“We’re sorry, we’re sorry,” they shouted, bouncing fruit off their hands like tennis balls.
Ariana grinned and told them to hurry inside and get their tea and clean up before their mum got home. All her rage had melted away and she ruffled their hair as they passed her. For the life of him, Owen would never understand siblings. Ariana followed her brothers inside.
Hurriedly turning to Maria, he looked at her questioningly. She smiled at him and it was if the miniature war had never interrupted them. She nodded eagerly.
“Yes, Owen,” she said. “Yes.”
He thought he’d been at his happiest when she confessed she felt the same as he did, but now it multiplied tenfold. He wondered how much joy she could possibly bring him before he burst from it.
***
Ariana got the boys sorted with tea and Cook’s meat pies. As soon as their infernal yapping was quieted with full mouths, she turned her attention to the lovebirds. Their cheeks actually glowed and their eyes sparkled. Eyes they couldn’t tear off each other for even a second to ask how she felt. She’d been gone so long she didn’t remember she had stormed off in a bratty huff and didn’t deserve their consideration. To them it had only been an hour or two.
All Ariana wanted to do was fall into bed. The return spell had worked flawlessly. However, it also made her feel sick and groggy. The tomato soup Cook put in front of her turned her ailing stomach and she held her breath, praying she wouldn’t throw up. All she needed was a bunch of attention on her when all she wanted now was to continue living her new secret. She had to hide the side effects of the spell as well as the fact that she had been traipsing all over London of the future. At least until she was alone with Owen. Maria didn’t know enough yet to be included. If she begged to go through the portal with them, Owen wouldn’t be able to refuse and Ariana was sure she’d only bog them down.
At least that was what she told herself as she grew more and more irritated with them. Goodness, could they be any more obvious? Cook kept trying to catch her eye, trying to get her to waggle her eyebrows or smile at the fresh, young couple, but Ariana stubbornly refused to play along. She didn’t think it was charming or adorable at all. She pretended she didn’t overhear them to spare Maria any embarrassment, but she planned to meticulously outline why Owen shouldn’t have proposed at all the moment they were alone.
And to propose without speaking to Maria’s parents first! Ariana knew they were snobs of the first order. That kind of brash outburst could only lead to heartache for both of them. Owen should have kept his mouth closed. He would have been heartily and probably laughingly rejected by Maria’s father and he could nurse his wounds in secret. At least Maria would have been spared, and Ariana knew how resilient Owen was.
He’d sulk or whine for a day and then be distracted by the news that she found the portal and made it work. It would be a shame to lose Maria, but she had already met three others with magical powers in the future. She was sure there were plenty more.
Thinking about her new friends took her mind off Owen and Maria’s thoughtless affair. If she was going to continue visiting that time, she’d have to set herself up a nicer place to stay. She was sure Mrs. Hedley could only hide her at Belmary House for so long and Ariana meant to make loads of visits. She grimaced inwardly that she was just judging Maria’s parents for their snobbery, but there was no way she could stay at that smelly, cramped flat.
She resolved to speak to Thomas. He was the son of her father’s solicitor and had been in love with Farrah forever. He would be able to help her set up some sort of account to gain interest over the years. She could access that account when she popped into the future and by then it would be crammed full, letting her live comfortably on her own. Her mind sped into motion. She could withdraw the great amount of money fifty plus years of interest would have added, then redeposit it in her time to grow again. She’d be massively rich if she did that a few times. It wasn’t cheating, she assured herself, since the time was actually passing for the bank.
It occurred to her that Thomas might be involved with her parents’ secretive past. After all, Mrs. Hedley had mentioned knowing Farrah. No one could be trusted, she decided. She’d have to walk into a bank on her own and figure it out. Well, so be it. Her mother was famous for being independent. And as far as she knew, there was nothing wrong or illegal about a young lady wanting to conduct a financial experiment.
“Where are my babies?” Her mother’s voice rang down the stairs into the kitchen.
A moment later she and Aunt Serena burst through the door, out of place in their finery. The boys surrounded them and Ariana nodded at her mother to signify that nothing had gone wrong. The boys would never tell on her for leaving them and she made sure none of them had any bruises from the citrus war.
“How lovely to meet you at last,” Aunt Serena said after Owen awkwardly introduced her to Maria. Ariana could barely refrain from tutting at his clumsiness. How did he possibly think he could survive amongst Maria’s kind with those country bumpkin manners? She instantly felt ashamed, but reminded herself it was the truth. It was the way Maria’s father would see him. “I’ve heard so many lovely things about you. You’re as pretty as Owen said.”
Ugh, even Aunt Serena was sucking up to Maria. Once again, Ariana felt bad. Her aunt was nothing if not sincere. Even if she wanted Owen to land a rich wife, she wouldn’t act out of character.
What was wrong with her? She was exhausted, that was all. A little sleep and she’d stop having such horrid thoughts about her loved ones.
Finally, finally, Maria was gone. Ariana waited for Owen to return to the kitchen, then gave up and sought him out in the sitting room they usually had to themselves. He wasn’t there, either.
