Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(59)

With Henry out of commission, I had sole charge of the children, which made it difficult to check on Henry or learn what the governor was doing. Up in the schoolroom, I couldn’t hear any explosive outbursts that would indicate that the governor had learned the letter had been stolen. The morning seemed very normal, and I had to play chaperone that afternoon, as Flora received callers welcoming the governor’s family to Charleston.

Just before dinner was served in the schoolroom, Olive insisted on checking on her uncle and presenting him with a drawing she’d made for him, and I didn’t protest at all. Although we wouldn’t be able to speak freely, I could at least check on his condition.

We found him drowsing, propped up on pillows. He was pale and had dark hollows under his eyes, but I thought he looked somewhat better than he had the night before. I let Olive be the one to approach the bed while I hung back by the door. “I made you this picture to make you feel better,” she announced, handing him the drawing.

He took it from her with his good hand. “Why, thank you, Olive, this does make me feel much better. I’ll put it on my nightstand so I can see it.” His voice sounded rough and shaky, but I couldn’t tell if that was genuine or if he was feigning illness to disguise his true condition.

“You look terrible,” Olive declared. “Miss Newton, do you think he needs to see a doctor?”

It was a good excuse for me to check on him. I stepped forward and placed a hand on his forehead. I barely stifled a sigh of relief when I found it neither too warm nor too cold. “He doesn’t appear to be feverish, so likely all he needs is some rest,” I declared. “And we should leave him to it.”

“Thank you for your visit, Olive,” he said. “And Miss Newton? I know you have quite the collection of light reading material. Would you mind lending me a novel?”

“I would be happy to. I’ll bring you a selection after dinner.”

I ushered Olive out with a glance over my shoulder at him. He flashed me a slight smile before closing his eyes.

Reassured by the visit to her uncle, Olive was in better spirits during dinner, back to arguing with her brother. It took me a little longer than I would have liked to get both of them into their rooms for the night, but finally I was free to get a selection of pulp novels to take to Henry.

I left the door open as I visited him, for propriety’s sake, so we had to keep our voices low as we spoke, interspersing more normal conversation in case anyone passed by. I started by presenting the books to him. “I’ve finished all of these, and you should like them. They’re entertaining, but not very demanding of the intellect.”

While he made a show of examining the books, I whispered, “I can’t tell that the governor knows about the letter yet. If he does, he’s taken the news rather well.”

“I doubt he does know.”

“How do you mean?”

“Didn’t I tell you last night? Oh, I probably didn’t. It’s all rather a haze, I’m afraid. I didn’t rob the courier who came to the house. I robbed the man he handed it over to, who added it to a satchel with a larger number of items. I took the satchel and managed to get the piece I wanted before he took the satchel back from me.” He gave a rueful wince. “That’s how I got shot—I was letting him get the satchel back. I’d have been free and clear if I’d just taken the whole thing. But with any luck, it could be days or even weeks before anyone realizes that one letter went missing. The governor will first assume that his friend is ignoring his request. It’s such an awkward thing that he may hesitate to follow up, for fear that his friend is letting him down gently by merely not responding.”

I thought I heard footsteps coming down the hall, so I said out loud, “That one was my favorite, but I’m not sure it would be quite to your taste. You might enjoy this one more. It’s more diverting.”

“Right now, anything other than this wallpaper would be more diverting,” Henry replied hoarsely with a weak laugh. It might have been my imagination, but I thought the footsteps paused briefly outside the door before moving on.

When I could no longer hear any sound outside, I whispered, “That was insane!”

“And rather brilliant, you must admit.”

“You could have been killed, and then where would we be?”

“His aim was a bit better than I expected. I was hoping he’d merely wing me. And you don’t have to worry about anyone thinking to search for the letter that no one knows is even missing. I just wish we could get back to New York right away and get this news out.”

“You’d better hope you have at least another day to recover before you’re forced to spend an entire day with the governor.”

“If I’m still ill, I can stay in my cabin for the voyage.”

I stood. “I hope you enjoy those books. I don’t have any others with me, so you’ll have to make them last the rest of the trip. Get well soon.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Newton.”

I forced myself not to look back over my shoulder at him as I left his room and closed the door behind me. Once I was alone in my room, I sank onto my bed and buried my face in my hands, allowing myself to shed a few tears. He’d taken such a horrible risk, and I was amazed that he’d actually planned it, putting himself on the line to help keep our efforts as secret as possible. He seemed to be doing well now, but I had the strongest suspicion that if a revolution did, in fact, occur, Henry Lyndon was unlikely to survive it.