SOPHIE WALKED OUT ONTO THE roof and felt the slight chill of evening. She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders before setting the telescope case down and opening it. Bringing the telescope to her eye, she adjusted it until her view was clear. Captain Trenton had told her that the North Star eventually calls all sailors home. As a child, Sophie had not realized that he had meant death. She scanned the skies for a few moments before locating the Little Dipper constellation, then the brightest star in its handle. The North Star.
The North Star guided sailors in the night. It allowed them to know which direction they were sailing. Sophie lifted her other hand and saluted the North Star, as she used to salute Captain Trenton.
“May the wind always be in your sails.”
Sophie needed to decide which direction she wanted to sail. And now, with the income left to her from Captain Trenton, she could choose. She and Mariah could afford a small country cottage or rented rooms in a city. She could invent and Mariah could paint.
But would she be happy?
The last seven days had felt like an eternity without Ethan. He had become her North Star. His light eclipsed everything and everyone around her. Just being near him made her happy. Without him, she felt lonelier than she’d ever felt before, even with Mariah at her side.
Sophie lowered the telescope.
Something had changed between them. Sophie would always love her sister, but she could sense that Mariah was keeping things from her. They were growing apart; or rather, growing up. They were becoming their own people, and although Sophie felt a pang of remorse, she didn’t regret it. It was time for Sophie to be Sophie and Mariah to be Mariah. Their destinies were no longer inseparably intertwined.
She heard the door to the roof open and was so startled that she nearly dropped her telescope. Sophie quickly stashed it back in its box before turning around.
Ethan walked outside carrying a gas lantern, light seeming to emanate from him. She longed to throw herself into his arms, but her feet would not move.
He placed the lantern on the brick parapet. “Did you miss me, Sophie?”
“More than you’ll ever know,” she whispered.
“I’m so sorry—”
Sophie forced her feet to step forward. “No. I’m sorry for the terrible words I said.”
“The truth is always terrible,” he said. “And you’re right. I’ll never truly understand what you and your sister have been through.”
She gasped in surprise. “Oh dear! Poor Mariah. You must have discovered her.”
Ethan seemed to be struggling not to smile. “She is a much better dancer than you.”
Sophie stepped close enough to give a playful shove to his shoulder. “I know. But that’s still unkind of you to say.”
He caught her hand and held it in his. “I’m sorry that I rushed you. That I was indiscreet in my attentions and allowed my sisters to assume things were more definite between us.”
“I do care for you, but trusting other people is difficult for me.”
Ethan kissed the back of her hand and Sophie felt strangely weightless.
“We have all the time in the world, just like your clocks,” he said. “There’s no need to rush into anything.”
“I’m still going to be an inventor,” Sophie said. “Captain Trenton left me a small legacy and I mean to pursue my dream.”
“I believe you,” Ethan said, twirling her around as if they were dancing. “You’ll turn the world on its axis, and I only hope to be by your side when you do it.”
“I would like that very much,” she said breathlessly.
Ethan gently pulled her close to him and with his hand smoothed back the curls from her face. Sophie couldn’t breathe.
“From the first moment I met you, I’ve been entranced,” he whispered.
“Then you’d better kiss me.”
Ethan lifted her off her feet and pressed his lips to hers. It was as if they were two parts of the same clock, in perfect motion together. One giving, the other receiving as they turned in small, perfect circles.
At last, Sophie pressed her hand to Ethan’s chest and he instantly pulled away from her. “I must catch my breath.”
“You should invent a device that makes breathing optional,” he offered.
“The very thing,” Sophie said. “But perhaps until I do invent such a marvelous device, we should breathe and talk about our plans. Mariah and I can no longer masquerade as the same person. And even if we could, my aunt only invited us for this one season.”
“I have a plan. You and Mariah can come stay with my mother,” Ethan said. “She could help both of you find the perfect positions … And now I think about it further, you ought to run away with me this very moment, and we’ll come back tomorrow for Mariah. There’s currently too many Sophies in this house.”
“Now?” Sophie said. “It’s pitch-black and nearly midnight.”
“The perfect time to run away.”
“I suppose it is more difficult to slip away undetected in the daylight,” Sophie admitted, and then clapped her hands together. “I’ve got it. I’ll run away tonight with you, and when we come back tomorrow, I can pretend to be Mariah.”
