Actually standing in the Regency time period had been surreal. She had hurried so that there would not be the temptation to stay, gave herself just enough time to deliver her message, sign agreements, grab a memento and go. She smiled as she fingered a slip of ribbon. 1817 ribbon.
And she had celebrated when she made it back without weakening in her resolve, without seeing Algernon. Oh, it hadn’t been easy. She had hungered for him, her hands shaking with hope that somehow he would have guessed her intent and would be standing at Twickenham Manor waiting to hold her in his arms. But no. He had an estate to save, caves to ravage, and a wife to find. She couldn’t stand in where she did not belong any more in his life. She grinned to herself, thinking of the pictures Anna took of his discovery of the caves.
When she pulled up in front of Chatwick Manor, she wasn’t surprised to see Lady Anna. They had only recently become close, the woman had a hard time getting over the fact that Jane was born a commoner. But since her last visit, when Jane literally saved her estate, Anna had taken to texting and conversing with her as old friends.
As soon as the driver opened Jane’s door, Anna squealed. “I just found out I own a foundation.”
Jane laughed. One of the interesting parts of Anna travelling during the smuggling find and visiting the caves was that when she returned home, she could see the changes that had happened all around her situation. “I saw Algie has increased his holdings as well.”
“Yes,” she waved her hand, unconcerned as ever with the plight of others. “I help with literacy now too, and I’m thrilled about it. It’s amazing, Jane, what you did for our family.”
Jane smiled. She at last felt at peace about the way she left things with Algernon. His estate was famous around the world for the good it did, stating its reasons stemming from two hundred years ago when the Duke of Shelton set out the expectations for their family and its wealth. By his own dukely decree, they were to share ten percent of their fortune always, forever. “I’m even more happy about helping you all than I am about saving our historical society and my own dissertation.” She laughed and then air kissed Anna on the cheeks.
They hurried inside, arm in arm, and Anna told her all about the plans for that evening. Jane was not quite the partier that Anna was, but Charles would be there and she was excited to hear what he would do with all of the research she had forwarded on to him. After her big splash so strongly proving the strength of this family of daughters, he couldn’t very well come out and try to prove the opposite. But she couldn’t be sure. So she wanted to discuss their research, which she knew Anna would find incredibly boring.
Jane laughed at something Anna said. “How is Trent?” What an unusual turn of events. Never would she have guessed that Trent and Anna would even hold the slightest interest in each other, ever, but here they were, bouncing back and forth across the ocean to spend time together.
“He’s lovely and fits right in with everyone. You won’t care if he comes, will you?”
Jane shook her head. “No, I’m way beyond Trent.”
“True.” She sighed. “I imagine, once you’ve won Ramsbury’s heart…” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Now that’s just cruel.” But she couldn’t help smiling even if it was awful to act as though they had even the tiniest modicum of a chance together.
“Oh, come now, the full moon is in just a few more days.”
“And?”
“Well, and…” She stopped, and grabbed both of Jane’s hands and stared into her eyes, her expression, daring, sparkling, full of challenge. “You should go back. And this time, spend some time, at least a month.”
Her heart skipped and pounded and she had to place a hand at her chest to remind herself to breathe. “But what good would that do?” Her face started grinning before she could even stop herself. “I can’t stay forever…”
“Can’t you?”
No, how could she just up and leave her time? Her century? But, to see Algernon again, a whole month in Regency England? She didn’t know if she could resist such a thing.
Anna squealed. And Jane had never seen her behave so… normally. “You are totally doing this! Oh! I want to come! But I can’t this go round, that last travel made my head ache for weeks.”
Jane didn’t care what it did to her head. Now was the perfect time for a vacation. And especially one where no one would notice she had gone. But did she dare? The more she thought about it, the more she knew she just might.
21
Chapter 2 Dating the Duke
Algernon approached the entrance to Twickenham Manor. To think, three months ago, he had never cared to enter the smaller manor, and here he was arriving for the third time in so many months at their front door.
