An Earl In Time

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Just one cup with the tea,” Julian told him. “And have the maid bring it.” He wasn’t sure if the butler would drop something a second time in the day, but why take the chance?

  As the butler left, Julian wrapped the blanket around Willow’s shoulders. “I hope that warms you up.”

  “It does. Thanks.” She pulled it closer around herself. “You’re right about it being chilly.”

  “It’s because of the rain. The rain always makes things colder in the summer.” What he wouldn’t give for a nice and warm sunny day. When she yawned, he said, “Why don’t you get comfortable on the settee? I’ll start sorting through these and see if I can make any sense from them.”

  She nodded and settled into the settee that wasn’t too far from the desk.

  Good. He’d have no trouble seeing her while he sat at the desk. He took out his pocket watch and placed it on the desk. When it turned midnight, she might disappear. If she did, it would be an indication that time was not going to move forward for him. It was also going to mean he’d be trapped in this lonely existence for so long he might as well stop counting the years.

  “In case you wake up tomorrow in your own time, thank you for coming over here today,” he told her.

  She gave him a smile that made him feel more connected with the world than he’d had in a very long time. “I don’t know what to expect when I wake up, but it was nice to get to meet the person whose portrait I’ve been staring at in the drawing room. It’s also good to know this place isn’t haunted. I don’t believe in ghosts, but when I saw you in that mirror, it did make me question my sanity. Though, I suppose magic isn’t exactly something that’s normal, either. To be honest, nothing would surprise me at this point.”

  She chuckled, and he smiled.

  If he woke up tomorrow and found her gone, he was going to miss her. He just might miss her more than he’d missed anything in his entire life. “If you do wake up in the future and remember this day, don’t come back. It’s no way for anyone to live.”

  He caught the sympathy in her expression as the maid came into the room. Forcing aside the conflicting emotions welling up within him, he sat behind the desk and began studying the journals and books in earnest.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Julian woke from sleep to something bright hitting his eyes. He wasn’t aware of it right away. Sleep was slow in parting from him. He became aware that he was dreaming, and in the dream, he was at a ball talking to Francis. Perhaps it was a memory mixed within a dream.

  “Is there any advice you have for me?” Francis asked him in the dream.

  “Stay alive,” Julian replied.

  Francis laughed. “What’s gotten into you, cousin? Don’t you know I fully intend to do that? I’m going to marry the most wonderful lady in the world. Why would I not live to see that?”

  Julian let out a sigh as he woke up. At first, he thought it was still night and the candlelight was hitting his eyes. But he opened his eyes and realized it wasn’t candlelight. It was sunlight.

  Sunlight?

  Every day for the past two centuries, it’d always been raining when he woke up.

  He bolted up in the chair and knocked over one of the journals he’d been reading late into the night. Ignoring the journal, he looked at the settee and saw that Willow was still here.

  He picked up his watch and saw that it was a little after eight. He went to the window and peered outside.

  Not a cloud was in sight.

  The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue he’d ever seen in his life. His gaze went to the grass and the trees that were still damp from the rain. He took a moment to compose himself so he could be sure he wasn’t dreaming.

  Once he was assured that this was real, he hurried out of the room and headed for the kitchen. Before he got there, he almost bumped into one of the maids.

  “What day is it?” he asked her.

  She blinked at him in surprise. “My lord?”

  “The day? Is it June 17?”

  “No, my lord. It’s June 18.”

  “And yesterday. There was a lady who came here. Do you remember her?”

  A blush crept up her cheeks. “Yes. Miss Knudson. Shall I summon the maid assigned to her to get her ready for the morning?”

  Ignoring the question, he asked, “You cleaned up something upstairs in the hallway. Do you remember what it was?”

  “Um, well, I think it was pieces of glass.”

  “Is something wrong, my lord?” the butler asked as he left the kitchen.

  “Yesterday, I had you take me out in the carriage,” he told the butler. “Where did you take me?”

  The butler’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “The bridge, my lord. I took you and your guest in the carriage.”

  He let out a cheer and hugged the startled butler and maid. They remembered! They actually remembered the events from the day before. And it was sunny out today, and Willow was still here.

  “It’s June 18!” Julian exclaimed, knowing that even as he said the words, he was only confusing them all the more. “Miss Knudson and I will go to our bedchambers,” he finally said since there was no way he could explain that they’d all been trapped in time for two centuries. “Send Miss Knudson’s lady’s maid and my valet up.”

  Now that Willow was going to be stuck in this time with him, he had to make sure she had all of the things she needed. He’d also have to look into getting her a larger wardrobe and making sure the gowns were altered to fit her.

  He went back to the library and blew out the candles. Then he gently shook Willow’s shoulder.

  “It’s morning,” he told her. “Willow?”

  She stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes.

  “It’s June 18,” he said, unable to hide his excitement. “It’s no longer June 17! I think you coming into this time changed everything. Time finally started moving forward again.”

