That afternoon when the rain was at its lightest for the day, Julian summoned the butler to take him and Willow out in the carriage. “Stop before we reach the bridge,” Julian instructed him.
Willow had accepted the cloak he’d given her. It was surprisingly cool inside the mansion. She recalled it feeling a bit chilly in her time when it had rained, so this wasn’t different. For some reason, though, being stuck in a home without the modern convenience of a furnace made it feel colder than it really was. Just knowing she couldn’t adjust a thermostat probably made her more aware of the chill around her.
Now, as she sat in the carriage next to Julian, she was really glad for the cloak. It not only braced her from the cool day, but it had a hood that would protect her face from the drizzle. She had no idea if they had umbrellas in this time. Julian had only put on a hat and a cloak of his own.
“It’s surprisingly chilly for a summer day,” Willow said in an attempt to break the silence.
He opened his eyes and turned his gaze to her, and it suddenly occurred to her just how exhausted he was. She supposed that was to be expected given how long he’d been forced to repeat the same day over and over. She was tempted to put her arm around his or offer some kind of touch in hope it might bring him some comfort, but she refrained from the impulse. She hardly knew him. He would think she was strange if she acted in such a forward manner.
Strange. Or desperate.
“The rain makes things colder,” he replied. “The sun warms things up.”
“You’ve had rain every single day? The weather doesn’t change at all?”
“Everything is the same. I can instruct the servants to do something different, but if I don’t, they do and say the same things they did on the first June 17. Except for remembering every day as it happens, I don’t age.”
She shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold. “I know being stuck is awful regardless of the weather, but it’s a shame June 17, 1817 wasn’t a sunny day.”
“I don’t know. The rain sets the right mood for it. On some days, it’s soothing.”
Maybe it would be. All of this dreariness probably comforted him in some sad way. She looked out the window. The view was so different without the tall shrubs. She could see the hills in the distance. It almost didn’t seem like the same place with this change. But her gaze went to the moat surrounding the property, and she was assured she really was in the same place.
“I wish I could go to your time,” he said. “It’d be nice to break the cycle.”
Her gaze went back to him, and once more, she had to resist the urge to touch him. “I hope when you wake up tomorrow it will be June 18. I hope that the magic in the barrier connecting our times will force things to move forward for you again.”
“Even if it doesn’t, at least I’ve had this day. It’s the best one I’ve had in two centuries.” He grew silent for a moment then softly added, “It’s been nice having you here to talk to.”
Heat rose up to her cheeks. Before she could enjoy the compliment too much, she reasoned that he would say this to anyone who crossed over into this time. It wasn’t necessarily her.
And that was to be expected, wasn’t it? She couldn’t imagine how hard this had been for him. She was fortunate. All she’d dealt with was being stuck on the property for less than a month.
They grew silent until the carriage came to a stop. He didn’t bother waiting for the butler to open the door. He jumped out of the carriage and offered to help her down.
She accepted his hand. “Thank you.” Once her feet were on a part of the path that wasn’t forming a puddle, she added, “In the future, men don’t often help women out of things like carriages.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. How could she best explain this to someone in his time? “Acts of chivalry just aren’t done. I’m the first one to say it’s good for women to be seen as equal to men, but it is nice when a man does little things like open doors and help a woman down from the carriage.”
“I’ve never considered a lady to be inferior to me,” he said in a way that indicated he felt insulted.
“From what I’ve learned about the 1800s, I don’t think women were business owners or political leaders. Were they? Am I wrong?”
“There are a few who run businesses in the middle class, though their husbands are officially the owner. As for leadership, no. That is strictly a gentleman’s pursuit. However, I will admit that some ladies consider themselves fortunate when their husbands die, but that’s because their husbands didn’t really care about them. I can’t imagine any gentleman who loves his wife treating her in a way that will make her think of his death as offering her freedom.”
She considered his words and could see the validity in them. “You’re right. She wouldn’t if he loved her. If he loved her, he would treat her well.” She glanced at the butler, who was standing not too far from them. “Anyway, I just think it was nice you offered a chivalrous gesture, that’s all. Are you ready to go to the bridge?”
He offered a nod, and they headed for it.
“Did you put the moat in?” she asked.
“No, my grandfather did,” he replied. “He seemed to think the property needed to be protected.” He chuckled. “Isn’t that funny? It’s not the property that needs protecting. It’s the owners of it who need to be protected from the property.”
She frowned. “I wonder if he knew something important about this place. Did he explain what this property needed protection from?”
“I never spoke to him. He was deceased before I was old enough to remember him. My father often said that he wished he had listened to him more. My mother said my grandfather was superstitious. She said he saw shadows where there wasn’t anything to worry about. She wasn’t talking about actual shadows. These were things to be wary of. Little dangers here and there. Things produced by a wild imagination.”
“Maybe his imagination wasn’t so wild. Do you have anything that belonged to him in the attic?”
“Yes, there’s a trunk with his things in it. Do you think there’s something important in it?”
“We won’t know unless we look.”
“We’ll look after dinner,” he said. “When we return, we’ll both need to change clothes. The rain is light, but we’ll still be cold and wet. I’ll have one of the maids assist you with your hair and dress.”
Before she could ask him why he made such a strange offer since she assumed even people in this time dressed themselves, they reached the bridge. Deciding the bridge was more important, she joined him as he walked onto the stone surface.
He stopped halfway on the bridge and touched the air. She saw the waves of pink and purple radiate from his hand and travel in both directions down the moat.
