Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(65)

I let out a relieved sigh. “That is good to hear. I was worried that you’d suffered from amateur medical assistance.”

“You did an excellent job. And how could I not feel better when we’re doing so well?” He reached over and took my hand, staring directly into my eyes. “We’ve done it, Verity. How does it feel to know you’ve sparked a revolution?”

“I’ll let you know when it really starts,” I replied.





Chapter Seventeen


In Which

There Is Cause

for Celebration




I’d halfway expected Elinor to cancel our tea because of the controversy surrounding her father, but I’d had no word of a change in plans by the time to depart. I thought I sensed an air of extra tension in the governor’s mansion when we arrived, but it was likely just my imagination at work. The governor himself made no appearance as Flora and I were escorted up to Elinor’s room.

Elinor was in her usual spot, ensconced in her massive canopied bed, a lace bed jacket around her shoulders. “I am so glad you were able to come,” she said when we entered. “I was about to die of boredom. Father’s been such a bear the last few days that even if he had time to spend with me, he’d be far too unpleasant for my delicate constitution.” I had to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling at that, for Elinor was the healthiest-looking invalid I’d ever seen. Henry had mentioned to me that her primary ailment was being sick of society. By taking to her bed, she avoided having to play hostess for her widowed father and all the paying and receiving calls, going to dinner parties, and attending balls that would have entailed. Only the people she really wanted to see were admitted to her sickroom.

“I’d heard that there was some kind of scandal,” I said tentatively. The news was so widely discussed that I thought it would sound more suspicious if I hadn’t heard it.

“Oh, yes. It seems that one of Father’s trusted appointees has betrayed him. He’d hoped to deal with it before word got out, but somehow that story is now everywhere.”

“I don’t know why everyone’s making such a fuss,” Flora said as she took a seat and arranged her skirts around her. “Don’t we expect people in the government to use the money for their own purposes?”

Both Elinor and I turned to stare at her. “My, but that’s a rather cynical view,” Elinor said, echoing my own thoughts.

“Everyone in any position of power is quite wealthy,” Flora said, and I found myself reevaluating whether she might be suited to Colin, after all.

“But that’s because it’s the wealthy and powerful who get appointed to high positions,” Elinor said.

“They all somehow become even more wealthy while doing a job that supposedly doesn’t pay well and that tends to make them neglect their own estates.” Perhaps sensing our surprise at her views, Flora tossed her hair over her shoulder and said defensively, “You make me read. Is it so odd that I would form opinions?”

“Not at all,” Elinor said. “This is exactly why your uncle wants you to be educated. I’m sure he’d be proud of you, and happy to discuss these things.”

“Just don’t tell anyone else. They’ll think I’m a boring bluestocking.”

Thinking of the magisters I’d met in Boston, I had a feeling she would actually fit in quite well in that set. I just wasn’t sure Henry would want his niece mixed up in those activities. “I do hope this hasn’t made things more difficult for the governor,” I said to Elinor.

“There have been calls for his resignation, and he’s worried about the rebel movements gaining traction.”

“And we just came out from under martial law in the city,” I said with a sigh.

“It doesn’t seem as though anyone’s marching on the government buildings yet. If there’s no insurrection, there’s nothing to suppress. But enough talk of politics. What did you think of the book?”

I wasn’t sure this was the intelligence Henry needed, but I couldn’t think of a way to ask for more without sounding like I was seeking information for a specific purpose. Elinor had a knack for giving me just the nuggets of gossip I needed, to the point I sometimes wondered if she knew exactly what I was up to, so I hoped if there was more, she’d find a way to share it.

After we’d had tea and discussed that month’s book to Elinor’s satisfaction, I tried to steer the conversation back to the governor. “Please give your father my regards,” I said. “He was very kind to me on our trip. I hate to think of him in distress.”

“I’m sure he’d be pleased to hear that,” she said. “And I think, more than anything, what’s distressing him is the sense that he’s been betrayed, first by his official, and then by whoever spread the news. In fact, I think he’s more worried about finding who’s responsible for giving that information to the newspapers than he is about dealing with the corruption. Someone seems to have intercepted some correspondence, and he wants that person found.”

I forced myself not to gulp in fear at the knowledge that the missing correspondence was currently in my desk. “I can imagine that,” I said as mildly as I could manage. “It must be terrible to suddenly feel you can’t trust your friends.”