“I have no idea. It wasn’t the sort of thing anyone talked about. My parents pretended nothing was the matter, until my mother died and her husband didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I didn’t know until I arrived in the city that what I am isn’t accepted. I never found out what happens to half-breeds, but Mrs. Talbot hinted that it was dire.”

“I think it involves isolation, to make sure the blood isn’t further tainted. And they may be used to provide power for magical objects. Slave labor, essentially.” I gulped in horror, and he gripped my hand tightly. “I hope you can trust that I’ll keep your secret. You keep so many of mine.”

“Isn’t that the ideal relationship between a governess and her employer—each having enough knowledge to thoroughly destroy the other?”

“I think it’s also the ideal foundation for a good friendship,” he said with a laugh. “Think of it as us having a great deal of trust in each other.”

“Oh, what about your roadster?” I asked, remembering one last loose end from the night’s adventure.

“I’ll send Matthews to retrieve it. He’s in on all my secrets. If you ever need help and can’t find me, you can always turn to him, and I’ll let him know he can trust you as well. I suppose all of us have some planning to do—after we get some rest.”

The sky was still dark, but lights were beginning to show here and there in windows as early risers woke, when the airship came in behind the Lyndon house. Since we had left through the kitchen door, the bedroom windows were closed, but Henry and I went down on the ladder together, and he magically opened my window for me and saw me safely inside before the ship moved farther down the building to his room.

The servants had assumed we’d be out late at the ball and let us sleep in, so I managed a short nap before I had to face the day. I was grateful that I’d accepted Mrs. Talbot’s offer to walk Rollo to school in the morning because that allowed me to take my time getting up and dressing. It took me forever to pull all the pins out of my windblown and tangled hair, but eventually I looked like my usual governess self, and I felt safe going downstairs for breakfast.

Henry was already there, and after the way he’d been the night before, I was somewhat disappointed to see him in his familiar guise, with the spectacles on his nose and the vague, absentminded air about him. I liked the real Henry so much better. “Good morning, Lord Henry,” I said cheerfully. “Is there anything interesting in the papers?”