It swung open, a young man running down the drive, shouting back over his shoulder, “I’ll return at the full moon.”
Algernon shook his head. Would he ever be surprised about what he found at Twickenham? He suspected not.
He peeked into the hallway. This time, the house was bursting with people, all in costume. It appeared to be a masquerade ball. Well, this certainly complicated things. All he wanted was a word with Nellie, and a possible visit to see Jane. If he dared. Which he might. But he had to be absolutely sure he could return. So much was at stake now for his estate. Perhaps if he travelled to Jane, he could convince her…dare he even hope…dare he even put to words his thoughts? Convince her to come back with him. Yes. He had to try. He wanted Jane in his life.
He pushed through the crowd, everyone in masques. He grabbed the nearest person, “Have you seen Nellie?” The masqued guest shrugged.
People would point in a general direction and he would follow. A woman stepped closer. “Oh, your grace. I’m so happy to see you again.” Her voice sounded familiar, older, but he couldn’t place it. She giggled and nudged the lady at her side. “I won him, fair and square one evening. Fifty thousand dollars.”
He gasped. The woman at the auction? But she moved past, greeting people all around her. At last he thought he saw the back of Nellie’s white hair. He moved in that direction. But a woman stood in his way, in costume. “It’s me. Lady Anna.”
From his time. “Oh, Lady Anna, I just want to see Nellie. I’ve got to go back to Jane.”
“Come with me.” She led him in the opposite direction he’d seen Nellie go. Many called to Lady Anna as they passed and she waved cheerfully back in response.
“Who are all these people?”
“Those who are about to travel or who have been. Nellie invites a group of us every full moon.” She moved the masque away from her face. “I don’t think she’s expecting you.”
“No, she wouldn’t be. Does it matter? I would very much like to go back to see if I can convince Jane to…” He swallowed. “Live here.”
“Let’s get you on your way.”
“Can you do that?”
“Well, no, but I can at least get you in the right place.”
They walked up the stairs, and it gradually quieted. Algernon appreciated leaving the loud chatter behind because he needed to think, to concentrate.
They took another set of stairs further up into the house. Lady Anna said, “So we’ll go back into the painting room, you’ll have to show me which one is yours.”
He opened his mouth to express his confusion when Nellie joined them. “Hello, your grace. Thank you Lady Anna. I’ll take it from here.”
She smiled. “Good luck Algie. You deserve to be happy.”
He smiled a nervous half smile. Now that Nellie was here, he felt more anxious than he had expected. Going to another time accidentally was one thing, but purposefully travelling again seemed quite a different degree of brave altogether.
“You, of course, haven’t been up here yet. This is where most people come and go through time.”
“Do they do it differently than I have been?”
“Most do, yes, they enter through their paintings usually.”
“So, I could do that now
, enter through a painting and go back?”
She nodded. “You could.”
“And if I convince Jane, could you bring us both back to this time again?”
“I can. More or less.”
“More or less? Is that a yes or a no?”
She ignored him and opened up the door to what looked like an enormous art gallery. He followed her in, mouth open at all the different portraits. He could only guess they had all travelled through time. Some day he wanted to sit this woman down and get some answers. But he suspected you only got the answers she cared to give, when she wanted to give them. She led him to a mirror, tall, it reached to the ceiling, and she left to get his painting.
She brought over a large canvas and uncovered it. But in doing so, a huge flash of light filled the room and grew in intensity right around the mirror. He thought it would be hot, but it was cool. He hesitated to look right in its center, but found that he could, without any trouble. He was filled with a yearning to enter this light. Everything else in the room was invisible to him, as if the light consumed it all. He stepped closer, staring. A figure started small, at the back of the light and moved toward him. The light flashed with a greater intensity, not brighter, not hotter, just more, and the figure moved closer. Jane!
