Page 60 of Evie and Louis: The Story so Far

“Assuming we live long enough to remember it always,” he added with a wry smile.

“Such a pessimist,” she chided him.

“Ah well, if I must die, I should like it to be with a beautiful woman held in my arms,” he murmured, his voice low and wicked.

“Louis!” she exclaimed, surprised, and a bit scandalised, even though she knew he was only teasing her, the wretch. “Hush. If Mr Green hears, he will get entirely the wrong impression.”

“Will he?” he asked with a sigh. “Forgive me. It must be these dizzying heights making me misbehave.”

Mr Demarteau turned and regarded them. Something in the way he looked at her, held in his brother’s arms, made her blush and realise the dreadful impropriety of the situation. Louis was her friend, though, and she was no fool. She knew the embrace meant nothing to him. It was not as if he would ever glance twice at her in that light when he had women who truly were beautiful throwing themselves at him from all sides, but others would not understand their friendship. Surely he had explained it to his brother, though, so why did he look at her in that odd way? Suddenly embarrassed, Evie straightened and went to move away, despite the cold, but Louis held tight, refusing to relinquish his hold on her.

“Non, stay. Nic won’t tattle, and you’re cold. I’ll be good, I promise.”

She heard the sincerity in his voice and subsided. He was deliciously warm, after all, and it was freezing.

They floated in silence for some time, and little by little Evie found herself once more relaxed in his arms, and far more at home there than she ought to be. She knew she must not get used to such things.

“I don’t want to return to earth.”

Evie bit her lip, wondering where that observation had come from, but her worries about the future seemed far away up here, the decisions she must make of less moment, when set against the surrounding vastness.

“I can understand the impulse. Here we hang suspended between heaven and hell and reality is far away. Is the future so daunting, love?”

Louis’ voice was full of understanding, and Evie nodded, grateful that he knew her so well, that she need not explain.

“Yes,” she said simply. “It is.”

22nd April 1841, Peregrine House, Grosvenor Square, London.

“My word, what a day!” Evie flopped back against the pillows of her bed as Vivien settled beside her. “I thought Mama would never stop crying and hugging me. The poor dear was frightened witless.”

Viv nodded. “Not only your mama,” she observed, for Mr Knight had obviously been beside himself, no matter how manfully he’d tried to moderate his display of relief so as not to overset Evie entirely.

“Still, they were endlessly grateful to Monsieur le Comte and Mr Demarteau for their bravery and quick thinking, which is wonderful.”

“You mean so your father doesn’t fret so much about your friendship with the handsome comte?” Vivien said.

“Yes,” Evie replied with a shrug. “It’s pointless him worrying when there’s nothing to worry about. Perhaps now, after our adventures and Louis bringing me home safely, he’ll realise that.”

Viv decided she was too tired to argue the point. Clearly Evie did not believe there was anything to worry about, but she was an intelligent girl. She’d figure out eventually why her father fretted so. Viv had sent word to her parents that she was well and in the Knights’ care after a slight mishap, and not to worry. They would not yet know about her adventures ballooning, but they would have been worried when the hour had grown late, and August had not returned her. There would be time enough to recount her astonishing day tomorrow, but now she was weary to her bones.

It was very late, for it had taken far longer to return home in a carriage than the distance they had travelled in the balloon. Thankfully, their landing had been smooth, but it had taken time also to arrange transport.

“Well, you certainly completed your dare in style,” Evie observed.

Vivien snorted. “Unintentionally. Though I’ll fight anyone who says it doesn’t count, for I’m not going through that ordeal again.” She stretched and smothered a yawn, making herself more comfortable.

“It was exciting, though,” Evie said. “Strange, really. I truly don’t like the idea of adventures and that kind of excitement one little bit. It always frightens me so. Yet I shouldn’t have missed today for the world.”

“You are a conundrum, Evie Knight.”

Evie nodded, her expression thoughtful. “I know,” she admitted.

Vivien closed her eyes with a sigh. “I feel like I’ve been dreaming, but I don’t want to wake up.”

“Yes. That’s how I felt when we were up there. Like it wasn’t at all real, just a fanciful dream.”

Evie’s voice was pensive. Vivien smiled.