Page 56 of A Dangerous Engagement

“Forgive me,” he said, stepping back. He kept hold of her, and she held on to him, until she was able to stumble forward and get her feet under her again.

She took the liberty, now that they were not so close, of looking up into his face. His expression was not quite visible in the bit of moonlight shining through the one small window, which was higher than her head. He was staring down at her too. Was he angry at her for coming here when she had agreed to let him take care of it?

“I—I came out here to warn you,” she said quickly. “I heard Lady Blackstone saying that the delivery of arms had arrived. I was afraid they would see you, so I ran out here ... I didn’t want you to get caught.”

“I was stealing the papers from Lady Blackstone’s room.”

“Oh. You got them?” Her heart expanded, and she could not help clasping her hands together and sighing with joy. “That is wonderful.”

“Now I must copy and return them. I was coming out here to sabotage the printing press when I saw you running across the yard. You might as well have been a beacon of light darting across the yard. What if someone had seen you and followed you here?”

“I’m glad it was only you.”

He exhaled rather loudly.

She still couldn’t be sure if he was more angry or relieved. Perhaps it was better she didn’t know. “Now, how do we wreak havoc on this machine?” Felicity was careful not to step backward again. Instead, she turned in place and looked at the large printing press the revolutionaries were using to generate rhetoric intended to deceive and inflame the masses to revolt against the government and do Lady Blackstone’s bidding.

“Be careful,” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Have you ever seen a printing press before?”

“Never. Do you have any idea how it works?”

He leaned over part of it. “I have some idea, but ... it should be simple. I should be able to find some tiny but important part, take it out, and bury it in the ground so they’ll never find it.”

“Sounds reasonable.” She stood back and let him prowl around the machine, examining it. He stepped slowly, probably trying not to make any noise. She heard more voices outside. Apparently a lot of people were getting involved in the unloading of the guns.

“I should try to leave as soon as possible,” Felicity whispered. “To get back to the house while everyone is busy.”

“If someone were to see you ... In the morning, the servants who do the printing work will find that the press is no longer working. If anyone saw you coming from here, they will assume you tampered with it.”

“That is true, of course. And, if someone sees me leaving, they might be curious enough to come here and find you. I suppose we had better both stay where we are until no one is lurking outside who might see us.”

“Yes, that would be safest. Please,” he said, and she imagined that he was looking at her, although she could not see him well enough to know, as he was on the back side of the printing press now. “You may as well make yourself comfortable.”

She found a stool and sat down.

She heard some slight sounds coming from the printing press, metal on metal. Voices could be heard outside, but it was difficult to tell how far away they were. More metallic noises, then a whispered word from Mr.Merrick that she could not make out. He must have been talking to himself.

Many minutes later, she leaned her back against the wall of the building and closed her eyes. Why was she so exhausted? Perhaps because she’d been tense and afraid and fending off the advances of Mr.Ratley for days and slept very little the night before.

“Miss Mayson?”

Felicity jerked awake, lifting herself off the wall and nearly falling off the stool she was sitting on. Mr.Merrick grabbed her arms to steady her.

“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He squatted in front of her.

“I must have fallen asleep.”

“I took out a bolt and used a vise to break it, then put it back in. That will slow them down for a few days at least, and hopefully it will seem as if the bolt broke on its own.”

“That’s very clever.” She stretched her back.

Loud laughter exploded from just outside the wall where Felicity was sitting. She caught her breath with a high-pitched, strangled sound in her throat.

Mr.Merrick pressed two fingers to her lips. He quickly took them away, but her lips tingled strangely, as if she could still feel his touch.

They both stayed perfectly still as people talked and laughed just a few feet away. After a few minutes, the raucous voices moved a little farther away.

“I think I hear Mr.Ratley’s voice,” Mr.Merrick said.