He gasped and stepped back. “Those colors have never happened before,” he told her. “Did you see them?”
“Pink and purple ripples?” she asked.
He nodded.
“I saw them,” she said. “They go all the way down the moat.”
“Do they?” He took a step forward and touched the barrier again. The same colors sent ripples down the entire length of the moat. He touched it several more times, and the ripples went at a faster pace. “Why didn’t I see them before?”
That was a good question. She was sure it was significant that he hadn’t noticed those colors until now. Like the pieces of parchment, he hadn’t noticed the pink glow before, either. These things couldn’t be a coincidence. Was there something about her arrival that changed things in this time?
“What did you see before?” she asked.
“Nothing. It was just like the air around us.” His gaze went to the butler who was standing by the carriage, looking bored but willing to patiently wait for them. “Do you see any colors?” he called out to the butler as he touched the barrier again.
The butler’s eyebrows furrowed. “Colors, my lord?”
“When I put my hand up here, do you see anything?” Julian touched the spot again.
The butler shook his head. “I’m sorry, my lord, but I don’t see any unusual colors.”
Julian looked at her. “Only you and I see them.”
“I saw them every time I tried to cross the bridge in my time,” she told him. “I saw them when I crossed over into this time through that mirror, too.” She put her hand up and pushed it forward. Resistance pushed back at her, and the pink and purple ripples went down the length of the moat. She tried another part of the barrier, and the same thing happened. “It looks like I’m stuck here with you.”
“What happens if we put our hands on this invisible wall at the same time?”
Intrigued, she put her hand back up to the barrier and waited for him to do the same. She blinked in surprise when she saw that instead of pink and purple, she saw red and gold ripples. But even though that was different, neither one could get through the barrier.
“This is getting weirder and weirder all the time,” she whispered.
“Weirder?” he asked.
“Strange. Odd. Unreal.” She dropped her hand and a blast of cool air coursed through her. She shivered and pulled the cloak more tightly around her body.
“I felt it, too,” he said. “It was like a sudden burst of air without the wind.”
“I think it’s magic,” she replied. “Something, or someone, doesn’t want us to leave, and it probably wants us in the same time. That’s why I could only step through the mirror, and it’s why the mirror exploded.”
“We can’t be sure that you’re trapped here. You might wake up tomorrow and be back in your time.”
“I guess. I mean, anything’s possible.” She wouldn’t have believed all of this was possible before, but so much had changed since she stepped on this property. Who knew inheriting a property could lead to such craziness?
“Have you tried swimming across the moat?” he asked.
“No. The thought didn’t occur to me.”
“I’ve tried it, and it does no good. The moat has the same barrier in it. I tried swimming through different sections of it. The thing is deep. If you were to take a horse across it, it would drown. This bridge is the only safe passage in or out of here.” After a moment, he added, “I don’t think there’s anything else to do, at least not right now. Are you ready to return to the manor?”
“Yes.” As he pointed out, there was nothing else to do, and she wasn’t going to try to swim across the moat. For one, she doubted she’d make it past the barrier. And two, she bet that water was cold.
“Once we get inside, I’ll summon a maid to help you.”
“About that,” she said as they headed for the carriage. “Why do you think I need a maid? I dress and comb my hair in my own time.”
“In this time, a maid helps the mistress of the estate do those things. Plus, she sees to bringing up the bath or any other thing the mistress needs. I know we’re not married, but you did inherit this estate. It’s only right that you’re given the treatment due to your status. It is unfortunate there are no living males. I hate knowing my title eventually becomes extinct.”
“I have no idea how these things with titles work. The only thing I know about England is that there are kings and queens and princes and princesses.”
“Yes, we have them in this time, too. We also have dukes, marquees, earls, viscounts, barons, baronets, and knights.”
“I remember a singer being knighted by the queen, but that was only because it was mentioned in a paper in America. I didn’t read the article. I only read the headline.”
“A singer was knighted?”
“It sounded like it was important from the picture on the paper. A bunch of attention was paid to it.”
“I can’t imagine a singer being knighted unless he performed some great feat in battle. Was this singer in a war?”
She laughed. “No. He was just a popular singer who sold a lot of albums.” By the expression on his face, she could tell he didn’t understand why that was important. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like it changes anything about our situation.”
Though they walked along the drier patches of the road, mud found its way to the soles of her shoes. Now she could appreciate the invention of pavement.
They reached the carriage, and the butler opened the door for them. Since Julian had helped her down, she wondered if she was supposed to wait for him to help her back into the carriage, and sure enough, he held his hand out to assist her, which was good since the mud made her shoes slippery.
She sat on the seat and spread out the gown and cloak so that she was comfortable. This was a lot different from wearing pants. She had to figure out a way to sit down and be comfortable with a gown tucked around her legs. It was a shame everyone in this time would freak out if she went back to wearing her t-shirt and jeans.
Julian settled beside her, and the butler shut the door.
“Do the servants usually go around opening and shutting doors?” she asked.
He seemed amused by the question. “They don’t follow me around all day to open and shut doors, but when going in or out of the manor or carriage, they do. If someone can’t afford a servant to do the task for them, then they have to open and shut their own doors all the time.”
“God forbid anyone should be stuck with such a cruel fate,” she joked.
He chuckled. “I admit that I’m spoiled that way. Wealth has its advantages.”
“That’s true in any time period.”
She returned his smile then directed her attention to the small window as the carriage moved forward.