Echoes Read online

  ECHOES

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  ALSO IN THE SERIES

  Shades

  Echoes

  Speed

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  FROM THE PUBLISHER

  ALSO IN THE SERIES

  Chapter One

  It was hard to breathe in the crush. Was the whole of London attempting to get into Hyde Park - through this one gate? Being only five feet and two inches tall, Amethyst Forester couldn’t see over the shoulders of the crowd around her.

  A ring of commercial airships circled high above the park, all here to celebrate the unveiling of the latest design for transatlantic airship travel. With no choice but to move with the crowd, Amethyst found herself pushed forward. The eagerness of such a large number of people knocked her favorite top hat from her head. She caught it, but not in time to save it from being crushed between herself and the people in front of her.

  A young man at the edge of the flow cried out as he tripped, and was pushed into the border plants while others sought to gain ground. Amethyst feared what would happen to him, but if she fell, here in the middle of the crowd, she would be trampled, so she did not dare stop to help.

  The sour reek of humanity befouled the air as they moved with a single-minded determination to viewing the treasure hidden in the center of the park. Sweat and determination, excitement and proximity drove the pleasure from every breath. Suddenly the crush eased as they pushed through the gate and there was air to breathe.

  Unburdened by friend or family, Amethyst was free to move alone and flow through the throng. At last, she spotted the point of convergence. A large sheet of material covered what must be the massive airship to be revealed.

  A horseshoe of white-painted viewing stands had been erected for those who could afford the luxury, and had the sense to have booked in advance. The Royal Standard flew above one, briefly fluttering in the light breeze. Amethyst heard distant fairground sounds; music, voices laughing and squealing, the call of street vendors.

  The white-painted wooden structures were at least ten feet high, so there’d be no problem seeing over the crowd from them. Each platform had a set of stairs up the side, and those stairways were guarded by big burly men in smart suits who deterred anyone attempting to gain an advantage for which they hadn’t paid.

  Amethyst moved forward, struggling to get a view. The crowd was much lighter here than near the gates, but it wasn’t easy to spot any vantage point from which she’d be able to see much when that sheet fell, too many taller people around. Then she realized the mistake they were all making. Everyone here wanted to view an airship and all anyone had to do was look up.

  A hand landed on her shoulder. She jumped, turning to strike out, but the deep call of her name stopped her. The man she faced was not familiar but she recognized the livery.

  “Miss Forester, Lady Garrington-Smythe wishes to extend her invitation for you to join her party on her viewing platform.”

  The man indicated the relevant platform and Amethyst looked up to see Lady Eugenie Garrington-Smythe and her group. At the great lady’s side stood her daughter, Lady Roberta Davenport. Better known as Bobbie, the woman wore a morning suit and a short masculine haircut, so recognizing her as a lady would be difficult unless you were already acquainted. Beaming at her friend, Amethyst told the man to lead on, all the time trying not to react to the others she had recognized in the party.

  Lord and Lady Fotheringham. The two were bane and balm in her life, or more accurately, balm and bane. In the five weeks she’d been away, she had hoped she would overcome this weakness for Lord Fotheringham, but had failed. She had spent far too many hours thinking of him and his emerald eyes to shake him off so quickly. He had helped her considerably when she had unexpectedly become an heiress. He had even helped her establish the business relationship which had kept her away. He had done it all without expectation of repayment. His only reward seemed to be his wife’s scorn.

  Even as Amethyst held up the front hem of her dress to take the narrow steps of the platform, she was aware of Lady Violet Fotheringham’s disdain pouring over her. When they had met some months ago, the higher born lady had taken an instant dislike to the merchant’s daughter. It was an enmity Amethyst had found impossible not to return, for all she tried to control it at the request of Lord Fotheringham.

  As she moved up, the stifling heat of the crowd eased, and breathing grew easier despite her tight corset. She hadn’t expected to be ‘seen’ today, but thankfully she’d selected a lightweight summer dress. Although a little informal, it was new and fash
ionable, so she wasn’t ashamed to be wearing it.

  When she reached the platform, she counted a party of ten, with two liveried footmen, three including her escort. She recognized all the faces she could see, though several had their backs to her. She joined her host, standing by the front rail, the best viewing position, and offered a small curtsey.

