He drifted off in the direction of his study, and Mrs. Talbot said, “If you’ve got Flora’s ribbon, I’ll take it.” As I handed over the package, she frowned at me. “You do look fatigued, my dear. I’ll have some tea sent to your room.”

I waited until the tea had arrived and the housemaid had left before I allowed myself to lower my guard and cry again. These tears, though, were more from anger than from heartache. I yanked open the nightstand drawer, grabbed Alec’s handkerchief, and wished I had a fire I could hurl it into. The magically powered central heating offered few opportunities for destruction.

Then I took Lizzie’s notebook and the Mechanics’ insignia from their hiding place. I wished I could destroy those, too, but I had to admit that the Mechanics had opened my eyes. I’d seen the injustices of British rule and the inequities among colonial citizens. I was a better person for having seen all that, and I did still want to fight for freedom. I would merely have to find another way.

*   *   *

On Saturday morning, I took Rollo and Olive for a walk in the park since I had nothing better to do on my free day and didn’t want to be alone. Flora declined, waving Elinor’s latest book as though she planned to spend the day reading it, but she didn’t fool anyone. “Why didn’t Uncle Henry come walking with us?” Olive asked as we entered the park.

“He went out,” Rollo answered. “He said something about finding some beetle before it was gone for the winter. He and his scientist friends went to the country to look for it.”

“Why couldn’t we go to the country?” Olive asked. “We never get to go to the country with Uncle Henry.”

I knew that was because “finding some beetle” probably really meant “committing banditry,” and that was hardly an activity Henry could share with the children.

We reached the area where Alec had whisked me away from danger. It had become a habit for me to notice the spot whenever I was in the park, but now instead of the warm glow the memory once elicited, I felt a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach from the knowledge that it hadn’t been real.

I felt a pressure on my fingers and looked down to find Olive holding my hand. “You look sad, Miss Newton,” she said.

“I’m sorry, Olive, I was merely thinking about something.”

“Something sad?”

“Only a little.”

Rollo, who’d wandered ahead, came running back to us. “Look! Look what’s coming!”

“What is it, Rollo?” I asked.

“Come see!”