Henry shrugged. ‘You’re best off sticking to your bicycle, love. Much safer for everyone.’
‘Just ignore him,’ said Johnny, before telling Henry where to go in no uncertain terms.
Fitz settled for scowling at Henry instead of giving him a piece of her mind. She really should ignore him like Johnny said. It wasn’t the first time one of the men had been condescending about her flying and, sadly, it probably wouldn’t be the last. Fitz would continue to do what she did best, and that was to prove them wrong by being a highly accomplished pilot, like Johnny said she could easily be. Henry could laugh all he liked – at the end of the day he was stuck under a plane while she was up in the skies.
They taxied their way down to the end of the small airfield in the Cambridgeshire countryside and made ready for take-off. Fitz’s stomach fluttered with excitement as they began to build up speed, her heart beat hard against her breastbone and her pulse pumped fast through her veins. None of it was from fear, though. It was all from anticipation.
She loved that feeling of weightlessness when the wheels of the Moth no longer had contact with the ground and her stomachgave a small jump as her body caught up with itself. And then they were climbing up in the sky, above the tree tops, as the gap between plane and earth extended and extended.
Fitz glanced down as the buildings became less distinguishable and the fields a puzzle of all shades of green and gold. She grinned madly to herself. Nothing on earth could match this sense of freedom.
‘You’re doing great,’ came Johnny’s voice through the headset. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Oh, you’ll see,’ Fitz called back into the mouthpiece. She smiled to herself. She really shouldn’t do this, but it was far too tempting not to.
She steered the Moth back around towards Badcombe village, dropping in altitude as first the church spire came into view and then the imposing building of Badcombe House and the fields beyond.
‘What are you up to?’ asked Johnny.
‘Just going to say hello to Michael!’
‘Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?’ came the reply.
Fitz laughed out loud, throwing her head back and grinning wildly. She took the Moth lower than she had before, her eyes fixed on the field ahead and the gardens of Badcombe House. She could see the afternoon tea party, that Stevens had wanted her to attend, had begun. She swooped in low and howled with laughter to herself as she turned the biplane around and took another fly-past. She could see Michael jumping up and down, waving madly at the Moth.
‘All right, Fitz, that’s enough,’ said Johnny. ‘You’ll get me grounded at this rate.’
Fitz laughed again. ‘Don’t worry, I think I’ll be the one getting grounded but it was so worth it.’
Chapter 2
‘Honestly, Geraldine, it’s totally unacceptable behaviour,’ said Edward Fitz-Herbert, as he paced back and forth between his desk and Fitz.
Fitz looked down at the red and gold rug she was standing on. Her father had only returned from his trip abroad the day before and the reprimand she knew would be coming had arrived sooner than she expected. It must have been one of the first things Stevens had told him. Fitz knew she shouldn’t have done the fly-past but at the same time she still didn’t regret it. However, she knew better than to tell her father that. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.
Edward let out a long sigh and came to a halt in front of her. ‘Sorry. Are you, though?’
Fitz looked up. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve upset you, Pa.’
He gave her an appraising look. ‘Hmm. That’s not quite the same as being sorry for your actions.’ He gave another sigh and went around his desk, sitting himself down in the red leather chair. He indicated to the chair on Fitz’s side of the desk. ‘Sit down.’
Fitz did as she was told. ‘I’ll apologise to Miss Stevens and the Dowager,’ she said, feeling contrite now. ‘I’ll write a letter.’
‘No. Currently the Dowager has no idea it was you in the plane. Miss Stevens has assured me of that,’ replied Edward. ‘But you can write a letter of apology to your tutor, or rather, your former tutor. Not that it will do any good. She’s given notice.’
Fitz’s eyebrows shot up. ‘She’s leaving?’
‘Yes, Geraldine. Miss Stevens is leaving at the end of the month. So that’s another perfectly good governess you’ve managed to get rid of.’
‘Are you going to advertise for a new governess?’
‘I don’t know, if I’m honest. You’re nearly twenty-one and it really should be finishing school for you. Camilla wants to send Michael to boarding school so there might not be any need for a governess.’
‘Boarding school? Does Michael know? I’m not sure he’d like that.’ Fitz’s own experience at boarding school had been short-lived, ending when the headteacher told her father that she’d be better off with a private tutor who could spend one-to-one sessions with her because Fitz clearly was still suffering the trauma of losing her mother. Fitz had never really agreed with that analysis, but it had meant she could leave behind the unhappy days of boarding school and the bullying she’d endured there for not quite fitting in. She’d never fitted in to the norms of society but it didn’t bother her in the slightest. It was everyone else who had the problem – she was either too bossy, too opinionated, too reckless, too eager. Basically, too much.
‘No, we haven’t spoken to him yet, so don’t go saying anything,’ instructed Edward. ‘The summer holidays are practically upon us so we’ll decide before September.’
There was a knock at the door and in came Fitz’s stepmother, Camilla. ‘Oh, Geraldine, you’re still here. I hope your father has made it clear how disappointed we are with the reports we’ve had from Miss Stevens.’
