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Izzy blinked, trying to regain the use of the treacherous muscles in her legs that seemed to have turned to mush around her shaky bones. She had to stay upright. Staring at Edward, who rubbed his palms down his face, she couldn’t believe she had all but thrown herself at him. She’d never done anything like that before in her life. Usually the men who wanted to kiss her had to do all the work. She shut her eyes at the memory of standing on tiptoe and searching out his mouth as if she had to taste him or regret forever a lost opportunity.
The moment their lips met, she sank into oblivion, feeling only his warm heat and tasting his warm breath tinged with whisky and the apple pie. Her body had melted against his firm frame, feeling his hard muscles bunching as she tried to get closer to him.
She blinked again. Why had he pushed her away? She had never enjoyed such an amazingly awesome kiss in her life, and she hadn’t wanted it to end. The cold air resting on her arms made them ache with emptiness.
He gave her a chagrined look. “I apologize. That was most improper of me and it won’t happen again.”
Not happen again? Why? Didn’t he like it? She tried to wrap her head around what he had said. It was improper. Of course, if touching was improper in this time, kissing surely had to be. Vera didn’t seem to think it improper to touch though. Had he kissed her? They did seem close and Izzy wondered just how close.
None of your business, Izzy. He and Vera were most likely courting. That’s what they did in those days. Court and then marry. Izzy was ashamed of herself for leading Edward on like that. She wasn’t going to be around forever, and he had to make a suitable match with a highborn lady and she definitely wasn’t highborn. In fact, if she had been born in this time period, she would probably be in some kind of service. So darn far below Edward, he shouldn’t even be anywhere near her, let alone dining and strolling in an empty garden maze and kissing.
“Edward,” Vera’s voice sounded around the corner of the hedge wall.
Izzy turned her back to Edward and gasped. She hadn’t even noticed they had made it to the centre of the maze, and she stood ogling the ugliest statue she had ever seen. A small but grotesque-looking pig sat on a waist-high plinth. Izzy half expected it to lunge for her throat, it was so hideously hostile.
“Ah, there you are, Edward.”
Izzy spun on her heels in time to see Vera take Edward’s arm in hers, clearly demonstrating he was her property. Her eyes narrowed at Izzy and, as if connected, her top lip raised in a sneering and threatening aspect that rivaled the pig’s hideous expression.
“James is looking for you.”
Izzy gazed at Edward; he was studying her with amused eyes, so he couldn’t have seen Vera’s hostility.
“You have found the prize at the centre of the maze,” he said to Izzy.
“Prize? It’s the most grotesque thing I’ve ever seen.” Izzy couldn’t help but glance at Vera as she said it but immediately felt guilty for doing so. Vera wasn’t ugly, but the woman certainly had a vile personality.
“It is,” Edward said, holding in his mirth. “George has helped welcome the Wellsneaths’ visitors to the maze for centuries.”
“George?”
“That is the pig’s name,” Vera said, her smug expression letting Izzy know she had personal knowledge of Wellsneath Manor. “As I said, James is looking for you.”
***
Izzy stared at her reflection in the mirror as Lucy expertly coiffured her long blonde hair in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, letting Izzy’s natural curls hang loose to frame her face so they softened what could have been a severe hairstyle.
Three days. Three days since James had welcomed his houseguests to Chodstone Hall and all Izzy could think about was Edward and that kiss. He had apologized, saying it was improper. But even though she knew they wouldn’t be together long, she still didn’t want his apologies, she didn’t want him worrying about propriety where she was concerned. He was worried about ruining her, but he didn’t know she was from a time where there was no such thing as being ruined by a simple kiss. A shiver ran down her back. Not that their kiss was simple; it was the most exciting kiss Izzy had ever had.
Although she knew it was wrong––not so much for her, but for Edward––she had done her best to be alone with him again, hoping he would do the dishonorable thing and kiss her again. She screwed up her nose at her reflection. Every time they found themselves in one another’s company, someone interrupted them. And the most troublesome someone was Vera.
“There you are, miss. Do you like it?”
Izzy snapped her eyes to Lucy. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
As Lucy helped her into a pretty pastel blue day dress, Izzy silently berated herself. It was all right for her to have a flirtation, but for Edward, it could only mean gossip if they were found in a compromising position again. He was all but engaged to the Lady Vera Crompton and Izzy had no right to come between them. How many times did she have to tell herself, she was there to observe, not interfere? Eighteen-eleven was already past history in her world, and she had to keep reminding herself that when she returned to the future, they would all be dead.
However, Izzy couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life Edward would have with Vera. The woman was a cold thing. So cold, a chill at the thought of her crept along Izzy’s arms.
“You are cold, miss.” Lucy handed her a short jacket––ah... a Spencer.
Izzy shook her head and pushed the jacket away. “No. I’m not really cold.”
The maid gave her an I-don’t-believe-you look but took the jacket away.
James was hosting a ball that night and everyone who was anyone would be there. Izzy smiled inwardly. Maybe, no Izzy, mayhap: she really had to think in their archaic way of speaking so it would sound natural when she spoke. Mayhap she could find someone warmer for Edward, someone who wasn’t out for his title and money, someone who would care for him as much as Izzy did.
She started.
She cared for him? Of course, she did. He was a nice man, a friend. No matter what time period she met him, she would have liked him; she was sure of it.
As she thought about finding a nice girl for him, something niggled the back of her mind. Something she had never felt before, even when her fiancé had told her he was in love with her best friend. Even so, she knew its name... jealousy. No, it couldn’t be.
Great.
“Anything else, miss?”
“No, thanks, that will be all.”
She sighed as Lucy closed the door behind her. Step back, Izzy. That was the right thing to do. No interfering. No trying to match him with someone else. After all, Edward’s mother liked Vera, so there had to be something admirable about her. Either that, or Alice wasn’t a good judge of character.
