‘I do not see the need for such haste. To be certain, resting the cake overnight would be preferable, would it not?’
‘I have absolutely no idea.’ Rose laughed, though she wasn’t particularly amused at her present situation. ‘Besides, I have to work all day tomorrow; I daren’t leave it until the evening in case we have to start all over again.’
‘We can figure it out for you.’ Morgan’s voice came from the other room where she was busy editing her article on the laptop.
Rose glanced at Jane, who waved the notepad. ‘We have the wording – we shall be industrious in the kitchen whilst you toil at your occupation, and by the time we meet again, all will be answered.’
‘Are you sure?’ Rose wasn’t too convinced an early nineteenth-century author and a twenty-first-century Californian’s ideas of how to decorate a cake would coincide, but then at least she wouldn’t be around to observe the fallout.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Morgan called from the other room, and Rose walked across the hall to stand in the doorway just as the clock on the wall chimed six o’clock. The day had flown by, what with their repeated efforts to produce a cake that didn’t fall apart as soon as they tried to take it from the tin and, during cooking times, their ceaseless speculation about where the safe might be now, if it hadn’t been sent for scrap.
After a moment, Morgan looked up. ‘Come and have a look at this.’ She pointed to her screen and Rose, expecting to read the finished article, took a seat next to Morgan on the sofa. ‘I did a list of previous owners and the like for the house in Sydney Place for Dr T, going right back to the Austens’ day. See?’
Rose studied the document Morgan had opened. ‘Maybe if we work through and track down these people or their descendants, someone has kept the safe as some sort of display piece.’
‘Yes, and maybe like the locket in Half-Blood Prince it will just happen to be with someone we know.’ Despite her despondency over Cassandra’s note being yet another dead end, Rose could not help but laugh. ‘You’re such an optimist, Morgan!’
Morgan grinned at her. ‘Well – we all knew it was Regulus the moment we read his initials so yes, of course I am. I’ll rub off on you eventually.’
Rose turned to look back at the screen. ‘You already did, years ago. It’s just that I’m struggling to maintain it at the moment.’
‘I’m not sure if it’s freaky or nice that you remember more about me than I do.’ Morgan gave her a fond look. ‘Right then, we need to give you something to do. Why don’t you start with the Austens’ letting agents, this Messrs Watson & Foreman at Cornwall Buildings? I bet you can find something tomorrow in the library archives about them, trace the landlord and his family forward.’
Feeling a frisson of interest, Rose stared at the names, then raised her eyes to Jane, who had come into the room.
‘Their office is… was in Walcot. I recall it quite distinctly, though I did not of course venture inside when Papa called upon them.’
‘Yes – I know Cornwall Buildings. Jane, what is the name of your landlord in Bath?’
‘It is – was – a Mr Pinker. He was most obliging when we took the property, for he was bound to paint the two first floors and an agreement was reached which satisfied all parties.’ Jane smiled, a distant look in her eyes. ‘We travelled to the West Country and passed a most enjoyable summer on the Dorset and Devon coastlines whilst the house was duly prepared.’
Morgan laughed. ‘Isn’t it fascinating how some practices are no different today than they were then? It’s standard where I come from for rentals to have some work done before the new tenants move in! The last apartment I had at college was completely renovated, and—’
Rose leapt to her feet. ‘Renovations!
Chapter Thirty-One
Morgan stared up at her. ‘Er – it wasn’t that exciting. Just a new—’
Trying to think clearly as memories flooded in, Rose shook her head. ‘No, I mean I remember, when I moved into my flat… Marcus told me—’
‘Who’s Marcus?’
Jane walked over to join Rose. ‘My present landlord? He is a most respectable gentleman with pleasing manners.’
Rose nodded quickly and looked down at Morgan, who was gazing from her to Jane in confusion.
