He stared straight ahead, his mood darkening by the second. The crowd around them increased in size, the people growing raucous and impatient. It must be nearing nine o’clock. Gabriel was reaching for his pocket watch to confirm the time when a portly gentleman in garish plaid trousers and a velvet top hat came out to address them.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” the man announced in a booming voice that carried over the assembled throng. “Esteemed guests! You are about to witness a feat so daring, so extraordinary, that it defies belief. A rare and astonishing act performed by a man whose name is spoken with reverence all across our great realm. I present to you the renowned wire dancer himself, magician of the rope and acclaimed Italian ascensionist, the one and only, Carlo Galezzo!”

A small dark-haired man bounded out onto the green. He was dressed in a pair of garish gold-embroidered red silk trunks, worn over a full body leotard. Not more than one and twenty if he was a day, he sketched flamboyant bows to his audience in every direction before gracefully climbing the ladder attached to the wooden platform by the elms.

When he reached the top, he stepped to the edge of the platform. The thin cable stretched ahead of him. Lanterns had been positioned at various angles beneath it to illuminate his progress. The crowd collectively held its breath as he extended his leg and set his foot on the wire.

Gabriel heard Effie inhale sharply. Glancing down at her, he found her pale and still, staring up at Galezzo with a rapt, vaguely terrified expression. Gabriel’s brows sank in a frown. She’d owned to being afraid of heights. Did that fear extend to seeing others in high places? He suspected it did.

The little fool. Hadn’t she realized the effect Galezzo’s performance might have on her?

But it was too late for Gabriel to draw her away from the spectacle. They were boxed in on three sides, the full force of the crowd pressing against them as Galezzo took his first steps out onto the wire.

He swayed back and forth, drawing gasps from the crowd, but he didn’t falter. Knees bent and eyes fixed straight in front of him, he placed his right foot at an angle directly in front of his left, advancing slowly but surely to the midpoint of the wire.

A hum of amazement passed over the audience. There were more gasps and whispers, along with a few murmured prayers for the wire dancer’s safety.

Effie’s hand crept into Gabriel’s. She was still staring at Galezzo, seemingly unaware that she’d reached out to Gabriel for reassurance.

But Gabriel wasn’t unaware. His chest tightened as his fingers engulfed hers.