“We’re only going to the play,” Julian told Ophelia that evening as they waited in the drawing room. “After that, we’re coming back here.”
That was good because Ophelia didn’t care much for Serena. She definitely didn’t want to be stuck alone in the room with her again. Julian had explained they would sit in a crowded room that had rows and rows of seats. Plenty of people would be there. She might not have to say more than a few words to Serena the entire evening.
“I hope you two have a wonderful time,” Marcy said as she and Lewis came into the drawing room.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Julian asked. “I’m sure Didimus and Serena wouldn’t mind.”
Marcy glanced at Lewis and shook her head. “We’re going to spend a quiet evening together. I think I might catch up on some reading.”
“A play is like a book in visual form,” Julian told Ophelia. “Instead of reading it, you get to see everything acted out.”
“Yes, and that can be fun,” Lewis said. “It’ll be good for you to get a chance to see one,” he told Ophelia. “Now you’ll know what we’re talking about when we mention the theatre.”
“And maybe next time you’re here, we can go to a ball,” Marcy added. “Lewis, Julian, and I can help you learn the steps to the dances.”
“You’d probably like going to a ball,” Julian told Ophelia. “I always enjoyed them. They’re a great way to relax and have a good time. Dancing is only a part of it. You can spend time talking to friends, too.”
Ophelia nodded as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her cloak. Sometimes she missed the red one that she’d had. It had been her mother’s, and it’d been the only thing she’d taken from her past the night she fled from Lord Wolfe. But it was destroyed beyond repair. She’d ended up cutting portions of it that were salvageable. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with those portions yet, but she’d think of something.
The footman opened the door, and she let Julian escort her to the carriage.
“It’s nice of Marcy and Lewis to let us borrow their carriage,” she said.
“It is.” He offered her a wry grin. “They probably feel sorry for me since I own one that’s in miserable shape.”
She didn’t mind his carriage. Yes, it had a couple of tears in the seat, its outward condition showed years of neglect, and it wasn’t as smooth as this one, but she’d come to equate it with him. And anything to do with him was wonderful.
The footman opened the door. Julian waved for her to go in first, so she did. He followed and was soon settled next to her. The footman closed the door, and she slipped her arm around Julian’s.
“I’m glad you’re my husband,” she said.
He turned his gaze to her. “What brought this on?”
She shrugged. “After everything you’ve been going through, I thought you might like to know how much you mean to me.”
With a smile, he cupped the side of her face and gave her a kiss. “Thank you. I’ll never tire of hearing it.” He brushed his thumb along her cheek then put his hand down. “This probably sounds silly, but I like who I am when I’m with you. A parishioner once told me that a wife does a young man a lot of good. He said the right one will make him a better person. You do that for me.”
She squeezed his arm. “I like who I am with you, too. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”
The carriage moved forward, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Parts of the evening were bound to be uncomfortable since Serena would be there, but she could manage through it because he was with her. She snuggled up to him for the rest of the way to the theatre.
When Julian escorted her into the theatre, she couldn’t help but think that it was larger than she’d expected. And despite how large it was, it seemed small with all the people coming to attend the play. Even with the number of people she’d come across while walking through London, she hadn’t felt as if she was pressed in from all sides. She had no idea the theatre was such a popular place. If a lot of people came here for an evening’s entertainment, she could only imagine how many went to the balls. From what Marcy had told her, more people went to balls than they went to the theatre. But as she scanned the crowd around her, she doubted anything could be more popular than this.
She inched closer to Julian.
“I take it you’re not used to a lot of people in one room at a time,” Julian said.
“No, I’m not.” She didn’t want to tell him that up to now she’d never been to a public event. She hadn’t realized just how isolated her world had been until this moment. There was so much she hadn’t experienced.
“I’m glad you two could make it,” a familiar voice called out among the crowd.
She turned toward Didimus, noting right away that Serena had a bored expression on her face. Ophelia’s eyebrows furrowed. Was Serena bored because plays weren’t as entertaining as her husband made them out to be, or was Serena bored because she had to spend an evening with her and Julian?
“What do you think?” Didimus asked Julian. “Doesn’t this bring back old memories?”
Julian nodded then looked at Ophelia. “We used to come to the theatre a lot.”
“Yes, it was one of the few places we didn’t get into any trouble,” Didimus added in a lower voice. He winked and then said in a louder voice, “I heard this particular play is exceptional. A few people were so impressed with it that they’ve come here to see it again.”
“That’s good,” Julian replied. “Ophelia’s never seen a play before. Her first one shouldn’t put her to sleep.”