She sniffed at his ungratefulness and once again reminded herself he didn’t know she had exciting news to tell. Her mother and aunt had the music room spread out with the things they purchased on their shopping spree. When they saw her skulking in the hall and waved her in to have a look, she shook her head and hurried up to her room.
She paced anxiously, wondering if she should go find Owen. She felt she might burst from everything she wanted to tell him. All her plans. The community of their kind was so close. The coven. She shivered as she thought the word she never dared to think.
They could all live together in comfort. Riches, if her investment scheme worked. They could make people’s lives better, improve the world like her mother strove to do with her charity.
Then Ariana could tell her parents, come clean that she’d found out what they’d been hiding her whole life. They’d see there was no reason to have lied to her and she’d have the satisfaction of hearing them apologize and tell her how proud they were.
She finally gave up on Owen. Apparently he was too caught up in thoughts of Maria to come and tell her anything. The fact that he didn’t want to instantly share his important news with her stung. She shrugged away the hurt feelings and got into her night clothes. She sent word down that she had a headache and was going to sleep early. Maybe Owen would worry a little and feel bad for ignoring her.
“Goodness, why should I care at all?” she asked her reflection. She looked a fright. Rumpled and pale. Even if she wasn’t exhausted she shouldn’t go down to supper or she’d risk a bunch of concerned questions from her mum. “Tomorrow,” she told herself as she brushed the city dust out of her hair. “We’ll get Owen sorted and then get down to business.”
She snuggled under the covers and started making plans for the future again. The actual future, that she could get to any time she pleased.
Chapter 17
Owen felt bad for not sharing with Ariana, but he was sick of her bossy superiority. She was sure to give him a list of reasons why he couldn’t marry Maria, but as long as Maria wanted him, he didn’t care. He also didn’t want a list of reasons why he needed to care.
That was why he kept his mouth shut for the next week, stealing quiet moments alone with Maria when Ariana was
n’t around. Which was an awful lot, the last few days. Since he wasn’t letting her be curious about his life, he didn’t think he had the right to be curious about hers, but every day since he secretly proposed to Maria, Ariana had either skipped meals or come down looking a fright.
Tired and snappish at breakfast that morning, she burst into tears and rushed out of the room, leaving her parents gobsmacked.
“Do you think she’s in love?” his mother asked.
“Certainly not,” he said, too fast. They all looked at him expectantly. “We’ve been to six balls in the same amount of days and I never saw her dance with the same person more than once. She’s just tired, I’m sure.”
Aunt Tilly went off to check on her, returning a few minutes later to say Owen was right. Ariana was fast asleep and snoring when she looked in on her.
The fact of the matter was, Owen had gone to six balls in that many days. It was true he hadn’t seen her dance with the same person more than once. He hadn’t seen her dance with anyone. Or at all. As soon as they were announced, she disappeared.
He was busy keeping Maria entertained and warding off her other would-be suitors, so he had to admit he hadn’t been paying too much attention. But it was odd to not even catch a glimpse of her at the refreshment tables or on the dance floor. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became.
Was she in love? The thought filled him with distaste, sure whoever the lout was wouldn’t be good enough for her. He felt even sicker thinking she’d been sneaking off with the lout. He determined to keep an eye on her that night.
It shouldn’t be difficult since the ball was at Belmary House. It was the first ball to be held there in more than five years and the ton was bursting with excitement over it. His Maria had dragged him to at least a dozen shops trying to find just the right pair of gloves for it. Gloves! As if such a thing mattered. But it seemed to matter very much to her and he finally managed to convince her the outrageously expensive lace pair she finally chose was perfect for the occasion.
But now he had something bigger on his mind than Ariana moping in corners by herself at society functions, or gloves, or even his mother fussing at him over something or other. His mind was full of only one thing.
Today was the day he was speaking to Maria’s father. If all went well, they could announce the engagement at the ball. He looked down at his uneaten sausages, swimming in grease. His stomach turned over with nerves and he excused himself to practice what he was going to say in the mirror for the hundredth time.
“Mr. Winters, you must know how deeply I care for—” he stopped himself with a retching sound. “Care for her? That sounds so dry. I’m passionately in love with— ugh, he’d probably shoot me if I said that.”
He looked at his pale reflection. A vein pulsed unattractively in his forehead and he closed his eyes against the sight of his abject terror. Maria assured him again and again that her father was the kindest, sweetest man on earth. But Ariana had laughed until she choked the one time they were alone that week, telling him both her parents were abominable. She swore she didn’t know how Maria had come to be as lovely as she was, being from such stock. It was true that Maria was the youngest of four, so it stood to reason her father doted on her. Would he find Owen lacking?
“Of course he’ll find you lacking, you dullard,” he told his wan reflection. “Even so far down the line, she’s set to inherit a bundle. And what have you got? The measly annuity from Grandfather if he ever shuffles off?”
He wished he paid more attention to who got his grandfather’s land. Those things had never once interested him before he fell in love. He thought about the family he supposedly had in Moldavia. Cousins, aunts, uncles. He felt like a vulture wondering if they would be good for a wedding gift. He hated this side of being in love.
