The Unexpected Past of Miss Jane Austen (ARC)

by Ada Bright

  Rose sank back down into her chair. Very opportune, only perhaps Aiden would disagree.

  Charles looked between the two women. ‘And more recently?’

  ‘I have been using it with more frequency, and not always in isolation, having brought both Mr Trevellyan and Rose back, and then her friends – and then returning them.’

  ‘And?’

  Jane looked from her brother to Rose. ‘It was the first time I had used it after restoring your friends to their right time. It did not retrace. I had to make three attempts to reach the year thirteen.’

  Charles raised a brow. ‘And it did not adhere to the claim of “place to place”?’

  Jane looked a little sheepish. ‘Not entirely.’

  ‘Jane!’ Cassandra reprimanded. ‘You never spoke of this. Is this why the hives were so disturbed?’

  Jane shrugged. ‘Always, without fail, has the charm moved me through time, but not across distance. Always have I arrived, be it going forward or returning, to the exact location I claimed at the time I placed the charm against my throat.’

  ‘So it would seem the charm has been fading, malfunctioning.’

  ‘And now it has failed altogether.’ Rose’s voice was a mere whisper. ‘And might take years to recharge.’

  ‘Rose? Are you here?’ Aiden’s voice carried across the room and Rose looked pleadingly towards the captain.

  ‘Go to him, Miss Wallace. You have ample chaperones.’

  With a grateful smile at Charles, Rose hurried over to the bed, taking Aiden’s good hand again, and he opened his eyes, then smiled faintly. ‘I thought I heard your voice.’ He frowned. ‘I heard other voices…’

  ‘Shhh. Captain Austen and the Miss Austens are here. You are being well looked after. How is the pain?’

  He glanced at his strapped-up arm. ‘Bearable.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Except in my head. That damned laudanum. Can’t think straight. There’s something… I need to tell you something… but the words keep fading from my mind…’ His head fell to the side on the pillow, and Rose stared at him lovingly. Had he drifted off again?

  Carefully, she eased her hand from his and laid it on the coverlet. She needed to keep her own head clear, to work through all they had talked about. Somewhere in all of this, there had to be something that would help them find out how to restore the charm’s power. Surely time itself wasn’t going to be the only way?

  ‘The night we kissed…’

  Warmth filled Rose’s cheeks, and she spun back to look at Aiden. His eyes were still closed, a frown on his brow.

  ‘Aiden, now is probably not the time to talk of—’

  ‘No. Yes. You must remember… walk… walking in the park… dusk…’

  ‘Of course I remember. But,’ Rose lowered her voice, ‘you must remember we are not alone.’

  ‘But we talked… we had a… charm.’

  Rose couldn’t help but smile. ‘We… well, you have quite a lot of charm, but let’s talk about that later.’

  He turned his head to and fro on the pillow, still frowning, then opened his eyes with difficulty. ‘Go back.’

  If only they could! ‘Hush, Aiden. You must rest.’

  ‘You must go back, Rose…’ His voice was fading as the laudanum took over again. ‘Remember… charm.’

  He fell silent, and Rose, conscious of the murmur of voices over by the fireplace, raised a hand to smooth a curl from his forehead, pressed a kiss to her fingers and placed them gently on his lips before reluctantly turning away.

  The door opened and Edward entered, raising an enquiring brow at Rose.

  ‘He is doing as well as we could hope, sir.’

  ‘Capital.’ Edward walked over to where his brother and sisters were gathered and entered into a low conversation with them, but as the word ‘charm’ drifted over to her, Rose’s eyes widened as realisation came. Hurrying back to the bed, she touched Aiden’s shoulder, trying to rouse him, but he was lost in the depths of the drugs.

  ‘Miss Wallace.’ Charles had walked over, his voice cautioning.

  ‘You don’t understand.’ Rose’s insides were dancing all over the place, and she put a hand to her head. ‘He knows something. He was trying to tell me something about the charm! The one he found in Winchester Cathedral!’

  Jane came hurrying over, a look of surprise on her face. ‘In the cathedral? How could such a thing be so?’