Didimus laughed. “Your husband has a splendid sense of humor, but then, that’s why we always got along so well. Come. I’ll lead the way to our seats.”
Keeping a firm hold onto Julian, Ophelia followed Didimus and Serena to the seats. She was greatly relieved when she noticed that she didn’t have to sit next to Serena. She had worried the gentlemen would make her and Serena sit between them, but, as it turned out, Didimus and Julian sat next to each other. The setup gave her the freedom to pretend Serena wasn’t even there. She just might enjoy the evening after all.
Before long, everyone had filtered into the room and found their seats. The entire place was packed. Ophelia doubted there was a spare seat anywhere. Her seat happened to be right next to the aisle, giving her the ability to move more easily than she would have if she’d been sitting between two people. She took a deep breath and released it. Now that people were no longer milling about, it was easier to relax.
The first half of the play passed quickly. As Julian had said, watching a play wasn’t all that different from reading a book. And, as Didimus had promised, the play was entertaining. It was so entertaining, in fact, that she forgot she was sitting in a theatre until the curtains closed for the intermission.
Didimus turned to Julian and said something she couldn’t make out above the sudden burst of noise from the others in the large room. Julian turned to her and asked if she wanted to get something to drink or take care of personal matters. Since she was fine, she told him she preferred to stay seated. He and Didimus got up and left. She had hoped Serena would go with them, but Serena stayed seated, too.
For a moment, she worried she’d be forced to make small talk with Serena, but as it turned out, Serena started talking to two ladies in front of her. That was just as well. She didn’t mind if Serena ignored her. It was better than Serena putting on a pretense of liking her when she didn’t.
Ophelia sat in silence as others around her engaged in conversations. She noticed some lettering on the walls, and she was happy to note that she recognized most of them. She couldn’t tell what words they made, but at least letters no longer seemed foreign to her. Perhaps the next time she came here, she’d be able to read them.
When she was done examining the letters, she let her mind drift off to nothing in particular. A couple of minutes passed before she became aware of an unfamiliar unease that was winding its way through the back of her mind. She glanced around the room. She couldn’t be sure, but it felt as if someone was watching her.
Around her, people were talking and laughing. No one even seemed to be aware she was there.
But someone is aware you’re here.
She inwardly shivered and crossed her arms in a protective gesture. She couldn’t tell who that person was, not with all the people in the room. How could the person even notice her when there were so many around them? Was it because she was sitting next to the aisle? Did that make her easier to spot in a crowd?
Someone put a hand on her shoulder, and her head snapped up. It was Julian. At once, she felt better. She was no longer all by herself in the crowded room.
He followed Didimus into the row and sat beside her. “The play will resume in a minute. I hope we weren’t gone for too long.”
Willing the sensation that someone was still watching her aside, she chuckled. “No, it wasn’t too long.” She put her arm around his. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He smiled. “I missed you, too.”
Soon, the play picked back up where it left off, and she found herself lost in it once more.
***
A week later, Ophelia and Julian were back at the cottage. She was writing the letter R on the parchment in front of her. Julian had warned her that progress would seem slow, and he’d been right. Sometimes it was hard not to get impatient. She had a difficult time making some of the letters legible when she wrote them. Granted, she’d had plenty of practice drawing things, but writing letters was a lot different from drawing shapes. She had to employ surprising concentration to get the letters to look the way they were supposed to, and she had to do it for printing and cursive. “You might as well learn how to write in cursive while we’re at it,” Julian had told her.
When she finished the last R on the piece of paper, she turned to him. He was sitting next to her at the desk, but he was preparing his next sermon rather than watching her write each letter, something that was for the best since it would probably bore him. It was boring her, and she was the one doing it.
Thunder boomed from outside, and she glanced at the window. It was already dark out. The clouds had been hovering above them all morning, but it hadn’t started raining until early that evening. The rain had steadily grown stronger. It was only now that she’d heard thunder.
“Does thunder scare you?” Julian asked as he scanned the parchment.
“Not anymore. It used to when I was a child, but when I pretended the thunder was someone playing the drums, it no longer bothered me.”
In fact, every time there was a storm, she recalled that picture the maid had showed her of different instruments. She’d pointed to the drum and said thunder sounded like someone banging a drum. The maid had taken her to the kitchen and allowed her to bang on some pots and pans to hear how loud they clanged together. After that, Ophelia hadn’t been afraid of thunderstorms.
“I hadn’t thought about it, but thunder does sound like drums.” Julian put the parchment in front of her. “They look good, but you do understand that you don’t need to show me every piece of parchment you write on. I trust you to do the work.”
“I know, but I like knowing I’m writing the letters correctly.”
