The next night, just before midnight, Ash once again crept up to Nora’s attic, knocking softly on the door. “Nora?” He didn’t say his name. There was no need.
“Yes,” she said from her side.
He slid the bolt and opened the door, leaning in. “May I come in?”
“You’re being rather formal, aren’t you?” Nora smiled at him.
“Well, one shouldn’t throw off all the rules of courtesy just because the situation is uncivilized. It is polite to ask to enter a lady’s room.”
“You may enter,” she said, clearly amused.
He did. “I had a quiet day. Edmund was out and about—mostly because I tried to ask him some questions at breakfast, I think. And that Mrs Kingfisher has been gone all day, again.”
“She traveled to Worthing,” Nora said. “I saw her leave in the open carriage. I can see all the traffic on the road from the north window. Edmund rode out too, probably to join her.”
“She goes to town frequently?”
“Yes. I’m surprised she tolerates this house at all. She obviously prefers the city to the country. But a mistress must make concessions, I suppose.”
“You disapprove of her?” Ash asked.
Nora said, “I know I’m supposed to be appalled at the notion just on moral principle, but I confess I’m not. Mr Kingfisher would have an opinion, I imagine, but she’s been here for months, and her husband hasn’t come looking for her. So who am I to judge?”
“Very open-minded of you,” Ash said. “Well, let’s get on to a better topic. You said you would demonstrate how to do the actual messaging tonight.”
“Yes.” She held up a lantern and some colored glass panels, then put them into a sack. “Midnight is usually when we test, so this will be a good time to show you—the conditions will be the same. Come along up.”
“Come along up where?” Ash asked. “We’re already on the top floor.”
Nora pointed to the window. “Though there. We have to go out onto the roof.”
“Is that necessary?”
She looked at him curiously. “Are you afraid of heights?”
Ash grimaced. “No, I’m afraid of falling from them.”
“Just follow my lead. I’ve never had a problem.”
“Something tells me you’ve had more practice at this than I.” Ash took a deep breath, even as he felt his skin crawl. But he could do this. If Nora could run about on rooftops, so could he. He hoped.
He made it though the window and onto a narrow ledge. “Oh, Christ.”
“Don’t look down!” Nora said, from ahead of him.
“Too late,” Ash muttered.
Nora scrambled over the sloping surface, moving with perfect confidence, despite having the sack slung across her shoulder. Ash was wildly jealous.
She looked back. “It would be best if you did exactly as I do. See where I put my hands and feet. Not all the tiles can be trusted.”
“Can any of them be trusted?” he asked. But when she resumed her ascent, he followed along, heeding her advice.
A few moments later, she brought them to the edge of the roof, where the various wings of the house parted. Beyond the gap, there was a small flat space that covered a peak above some part of the house.
“We’re above the servants’ quarters,” Nora explained. “The servants rarely go to bed before one in the morning, and when they do finally reach their beds, they sleep soundly.
“We’re going over there, that flat part. Just a little jump to get over,” she said.
“Jump? You said nothing about a jump.”
She offered her hand to him. “We’ll go together. It’s easy.”
He almost took it, then shook his head. “If I fall, I’ll just drag you down with me. You go first.”
She did, then turned back. She was only about five feet away, yet it felt like she was in another world.
“Your turn.”
He took a breath. Then another. And another.
“You really should jump over tonight,” Nora said then.
Ash stepped back. “Don’t do that! It breaks my concentration.”
“You don’t need to concentrate. You need to jump. Now.”
“Give me a moment.”
“You’ve had a moment! Jump,” she needled him. “It’s hardly more than a step. I did it, so can you.” She reached her hand out to him once more. “Take hold. There, and…”
He jumped. A little jump, true. But it was nonetheless a jump over dead, empty, black night.
“Well,” he said after a few seconds of blank-minded shock at what he’d just done, “that was the first time in a long time I’ve felt any urge to pray.”
“We’re quite safe up here,” Nora said.
Ash threw her a skeptical look. “Compared to what?”