The practical side, Ariana called it. He understood now why she always pulled a face when she talked about getting married. With her riches, the logistics of finding someone who could at least equal it must have made Uncle Julian’s head spin.
He walked the entire way to Maria’s house, dragging his feet and pondering how he could make himself seem worthy of her. When he saw her pacing anxiously by the hedge, clearly waiting for him, all his worries melted away. How could their love not be enough?
“He’s going to love you as much as I do, Owen,” she said, squeezing his hand.
He thought he must have blacked out because the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of her father’s study, his hand raised to knock. He stood there like that until he felt foolish, finally rapping at the door.
“Goodness, young man, you look like you mean business,” Mr. Winters boomed from behind his massive desk. Surely Owen had never seen such an expanse of smooth, dark wood.
He shook his head and stumbled forward, knowing he would never do. Not the real him. He was a ninny of the first order, with no prospects. It hit him with the force of all the trees it must have taken to make that huge desk. Love wasn’t enough.
This imposing man would never take a poor farmer as his son-in-law. Not even if he might be inheriting his grandfather’s land one day. Owen knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that even if he found the courage to ask his mother exactly what he was worth, it wouldn’t be enough.
Suddenly he felt the cool calm he often got when a spell was about to come out of him. Not one that he studied, but one of the natural ones that seemed to rush along in his blood. It was for Maria, for love.
He heard something come out of his mouth. Whatever it was pleased Mr. Winters for he stood up and came around to greet him properly. He clapped him on the shoulder and waved him toward the leather armchairs near the window. Owen knew then that he could talk about pigs and he would still impress his new father-in-law. The smile on Mr. Winters’ face told him that. For the briefest second he imagined Ariana’s scowl if she knew what he did.
Before he could feel an ounce of guilt, Mr. Winters stood and pulled him out of his chair, pumping his hand and calling for Maria.
“You’ve found yourself a good chap here, little one,” he said, pulling Maria in for a hug. “Though I suppose I can’t call you little one when you’re a married woman.”
Maria squealed with glee and reached shyly for Owen’s hand. “Father, I’m so happy.”
“See that she stays that way, right, Owen?” Mr. Winters said, clapping him on the shoulder again.
In a daze, Owen snapped out of his fog. What was happening? How had he managed this? It seemed he was now engaged to the most beautiful girl in all of England. His mother did always say how charming he was.
He knew it was more than that. He had help. From who or what, he didn’t know and he pushed down the slight trepidation that tried to mar his joy. What did it matter? He’d prove he was worthy of her on his own, or keep using magic if he had to. If it was within him, wasn’t it all the same anyway? It couldn’t be wrong when they were both so happy.
“You can count on it, sir,” he said. “And I’ll see you tonight at my uncle’s?”
“Believe me, son, my wife wouldn’t miss going to Belmary House for all the world. We’ll be there.”
He felt slightly bad that Uncle Julian was so stingy with invitations, but certainly he’d be more welcoming once they were all family. Maria walked him out, bouncing with excitement.
“You were in there so long, I began to worry,” she said. “But everything’s perfect now.”
He dug out his watch and gulped to see how long he’d been in Mr. Winters’ study. It only seemed like a few minutes, but it had been over an hour. What had they been speaking about all that time? He’d have to race to get back and get ready on time. And he still needed to have a word with Ariana.
“I’ve never been more delighted, Maria—” he swallowed hard and said what he was waiting to say. “My love.”
She blushed crimson and looked at her feet. “Yes, I feel the same, my, er, dearest.”
She giggled and looked back up at him, her eyes shining.
He almost didn’t think he could keep standing if he stayed there.
He looked around to make sure no nosy gardeners were lurking in the shrubbery and stole the quickest of kisses. He meant to do a better job of it at the ball, but for now it was enough.
“Until tonight, darling.”
Her tinkling laugh followed him as he raced to the street. As usual, he forgot to bring any money so couldn’t hire a carriage. It didn’t matter. His feet barely touched the ground the whole way back to Belmary House.
He washed and sat on the bed, enjoying the feeling of being secure in Maria’s affection. He always believed her when she said she loved him, but up until now he wasn’t sure she’d be allowed to love him. Now it was all settled.
He knew he should find Ariana and finally let her in on the secret, but he was exhausted. All the fear of Mr. Winters and the joy of his acceptance, then running all the way home, had worn him out. He decided to take a little nap and speak to her before the ball.
If she didn’t disappear again. No, she had to be at her own ball, didn’t she? Images of Maria’s giddy face crowded out thoughts of Ariana. With a smile on his lips, he fell asleep.
***
Ariana thought it would be difficult to slip away from her own family’s ball, but it was surprisingly easy. She made a few curtsies, smiled charmingly, and made a point to speak to all the biggest gossips. That way if anyone asked about her they’d be sure to pipe up that they’d spoken with her.
She hated that every time she was able to slip away to her new friends in the future she always arrived dressed in such finery. They jokingly started calling her Queen Ariana because of it. That and her largesse. Her investment scheme had worked a treat so far and she was able to get much nicer accommodations for Gloria. Drummond was working on finding them a nice, big place with lots of land where everyone who passed through that time could stay.
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