“In that case,” he kissed her cheek, “you’re doing an excellent job. I have no trouble telling those are R’s.”
She yawned.
“Are you ready for bed?” he asked.
“I want to work on the next letter before I go to bed.”
“All right, but we should stop after that. It’s getting late.” He dipped his quill into the inkwell and took out a new piece of parchment. “The next letter is an S.” He proceeded to show her how to write the upper and lower case form of the word, using both print and cursive as he did so. “What you do think?”
She grimaced. “I like the R better.”
He chuckled. “The S isn’t as easy as most of the letters, but it’s used a lot. We’ll go to bed after this, and tomorrow when we start on the T’s, you’ll be relieved.”
“I will?”
“T is easier than the S.”
With a nod, she picked up her own quill and began imitating the ways he’d modeled the letter. She had to ask him to show her how to do the uppercase cursive S twice before she got the hang of it. When she was done, she said, “I’ll probably have to refresh my memory on the S tomorrow.”
“It’s a good idea to refresh your memory on every letter. The only way to get proficient at reading and writing is by doing it over and over.”
She set the parchment and quill down on the desk. She yawned again, and as she did so, she realized she was more tired than she’d thought. “Are you coming to bed?”
“I will in a moment,” he said as he wrote something down in his notes. “I want to finish up my thought first.”
“All right.”
She stood up and stretched. Then she headed for the bedroom. As she passed the window, a flash of lightning lit up the sky. She glanced outside and gasped. Between two of the trees in front of the cottage, she thought she saw the silhouette of a man wearing a hat and long coat. Her feet stilled, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
It had to be her imagination. She didn’t really see someone out there.
Did she?
Thunder rumbled, and she jumped.
“I thought the thunder didn’t scare you,” Julian teased from where he was still seated.
She backed away from the window and waited. If someone was out there to see Julian, he’d knock. Wouldn’t he? Julian had said that someone from his parish occasionally came out late at night because of an emergency. But if someone had come to see him, they would have knocked on the door by now. Wouldn’t they?
Julian tucked his notes into the Bible and closed it. Eyebrows furrowed, he studied her. “Are you all right?”
She turned to him, and finally finding her voice, she said, “I thought I saw someone out there.” She gestured to the window.
He crossed the room and went to the door. Before she could call out for him to stop, he opened it. She held her breath and waited. Was something bad going to happen to him?
He peered outside. “Hello? Is someone there?”
Lightning flashed across the sky again, and this time, she didn’t see anyone. She only saw the trees.
Julian shut the door and shook the rain off of himself. “No one’s out there.”
Yes, she had seen that. She must have worked too hard this evening. Her exhaustion was catching up to her. She was imagining things that weren’t there. Even as she tried to tell herself this, she felt a shiver of dread crawl up her spine. It wasn’t unlike the way she’d felt at the theatre when she’d thought someone was watching her.
“Will you secure the door so no one can get in here?” she asked.
Julian shot her a puzzled look. “You want me to block the door?”
She nodded. “Do you mind?” There was no lock on it. The only way to prevent someone from coming in was to put up a physical barrier.
Julian shook his head. “No, I don’t mind.” He picked up one of the chairs and lodged the back of it under the doorknob. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’ll work.” He went to the window and drew the curtains closed. “Is that better?”
Not really, but what else could he do? He’d already called out to whoever was out there, and he’d blocked the door so no one could come in. What would really make her feel better was morning. Then she could look outside and see exactly what was going on. It was possible her imagination had gotten away from her, but, deep down, she doubted it. She wasn’t the type to give into fanciful imaginings.
At least no one was going to get in, and she had Julian here with her. Thank goodness he no longer slept out in the sitting room. She’d hate to spend the night alone in the bed.
“I’m ready to go to bed,” she finally said, deciding not to answer his question.
She turned and went to the bedroom. The window was already covered in here, saving her the dread of having to look outside and see what was going on. She’d rather not know. She’d rather go to sleep, wake up, and find that everything was fine out there.
She hurried to change into her chemise then went to the bed. She brought the covers up to her chin and waited for Julian to join her. Fortunately, he didn’t take much longer to come into the room, though she noticed he left the candle lit in the sitting room.
Before she could ask him about it, he said, “In case someone is out there, he’ll assume we’re awake.”
That was a good idea. She hadn’t thought of that. She waited until he joined her in bed then she snuggled up to him. Just being in his arms helped her feel much better. Hopefully, tomorrow would be quick in coming. She released her breath and continued listening to the thunderstorm raging outside until she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. At some point, she drifted off to sleep, and when she woke up the next morning, she was relieved to see no one was outside.