Love on the Line by Anabelle Bryant EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Anabelle Bryant
- Language: English
- Genre: Victorian Historical Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
LONDON 1817
The glint of his knife caught her attention. Perched high above Vauxhall
Gardens, balanced on a tightrope less than two inches wide, Lola York
witnessed a murder. Captivated by the brutal act and unable to scream, she
remained trapped between the surety of her steps and a death fall to the
ground below.
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Usually, her nightly performances suspended her above the cruelties of
reality. Walking the rope was the only time she felt completely safe and
utterly free. As though she could finally breathe once she rose above
London, unfettered by the sins of the past and uncertainty of her future.
But now halfway across, poised between two wooden stanchions, the
unexpected flash of moonlight on metal drew her eyes to the violent scene
as it unfolded on a shadowy path beyond the grandstand. Horrified and
transfixed, she stayed motionless while below multitudes of gathered
spectators and excitement seekers waited breathlessly for her next step.
Still, she couldn’t move. Not while two dark figures fought, one with
malice, the other in defense. The attacker wore a long black greatcoat and
came at the other person in a silent rush that took the victim unaware. There
wasn’t much else to see. It was over in the length of a few exhales.
Someone in the stands yelled an obscenity, impatient with her
immobility. She blinked several times in succession and fixed her eyes on
the rope, moving forward with rote memory and unerring balance until she
reached the other side. An oblivious burst of applause swelled upward into
the air around her as she waved numbly to the blurred faces of the crowd.
She was a mistress of grace and balance. Nothing was more important than
the show.
Shaken, she glanced over her shoulder, beyond the grandstand to the
darkened path where she’d witnessed someone’s life stolen in a matter of
seconds. Now only darkness met her eyes aside from the slumped form of a
body left behind.
Pickpockets, swindlers, prostitutes and the like, were common to
Vauxhall. In fact, many visitors thrived on the danger and illicit
juxtaposition the pleasure gardens offered.
But murder, murder was unsettling.
She had no time to reconcile her thoughts as the grandstand emptied, the
show having ended. A heartbeat later a high-pitched scream pierced the air.
Several more followed. Male voices barked orders. Crowds dispersed.
Others gathered along the path periphery, seeking a bit of morbid gawking.
The shrill whistle of the watch sounded. On that isolated path, things were
becoming known.
Far above the chaos, Lola waited on the wooden platform.
“Lola.”
She recognized Marco’s voice and glanced to the rope ladder dangling
over the side of the platform and down to the ground. Marco DeLeon was a
fellow performer and good friend. He climbed halfway and paused when
their eyes met.
“Are you all right?”
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