If someone had told me when I left New Haven that I would become a rebel spy, I would have found the idea preposterous. But it had come about in such small steps—accepting the ride, helping Nat, being rescued by Alec, becoming friends with Lizzie, going to the rebel party, escaping from the police, writing the article, and now reporting what I’d heard from the governor. Each step had seemed so easy and had led to the next, larger step. That was the way my pastor said sin worked, but I didn’t think this was a sin. It couldn’t be wrong to protect people I cared about.

“I’m not spying, not really,” I whispered, but whether I was talking to myself or to Alec, I wasn’t sure.

He grasped my hand and placed his other hand on top of it. “Verity, listen to me,” he said. “I would never ask you to do anything dangerous, but your position gives you access to important people, and that means you may overhear things that could help us or keep us out of trouble. You haven’t been sworn to secrecy, have you?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Then it’s their fault if they talk in front of you as though you weren’t there.”

I nodded, feeling increasingly aware of his hands clasping mine. He stood and pulled me to my feet. “And now, I believe you are a governess with a free hour. Shall we take a stroll in the park? We can discuss my plans for a steam-powered brick-throwing machine. I would hate to disappoint the governor.” He tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow, and we set off down the park path, laughing as we came up with ideas for silly machines he could invent. By the time I returned home, I’d nearly forgotten that I’d unwittingly become a rebel spy.

The next afternoon, Mr. Chastain, the butler, brought me a letter that had come in the post. It was from Lizzie. She made no reference to the information I’d given Alec or the fact that I hadn’t written an article about the governor’s lavish lifestyle. She merely invited me to come along on an outing the Mechanics were planning that Sunday and to spend Saturday night with her so we could get an early start. They were going to use the steam engine to take poor children from the slums to the park on the Battery for a picnic and a demonstration of some machines.

That was the day and place the general had planned to begin the show of military force.

In Which I Attempt Persuasion

IN WHICH I ATTEMPT PERSUASION