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Izzy waited for the sense of movement to stop, and once it did, she looked up. Bree, smiling down at her from her perch on a stool.
“Hey, Izzy, you okay?”
Izzy got to her feet. “I guess.” She wiped the wet from under her eyes.
Bree hopped off the stool and hugged Izzy. “You’ve been crying. Want to talk about it?”
Izzy nodded but couldn’t talk around the lump that lodged in her throat.
“Don’t say anything yet. I’ll get Max and Garrett, so you don’t have to repeat anything.”
Bree ran up the stairs and was back with Garrett and Max in tow before Izzy had settled into her surroundings.
“Izzy,” Max said, throwing her arms around her and giving her a hug. She let go and stepped back. “You shouldn’t have gone like that. We were worried about you.”
“I’m glad you’re back safe and sound,” Garrett said, giving her a one-armed side hug. “But the outcome could have been very different. You could have been killed or stuck in the past somewhere. Where did you go, anyway?”
“Eighteen-twelve England.”
“You’ve been crying,” Max said.
Izzy automatically wiped her eyes. “It’s a long story.”
“Here, sit down.” Bree pointed to a sitting area that hadn’t been there before Izzy left. Two comfortable blue sofas separated by a low coffee table sat on a blue-and-cream rug in the corner of the basement.
Izzy sat down on the nearest sofa. “Who did this?”
“Me,” Max said, sitting next to Izzy. “We spend so much time down here, I thought we might as well have somewhere comfortable to sit.”
Bree and Garrett sat on the opposite sofa and gazed at Izzy.
Izzy told them everything, the whole story from the moment she’d met Edward to the moment she’d left him. While she spoke, Max held her hand and squeezed every now and then if Izzy got too distraught.
“Good riddance,” Garrett said. “He doesn’t sound like someone I’d like anyway.”
“Why?” Max asked. “Because he didn’t believe Izzy? How soon we forget, huh? You refused to believe Mom and Dad until we were in the past with Abby.”
Garrett shrugged, stood up, and stretched. “I’m sorry, Iz, but I’m going to bed. Hope you feel better in the morning.”
Bree sat back spreading her arms over the back of the sofa. “You can always go back, you know?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Max said.
“Max is right,” Izzy said. “I can’t go back, not with Edward not only not believing me but probably thinking I’m stark raving mad.”
Max yawned. “It’s late. Let’s all go to bed and see how we feel in the morning.”
***
Izzy sipped her morning cup of coffee, trying push the dreams of Edward that had haunted her sleep out of her mind. She glanced at the door and wondered where everyone was. She hoped they were making breakfast, because all of a sudden, her stomach felt as empty as her heart.
Garrett and Max were glad but surprised to have Izzy home, but Bree didn’t seem surprised at all that she had returned. In fact, Izzy thought, frowning at the pile of paper on the dining table that was her book manuscript, Bree seemed to have been waiting for her.
She pushed the hard copy of her manuscript to the side. There was no way she could concentrate on editing the stupid thing, not when she knew it didn’t have the happy ending she had been looking forward to writing.
Max came into the dining room, carrying a plate stacked high with toast and jam.
“Sorry, it’s all I could come up with. Garrett’s gone riding and Bree took off early.”
“Where did she go?”
“Town. And don’t ask why, because I don’t know.”
Izzy bit into a piece of toast. “This is good, thanks.”
“It’s probably all for the best, you know? I mean, it’s better to find out now that Edward doesn’t have your back, rather than later.”
“Maybe you’re right, but I can’t get him out of my mind.” She took another bite and chewed. “I love him, Maxi.”
Max’s mouth pulled down at the corners in sympathy. “I won’t give you any platitudes. Just know I’m here for you.”
“Thanks.”
They ate the rest of their sweet breakfast in silence.
Max finished her toast and stood up. “Although you shouldn’t have taken off like that in the first place, you’re back now, so you can help us clean up the attic. We need somewhere to store our stuff. You wouldn’t believe how much junk is up there.”
Izzy knew. She had spent quite a lot of time up there before she left what seemed a lifetime ago. She sighed.
With Max gone, Izzy was alone, and the silence began to close in. Izzy eyed her manuscript. Why couldn’t you be the man I needed? Why couldn’t you just believe me and hold me and tell me you never wanted me to go? She leapt up to her feet. I may as well help.
Izzy put all her effort into cleaning and organizing the attic. She cooked lunch and dinner, and by the time the day ended, she was exhausted. Climbing into bed, she thought she just might have a chance of sleeping.
But no, Edward wouldn’t leave her alone. His smiling face stayed in her mind no matter what else she tried to think about. The memory of his kisses, how they made her feel, how the sensations still whirled around her body as if he were right there in her bedroom.
She tried to think about Bree. Where was she exactly? She had called earlier and said she met up with a friend and was staying in town for the night. She told Izzy not to do anything rash until she got back. Why? What was she up to? Now wide awake, Izzy’s senses were on high alert. What did she expect Izzy to do?