‘Morgan, in the old time – the real time – I mean in my real time, all the floors above basement level of the house in Sydney Place are holiday apartments. Marcus’s company manages the property, and when he learned about my interest in Jane Austen – which is why I even applied to rent the basement flat in the first place – we talked in detail about the building and about some of the discoveries they made during the renovations. Before, it had been a combination of offices and student lets, you see – much as it is now – and needed a thorough upgrading.’
‘I’m still not getting where you’re going with this.’ Morgan got to her feet, too, and placed the laptop on a nearby table, but excitement was rising in Rose and she put a hand to head.
‘I can’t believe I never thought about it… Anyway, he told me that when they brought an architect in to design the holiday apartments, he worked out that one of the walls in the ground-floor offices had been built in front of the original.’
‘A false wall? Now we really are getting into Gothic material.’ Morgan looked a little sceptical. ‘I still don’t see how that helps us track down the missing safe.’
‘Don’t you see?’ Rose looked eagerly from Morgan to Jane and back again. ‘Marcus said that when this wall was removed, they discovered something behind it – built into the original wall!’
Jane’s eyes widened. ‘The safe.’
Morgan studied Rose thoughtfully. ‘So… you think there’s a chance the safe might still be there – just hidden? That the wall – the false one – is still in place today?’
Rose nodded, trying to rein in her rising excitement. Her hopes had been dashed once too often in recent days, and she wasn’t sure how many more falls she could take. ‘Marcus said there was every indication the additional wall was put up when the building was fairly new. It was pretty substantial and took some removing. And the cornicing and skirting matched the rest of the room; there was no indication at all it was a secondary wall. What if…’ Rose turned to look at Jane. ‘What if your family hid the safe – knowing Cassandra had placed the necklace in there to find – by building a false wall?’
Jane raised a brow. ‘The building is – was – but a few years old; a match of the materials is entirely feasible.’ She nodded slowly. ‘Most indubitably the best way to preserve the necklace in its hiding place.’
‘That’s what it means – the end of the riddle she left you!’ Rose watched as Jane pulled the old piece of parchment from her pocket again.
‘To keep it safe, one must conceal; thus only you can it reveal.’ Jane looked up.
‘We thought it meant it was concealed in the safe; what if it means the safe was concealed as well?’ Rose’s skin prickled and she rubbed at the goosebumps rising along with her anticipation. ‘We’ve got to check if that back wall is the original, as we had assumed from the photos, or if the secondary wall is still in place.’
‘Yes!’ Morgan nodded and turned to shove her laptop into her bag.
‘But how? We can’t go now.’ Rose glanced at the clock. ‘They’ll be closed; we’ll have to wait for Monday.’ The thought of having to pass the weekend not knowing if they were onto something at last was disappointing to say the least, but as her enthusiasm waned, another thought struck Rose, and she turned to Jane. She was white as a sheet.
‘Come on!’ Morgan was heading for the door. ‘What are you waiting for? This is no time to nap on the job.’
Rose took a breath and said carefully, ‘Jane.’
‘Rose.’
Morgan looked between them, confused for a moment before raising her brows and saying, simply, ‘Oh.’
‘Jane, I understand your reasons for being content here. You know I have selfish reasons for wanting to
return to the reality I know. And I don’t want to trivialise this decision for you, but… if we can make this work… your sister. You were all she had.’
Rose held her breath as the silence stretched between the three of them, the poignancy of the moment almost overwhelming. Finally Jane nodded.
‘Do not despair, Rose. I have not forgotten my family, though perhaps it seemed I had, nor am I immune to what you have lost. I miss my sister beyond words. Though often separated, we wrote to each other every day when apart, and’ – Jane drew a shaky breath – ‘I would have that back above all things.’
Rose couldn’t even be embarrassed by the wetness in her eyes. She smiled tremulously at Jane, mouthing, ‘Thank you.’
‘So, if we’re going to do this…’ Meeting Morgan’s cautiously enthusiastic gaze, Rose reluctantly shook her head. ‘It’s no good. It’s a listed building – like almost all the ones in Bath. Even internal alterations need formal permissions or permits, and that can take weeks, months even. We could be waiting six months or more to have the wall removed and that’s without any guarantee the safe was left in place or that there is anything still in it if it was.’