  ‘Don’t you remember, Jane? He mentioned it to you when you first came to fetch us.’ Rose closed her eyes, thinking about the walk through Henrietta Park. Aiden had stopped her as they went in through the gate, hadn’t he? He’d seen her replica necklace in the light from the lamppost and…

  Her eyes flew open. ‘Aiden found it near your…’ She bit her lip.

  ‘My?’ Jane waited for a moment for Rose to finish, then nodded. ‘Ah, my grave.’

  Charles looked from Rose to his sister, paling as realisation dawned. ‘You…’ He raised a hand and pointed it at his sister. ‘You are to be interred in Winchester Cathedral? Good Lord, Jane! How is such a thing to come to pass?’

  ‘What is this?’ Edward joined them, Cassandra hard on his heels.

  ‘Jane is to be interred in Winchester.’ Charles folded his arms across his chest. ‘Surely it is our late esteemed father’s influence, through his connections?’

  ‘Or that of Heathcote’s widow,’ Edward interjected. He stared at Jane. ‘This is most singular. The cottage a museum and you, dear sister, interred in such a building?’

  ‘I cannot account for it, Edward, but so it is.’

  Charles shrugged. ‘Perhaps it was the Dean himself! Did he perform the service, Sister?’

  ‘No.’ Jane looked from Charles to Edward, then back. ‘And you were not in attendance, Charles.’

  He looked astounded. ‘Good heavens! Do I pass before you?’

  ‘Stop it!’ Cassandra’s eyes were wide as she looked frantically from her brothers to Jane. ‘You promised, Jane, you would speak nothing to me of what you knew was coming, nothing you had learned about your future, or of the family’s.’

  Jane took her sister’s hands and squeezed them. ‘Forgive me. It is a subject of much debate, even 200 years from now, but never more shall it be spoken of between us.’ She turned to Rose. ‘And forgive me, Rose, but I cannot see that aught in the present day can aid us.’ She looked over at Aiden. ‘Though I long for Mr Trevellyan to free his mind of the drug, for I am intrigued to learn more of it.’

  They all turned as one to stare at the silent figure in the bed. Then, Rose touched Jane’s arm and she turned to face her. ‘I can’t recall all he said.’ She had, after all, been a little distracted at the time. ‘But he’d been overseeing some repairs in the aisle near where you are… well, there’s a memorial plaque in the wall, put up some years later, and they had to remove it to repair some damaged stonework, and I’m sure that’s where he said he’d found it. In a small box.’

  Jane looked over at her brothers. ‘This does not aid us, merely confuses the matter, for how this could be, I know not.’ She frowned. ‘If the necklace he found has age to it, of course, ’tis a shame he did not bring it with him.’

  ‘I think he said it was already secured in the cathedral’s archives…’ Rose’s voice petered out as a sudden thought struck her. ‘Jane, the portal! Doesn’t the necklace create one wherever it is placed, provided that… that… whatever the portal is, it existed in the past too? Like the safe in Sydney Place? Like the floorboard at the cottage?’

  Jane’s bright, hazel eyes widened, then she looked back over at Aiden’s motionless form. ‘If there is a chance, then we must find out where he placed it.’

  The two ladies walked back over to the bed and looked down at Aiden, and Rose almost blew out a breath of frustration. He looked well away. Was this what he had been trying to say, to remember? How long would he sleep before they could find out?

  There was a sudden splash, and both Jane and Rose leapt back as droplets of water reached them.
Aiden’s head and shoulders were drenched, rivulets running down his face, but he had opened his eyes and was squinting up at Charles, who held an empty pitcher.

  Chapter 30

  Jane looked horrified. ‘Charles!’

  The captain smirked. ‘It has always proved effective in rousing many a midshipman who may have over-indulged. I was unsure it would prove fruitful in Mr Trevellyan’s circumstances, but as time is of the essence, I deemed it worthy of an attempt.’

