Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(74)

“We’re very good at making noise,” he assured me, grinning in a way that told me plans were already brewing in his head.

“Is there anything else you want from us?” Alec asked. I thought I detected a trace of sarcasm in his voice, but I ignored it.

“Can you teach me to pick locks?” I asked, abruptly coming up with an idea.

“Pick locks?” Alec asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I have a plan for getting the cell open, but I want a backup plan. I know how to pick easy locks—I can open just about any door in a house with a hairpin—but I suspect a cell door might be an entirely different story and would require more specialized tools.”

The other man who’d been sitting silently during this discussion grinned. “I can teach you,” he said in a brogue heavier than Colin’s. “I can’t guarantee you’ll be an expert with one lesson, but if you already know the basics, it could be possible.” He rose from his seat and gestured for me to follow him.

We went down to a basement workroom, where he got out a set of tools and some heavy padlocks. “These should be about the same size as you’ll find in a cell door. They’re a different kind of lock, but the principle is the same.”

I spent the next hour working on my lock-picking skills. Real locks were trickier than the simple latch of a bedroom door. It took me several minutes to do what my teacher managed in seconds, but I thought that if I also used magic, that might help. He gave me the tools I’d need and a padlock to practice on.

By the time I returned home just after lunchtime, I’d fleshed out my plan. Flora met me on the stairs and gave me a pointed look before pulling me into the library. “So?” she demanded.

“I have something arranged for tonight, but I’ll need your help.”

“Anything.”

“We need to pay some calls this afternoon.”

“Pay calls at a time like this? Will we even be admitted?”

“Nothing has made the newspapers, so I don’t know who knows about it. But the brothers of a couple of your friends are part of Henry’s group, and I’ll need their help. If you visit your friends, I’ll have a chance to talk to these men.”

“Then calls it is!” I was impressed with—and a little alarmed by—her enthusiasm.

*

Later that afternoon, we set out, first to Lady Charity’s home. Flora gave me a meaningful glance as she pointedly left me alone in the foyer. Soon afterward, Philip appeared and gestured for me to join him under the stairs. “Is there news of Henry?” he asked.

“He’s being held at the West Battery fort, and they’re planning to transport him to England.” Before he could get indignant, I hurried to add, “But I’ve got a plan to get him out tonight. I’ll need your help. Your whole gang’s help. Do you remember the night you robbed the payroll delivery at the fort?”

“You know about that?”

“I helped. We’ll need a similar getaway. Can you get a boat near there? A fast one? I’m not sure we’ll be able to rely on stealth or even subterfuge. The drunken party gambit won’t work this time.”

“I can arrange something, I’m sure. What time?”

“By four in the morning. That’s when we’re most likely to be able to slip away. You’ll want to be west of the fort. Things are likely to be unpleasant to the east at that time.”

“Unpleasant?”

“Diversion.”

“I was going to suggest that.”

“I have the Mechanics on that. I was worried that if the Masked Bandits were up to something while Henry was escaping, it might tie it all together, and so far, no one seems to be aware of the banditry. All they’re accusing Henry of is organizing a rebel movement.” I laughed at that, realizing how absurd it was that treason on that level was the least of Henry’s crimes.

“I’ll let the others know,” he said, “but only the inner circle I’m sure I can trust. Mostly because we all have too much dirt on each other.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I say, you really are rather extraordinary for a governess. Have you considered banditry?”

“That’s not nearly exciting enough for me,” I said with a smile.

We arranged details for a meeting place, and he said Henry would know the right signals. I returned to my spot in the foyer, and Philip ran up the stairs. Flora and Charity came out of the parlor, and as soon as we were in the carriage, Flora whispered, “Well?”

“Everything is set.”

“I want to help.”

“You have.”

“I want to do more than pay a call.”

“You can cover for me when I go out. I’ll need to leave before dinner.”

“Your sick friend has taken a turn for the worse, and you’re going to sit with her through the night?”

“Of course.”

“What else can I do?”

“Do you have any money—any cash on hand? Or do you know if Lord Henry has any? He’ll need money, and possibly some clothes and other things while he’s on the run.”

“I’ll talk to Matthews. He’ll get the things Henry is likely to need.”

“Is there a way you could arrange to get those to Mr. Spencer or Viscount Hayes?”