A Heart in Flight

Author:Nina Coombs Pykare
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781610841689
Publisher: Belgrave House/Regency Reads

Chapter Ten

In the days that followed, both young women found their patience worn thin. Every day was spent working on the balloons. Great progress was made with aeronautics, but romance remained at a standstill.

Two weeks of intensified labor had the Amesley balloon repaired and ready to fly. One afternoon, Aurelia and Phoebe stood watching white Uncle Arthur supervised the unloading of the barrels of iron filings and the jugs of chemicals that would be poured into them to form the hydrogen gas.

The Earl and Harold came to stand beside them. “In a day or two,” Harold said to the Earl, “your balloon will be going up. We’ve got the brazier. And everything looks good.”

“How I should love to fly,” Phoebe breathed, her eyes on Harold.

“I should like to take you,” he replied. “But your mama ...”

“Let us leave the first flights to more seasoned aeronauts,” the Earl suggested to Phoebe. “Miss Amesley and Harold should go up first. You and I will have our turn later.”

Phoebe stared at him. “Really, Ranfield? You mean I shall actually get to go up? You promise? Oh, how marvelous.”

Aurelia smiled, pleased with her friend’s happiness, pleased, too, with her own. At least something had gone right. Uncle Arthur had confirmed that he no longer felt constrained by his promise to her father. He asked only one thing of her—that she not go up alone. And, of course, she had agreed.

The prospect of being aloft again made her feel quite light-headed. And if part of that light-headedness came from the knowledge that she and the Earl might share a flight ... Well, it was a breathtaking thought.

The Earl cast a satisfied glance around him. “We have worked hard,” he said. “So tomorrow we will take a day off. We’ll have a little excursion to Pirates’ Cave.”

His eyes met Aurelia’s. “I’ll have Cook pack a luncheon. We’ll eat by the sea.”

She smiled at him. He was remembering his promise. “That sounds most entertaining.”

Harold, his eyes on Phoebe, nodded. “Yes. We all need a rest.”

The Earl looked at her uncle. “And you, sir. Will you join us?”

Uncle Arthur smiled. “The sea holds no delight for me. I believe I’ll spend the day searching the Scriptures. Perhaps I can find something to silence that woman.”

Aurelia laughed with the others. But it was not like Uncle Arthur to care what people said. As he often remarked, those who espoused new and startling ideas should always expect those ideas to be disregarded and themselves to be ridiculed. So why, then, was he letting Cousin Prudence have such an effect on him?

Aurelia cast a quick glance at her cousin, gazing unabashedly at Phoebe. That must be it. Uncle Arthur was aware of Harold’s interest in Phoebe. And he wanted to bring her mama around.

Aurelia sighed. Cousin Prudence was no easy nut to crack. As adamant as she was against any kind of air flight, it was difficult to see how her mind could ever be persuaded otherwise.

They started out after breakfast the next morning.

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