  “Good afternoon, Lady Garrington-Smythe. Thank you so much for including me in your party.”

  “Had I known you would be back, I would have sent a formal invitation.”

  “Not that we need too much formality,” Bobbie added with a grin.

  Amethyst refocused on the woman between her and Lady Garrington-Smythe. “We may not need too much formality, but a little rarely hurts.” She turned back to Bobbie’s mother. “I appreciate the thought. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure when I’d be back. My train arrived an hour ago and when I discovered the launch was today, I had to come see it.”

  Lady Garrington-Smythe gave what Amethyst would call a girlish smile. “It’s very exciting, isn’t it?”

  Behind Lady Garrington-Smythe, Amethyst was aware she was under scrutiny by Lord and Lady Fotheringham. Her eyes flicked back to her hostess, her smile not dimming. “I couldn’t agree more, Eugenie.”

  Lord Fotheringham’s carved emotionless features flinched for a beat and Lady Fotheringham’s face pinched. Violet was not allowed to address Lady Garrington-Smythe by her first name and though it was a childish point, it was one of the few Amethyst felt she could win against the woman.

  “And I am fortunate indeed to be able to enjoy it among so many friends.” This time Amethyst deliberately looked over the duchess’s shoulder. “Good day Maker, Lady Fotheringham.”

  Maker’s small nod shifted his top hat. Amethyst preferred it at the slight angle. The tiny imperfection humanized a man at great risk of appearing too perfect.

  His wife, however, was always picture perfect. Not very happy, but perfect in appearance all the same. Beautiful, blonde, slim, wore the best clothes, always elegant, never a hair out of place. Everything Amethyst wasn’t.

  “Lady Garrington-Smythe,” Lady Fotheringham said, “do you think we are quite safe with this… woman in the area.”

  The older woman looked directly at her immaculate guest. “Most of us.”

  Amethyst controlled her smirk as Lady Fotheringham’s lips pursed.

  “Perhaps you are not aware, Lady Garrington-Smythe, that Miss Forester has a history of physically attacking me!”

  Amethyst drew breath but Bobbie’s hand on her arm stopped her.

  Lady Garrington-Smythe took a sad seeming breath and spoke in a quiet yet authoritative tone. “I am aware, Lady Fotheringham, that when you went into Miss Forester’s home and abused her, Amethyst ably blocked your attack and returned you a slap.”

  Amethyst was glad the statement carried no further than the five of them.

  “Now, you have a choice, Lady Fotheringham. You can act with the dignity of your title in public as you clearly do not in private, or you can leave.”

  Amethyst watched Lady Fotheringham’s cold eyes send ice shards at her. The taller woman offered Lady Garrington-Smythe a small curtsey and moved a step away, pulling her husband with her.

  Lady Garrington-Smythe turned to face the waiting spectacle.

  “So how was the wild west?” Bobbie asked as they stood together.

  Amethyst laughed at the description. “I was in Swansea, not the Americas. It wasn’t terribly wild, just terribly busy. Still, we successfully scaled up the prismatic glass making process, so the factory is set up, and all is well.”

  “I received an invitation to the Sanderson Prismatic Shade launch.”

  The smile seemed to spread without her intention. “And I received your RSVP. So glad you are able to come.”

  “I’m not sure‒”

  Amethyst clenched her teeth at Lady Fotheringham’s tone.

  “‒that a lady should involve herself in common trade.”

  Several responses galloped through Amethyst’s head, but she decided discretion was the better option and held her tongue.

  “Commerce is certainly not for everyone,” Lady Garrington-Smythe mused. “Nor, Lady Fotheringham, is every woman capable of commerce.”

  Waves of hostility threatened to drown her, but Amethyst decided not to allow them to drag her down and faced forward to study the crowd and the waving sheets at the center of the park.

  The fanfare arose, the crowd silenced, and with a great rustle of fabric, a gust of air and the gasp of the crowd, the Sunriser was revealed.

