In theory, kites were simple to make; in practice, they took quite some time to construct. The girls watched with rapt attention as Newingham showed them how to bind the sticks together and notch them for the string, how to measure the paper and glue it down. Their shyness dissolved beneath the viscount’s easy cheerfulness and Mr. Pryor’s jokes and Lord Octavius’s good-natured patience. They asked questions timidly at first, then less timidly, and finally, without any timidity at all.
Pip, who had some experience with kites made of paper and paste—in particular with the way in which they tended to disintegrate in mid-air—made a kite from an old apron, cutting off the strings and stitching cross-channels to hold the sticks in place.
She sat on the opposite side of the worktable from the g