  Aiden raised his good arm and wiped his eyes, and Charles tossed him a small towel.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’

  Rose looked at Jane, who nodded encouragingly, and so she stepped forward and took the towel from him when he’d finished mopping. ‘Aiden, you were trying to tell me something. Can you remember what it was? Do you remember our walk, you told me about the cross and chain you had found, said it was very old, similar to the replica I was wearing?’

  He ran a hand through his damp hair, then drew in a shallow breath. ‘Yes, the cross I found…’ His gaze sought Jane’s. ‘I barely got a glimpse of the charm you used to bring us here, Miss Austen, but if it’s similar – perhaps even the same one – I know exactly where it is.’

  ‘In the future.’ Charles folded his arms, looking unimpressed, but Rose’s heart increased its beat. Were they on to something at last?

  Jane’s eyes were fixed on Aiden, as were everyone else’s in the room. ‘If the charm is the very same – and though I cannot account for where it was, it may well be so – then it may be accessible.’ She looked from Aiden to the others. ‘If the charm has, over time, regained some power, then wherever it has been placed will become a portal.’

  Aiden had closed his eyes again. He looked extremely uncomfortable, lying on soaking wet sheets, his shirt plastered to his chest. ‘It’s in the archives.’

  ‘Where, exactly? Aiden? Please stay with us?’ Rose leaned forward and grasped his hand, willing him to stay awake.

  He said nothing for a moment, then opened his eyes again and turned his head on the pillow to look at Rose. ‘I put it in a drawer in a wooden cabinet.’ He frowned. ‘It was really odd. I placed the necklace in there, but then realised the small wooden box I’d found it in was still on the table. Although it was damaged, I wanted to keep it with the necklace, so I went to open the drawer, but it had seized up in some way. I couldn’t get it open.’ His lids dropped again, his voice growing fainter. ‘Need a carpenter… I was going to get one in… the next day, but…’

  He said nothing more, but Rose’s skin was tingling, and she laid his hand on the coverlet and turned to Jane, hope rising with more surety now.

  ‘Didn’t you say, back in Bath, the portal would only yield to you if the charm was inside? Oh, Jane, don’t you see?’ Rose could hardly get the words out in her excitement. ‘If the drawer has sealed itself, perhaps a portal has been activated, and if so… then this charm Aiden found must have power!’

  There was a heavy silence in the room as Rose’s words hung in the air.

  ‘To Winchester, then!’

  Rose looked at Aiden’s bandaged arm. ‘And without delay.’

  * * *

  Rose followed Jane from Aiden’s room on legs that were a little unsteady as the others all headed downstairs on their mission. A tremor had shaken her very bones the moment Aiden had mentioned the sealed cupboard, the need for a carpenter, and as she walked slowly along the landing, she felt it still. Rubbing her arms to relieve her tingling skin, she looked back wistfully towards Aiden’s room before disappearing inside her own. Jane had advised her to dress for travelling before excusing herself, saying there was much to prepare. Charles, she knew, had summoned a servant and was doing his best to rouse Aiden and help him to dress in dry clothes.

  By the time Rose reached the top of the stairs, she became aware of the bustle below, and she hurried down into the hall, looking for Jane.

  ‘Miss Wallace.’ Cassandra appeared from the small room opposite the great hall, pulling a cloak about her shoulders. ‘Be not alarmed.’ She gestured towards the servants going to and fro. ‘The carriage is being prepared, and Edward has taken it upon himself to assist the footmen in arranging the cushions in order that Mr Trevellyan can travel with as little disturbance to his injuries as possible.’

  She spoke quietly, and Rose stepped closer to do the same. ‘Must we go straight away?’ What was wrong with her? She’d been so desperate to try and find a way back, and now there was a glimmer of hope, she was devastated by the fact that if this worked, she might never come back, might never see her father again. How could she delay this? Should she? ‘Shouldn’t we wait for darkness?’

