Word of the Southsea telegraph test reached London before Phillip and Henry even finished their noon meal.
A naval courier had ridden straight from Portsmouth to Whitehall, carrying a slip of paper bearing only a few short lines. The Admiralty passed it to the Home Office. The Home Office forwarded a copy to the Post Office. By the end of the day, half of the civil ministries had read the report, and by morning, the newspapers had picked up rumors.
They did not have the full truth, only fragments. But the fragments were enough to send the entire country buzzing.
"Invisible messages sent by electricity."
"Orders traveling faster than the wind."
"The Navy testing a machine that carries speech through wires."
By the time Phillip returned to Shropshire, the streets outside the foundry were lined with vendors selling broadsheets. One headline shouted, NEW SIGNAL SYSTEM TO CHANGE EMPIRE. Another read, BRITAIN DEVELOPS SECRET NAVY DEVICE?