“Compared to being in Edmund’s presence, for instance,” Nora retorted. “Now, if you’re done assessing the state of your soul, I can show you what you’ve come here for.”
Nora motioned for him to stand facing the coastline. She stood beside him, pulling the lantern and other items from the bag she’d slung over her back.
She lit the candle, but then shuttered the lantern quickly so no light escaped.
“Always start from dark, from nothing,” she said. “That way, the receiver of the signal won’t be confused by extraneous light. Now, according to my system, the signaler begins any message with two long green flashes. That means I’m about to send.”
“Like that over there?” Ash asked.
He pointed all the way over the beach, to where the lighthouse stood. A flash of green just caught his eye.
“What?” Nora frowned. “No one is supposed to be there! We’re not scheduled to test tonight!”
“Someone is there all the same. Edmund? Could he have mistaken the night?”
“No. He would have told me. Should I—”
At sea, there was a triple flash of green.
“Do you see that?” Nora prodded him hard in the side.
“Ow, yes.” Ash caught her hand in his and held it. “No need to jab me.”
“I got excited,” Nora said. “That was the sign that the receiver is ready to watch for the message! They’re not signaling to Grasmere House, they’re signaling to a ship! Now keep looking.”
He saw flash after flash. There were subtle differences, but in truth, he couldn’t quite describe what all the variations were.
“Is this a test?” he murmured.
“Hush,” Nora said, her gaze fixed on the distant point.
“It’s light, not sound…”
“I’m concentrating,” she whispered.
Ash fell silent. He could do nothing but wait. He had only passing knowledge of Nora’s system, so he couldn’t be confident that he was even noting each flash pattern correctly. The ones using colored glass were the easiest to discern. One flash was decipherable: red light in the top of the rectangle. A brief feeling of accomplishment faded when he saw another flash, this one different. He began to see what Nora was talking about when she discussed the shortcomings of the process. The patterns needed to be studied and memorized if someone wanted to work at any speed to send a message. And receiving a message meant that a person needed to write down the message painstakingly, letter by letter.
It occurred to him then that Nora wasn’t writing anything down. Of course, they hadn’t expected to see a transmission. This was a happy accident. However, Nora’s intense focus suggested she was mentally recording each flash.
So he watched her, captured by her expression. Her mouth had fallen open a little, and her eyes were wide, so as not to miss a thing. The wind from the sea whipped her hair loose from its binds, sending it in tendrils across her face. She blinked rapidly, tugging it away from her eyes.
Well, he could be a little helpful, at least.
He stepped behind her and reached up, gathering her hair up in his hands, catching the loose strands and tucking them into her braid.
Nora stiffened for a moment, then understood what he was doing. She returned her full attention to the lights, leaving him to hold her hair from her face and wait patiently until the messaging concluded.
Quite naturally, Ash stepped closer to her and put his free arm about her waist. He had no tactical reason for that. He simply liked to be near her.
The flashes continued for several minutes, not that Ash was complaining. It seemed Nora was correct about needing to speed up the process. It was one thing to watch the display on a fine summer night—especially with such a lovely companion—but it would be another matter to do this sort of work in rainy or freezing weather.
Finally, the flashes stopped. Nora didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, as if waking up from slumber.
“Interesting,” she commented, her voice distant.
Ash was just about to ask what the message had been when he caught another flash, this time out at sea again.
“Nora,” he said, in warning.
“I see it.”
They watched again, but this time the message was far shorter. Within a few minutes, all was blackness out on the ocean.
“Who was out there?” Nora asked, clearly bewildered.
“This isn’t typical?”
“No! There’s never been a ship involved. It’s always been Edmund at the lighthouse and me here at the main house. No one outside this house even knows about it. That was his whole point.” She sounded frustrated, even angry.
Ash pulled her a little closer, releasing her hair as he slid his hand down her back, hoping to soothe her. “There must be an explanation. Why would he bring someone else in? Were you discussing the role of a ship, maybe? Did you need to field test the lights onboard?”
Nora shook her head, her hair tickling his skin. “I mentioned it once in passing, but Edmund didn’t ever say he wanted to perform a test like this one. It’s too early, anyway! We’re still working out the wrinkles in the code.”