  Cassandra said nothing as a maid came up and handed her a bonnet and some gloves. Then, she smiled kindly at Rose. ‘You are on a mission of some difficulty. Arriving at the cathedral whilst its doors remain open for public prayer will remove the necessity for trying to force an entry.’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Feeling a little stupid, Rose grimaced. ‘I wasn’t thinking. But I must see my father, and…’

  Shaking her head, Cassandra placed a hand on Rose’s arm. ‘I am to call there directly and will send him to you. We did not think it wise to send a note with a servant. I must also make some show of visiting upon Mama. She must be distracted from discovering what Jane is about.’ She smiled. ‘Leastways, until it is too late for her to voice her objections.’

  Cassandra took Rose’s hands and squeezed them. ‘Do try not to worry, Miss Wallace. I shall return as soon as I am able.’

  Rose followed her to the door and watched as Cassandra hurried down the driveway, and then she turned back to resume her search for Jane. When she found her, giving instructions to the housekeeper, Rose asked if she could help in any way, but she was politely turned aside and, left to her own devices whilst all was made ready, she paced restlessly around the ground floor of the house.

  Christopher found her at the windows of the formal dining room where she had been staring out at the carriage, feeling a little like Cinderella, putting all her faith in where it would take her. She had been so intent on it she hadn’t even seen her father arrive.

  ‘Rosie.’

  She turned quickly, conscious the faint tremor still had hold of her body, and she summoned a smile, too tense to even offer him an embrace. ‘We have an idea.’

  Speaking rapidly, her voice low, Rose explained what Jane had said about the charm and its seeming ability to restore its own powers if left alone for long enough, and how Aiden had reminded Rose of his finding an old necklace in the cathedral – one which they suspected was the very charm Jane once possessed.

  Christopher listened intently, saying nothing until Rose has finished recounting her tale, and she held her breath, willing him not to come up with some logical reason why their hopes must be in vain.

  To no avail. Christopher frowned. ‘But how can it be here now, in 1813, if it is not placed there until the twenty-first century?’

  Rose hardly blinked. After all, hadn’t she had the same question going round and round in her head? If only Morgan were here. She would have an explanation, and somehow, she’d make it sound logical too!

  ‘I can’t answer that. We thought there was a chance it could’ve sealed itself – the drawer, I mean. Provided it existed in 1813, and with the age of the cathedral, it’s highly likely it may now be a portal. If so, there’s also a chance the charm will be accessible back across the centuries in the same way the safe in Bath worked for Jane and Cassandra.’ Rose smiled tremulously at her father. How she didn’t want to leave him, but if this worked, she had to go home. ‘It’s our only hope to get back without destroying our lives there by waiting years from now for the charm to recharge – and even that’s not guaranteed.’

  Christopher rubbed his forehead. ‘I cannot yet comprehend it, Rose. How can one charm be in two places at the same time?’

  ‘I don’t know any of the reasoning behind it. All I do know is that we’ve got to hope our
theory is right. We have to try and find it.’ She bit her lip, then reached out to take her father’s hand. ‘And if we do find it, we have to try and use it. You do understand?’

  He held her gaze solemnly. ‘With regret, I will own that I do.’ He blew out a breath. ‘But Rose—’ He hesitated, shook his head slightly, then squeezed her hand. ‘How may I be of assistance?’

  Rose hadn’t realised how much she was hoping he’d come with them until that moment. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘Can you…? Will you come to Winchester? We have no idea how hard the trip will be on Aiden, and we don’t even have a plan for getting into the archives, if we even can. We may need a diversion.’

  ‘Who else is going?’

  ‘Myself, Jane, and Aiden obviously, and Captain Austen is to come along. I think.’ Rose smiled fully for what felt like the first time in hours. ‘He may just be our trump card. Apparently, he has quite a theatrical bent.’

  Christopher grinned. ‘I can well believe it. Come, then.’ He held out his arm to Rose and she took it willingly, but then stopped, tugging at his arm.

  ‘Wait. There is something…’ She turned around, looking for a sewing basket she’d seen the other day. Extracting a pair of small scissors, she cut a lock of her own hair and, grabbing a small white cotton lavender bag from the basket, she dropped it inside. ‘Here.’ She handed it to Christopher, trying not to well up. ‘I don’t know what is going to happen, but if… it’s all I have of mine that I can give you.’