  He would have told her he was sorry she was stuck in the past since he was sure she didn’t want to be here, but he was too happy about the change in events that he couldn’t say he was sorry. The truth was, he was relieved and happy. And, if he was even more honest with himself, he was glad she was here with him. So what good would it be to lie?

  She sat up, and a couple of hairpins fell to the floor. He hurried to pick them up.

  “You mean, you’re not repeating the same day again?” she asked as she struggled to wake up.

  “That’s right. I’m not.”

  He probably should have let her sleep longer. Yesterday had been a long and busy one, but even as he criticized himself for waking her up, he was still too excited to suggest she go back to sleep.

  This was the best thing that ever happened to him. Whatever magic had kept him trapped to a single day had finally been lifted, and he wanted to celebrate his good fortune with the only person who was aware of what he’d been going through. While he could tell the servants, he doubted they’d believe him. They hadn’t noticed the passage of time. They couldn’t appreciate how important this change in events was.

  She blinked a few more times and then rose to her feet. She looked at the window. “It’s sunny.”

  “It hasn’t been sunny for two centuries. It’s the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in such a long time.”

  She smiled in a way that told him she was glad for him. “We should go out so you can feel the sunlight on your face.”

  That was an excellent idea. And… “Maybe we can get off the property today. Maybe whatever bound us here is gone.”

  “It’s worth a try. When do you want to go out and check the barrier?”

  “After we eat.” He glanced at her evening gown. She couldn’t go out in that. “You need to put on a morning gown for the meal. Then I’ll need to see if my mother had a riding outfit. I’m sure she did. She used to go out riding when the weather was nice.”

  “Riding? You don’t want to go in the carriage?”

  “Not on a day like this. I don’t want to waste
my time in a carriage. Is that all right?”

  “I’ve never ridden a horse before.”

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Do you just take a carriage or walk wherever you need to go?”

  “Actually, I go in a car, but there are none in this time.”

  “A car? Is this like an elevator or moving stairs?”

  “Kind of. Imagine if a carriage could move without horses. It’s like that.”

  Though he tried to come up with an image of how that might be, his mind drew a blank. “Was magic responsible for cars?”

  She laughed. “No. They ran on an engine.”

  “A steam engine?”

  “No. This is a different kind of engine, but I guess a steam engine is a good enough comparison. It’s going to be a long time before a car comes along. I don’t even know when the first one was invented. I know! I’ll draw a picture of one for you. I’ll even draw a picture of an airplane.”

  “An airplane?”

  “It’s how people fly.”

  “Fly? Like a bird?”

  “Yes, but we don’t have to flap our arms.”

  “Does this airplane require the aid of magic?” he asked.

  “No. Again, it involves an engine, but not a steam one.”

  She probably picked up on how overwhelming this was since she offered him a shrug. “There’s so much about the future that would surprise you, but I don’t even know if I could explain it all. I suppose it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it’s June 18.” She took an uncertain breath. “Is it hard to ride a horse?”

  Feeling much more at ease with discussing things he was familiar with, he took her by the elbow and escorted her out of the room. “It’s not hard. It’s just a matter of maintaining your balance. There will be a saddle and reins to help you, and of course, I will be close by. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

  He, for one, was going to enjoy it. The best part was that he wasn’t going to have to do it alone. With her here, the future just might be one he could look forward to again.

  ***

  As Julian had thought, his mother had left behind a riding outfit. The maid Julian had assigned as Willow’s “lady’s maid” had to make some minor modifications to the outfit so that it would fit properly. The lady’s maid also pinned her hair up into a style that Willow thought was much too fancy for a ride on a horse, but she reasoned this was how the ladies in this time did their hair. She couldn’t recall a single old-fashioned photograph or portrait where a woman had a ponytail.

  What Willow found amusing was that after all the work the lady’s maid put into fixing her hair, she proceeded to put a hat on her head. Then she pinned the hat in place so it wouldn’t, as she explained it, blow off her head in case it was windy or the horse galloped too fast. What was the point in doing all of that work to her hair just to cover it up? The woman could have just put her hair in a simple bun and accomplished the same thing.

  Willow surmised that this was how people were back in the early 1800s, at least in England. They liked to dress up for everything. So far, since she’d been here, it’d been like playing dress up for one thing after another. It was no wonder people didn’t get bored without TV or the internet. They were too busy changing clothes and fixing their hair multiple times a day.

  She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the lady’s maid, but then she reasoned that the lady’s maid would probably get bored if she didn’t do this with her time.

  When the lady’s maid was done, Willow headed for the drawing room since Julian said he’d meet her there. The boots were a little big, so the lady’s maid had cushioned them with some fabric to make them easier to walk in. Even so, the lady’s maid had said she would speak with Julian about arranging for her to get boots and slippers that fit better.

  Willow took that to mean she was expected to stay here. She wondered if it was wrong for her to be secretly happy about it. It wasn’t every day a woman came across someone like Julian. She almost felt like a fairytale princess who’d finally met her prince charming.