Mayhap... Izzy let out a snort. She wasn’t in Regency England any longer, so she had to stop using their funny expressions.
Maybe Bree expected Izzy to use the orb again, but there was no way she would. Edward didn’t love her enough to believe in her when she needed him to. Her stomach twisted as his smiling face changed to stone, and cold, hard coal took the place of his eyes. She wondered what he thought when she’d disappeared. Did he believe her at last? Was he sorry she had gone? Or was he relieved? Relieved to not have to cope with such nonsense? Not to have to deal with a mad woman?
***
Izzy awoke to pounding on her bedroom door. What time was it? She was sure she’d only just fallen to sleep.
The pounding continued.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Wait!”
Grabbing her housecoat, she slid off the bed. The curtains were open, and stars glinted in the still night sky. Who would be up so early?
The rapping on the door continued and Izzy pulled the door open. Bree’s fist came at her face, and she instinctively clasped her cousin’s wrist. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to wake you, of course.” Bree pulled her hand back and, nudging Izzy out of the way, breezed into the room and plonked down on the bed. She waved an envelope in the air. “Sorry, Iz, but I’ve been waiting for this all night.”
Izzy peered at the letter. The paper was yellow with age. “What’s that?”
Patting the bed beside her, Bree grinned. “Come on, you’ll want to sit down before you read it.”
“Just tell me, Bree. I’m in no mood for your games. I’m tired and want to get back to sleep.”
Her cousin shook the letter. “This will wake you up. Come on, stop being a spoilsport and sit down.”
Izzy gave an impatient huff. Bree had always been a bit eccentric, but she’d never woken Izzy up in the middle of the night before. “Okay then.” She sat down beside Bree. “Give it to me.”
Bree handed her the envelope with a mischievous grin.
Izzy narrowed her eyes at her cousin but quickly read the front aloud. “Miss Elizabeth Davis, care of Mr Carter Martenell. You got this from Carter?”
Bree nodded. “Open it.”
Izzy turned the letter over. The seal was the Earl of Wellsneath’s stamp. “It can’t be,” she breathed. Her hands shook as she used her fingernail and pried the seal off. She withdrew a sheet of aged cream paper that smelled musty. She unfolded it and glanced at Bree.
Bree kept grinning and nodding. “Read it.”
Recognizing Edward’s writing, Izzy tried to take in the entire letter in one glance. She caught all the words she wanted to hear more than life itself. Love you, want you, forgive me, believe you.
“Read it out loud,” Bree said.
Izzy clasped the page to her chest and shook her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. “Can you send me back?”
Without waiting for Bree to reply, she ran out of the room and down into the basement. She grabbed the orb she had left on the bench the night before.
Bree was hot on her heels. “Wait!”
“I wasn’t going to turn it. I know you have to set the black orb first.”
“That’s not what I was stopping you for. You need to change first, dummy.”
Izzy looked down at her short, pink nightie. Blast. The clothes she’d worn in the past were in her room and she didn’t have time to search the wardrobe for another outfit.
Bree must have guessed Izzy’s problem. She grabbed a blue maxi coat off the coat rack and threw it at Izzy. “Put this on. It’ll have to do.”
She fiddled with the black orb and gazed at Izzy. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure you’ll arrive when you left. I know it won’t be before then, but I’m not sure how close it’ll be.”
Izzy crammed Edward’s letter in the coat pocket. “So long as it’s the same year.”
“Don’t worry, it’s the same year.”
Izzy picked up the white orb and twisted the top. “Wish me luck.”
She didn’t hear if Bree did or not, because she was once again propelled through time and space.
Izzy must have become used to time traveling because, as the blackness evaporated, her previous vertigo was gone, and she landed on stable legs in her bedroom in the duke’s house. She looked around. The room was still the same, although the bedding had been removed from the bed. She sat on the chair at her desk and withdrew the letter from her coat pocket. She whispered the written words her heart ached to hear:
“My dearest Elizabeth,
“Please don’t throw this letter away without reading every word.”
I wouldn’t do that.
“I watched you disappear before my very eyes and it broke my heart. Not that I could blame you for leaving me, but I was such a dolt that I could not believe and trust in the only woman I have ever loved. And I do love you, Elizabeth, with every ounce of my soul, I love you.”
Izzy wiped the tears away so she could see better.
“Please forgive me, my love. I believe you, believe in you. You are my world, and my world in this time is forever bereft without you.
“Chodstone assures me you will receive this letter, but I am fearful he is too optimistic. However, if you do, please know I love you, I believe you, I want you with me for all time. Please come back to me.
“Yours always for all time,”
Izzy sniffed.
“Edward”
She placed the letter on the desk and sobbed. “Oh, Edward.”
Pulling out a drawer, she picked up a handkerchief. It was clean but it didn’t smell freshly laundered. In fact––she turned around and gazed over the room anew––the air was stale.
She stood up. How did she not notice that before? How much time had passed?
