When we stepped outside, the view of the city wasn’t nearly as serene as it had been when we arrived. There was a glowing red spot in the distance that had to have been made by either dozens of fires or one huge inferno. Henry glanced over his shoulder at me, a look of dismay on his face. The ride home was as quiet as the ride to the ball had been, but I felt like the quiet had an underlying tension to it.

As we entered the house, Flora said, “I’ll send Jenkins to you in a moment to help you undress, Miss Newton.”

As she swept up the stairs, Henry leaned over and whispered in my ear, “My study, as soon as the maid is gone. Dress for action.” I nodded before following Flora up the stairs.

Although I would have preferred to undress myself, I did need assistance with the many tiny buttons and layers of garments. Miss Jenkins started to undo my hair, but I stopped her. I’d be there all night if she had to find and remove all those pins. “It’s so beautiful, I’d like to keep it this way a little longer,” I said.

“I’ll help you into your nightgown.”

“I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself for bed. I do it every night. You should get to bed. It’s very late.”

“Thank you, miss,” she said. When she was gone, I put on a simple day dress, stuck a hat on my head as well as I could over the elaborate arrangement of curls, and tiptoed to Henry’s study in my stocking feet with my coat over my arm and my boots in my hand.

He must have been listening for me, for he opened the door before I could knock and hustled me inside. He was dressed in sporting clothes, like he wore when he went out in search of bugs. “We should wait until we’re certain the house has settled down for the night,” he whispered.

“We don’t have much time.”

“It’s just past one. I can get us downtown quickly, but we don’t want to make Mrs. Talbot suspicious. I think she’s a spy for the governor.”

“Does he suspect you?”

“I’m not sure. I think—I hope—that he merely put her in place to report on how I’m doing as guardian. The housekeeper who’d worked for Robert suddenly got an excellent position elsewhere, and His Grace was so kind as to send someone who came highly recommended so I wouldn’t have to bother hiring anyone when I had so many other responsibilities.” His sarcastic tone told me how thrilled he’d been about that.

“And you would have looked more suspicious if you’d rejected her.”