was only just beginning.
“It’s a real shame the machines disappeared, though,” he continued. “I never did get to see a steam engine up close.”
I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from smiling. He would envy me if he knew how well-acquainted I was with steam engines.
“Uncle Henry will be pleased that I made the top score on my math exam. Hey, maybe he should tell Grandfather I need to tour an airship as a reward.”
“That sounds perfectly reasonable to me,” I said. “I will suggest it. But how is your writing coming along?”
He kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. “Maybe not as good. But I’m getting better. The teacher said I’m almost achieving coherence.”
I had to laugh. Rollo wrote the way he talked, in a rush of enthusiasm, jumping from one topic to the next. We’d been working on organizing his thoughts in written communication, and I’d made him practice his penmanship. “It’s good to hear my efforts are yielding some fruit.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re with us, Miss Newton.”
He didn’t seem to have realized how much he’d touched me, but my eyes stung slightly, and I felt a lump in my throat. I wasn’t entirely sure I was qualified for the job I had. I felt like I’d bluffed my way into it. I had the knowledge, but no real experience in this kind of work, and Henry had mostly hired me because I’d challenged him during a train robbery and he wanted to keep an eye on me as a witness to his crime. So it was good to hear that I was accomplishing something aside from espionage.
When we reached the mansion, I could hear Olive carefully picking out scales on the piano. Although she was an accomplished student, she was an indifferent musician who saw it as a chore, while her sister was an accomplished musician and an indifferent student. “It sounds like I have a few minutes until I must serve my time,” Rollo said with a sigh. Henry forced him to learn piano, as well, and only managed to get him to tolerate it by telling him that music was essentially mathematics.
“Go in and do your homework while you wait your turn,” I said, nudging him toward the family parlor where the piano was. With the children occupied with art and music lessons, I sought out Henry. He should have been back by now.
I nearly ran into him on the stairs. “How did it go?” I asked.
“He wasn’t nearly as shocked as I would have liked. I suspect he sees it as a way to observe me up close.”
“So we’re going?”
“We leave next Monday. I’ll tell the children at dinner.”
I started to continue up the stairs to my room, but turned back. “Oh, I almost forgot. It sounds like someone at Rollo’s school reads the World . He mentioned information he heard at school that was only printed there. You could try talking to him about his friends. There might be someone sympathetic within the school.”
“His friend’s parents need to have a talk with their son. It could be quite dangerous to let something like that slip at that school. The majority there are loyal royalists. If any other boy at the school brought home that story, there could be trouble. It might even be considered sedition.”
“When you say things like that, it makes me want this revolution even more,” I said with a shudder. “To think that merely saying something unpopular could cause real trouble.”
“That’s the way it’s always been. We may seem to have privilege, and we certainly do, but we’re watched more carefully than the fellows downtown. They can preach revolution in the taverns without catching much notice, but if I tried that sort of thing in the drawing rooms of the magister set, I’d find myself in prison. Do your Mechanic friends realize that I’m taking a bigger risk than they are?”
“That’s why we’re changing things. Our new country won’t be that way, will it?”
“I think that most of the people who might side with us feel the same way.”
*
From the preparations required for
“It’s a real shame the machines disappeared, though,” he continued. “I never did get to see a steam engine up close.”
I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from smiling. He would envy me if he knew how well-acquainted I was with steam engines.
“Uncle Henry will be pleased that I made the top score on my math exam. Hey, maybe he should tell Grandfather I need to tour an airship as a reward.”
“That sounds perfectly reasonable to me,” I said. “I will suggest it. But how is your writing coming along?”
He kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. “Maybe not as good. But I’m getting better. The teacher said I’m almost achieving coherence.”
I had to laugh. Rollo wrote the way he talked, in a rush of enthusiasm, jumping from one topic to the next. We’d been working on organizing his thoughts in written communication, and I’d made him practice his penmanship. “It’s good to hear my efforts are yielding some fruit.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re with us, Miss Newton.”
He didn’t seem to have realized how much he’d touched me, but my eyes stung slightly, and I felt a lump in my throat. I wasn’t entirely sure I was qualified for the job I had. I felt like I’d bluffed my way into it. I had the knowledge, but no real experience in this kind of work, and Henry had mostly hired me because I’d challenged him during a train robbery and he wanted to keep an eye on me as a witness to his crime. So it was good to hear that I was accomplishing something aside from espionage.
When we reached the mansion, I could hear Olive carefully picking out scales on the piano. Although she was an accomplished student, she was an indifferent musician who saw it as a chore, while her sister was an accomplished musician and an indifferent student. “It sounds like I have a few minutes until I must serve my time,” Rollo said with a sigh. Henry forced him to learn piano, as well, and only managed to get him to tolerate it by telling him that music was essentially mathematics.
“Go in and do your homework while you wait your turn,” I said, nudging him toward the family parlor where the piano was. With the children occupied with art and music lessons, I sought out Henry. He should have been back by now.
I nearly ran into him on the stairs. “How did it go?” I asked.
“He wasn’t nearly as shocked as I would have liked. I suspect he sees it as a way to observe me up close.”
“So we’re going?”
“We leave next Monday. I’ll tell the children at dinner.”
I started to continue up the stairs to my room, but turned back. “Oh, I almost forgot. It sounds like someone at Rollo’s school reads the World . He mentioned information he heard at school that was only printed there. You could try talking to him about his friends. There might be someone sympathetic within the school.”
“His friend’s parents need to have a talk with their son. It could be quite dangerous to let something like that slip at that school. The majority there are loyal royalists. If any other boy at the school brought home that story, there could be trouble. It might even be considered sedition.”
“When you say things like that, it makes me want this revolution even more,” I said with a shudder. “To think that merely saying something unpopular could cause real trouble.”
“That’s the way it’s always been. We may seem to have privilege, and we certainly do, but we’re watched more carefully than the fellows downtown. They can preach revolution in the taverns without catching much notice, but if I tried that sort of thing in the drawing rooms of the magister set, I’d find myself in prison. Do your Mechanic friends realize that I’m taking a bigger risk than they are?”
“That’s why we’re changing things. Our new country won’t be that way, will it?”
“I think that most of the people who might side with us feel the same way.”
*
From the preparations required for
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