‘Then there is no point in waiting for Monday, is there?’
‘No.’ Rose felt suddenly despondent again. ‘Besides, what right have we to request the wall be removed? We aren’t the owner or the tenant.’
‘Exactly; but then, in the real world, your real world, none of this is relevant, is it?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If the false wall is still there, and if the safe is there, too, and if the necklace is still in it, then as soon as the door is opened to reveal it, this… this time travel portal is reinstated!’
Rose stared at Morgan. ‘That’s a heck of a lot of “ifs”.’
‘Sure is! But if so, the world you talk about will reform instantly, the offices will disappear, along with any damage we’ve done, and it will be Jane’s apartment again.’
Jane nodded. ‘We know my sister placed the charm in the safe; as I have said, the safe will yield to no hand but mine. If one is fortunate enough to discover the safe, then I will be able to retrieve the charm.’
‘This is too incredible. We have to find out if it’s there.’ Morgan picked up her laptop bag and slung it over her shoulder.
Rose was wavering. It all sounded so improbable; there was so much that could go wrong. ‘But the only way of finding out if it’s there is… well, we’d have to knock a hole in the wall.’
‘Where is your sense of adventure, Ginger? Harry was doing this all the time – breaking the rules to set the world to rights.’
‘Yes, but he had an invisibility cloak. That would be really helpful right now!’
‘More importantly than that, he had loyal friends who helped him no end. So did Frodo – he’d never have coped without Sam.’
For a moment, Rose stared at Morgan, but there was no denying her words rang true, and she met her challenging gaze full on. ‘You’re right – except, I feel compelled to point out he had a magic cloak too.’
‘Oh, cloaks smokes, we have something none of them had – cellphones.’ Morgan fished hers from her pocket and waved it in the air. ‘This is our secret weapon! I’ve got Adam’s number – he’s one of the guys working from that office – I’ll text him and say I think I left a lens cap over there the other day and can I just come by to grab it?’
‘You don’t think someone will notice when we start hammering at the plaster?’
Morgan had already started texting. ‘I’m sure he won’t be there – he told me he usually shuts up shop at five and the cleaners are there by six – they do the offices and the communal areas on all floors. I met them when I was there late the other day. They’re real friendly.’
Still having serious misgivings, Rose started when her own phone began to ring, and she quickly fished it out of her bag. It was an unknown number, but some instinct prompted her to connect the call.
‘Hello?’
‘Er – hi. Rose? It’s Aiden… Trevellyan.’
‘Oh! Hi!’ The easy colour flooded Rose’s cheeks and Morgan smirked at her as she put her phone back in her pocket.
‘I was just wondering if you were busy all weekend.’
Feeling two pairs of eyes on her, Rose edged her way out of the room and into the kitchen where the fallout from their day of baking still remained. ‘A bit.’ Where had her ability to form words gone?
There was a pause, and Rose wracked her brains for something witty or clever to say. ‘I may be tied up with some of my friends.’ Nice. Very clever.
‘Oh, I see.’
‘Rose!’ Turning around, she saw Morgan and Jane in the doorway. Morgan was pointing at her own phone and giving a thumbs-up before gesturing to her to wind up the call. Rose looked at Jane. She was saying nothing, but there was a message in her eyes. She knew it was time.
I want both worlds, Rose thought in a sudden panic. If I can just get him to tell me what it is about me now that has stopped me being so invisible to him…
She drew a breath for courage and turned her back on the others. ‘Aiden, I’m not imagining it, am I? You do…’ She swallowed hard. ‘You do quite like me?’
He cleared his throat, and she held her breath. ‘Quite – a lot.’