  The only thing that put a slight damper on her enthusiasm was the way the servants kept looking at her. Though no one had said anything about her being here, she noted the curiosity in their gazes. There was no doubt they assumed she was sleeping with Julian. What was worse was wondering if they picked up on the fact that she was attracted to him. She ended up avoiding eye contact with them, just in case they could read her mind.

  When she reached the drawing room, she saw that Julian had opened the windows. It was still morning, and given how it had rained all day yesterday and through some of the night, there was still a chill from the outside air. He was standing in front of the window with the most sunlight filtering into the room. She paused and watched him. He was staring outside as if he’d forgotten what the sun looked like.

  And for all she knew, maybe he had. A long time ago, she’d read a story about a little girl on a world where no one could go outside for years at a time. Then, there was a small window of time when they could, and this girl eagerly waited for it, only to be locked into a room by others in her class. The poor girl was robbed of the opportunity to go outside and was left waiting for the next round of years to pass before she had the chance to go out again. It had depressed Willow to read that short story while in middle school. It was good Julian finally benefited from this moment. Unlike that girl, he was going to be able to go out and enjoy the day.

  Willow stepped farther into the room and asked, “Are you ready to go out?”

  Julian turned from the window and smiled at her in a way that made her heartbeat pick up. “I am. I can’t wait to be outside.”

  “If you’re so eager, why didn’t you go out while I was getting ready? I wouldn’t have minded.”

  “I preferred to wait for you.”

  He did? Now it wasn’t just her heartbeat that had picked up; she had to contend with butterflies in her stomach as well.

  He went over to her. “I see the lady’s maid was able to make the necessary adjustments to my mother’s old riding outfit so that it fits you properly.”

  “Yes, it didn’t take her long, but I notice I don’t have pants on like you do. How am I supposed to ride a horse in a dress?”

  “If you were to wear an outfit like mine, the servants would probably threaten to quit.”

  “But they won’t threaten to quit because they think I snuck in here in the middle of the night to be with you even though we’re not married?”

  “While that is scandalous, it’s better than you wearing a gentleman’s riding outfit. Undoubtedly, they’re whispering about our being together like this in disapproval, but we’re not in London, so nothing terrible will come of it.”

  “But something terrible would happen if I wore my jeans to ride a horse?”

  “It’s not just the clothes. It’s the manner you’d be sitting on the horse. It’d be highly inappropriate. At least the things the servants think we’re doing in private isn’t out in the open for all to see.”

  She couldn’t understand why wearing pants and riding her horse like women in her time did was a bigger deal than the servants thinking she was having some tawdry love affair with Julian, but she could tell by the expression on his face that it was.

  Since there was nothing she could do to change the way people thought in this time period, she decided to let the matter go. She decided to simply accept his arm and let him take her to the stables.

  She recalled seeing the large structure on her walk when she first arrived at this place, but it had been empty back then. Today, she saw a dog running around a man Julian referred to as the stablemaster. A few horses were eating grass in the fenced area near the stables. The dog caught sight of a black cat running by and left the man to pursue it inside the stables.

  “Was the stablemaster and these animals here yesterday?” she asked.

  “Of course,” Julian replied. “Did you think the carriage and horses appeared out of nowhere when the butler brought th
em to the front of the manor?”

  Catching the teasing tone in his voice, she grinned. “Okay. I stand corrected. I just didn’t expect all of this activity. In the future, the stables are empty. It’s all quiet. The only living thing here was me. And a couple of mice.” She couldn’t forget the fact that one of Violet’s crewmen had found two of them in the traps he’d set. Even now, it made her shiver.

  “I can’t imagine this place without any of the animals or servants here. It wouldn’t be the same.”

  Maybe the fact that he hadn’t been all alone had been what had kept him sane. Being alone for a few days had spooked her. Had she realized how serious the situation was, she wouldn’t have read a thriller. All it had done was creep her out even more.

  They reached the stables, and the stablemaster came over to them.

  “Get two horses ready for us,” Julian told him.

  “Do you want to take Golden Ember?” the stablemaster asked him.

  Julian nodded. “Miss Knudson will take Scarlet Glow.” As the stablemaster went to get the horses ready, Julian turned to her. “Scarlet is a gentle mare. She’s ideal for the first-time rider.”

  That was good because she could use a horse that wasn’t going to toss her around. Based on the bumpy carriage ride, she suspected the horse wasn’t going to be nearly as comfortable as being in a car.

  “Did you see the inside of the stables when you were in your time?” Julian asked.

  “No, I didn’t think to look in there.”

  “Would you like to see it?”

  “Sure.” It wasn’t like she had anything else to do at the moment.

  She followed him into the stables and was surprised to see so many horses. “What do you need with,” she quickly counted the horses that were in their stalls, “eight horses?”

  “Twelve in all. There are three in the pasture and the coachman took one to London yesterday to deliver the missive to my cousin.” He paused then smiled. “It’s nice to finally say the word ‘yesterday’ and know it means exactly what it’s supposed to.”