He rushed to her, met her in the center of the light. It lifted the ends of his hair, filled his body with energy but all he focused on was Jane. He pulled her into his arms. She felt soft against him. And she smelled amazing. He buried his face in her hair. “Jane, my Jane.” The light flared all around them, blocking out anything but the two of them.
“Algernon. I came to you.”
“Wait, you did? I thought I came to you.”
They looked around. Jane wrinkled her lovely nose and he had the strongest desire to kiss it. And then her. “Then where, or I guess, when, are we?”
He pulled her close. “When would you like us to be, Jane? I can’t live without you.”
She looked up into his eyes, put a hand at the side of his face, and said, “Wherever you are. I’m here for a month, maybe forever.”
“Make that forever, Jane. If you will, if you can leave all in your time, I will make you a Duchess, give you as many ball gowns as your heart desires and teach you every tiny Regency detail you’ve been wondering about.”
Her eyes widened, and he hurried to continue before the fear crept in.
“But even more, I will love you, Jane. I will treasure you and hold you as something precious to me, for as long as we both live. I want you at my side Jane, will you marry me?”
She choked, the light around them continued, and then she searched his face. “Yes. Oh yes! Algie, I will marry you.”
The light doused. And they stood in Nellie’s upstairs room.
“That took you long enough. I’ve been standing here trying to decide to what time I was sending you both.” Nellie stood with hands on her hips, both paintings at her feet.
“Nellie!” Jane smiled. “I just left you in 2019 and here you are. I won’t try to understand how.”
She held up her hands. “Just enjoy each other. Come back if you ever want to go back to your birth time, Jane, grab a hotdog on Fifth and Broadway.” She winked and then left the room.
Their eyes followed her out of the room. Then Algernon turned his attention back to the precious woman in his arms. “Did you just agree to marry me?”
Her face broke into a huge smile. “I did.”
He ran a thumb along her lower lip. “I couldn’t be happier, Jane. If you’re sure…”
She stood up on tiptoes and reached up to grab the back of his neck. His heart thrilled when he felt the pressure of her soft lips on his. He mumbled against her mouth, “MMM. Welcome to Regency England Lady Jane Sullivan.” Then he responded to her searching with an insistence of his own, angling his mouth to capture the most of hers he could, over and over, pulling her up against him, thrilling with the thought that the Jane he thought he’d lost was back and had agreed to be his. “Mm. Wait. I have a confession to make.”
She tipped her head. “What?” Her lovely eyebrow rose in a delicious arc he wanted to kiss back down into place.
“I got a tattoo.”
Her mouth opened wide, wider than he’d ever seen it go. “You what!”
“I did. I can’t show you now, it’s in one of those places, but I will, that is, when I can, when we are…”
“Married?” She laughed. “I cannot believe it. Was this when you were out with Anna?” A slight dissatisfaction crossed her eyes. Which he hurried to erase. “No! Of course not. I just got sent to prison when I was out with them, no, me and The Band of Brothers got matching tattoos, ‘Band of Brothers.’”
She held a hand to her head. “I really cannot believe it. I’m tempted to take a picture of it for posterity’s sake just to freak out all the historians of my day.”
“Henry the fifth, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” She shook her head, stepped back and took a good look around the room. Then she squealed, running to the window. “I’m here. Last time I could not appreciate it properly.”
“Oh, last time. Jane.” He followed her and reached for her hand. “I thank you. You have saved my estate.” Then he grinned. “Well, I suppose it’s fitting for it will now be our estate. Jane, you’ve saved your own estate, and the estate for our children.” He pulled her close again and her eyes widened with such a look of love and hope he couldn’t help but press his lips to hers all over again. “I love you, Jane.”
“And I love you too, Algernon.”
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Jen’s other published books
Back To His Lordship
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Dating the Duke
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The antics of a fake friendship
Tabitha’s Folly
Four over protective Brothers
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Copyright © 2019 by Jen Geigle Johnson
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