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“Yes.” She dragged out the word. “However, it’s asking much, and I’ve not gone that far before.”
Lord Randolph frowned. “From all I’ve heard of your reputation, a little thing like this won’t dissuade you. So, will you?”
The breath left her lungs. Of course she could try for that distance, but there was something these two weren’t telling her. “Why are you so adamant that I make this flight?”
Benedict responded first. “Friendly competition. Even you can’t deny you’d adore showing Mr. Davies up in a public venue. Thereby, a win from you will bring revenge for us both.”
“And?” That simply wasn’t enough motivation.
“I’ll have Lord Randolph use leverage to make Mr. Davies print a retraction for every article he’s cut you to ribbons in.” The gleam in his eyes, now more green than brown, was intense and had the ability to steal her breath.
“Ah, well that changes things, doesn’t it?” Anne smiled. “Yes, to all of it, but I want Mr. Davies to print an apology, as well as admit publicly he was wrong about me, and that he acknowledges my skill and talent.” For long moments she sipped her tea as she bounced her gaze between the two men. “May I make my own flight plan?”
Benedict exchanged a glance with his friend. “Of course.”
“How about circling the fairgrounds?” Excitement echoed in her voice. Did it show on her face? “I doubt that little prick Mr. Davies has gone that distance for all his bragging. If he had, it would have been recorded as public record.”
“Uh…” Lord Randolph looked at Benedict with a raised eyebrow.
Anne frowned. “What aren’t you telling me?” What was so bloody secretive? Did they think her too weak or silly to handle a competitive distance race?
“Unfortunately, there’s more.” Benedict sighed. He set his teacup onto a small ivory-inlaid table at his elbow. “Mr. Davies plans to pilot his balloon for a much greater distance. He wishes to cross all of London and come to rest on the lawn of Carlton House.” He cleared his throat and tugged on the knot of his cravat.
Anne gawked. “That’s nearly one hundred miles by carriage. Perhaps half that by balloon. No one’s ever gone that far in one go.”
Lord Randolph interjected. “He says the Regent will make him a lord if he can do it.”
“Ah, a true bacon-brained idiot then. Instead of doing it for the love of flying, he’s doing it for a title.” She rolled her eyes. “Such empty pomp and ceremony. The man can make his balloon rise on his own hot air.” Annoyance and budding fury rose in her chest as her gaze fell to Lord Randolph. “Why would you tell me that?”
The golden-haired man grinned. “Just this, dear lady. Benedict and I want you to enter into a competition with him in that London flight.” When she gasped, he held up a finger. “However, we’d like you to prove yourself with a flight during the fair. I’m not certain a trip like you’ve proposed is enough of an attention grab.”
“This is so.” Benedict nodded though his eyes were shuttered. “I told Augustus, here, you could do it. I know you can.” When he leveled his gaze on her, the intensity and confidence there sent butterflies dancing through her lower belly. “That’s why we want to bring Mr. Davies here and put the fear into him. He’ll wilt when he sees you in action personally.”
Did the viscount believe in her that much, after such a short period of time? Awareness for him permeated her being. For the space of several heartbeats, she thought her proposed trip. “I revise my flight plan.”
“Oh?” Lord Randolph stared at her. “I can’t wait to hear this.” After all, he was undoubtedly here only for the sensation.
She ignored him. “I’ll start on Lord Worthington’s property in Cranleigh, fly around the edges of Surrey and then land somewhere on the fairgrounds at sunset.” The distance boggled her mind and would tax the limits of how far her balloon could reach on one go, but if she calculated correctly, she could conceivably do it.
Fear clouded Benedict’s eyes. Was he even now calculating the risks? Hot annoyance crowded through her chest, pushing away any lingering fondness she had for him. That meant he didn’t truly believe in her abilities. Higher stakes were needed, to show him and Mr. Davies that she wasn’t a silly, empty-headed woman.
“I’d like to throw down a wager.” When both men trained their attention upon her, she sighed. “If I’m successful in both events, I’ll…” She’d what? What was a proper wager with something at the end she desperately did not want, which would fuel her and drive her to win? “I wager that if I fail in the Surrey race, I’ll let my mother match me with whoever she wishes without a peep of opposition from me. But if I succeed in the Surrey race, I’ll go on to London and fly again. Once there, I want treated with the equal respect and the winnings as if I were a man.” As surprise sprang into their expressions, she smiled. “If the London flight is successful, I win my freedom, no questions asked, plus the retraction and praise from Mr. Davies.”
“Now that’s the spirit!” Lord Randolph had taken a small, leatherbound notebook from a jacket pocket and scribbled down what she’d said, word for word. “Are you quite certain, Lady Anne? I want to be sure before I put this information into a few ears.”
Anxiety pulled at knots in her stomach, but she nodded. What would her parents say? What would society? Then she didn’t care. They could all go hang. She needed to do this for herself. “Oh, yes. If that’s what it will take to best Mr. Davies, then I’m certain.”
Benedict frowned. “I’ll like to add this. Even if you fail at the Surrey flight, you should still go on and do the London one. You deserve a second chance should this one go sideways.”
Hmm, perhaps he wasn’t as unsupportive as she’d thought. “I rather think you’re right. Should I fail in the Surrey race and my mother does match me, I reserve the right to postpone a wedding until after the London flight. Should I succeed in that one, I want the option to null the engagement in favor of freedom.”
Slowly, both men nodded. Everything proposed in this conversation was quite daring and bold. Lord Randolph scribbled in his notebook. “Noted and will enter into the ledger.”
“Good.” She nodded. “We need to take the balloon up for a test flight, to make certain it has the staying power I need.”
“As well as to check calculations?” he asked, and there was hesitation in his tone.
“Of course. Matthew has never failed me yet in this regard.”