She wiped her face with the handkerchief and stared at her red, swollen eyes in the small mirror. “Are you still waiting for me, Edward? Or have you gone on with your life?”
She leapt up and hurried to the window. Drawing the curtains, she squinted at the sun’s brightness. Guessing it to be late morning, she pulled her coat about her, raced out of the room, and heading to the stairs, came face to face with Lucy.
“Lucy!”
“Miss, oh miss, it is good to see you back.”
“Back? How long have I been gone?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “You do not know?”
“Just tell me, Lucy, how long?”
“Three months and a sennight.”
Izzy sucked on her bottom lip. Over three months. What if Edward had started seeing Vera again? What if he hadn’t waited for her?
She pushed past Lucy. “Where’s the duke?”
“In the front sitting room, miss.”
Izzy hit Lucy playfully. “Izzy,” she insisted, and hurried to the front room. She stopped dead. He and Alice were taking tea and chatting happily. “James?”
He looked up and glanced at Alice, who twisted around and peered over the back of the sofa. They both stood up.
“Elizabeth!” they said in unison and hurried to her side. Alice was the first to hug her. “You’re back.”
She stepped to the side to give James room.
James picked Izzy up and swung her around. “I knew you would return.” He put her down and pulled the cord that summoned the butler.
“Come sit down and tell us what has happened in your life.”
Once they sat down, Izzy told them about going back to the future and about how her cousin had brought her a letter from Edward.
“Ah,” James said when she was finished. “So, you got it then.”
“Yes. How is he? Where is he?”
Alice took her hand in hers. “He has been in a state these last months. There was no speaking to him. He didn’t even come to our wedding.”
“You’re married?”
They threw loving glances at one another. “For two months now,” James said, smiling at his wife.
Hampton stood on the threshold and bowed. “You called, Your Grace?”
Izzy noted a look of surprise on Hampton’s face when his gaze passed by her, but he quickly concealed it.
“Yes,” James said. “Have the carriage brought around to the front immediately.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“The carriage?” Izzy asked.
“You will need it to go to Wellsneath House.”
“Wellsneath House?”
“That is where Edward is,” Alice said. “That or mayhap, Gentleman Sam’s. No, I am sure he is at Wellsneath House today.”
***
Izzy leapt out of the carriage and raced up the stairs. She banged the door knocker as hard as she could until the door opened.
Larson, Edward’s butler, dipped his head. “Miss Davis, I am sorry, but the earl isn’t taking visitors at this time.”
Izzy pushed past him. “He’ll see me.”
“But miss.”
“Edward! Edward,” she called, then rounded on the butler. “Where is he?”
Larson stared at her.
“He’s in the library, miss.”
He moved to take the lead to the library, but Izzy stopped him by pulling on the back of his coat. “No, you stay here. I know the way.”
Not knocking, Izzy opened the door to the library and stepped over the threshold. Edward mustn’t have heard the door open, because he didn’t look up from the open account book on his desk. Her soft slippers didn’t make a sound on the thick rug as she walked purposefully toward him. She stopped at the desk and sighed. She had thought him hard at work on his accounts, but on closer inspection, he was scrawling doodles across the pages of numbers.
He either heard her sigh or sensed someone was there, but he didn’t look up as he spoke. “I am busy. Go away.”
“Edward.”
He looked up, closed his eyes and shook his head, snapped his eyes open again and leapt to his feet. The chair under him tumbled over. “Elizabeth?”
He stared at her as if he thought she might be a ghost or an apparition.
She gave him a shaky smile. “It’s me.”
Rounding the desk, he stood before her, his gaze flitting from her eyes to her hair, to her mouth, to her chin, to her eyes. “It is you.”
Izzy smiled and nodded. “How are you?”
“Pleasantries? I am in no mood for pleasantries.”
He gently held her face in his hands and the heavy emotion in his dark gaze had her heart flipping.
“You came back,” he whispered.
“I got your letter.”
He laughed. “You got my letter and you came back to me. I am not certain I can believe the truth of it.” He kissed her forehead. “You feel real. Are you real, my love?”
Izzy wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and whispered close to his mouth. “I’m real.”
She didn’t know if she initiated the kiss or if he did, but in less than a second, they were kissing one another like they would die if parted, only coming up for air or to speak in husky tones. “Forgive me, my love,” Edward groaned. “I cannot live without you.”
His hands roamed over her back, stopped to pull her in closer to his body, sending shivers of pleasure through her. “I can’t live without you either.” Izzy could hardly talk; he had completely taken her every breath away.
“I love you.”
“Oh, Edward, I love you.”
He pressed kisses all over her face, her chin, and her neck. She groaned and he caught her mouth with his once more. Izzy tried to get closer, to feel every movement of muscle in his chest, to feel her heart beating in rhythm with his.
Edward finally pulled back and enveloped her with his passionate gaze. “Will you marry me, Miss Davis? Will you be mine for all time?”
“For all time,” she moaned, pulling him back and covering his mouth with hers.