  While she tried to anticipate the size and grandeur of the new airship, but all she really knew was that she was standing at the end of a line that started with Lady Violet Fotheringham, Lady Eugenie Garrington-Smythe, Lady Roberta Davenport - then her, plain old Miss Amethyst Forester. More worryingly, she was aware that just behind Violet stood Lord Fotheringham.

  Lord Fotheringham, Fifth Earl of Umbria, never-to-be-used-in-public first name Benjamin, generally known simply as Maker.

  Maker.

  Her body should not warm just to think his name. Yet it did. He stood facing forward, his beautifully proportioned face as perfect as carved marble, showing no emotion. Most painfully, he’d barely shown any recognition of her. They had, she thought, been friends once. But perhaps no more.

  “That is madness.”

  It took Amethyst a moment to realize Lady Garrington-Smythe was talking about the Sunriser. She looked again at the design.

  “Actually, it’s genius,” Amethyst said. Though she kept her eyes on the ship she was aware of being looked at like she was the mad one. “The triple envelope formation means it can carry more without oversizing a single envelope.”

  “But what about those crossed envelopes? What good do they do? Why are they such an odd shape?”

  “They bind the three in line envelopes together, and the flatter shape is actually modelled on a bird wing. It adds lift.”

  Lady Garrington-Smythe considered her curiously. “How?”

  Amethyst considered how best to explain it. “You know how a sail billows out on a boat?”

  Lady Garrington-Smythe nodded.

  “It is not being pushed forward as most people think, the action of the air having to move faster over the curved front edge lowers the air pressure and sucks the sail forward. That means that the envelope doesn’t have to do the lift, which in turn means that the Sunriser can travel higher and faster.”

  “Then why mount the engines all the way back on those gantries?”

  “Reduced noise and vibration, plus the oscillations act like the movement of a swimming fish, actually adding propulsion.”

  As the group started talking about the fittings, Amethyst admired the ship again. It was a thing of beauty and magnificent engineering.

  “After the launch, what will you do?”

  Lady Garrington-Smythe’s question surprised Amethyst.

  “This launch? Going home and putting my feet up for a while.”

  “The launch of the prismatic glass lampshades.” Lady Garrington-Smythe clarified.

  “Erm, I’m not sure. I…” Amethyst shrugged. “I suppose I don’t have anything more to do.”

  “Perhaps –”

  Again, she found herself dreading what Violet would say.

  “- you should go to the Redland Academy.”

  Amethyst frowned and turned to the blonde. Violet smiled at her own wit. A bad sign. Amethyst looked to Bobbie, asking in an undertone, “Is that an insult?”

  Bobbie frowned as her attention switched from Violet to Amethyst. “I think an insult was intended, but it was oddly, rather complimentary.”

  “Oh well, in that case‒” Amethyst leaned forward to smile at the woman on the other end of the line. “Thank you for the suggestion, Lady Fotheringham, I’ll look more into that. Though in all honesty, I’ve been considering travelling. If there are still tickets for the Sunriser’s maiden voyage, I may‒”

/>   “There aren’t,” Bobbie quickly assured her. Too quickly.

  “Whatever you decide to do, I hope you won’t go too soon,” Lady Garrington-Smythe said, commanding everyone’s attention. “You should join us at Lord Montgomery’s house party next month.”

  Amethyst had met the man once, and been impressed. She remembered Lord Montgomery; tall, broad-shouldered, dashing, blue eyes and auburn hair. The image of perfect manhood. “I am sure I should enjoy that,” she said with a sense of duty. Having no idea what a house party was like meant she had no idea if she would enjoy it or not. “If Lord Montgomery were happy to include me in the party.” Which seemed unlikely at such short notice.

  “I’d be more than happy to,” said the blue-eyed man now at her side.

  Chapter Two

  The frantic wafting of fans wasn’t enough to cool anyone in the unexpected heat of the day. Amethyst looked around the crush of people and decided that this must surely be a sign of more than just curiosity. She was far from being alone in this venture and the management of William Sanderson Glass Company had done a wonderful job preparing this launch of their new product. Even now she could see the father and son team working the room separately. That Lady Garrington-Smythe made an appearance and made her approval known with a substantial personal order went a long way to ensuring success. Sanderson’s head of sales was fully occupied taking the orders that were flooding in.