Never Vie for a Viscount by Regina Scott

Author:Regina Scott [Scott, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: reunion romance, romance clean and wholesome, humor, Regency romance, historical romance
Publisher: Edwards and Williams
Published: 2018-12-28T08:00:00+00:00

~~~

They all stared at her. Truly, was it so much to ask? She’d done her best to avoid working directly with Worth the last few days before the wedding, but that didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about the work itself. Things had been rather invigorating, especially since Miss Pankhurst had taken several afternoons off as if certain she’d earned them. Lydia and Miss Janssen had watched as Bateman and several men he had recruited stood around the envelope in the walled garden and tugged it in every conceivable direction. They were as strong as he was; that was apparent by the muscles rippling under their coats. But no matter how they tugged, the envelope remained intact.

It was a significant achievement, yet so much remained to be done, and time was growing short.

“An excellent question,” Worth said now. “I hope to see you all at the house first thing in the morning following church services.”

Lydia could hardly wait. Nice, orderly natural philosophy. Devices that didn’t look at you as if you might hold the key to their future. Heating calculations that didn’t ask whether you were still enamored of them. The work might at times be messy, but it was seldom emotionally taxing. That’s what she needed right now.

She was smiling as she rapped at the door the next morning. Bateman answered and directed her to the garden. As if the others had been as eager to begin work again, Miss Pankhurst and Miss Janssen were there ahead of her, along with Charlotte and Worth. Miss Janssen’s basket sat on the gravel, ropes running from each side to stakes in the ground. Spilling over one side and trailing off on what remained of the shrubbery was Miss Pankhurst’s silk envelope. It had been threaded through a rope lattice, the ends of which were lashed to the basket. Lydia wiggled with excitement.

Worth had been adjusting the brazier seated on the center pillar but turned as she came up to the others.

“Good,” he said. “You’re all here. As you have probably surmised, our steps thus far have gone toward creating an advanced balloon.”

“Yes,” Miss Pankhurst said. “So Miss Villers told us.”

Worth’s gaze swung to hers, and she raised her chin against the challenge in it.

“If I recall,” Charlotte put in, “you said you’d known for some time, Miss Pankhurst.”

Her smile was smug. “Yes, well, it wasn’t terribly difficult to determine for anyone with a logical mind.”

Worth looked a bit shaken by the news, but he quickly rallied. “Nevertheless, we are now at a critical juncture. Today, we begin bringing each of our accomplishments together to see if we can make a whole.”

“A hole?” Miss Janssen asked. “Why would a balloon need a hole?”

“To allow the air to enter, of course,” Miss Pankhurst said with a shake of her head.

“I believe Lord Worthington means that we are assembling the various pieces of the balloon,” Lydia offered.

“Yes, precisely.” Worth strode around the basket, pointing. “We’ll build the fire here, in the brazier and on the pillar Charlotte and Miss Villers designed.

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