She tried, but even behind the obscurity of a phone call rather than facing him, she couldn’t bring herself to ask the questions raging through her mind: what do you see in me in this world that you don’t in the other? Why do you want to spend time with me? If she only knew the answers, perhaps she’d know how to change things in the other life… if she ever got it back.
‘What I mean is,’ he was continuing, albeit with some hesitation in his voice, ‘you are – you listen, you ask intelligent questions. I don’t know, you seem genuinely interested in me – I mean, in my work!’
A slow smile formed on Rose’s lips. ‘I am; genuinely interested, I mean. And I will see you… soon. I’m so sorry, I wish I could explain, but for now I have to go.’
‘Er – okay. Bye.’
‘Bye.’
Rose frowned at the screen as she turned back to Morgan and Jane. ‘How on earth did he get my number?’
‘He asked for it! I didn’t think you’d object, somehow!’ Morgan winked at her. ‘Also asked whether you had a “significant other”, to quote him.’
There had to be hope for them, didn’t there? If they really did manage to restore life to how it was? Rose drew in a deep breath. It was definitely time.
Chapter Thirty-Two
She turned to Jane. ‘Are you okay? You’ve turned awfully pale.’
Jane nodded. ‘I am perfectly resolved, though I find this plan fraught with danger. I come from a world where one can be deported for stealing little more than an apple.’ She gave Rose a rueful smile. ‘I too wish to regain my former life, but there is part of me that would remain. I am uncertain of my true destiny. Is it the life I once had, or is this where I am meant to be?’
Rose shook her head. ‘I wish I knew. There are so many things here in this century that makes life… easier, cleaner, safer for you.’ Then she smiled. ‘But I know how much you love your family, and if we can restore things to how they were, surely you can continue to enjoy both? And Cassandra must miss you terribly.’
‘I fully comprehend; it is a sound wish, a hope we both share.’ Jane followed Morgan out into the hallway, then turned back. ‘But if the constables arrive, and we are despatched forthwith to the magistrate, I shall declare you both kidnapped me.’
Rose waved her hand. ‘Morgan can handle the police.’
Morgan looked surprised as they lined up by the front door. ‘I can?’
Rose smiled at her. ‘With one hand tied behind your back. You talk yourself out of speeding tickets all the time.’
‘How do you… Oh, right. Well, that’s just a mix of respect and apology…’
Rose grabbed her bag from the table. ‘Anyway – it won’t matter. If t
he safe is there and the necklace is inside, the world should revert to its normal form.’
‘And we will be back in a Sydney Place we are familiar with, Rose.’
‘Not me.’ Morgan’s face had become very uncharacteristically serious, but Rose smiled at her as they walked out into the driveway.
‘No – but trust me, you will be having a great time.’
‘What do you know?’
Rose laughed; she could barely keep herself from bouncing on the balls of her feet. ‘It’s a long story – but trust me, Morgan; you’re having a lovely time in the real world. Now come on, are you two with me or not? We’ve got to get there before the cleaners leave.’ And Rose set off at a steady pace down the drive. Little did she know it, but Jane Austen was about to take her first real ride on public transport!
* * *
Rose’s bravado lasted all through the bus ride into Bath, and continued even when they realised they had nothing with them suitable for knocking holes in walls.
They made a quick detour into Bathwick Street once off the bus to another local shop where they managed to buy a small mallet. To both Rose and Morgan’s amusement, Jane had seemed very impressed with this, remarking as they walked back out into the street that the ‘convenient’ store had, for once, lived up to its name.
Once outside 4 Sydney Place, however, her confidence waned somewhat, and she was thankful Morgan was taking the lead, showing the cleaner who came to the door the text from Adam giving her permission to go into the building and, in fact, greeting her like an old friend.
With a quick grin over her shoulder, Morgan gestured for them to follow her inside. ‘Claire has been cleaning here for nearly ten years. Oh, and that’s Bonnie!’ Morgan waved cheerily at a young girl presently lugging a vacuum cleaner up the first flight of stairs. ‘She only joined Claire a couple months ago.’
The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen Page 22