Page 64

“Within hours, I should think, unless someone carried it directly rather than by post.”

A chill moved along her arms. “If the men mentioned here believe it⁠—”

“They will know not to gather.”

“It will provoke them into something drastic,” she continued, ignoring the interruption. Men would die. Maybe, at heart, she was a traitor.

The thought had scarcely formed when movement beside the narrow passage that ran between the Black Lion and the adjoining stable caught Judith’s attention. A familiar figure stood half concealed beside the stone wall, apparently fascinated by a collection of empty barrels which could not possibly deserve such study.

Judith narrowed her eyes. “Will Fletcher, if you are intending to hide, you are making a poor show of it.”

The young man looked up sharply.

Baines followed her gaze. “A message for you, mayhap?”

Will glanced towards Baines and plainly reconsidered approaching.

Judith beckoned him over. “You may come out. Major Baines is already aware that I possess a lamentable tendency to involve myself in matters which do not concern him.”

“I should never have described it so,” Baines observed.

Will came forward reluctantly, his gaze moving between them. “Miss Finch, I hoped to catch you alone.”

“That ambition has become remarkably difficult of late.”

Baines looked delighted. “I could leave, although I confess I would only eavesdrop.”

Judith ignored him. Something in Will’s face had stripped the humour from the encounter. “What has happened?”

Will lowered his voice. “There is talk of a strike.”

Judith’s fingers tightened around the basket. “Where?”

“Glasgow, Paisley, several of the manufacturing towns, and word is travelling south. Men are being told to stop work together.”

Baines’ easy expression disappeared so completely that Will noticed it.

“Who is leading them?” he asked.

Will hesitated.

Judith stepped closer. “If you came here to warn me, you may as well finish the warning.”

“There is a committee organizing it. They call themselves the Committee of Organization for Forming a Provisional Government.”

Even Baines appeared momentarily diverted by the name. “One might have thought overthrowing the government to be difficult enough without first establishing a committee.”

Will failed to smile. “They mean it, Major. They are calling for universal male suffrage, annual Parliaments and a Scottish Parliament. Some are saying there will be a republic before it is finished.”

Judith felt the chill return despite the sunlight. “A strike is one thing. A republic is quite another.”

“That is what my brother says, but not everyone sees the difference anymore. Men are angry, miss. Those with no work have little to lose, and those who still have work are being told that if everyone lays down his tools together, the government will have no choice but to listen.”

Baines folded his arms. “What will they do if the government chooses soldiers instead?”

Will looked towards the circular in his hand. “Then this will not help.”

Judith understood at once. The warning about arrests would not merely allow suspected leaders to disappear. It could convince them they had already been discovered and force them to act sooner. “They may move before the government is ready,” she said.