to secure a loan. I’ll write to a few people I can trust, and perhaps we can get the funds back with more investigation.”

It sounded like the meeting was wrapping up, so I didn’t dare linger outside the door, even though I was dying to learn more. I hurried up the stairs to make sure I was out of sight before either man left the study.

Now I really needed to talk to Henry. I had a feeling I had just what we needed to spur even the least ardent revolutionaries into action.





Chapter Fourteen


In Which

My Fortitude Is Tested




I was so anxious that if I hadn’t managed to find Henry before I went to bed, I might have resorted to sliding a note under his door, even if that would have been quite scandalous if someone else saw it. Once the children were in bed and all the governor’s guests were gone, I played the spinet in the schoolroom, hoping that would catch Henry’s attention. I knew he played when he needed to think, so surely he would pick up on the clue.

He did come into the room, still dressed for dinner. “Did you find any good specimens today, Lord Henry?” I asked as I played a Bach étude.

“Yes, I did. Some of them are absolutely horrifying. You wouldn’t believe the size of the bugs here. I’ll have to plan another visit in warmer weather. And how was your day? I know we asked quite a lot of you.”

“The children got restless, but I believe I managed to keep them occupied.”

He came over to the piano and leaned against it. Still playing so that the music might mask our discussion, I lowered my voice and said, “I overheard something interesting today.” As quickly and as softly as I could, I told him about the conversation in the governor’s study.

His eyes widening, he sank onto the piano bench next to me. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice barely above a breath.

“No,” I admitted. “I was missing the context entirely, and I didn’t hear everything that was said. I missed the beginning of the conversation, and I don’t know who was meeting with the governor. But the part I did hear sounded suspicious.”

“If there’s been some kind of corruption or mismanagement, that might be enough to spur the reluctant revolutionaries to take action. An empty treasury and higher taxes because of this is good reason for revolution.”

“Or is the treasury empty because someone has been robbing the government?” I asked with a smile.

“Well, if they want to keep their money, they should do a better job of guarding it, so it’s still mismanagement. The difficulty will be proving this. I can’t just tell people what my governess overheard. I need evidence.”