“Speaking of that, what was the message? Remember I’m not fluent.”
“It’s another odd one.”
“Odd? What do you usually use?”
“I started out with quotations from Shakespeare, lines of poetry, simple sayings—Brevity is the soul of wit, that sort of thing. Phrases we didn’t have to think about too much. Then, several weeks ago, Edmund started telling me to use other phrases, just random words together. He said he didn’t want us to rely on guessing the next word, which in all honesty is probably the most intelligent observation he’s brought to the process.”
“So what was this message?”
“The one sent out was SHIP GO EMPTY BIRD STAY TWO MISS ONE.” Nora sounded puzzled, quite understandably.
“You read all those flashes and remembered each letter, and you don’t even have to look?”
Nora stiffened for a moment, but then said, “I’ve had practice.”
“I’m still impressed.”
“Oh…thank you.”
“What was the reply?”
“Just RECEIVED, ALLY. They may have misspelled that last word. It looked like ALLE.”
“Who does Edmund know with a boat?”
“That was a ship,” Nora corrected. “Did you see how high above the waterline that flash came from? This wasn’t a local fishing boat. It was a larger vessel.”
“And you say he doesn’t usually conduct tests without you.”
“Never. I’m better at it, and he lacks patience. You saw how long that took. He’s probably riding off to the nearest public house for a drink. Or a game of cards.” Nora spun so she was facing him. “What if he suspects? Is that why he didn’t tell me? What if he’s guessed we met, and he just wants to be sure he doesn’t need me for further work—”
“Nora,” Ash said, putting his hand on her shoulders, “Calm down. I’m certain no one in Grasmere House knows that we’ve met. Well, Crewe knows. My valet.”
“You told your valet?”
“He’s with me,” Ash explained. “And besides, I had to tell him where the dressing robe had gone.”
Nora’s eyes widened in disbelief for a moment. “Are you joking? You exposed me over the whereabouts of a robe?”
“Crewe takes his job very seriously.” Ash saw that she still looked stunned. “Nora, I trust him.”
“I don’t,” she muttered. “He could turn on you or me at any moment. All it would take is a few words.”
“You’ve got to have more faith in people.”
“Why should I?” she asked bluntly. “People are interested in their own advancement more than anything else. You should know that. You’re here out of self-interest too, aren’t you? You’re just carrying out an order.”
“I prefer to think of it as doing a favor for someone.”
“You’re a very odd spy.”
“Am I? How many have you met?”
“None that I know of,” she admitted.
Ash looked her in the eye. “Nora, you’ve been treated badly. But not everyone is like Edmund Morrison, and you are not alone. I’ll do everything I can to help you get your life back.”
“Why? What’s in it for you?”
“Occasionally I do the right thing. If only to confuse people.”
Nora smiled a little, and that was worth it. Then she glanced around. “We should go in. You’ve seen what you need to. Much more than I expected, actually.”
Ash had been avoiding thinking about the descent. “I don’t suppose there’s another way down?”
“Well, there’s the quick way,” Nora said, gesturing meaningfully to the edge, “but you can only use it once.”
Ash shuddered at the thought. “No, thank you.”
“Follow me. Do what I do and you’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Give me a moment,” he said, staring at the distant ground with trepidation.
Nora said, “Or you could stay for a while. It’s actually quite lovely up here.”
“You must be mad if you consider this lovely weather.”
Her expression shuttered. “I get over-exuberant when I’m out of doors.”
“Wait,” Ash said. “Forgive me. It was just an expression. You’re obviously not mad. You’re intelligent and observant, if a little eccentric in your habits. Which is charming, by the way.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “You’re just saying that because you need help getting down off the roof.”
“I’m saying it because you are charming.” Ash drew her closer. “And if you want to stay up here, I’ll see that you’re not bored.”
“Is this how you cover up your fear of heights?”
“Is it working?” he asked.
“No,” said Nora. “I think you’re desperate to hold on to anything…including me. Now follow. I’ll see you get down alive.”