I couldn’t motion my head toward the secret passage without getting cut, but the captain understood my meaning. “What’s your name?” he said to Tom.

Tom looked at me. I nodded—carefully. “Tom Bailey.”

“Well, then, Bailey, how about you drop that sword?”

Tom’s grip tightened on the hilt, uncertain. “Let Christopher go.”

The captain considered this. Then he nodded to the man on top of me.

The King’s Man pulled his blade away, though my arms remained squashed under his knees. Tom lowered his sword, and the captain followed suit.

“On the ground,” the captain said. “Kick it to me.”

Tom hesitated, but again I nodded, and he did as commanded. The captain picked up Eternity, surprised at its brilliance.

“Well, now,” he said. “This is going to be interesting.”

The King’s Men hoisted me from the floor. I was quickly stripped of my pistols. They searched me and Tom for more weapons, taking our knives and the assassin’s dagger, then removing my apothecary sash, again with some surprise at what was inside. They didn’t put their hands on Sally, but they ordered her to sit with us, while two of the men kept watch.

The captain—name of Clemens, he said—dumped linens on the fire from the broken lantern. Fortunately, there hadn’t been much oil left, so it smothered quickly, leaving the cellar in a smoky haze. Then he turned to us.

“Tell me what you’re really doing here,” he said.

I rubbed my arms, all prickly with pins and needles. “I’m not allowed.”

“You realize we could just cut you down and dump your bodies in the park?”

I tried to keep the fear off my face. “Lord Ashcombe wouldn’t like that very much. You saw Tom and Sally with him, didn’t you?”

“Don’t mean you’re still in his good graces.”

“Then go speak to him.” My voice softened. “Please. Tell him you found Christopher Rowe doing… whatever it is you think I’m doing. What’s the harm in that?”

He thought about it. “Perkin. Off you go.”

Perkin was the man whose polearm had been chopped into pieces. He was apparently still sour about it, because his answer was surly. “I’m taking orders from children now?”

“No, you’re taking orders from me. But while you’re there, tell the general you don’t like following commands no more. See how fast he cracks your teeth.”

Perkin left. Captain Clemens regarded me curiously but didn’t ask me anything else. Instead, he spoke to Tom. “Bailey, was it? You sure know how to use this sword.”

Tom perked up, pleased. “You mean it?”

“Made short enough work of Perkin’s halberd.”

“Captain Tanner taught me that in Brighton,” Tom said proudly.

Clemens got a faraway look in his eyes. He didn’t say anything, but I could almost read his mind. Tanner was in Brighton with the general. And I’ve seen that technique before.

He turned to Sally. “And you, young miss. You all right? You took a nasty fall there.”

She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”