“It’s a good plan,” Ethan said. He held out his hand to her. “Shall we?”
Sophie went back to pick up her telescope, tucking the case underneath her arm before taking Ethan’s hand.
“You’re running away with a telescope?”
“It never hurts to be prepared,” she said. “Oh, and I need to leave a note for Mariah. You can’t run away without a note. It simply isn’t done.”
“Even if you’re technically dancing downstairs?”
“Especially if your doppelgänger is dancing downstairs.”
Ethan picked up the lantern by the handle and opened the door to the house for Sophie. She led him down the servants’ staircase and to her room. He didn’t enter but respectfully stood waiting in the doorway.
Placing the telescope on the table, Sophie picked up a pen and dipped it in the ink to write:
M.,
As you know, E. has discovered our masquerade. He has invited us both to come stay with his mother until we find suitable positions and a more permanent home. So you will no longer have to pretend to be me. In fact, I’m going to pretend to be you! Tomorrow, E. and I will come pick you up and he’ll introduce me to Aunt B. as Mariah. Once we leave, we can switch back and then we’ll never have to pretend to be each other again. I’ll be an inventor and you’ll be the most celebrated artist in all of England. I must go.
Love, S.
Sophie placed the letter on the table, then took a bonnet from the wardrobe and tied it on. She then covered her shoulders with a shawl and pronounced herself ready.
“I’ve never run away before,” Sophie confided in a whisper. “Shouldn’t I be climbing out a window or something equally hazardous?”
“I thought the front door.”
“That isn’t very dashing of you and we’d get caught. There’s a party downstairs.”
Ethan’s lips twitched. “Alas, I forgot my stepladder in my other coat.”
“Luckily, I have a rope in the wardrobe. I’ll climb down the side of the house into the garden. Then we can escape through the alley.”
Ethan nodded. “I’ll meet you in the garden. Please don’t climb down until I get there. I want to make sure you don’t fall.”
He closed the door behind him, and she opened the wardrobe, locating the rope at the bottom. She tied the rope in a knot on the bed frame and opened the window. Peering through it, she saw a man standing in the garden.
Ethan must have practically flown down the stairs!
Sophie threw her rope out of the window and then, holding tightly, swung one leg out and then the other. She lowered herself slowly down the exterior of the house, grateful for the protection of her gloves from the friction of the rope. Swinging to the side a few feet, she carefully missed her former adversary—the prickly bush. When she reached the bottom, she exhaled in relief.
“What in the blazes are you doing?”
She let go of the rope and turned. The man brooding in the garden was not Ethan, but Charles. “Why are you not at the party?”
Light spilled into the garden and Ethan stood in the doorway. Charles looked from Sophie to Ethan and back to Sophie with a scrutiny that made her feel uncomfortable.
“Are you eloping?”
“Of course not,” Sophie said defiantly. “I’m running away.”
“Charles,” Ethan said, closing the door behind him and walking toward his cousin. “I have something to say of a rather awkward nature.”
“I know about Mariah Carter,” Charles said sharply.
Sophie was rarely ever surprised, but she was downright shocked for the second time that evening. She tripped over the rope on the ground and stumbled a few steps before grabbing Ethan’s arm to balance herself. “You do?”
“Excellent,” Ethan said, steadying her. “Sophie is going to stay with my mother tonight, and we’ll all come back tomorrow for Mariah. Please keep the secret for a little longer. We don’t want to give the gossips anything to talk about.”
“Like a young woman running away in the night with a single gentleman?” Charles said in the same disapproving tone.
“Blame that on your guardian,” Sophie snapped. “If she’d had the decency to invite both Mariah and me to stay with her, we wouldn’t have been forced to pretend to be the same person. And I wouldn’t need to be leaving in the middle of the night.”
“We’d best be off before we meet anyone else,” Ethan said.
Charles nodded, and Ethan briefly touched his arm as they walked past him and out of the garden. Sophie led him down the alleyway to his carriage on the street. Ethan handed her into the dark vehicle.
“Home, Winkler.”
Ethan climbed into the carriage and sat beside her. Sophie could only see the outline of his face from the gas lanterns on the side of the carriage. The carriage lurched forward, and Sophie fell into Ethan’s arms.
“I missed you so much, Sophie,” Ethan whispered.
She pressed her lips to his.