Izzy was still thinking of Edward as she made her way down the stairs from the third floor.
Before she descended the second set of stairs to the ground floor, James waylaid her.
“Could I have a word with you, Elizabeth?”
“Sure... um... yes.”
Izzy followed James into the library on the second floor. A fire warmed the dark wood paneling and dark furniture. His expression was dour as he indicated the sofa, and Izzy sat down, back straight, her hands clasped in her lap.
Had she done something wrong? She couldn’t think of anything. She was always careful of her speech and deportment and she was certain she had improved greatly in that regard.
He sat beside her and frowned into the fireplace as if it had been built wrongly.
Izzy couldn’t take the silence any longer. “What’s the matter?”
He cleared his throat as if he was going to launch into a speech. Or lecture, Izzy thought with irritation.
“I had hoped not to talk about this again, but I have noticed your continued inclination toward Edward.”
Izzy widened her eyes at that. “My inclination? Well yeah, I like him, if that’s what you mean.”
“That is what I mean. I think perhaps you should not spend so much time in his company. You do realize Alice has high hopes for a match with Vera?”
“And I’m sure Vera has high hopes too.” Izzy gave James a mischievous glance. “That is, if she can’t find a better match.”
“Your meaning?”
“Oh, James, you must have noticed how she flirts with you. If you even looked like coming around, she would dump Edward in a heartbeat. Even I know, a duke is a better catch than an earl.”
James laughed. “I do love the way you talk, and your intelligence benefits you greatly but, in this instance, I think you are exaggerating her friendliness. After all, when I marry Alice and she marries Edward, we will be family.”
Izzy stared into the fire. He was right. Their lives were already formatted. She had no right, but something clicked in Izzy’s mind then. Why couldn’t she find love in the nineteenth century? Abby had in the eighteenth.
“There is no possibility you and Edward can make a match, Elizabeth. You are not of this time and I fear what would happen if you interfered in the space-time continuum.”
“Mom and Dad told you about that, huh?”
He dipped his head in answer.
“Well, forget that for a moment and remember I told you about Abby? How she stayed in 1746 Scotland and nothing happened.”
“We cannot be certain of that. Had she not stayed, would this world be different?”
Izzy smiled. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“That is my point. Abby doesn’t signify at this time; you do. You must return to your own time once this house party is over.”
“But that’s only another week.” Izzy’s voice rose in panic. “I still haven’t met Jane Austen and I’m not going to have the chance unless I go back to London. I thought we were going to go back so I could experience what the season is like.”
“I am afraid that is no longer possible. You are becoming too fond of this era... and Edward.”
She couldn’t argue with that. He was right on all counts. But there was no way she was leaving before meeting Jane Austen. What was the point in being there if she didn’t? Nothing, that was what. Plus, she was only halfway through her book and she needed to do more research. She had been making copious amounts of notes in case Garrett and Max found a way to pull her back before she could finish, but she never thought James would insist she return to her time.
“I still haven’t finished my book. What if I promise I’ll try to get along with Vera the Cold?” At James’s dark look, Izzy recanted. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“I will make a decision at the end of the week.” He tapped the tip of her nose with the pad of his index finger. “I will be watching you.”
She screwed up her nose and leaned back. Well, that was a little too condescending. “I’m not a child, James, and while I’m grateful you agreed to have me as your guest while I’m here, I would like to be treated like a grown woman. You have to remember, where I come from, I make my own way and I make a good living. You might call me a bluestocking, but everyone works in the future, and women make their own decisions on how they will live.”
He had the good grace to look suitably reprimanded. “You are quite right. I do apologize.”
He stood up and paced to his desk, then turned. “However, in my defense, I am of this time and the rules of society are the rules I live by. Although you are independent in your twenty-first century, here you are young and naïve in the eyes of society and, especially, me. You must remember, I know you, and despite your brashness, you can quickly become out of your depth. I will try not to be so condescending if you try to behave as if you were born of this time. I am a duke and I have responsibilities to England and our king. And, Elizabeth, I have a responsibility to Alice. There can be no scandal associated with my name. You need to listen to me for all our sakes.”
Izzy’s shoulders slumped. His aversion to her liking Edward had nothing to do with the fact that she wasn’t of this time; it had everything to do with her not being of the noble class. She wasn’t good enough.
“Come on,” James said, coming to a stop in front of her. “It is not as bad as all that. You have your book to write and once you go home, you will forget about all of us.” He held out his arm to her. “It’s time to break our fast.”
Although she had lost her appetite, Izzy took his arm and walked with him to the dining room, fighting the prickle of tears all the way. Once again, she didn’t belong.
The many aromas of a hot breakfast filled Izzy’s nose before she stepped through the open door, and despite her disappointment in James and his whole social class, her stomach decided it was hungry after all.
More disappointment besieged her when she realized everyone else must have already had their breakfast, because she and James were alone. He guided her to a chair and sat in his normal place at the head of table.
She accepted the offerings of the footman with what she hoped was good grace and he placed two poached eggs on her plate.
James ate quickly and, plucking up his marmalade toast, said, “I have work to do but the library is all yours.”
“Thanks.”
Izzy noted his dark frown and tight lips as he left the room. Maybe it was just too much of an imposition to have her there. Her parents probably kept the future hidden. They probably wouldn’t have explained how it was for women in the future. James expected her to think and act like women of his day. Well, that was never going to happen.
However, Izzy made a silent promise to try hard to at least seem like a woman of his time. It shouldn’t be so hard. She felt comfortable with most of the rules and mannerisms of the era—she had to admit, she had felt more at home in that time then her own. She tossed the napkin on the table. At least, she had before James reminded her that she didn’t belong.