Something he’d been doing at irregular intervals throughout all the nights he’d been here. Ned looked after most things around the property during the day, leaving Blade free in the afternoons to roam the local inns with an eye to picking up any gossip that might be of interest to Tonbridge, such as men forming a citizens’ army intent on wrecking property. Before escorting the ladies to the assembly he’d spent the afternoon in the taproom of the Lamb and Flag, making friends and acting the disaffected soldier without learning anything of use. Nevertheless, he’d been disturbed by how many of his countrymen had expressed similar disaffected feelings, particularly when they discussed the circumstances of the Peterloo massacre and the Six Acts intended to quash any further rebellion. In his opinion, the north was ripe for revolution. All it needed was a leader. Yet he’d learned of nothing specific. Nor was he surprised. While the men might talk to a stranger in general terms, Yorkshiremen were a closed-mouthed lot when it came to naming names or getting a fellow Yorkshireman into trouble with the authorities.
