Page 59 of An Enchanting Dare

“It did not!” Felix protested.

“Did too! Papa, you saw it move too, didn’t you?”

Mr Knight cleared his throat. “I… er… I wasn’t actually paying attention,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Oh, Papa!” Emmeline looked like she would stamp her foot in annoyance.

“It’s Evie’s fault,” he retorted. “She’s plotting, and you know that always makes me nervous. How am I supposed to concentrate when she’s plotting?”

“I am not plotting,” Evie said, her expression one of righteous indignation, which was rich as they were plotting a way to get out of the house that night, once everyone had gone to bed.

“Hmmm,” Mr Knight said darkly, before turning his attention back to the game.

“Well, we are going to bed now,” Evie said, as the girls all got to their feet.

Mr Knight looked up again, deeply suspicious now they were retiring early.

Aisling smothered a grin, amused by how nonchalant her friends looked. She doubted it was fooling anyone, let alone Mr Knight. Still, they escaped, making their way up to Evie’s bedroom, where they all huddled on the bed.

“Are you quite sure it’s secluded enough?” Aisling asked for the hundredth time as butterflies danced in clogs around her belly.

“In the middle of the night?” Kathleen said, laughing. “No one is going to be walking around the lake in the middle of the night, Aisling.”

“We will be,” Aisling retorted hotly.

“It will be quite safe,” Evie said, sounding confident that she had planned the whole thing perfectly.

“But it’s awfully close to the village, and it’s rather a long walk in the dark, too,” Aisling said, wishing she’d pulled any other dare out of the hat than the one she had. Swimming naked by moonlight had to be the most idiotic dare she’d ever heard of. If she ever found out which Daring Daughter had written it, she would… well, she didn’t know what, but honestly. She felt sick.

“It’s not dark at all. There’s a huge full moon out there. It’s almost daylight,” Rosamund said, peering out behind the bedroom curtains.

“Excellent, so any peeping Tom will be able to get a good look,” Aisling muttered, folding her arms with a huff.

“Oh, stop looking so Friday faced,” Kathleen scolded her. “We’ll keep a sharp lookout. It will be fun. We’ve all hidden food, so we can have a midnight picnic too. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Excellent. You can come swimming with me,” Aisling said smugly.

Kathleen snorted and shook her head. “Not on your life. It’s not my dare.”

“Haven’t you taken one yet, Kathy?” Rosamund asked her.

Kathleen shook her head. “No. Neither has Evie.”

Evie blanched, glaring at Kathleen for bringing it up.

“Well, I think you three need to,” Aisling said, folding her arms. “I don’t see why I should suffer alone.”

“What a pity we don’t have the hat,” Evie remarked with a heavy sigh, not looking remotely sorry.

“Well, perhaps I should write to Cat and tell her to send it down here.” Aisling smirked at her, determined that they should suffer if she had to.

“Oh, no!” Evie looked so aghast at the idea Aisling relented.

“Well, you must all take one soon,” she said with a huff.

Kathleen snorted and flopped back against the pillows. “I’d take three if it would mean I could avoid the season. It’s going to be ghastly. I just know it is.”

“Why?” Rosamund asked, looking indignant. “You’ve got us to keep you company. If we all must suffer through it, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.”