“You seem to know each other, Pippa? This is Aldingbourne’s sister.” Klemens introduced them.
“Aldingbourne’s sister.” Pippa clapped a hand over her mouth. “I did not recognise the name Aldingbourne. But of course! You must be Evie.”
Evie stared at her with round eyes. Then it all came together. “Pippa. No! You are Pippa. My dear friend from the estate. We used to play on the farm when we were little. Don’t you remember?”
“How could I forget?” Pippa laughed, delighted, at this unexpected reunion with her old childhood friend. “We used to jump off the barn roof into haystacks and earn scoldings from both the stable hand and my father.”
Evie drew her aside, and they exchanged childhood memories.
“I am so glad to have found you!” Evie cried. “And here in Vienna, of all places! And now married to Lindenstein! How glad I am about the two of you. You donot know how I have missed having a friend. But what happened? From one day to the next, you disappeared. They said you had left England. I heard your father was teaching in Innsbruck.”
Pippa gave her a quick summary of her story.
Evie glanced over her shoulder. “In truth, I told my brother that I was visiting you in Innsbruck.” She looked toward Aldingbourne, who was deep in conversation with Klemens, and dropped her voice. “I never did, of course. Pray don't tell Aldingbourne. And when my brother asks, will you tell him I did so anyway?”
“Certainly.” Pippa laughed. “You have not changed one bit, Evie, always up to something. Now tell me, why the secrecy?”
“I had to tell Aldingbourne something. But the truth is this. I have been engaged to a man called Hartenberg for most of my life. And for most of my life, I did not know what he looked like.” She threw another glance over her shoulder. “So I decided to change that. I wanted to know what he was like. I wanted to meet him finally.”
“And did you?” Pippa’s eyes sparkled merrily.
Evie groaned. “You have no idea.”
Pippa laughed softly. “Now, that sounds like a story I must hear.”
Evie smiled, her eyes bright. “Perhaps one day you shall.”
