One Wicked Sin (28 page)

Ethan was coming toward them, cutting through the crowds, intent, purposeful, utterly single-minded, his gaze fixed on her. The roar of the crowd died to a
whisper. Everyone was staring. Far away, as though in a trance, Lottie could hear the shouts of children and the high thin music of the violin.

Lottie grabbed Joanna’s hand to steady herself. “Jo…” Her voice was a thread. “Am I dreaming?” Then she realized that Joanna had never met Ethan and would not recognize him. But now he was close and she knew there could be no mistake.

“Of all the arrogant, dangerous, brazen exploits—” she began, but she was shaking so much that her voice faded away.

“So that is Ethan,” Joanna said. She laughed. “You have to go with him, Lottie. In the balloon.”

“I can’t!” Lottie gasped. She could not tear her gaze from Ethan as he covered the final few yards to her side.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Joanna was holding her tight and pushing her forward at the same time. “Do you remember when Alex came for me on the
Sea Witch?
You have to be brave.”

“I always wanted to be swept off my feet,” Lottie said. “I envied you so much.”

Joanna released her. There were tears in her eyes. “This is your chance, Lottie. Go!”

“Why did it have to be like this?” Lottie wailed.

“Because,” Joanna said, “this is Ethan Ryder and I hear he never does anything by halves.”

Ethan reached their side. “Take care of her,” Joanna said fiercely. “I don’t care who you are, but if you hurt her I’ll find you.”

She pushed Lottie into Ethan’s arms, and he swept
her up and swung her around and deposited her in the basket of the balloon before she could so much as squeak. Her heart was thundering against her ribs and she was shaking as she struggled to her feet.

“I have no luggage!” she shouted.

“I didn’t need any!” Joanna called back. “And neither will you!”

“Please look after Margery for me!” Lottie shouted. “And my canary!” She saw her friend nod.

Ethan was releasing one of the ropes, and after a moment Alex Grant sighed and went to help.

“Might as well be court-martialed
again
, I suppose,” Lottie heard him say, “for helping an enemy of the state escape this time.”

“Hurry!” Lottie cried. She could see the captain of the Berkshire Militia running toward them now, pistol in hand, shouting at them to stop. The two men who had been guarding the balloon emerged from the pie tent, rubbed the crumbs from their faces and also started to run in their direction. The crowd followed, as crowds do.

The ropes slackened suddenly and the balloon lurched. The basket rocked as Ethan put one hand on the side and leaped in. He put his arms around Lottie, and she clung to him, turning her face against his jacket, digging her fingers into his lapels as though that would steady her in this mad world.

“This could all go horribly wrong,” she said, her words muffled against his chest.

“It won’t,” Ethan said. He sounded so confident that against all sense, Lottie actually believed him.

“You came for me,” she said. She gripped his jacket and gave him a little shake. She could barely believe he was there. “Ethan,” she said again, “you came back for me.”

Ethan smiled, a smile of blazing triumph and tenderness that made Lottie’s heart swell with pure joy.

“I said I would come,” he said. “Don’t say that you doubted me.”

“No,” Lottie said shakily. “Never.”

She heard Ethan laugh. The balloon was rising, but terrifyingly slowly. Lottie could see Joanna’s face, a look of horror on it that would have been comical had it not frightened her so much. The captain of the militia was almost upon them, taking aim, until Alex tripped him at the last moment, and then the updraft of the wind caught them and the balloon shot up into the sky, clearing the top of the hill.

Ethan kissed her, a heart-shaking kiss that swept her away. The scent of his skin was so familiar, the touch and the feel of him, that Lottie’s head spun with recognition. Her heart expanded with love, opening up like a flower, turning to the light. There was so much to say, and yet now that the moment had come, so little real need to say it….

Ethan let her go at last. “Is this not frightfully dangerous?” Lottie whispered, looking up at the billowing silk of the balloon with a great deal of trepidation.

“Frightfully,” Ethan concurred.

Lottie glanced at him. “You are enjoying yourself,” she accused.

“Hugely,” Ethan said.

“Do you know how to fly this thing?”

“I am not at all sure that one can fly a balloon,” Ethan said. “You go where it takes you.”

“Well, I hope the wind is in the direction of the coast,” Lottie said, holding tight as another upward draft caught the balloon and it picked up even more speed.

“It is,” Ethan said. “With a fair wind we may even make it as far as France.”

Lottie looked down at the tiny figures running around the field below them and at the carved figure of the White Horse, which looked so much more impressive from the air than it had done on the ground. She felt the wind ripple through her hair and the sun warm on her face as a loving touch.

It felt like living.

It felt like happiness.

Ethan put his hand over hers and she smiled up at him and nestled closer into his arms. They stood wrapped together as the balloon rose higher until it was no more than a speck on the horizon, drifting away.

S
OME SIX HOURS LATER
, two of the villagers of Burley in Hampshire reported an astonishing sight. They swore they had seen a falling star, dropping into the heart of the ancient woods in a flurry of red and gold. But they had been on their way home from the village inn at the time, so no one gave their story much credence.

Later still, a small boat slipped from its moorings at Milford on Sea under the cover of darkness and headed out into the English Channel.

The British Army searched for Ethan Ryder and his
scandalous bride from Land’s End to John O’Groats but although many sightings of them were reported, they were never found.

They were the
on dit
for years.