by Tamara Gill
“What time would you like the car brought around for your travel into Egremont?”
William swore when he remembered the annual fair held in the closest town to his estate. One of the oldest families in the region, he acted yearly as the benefactor and opener of the daily festivities. William looked at his watch. “Have it out front in a half hour. And could you instruct Paul to come directly home to escort Sue to the airport, she’ll be leaving today.”
His butler started but bowed. “Yes, sir.”
William rubbed a hand over his jaw. What was he doing? Going to push a woman out of his bed and home because of another who haunted his dreams. Obviously, he was mad or very much on the way to being so. Perhaps he ought to make an appointment to see that kind of doctor.
***
“On behalf of my forefathers and proud citizens of Cumbria, I now proclaim the Egremont Medieval Fair open!”
William smiled and cut the red ribbon before stepping aside and allowing the populace to march through the town square in their costumes and fanfare. He nodded and spoke to the people while images of another time assailed his mind.
Serfs working the fields, their hands work worn and dirty. A great hall with a dais and a blazing fire behind. Rushes underfoot and knights supping at table. A woman more beautiful than he’d ever thought possible sat before them all, her shoulders strong yet delicate. Her laughter as she spoke to the lord beside her carefree and honest. The lord smiled down at the woman, his expression filled with love.
The sound of drums pulled William from his strange thought. He looked out to the townspeople and concentrated on the goings-on around him. He glanced across the sea of heads waving at the parade and spotted his driver waiting by the car.
William frowned and looked down when a slight tug on his jacket caught his attention.
“Are you opening the castle today, Mr. Dowell?”
William bent down to speak to the little girl with golden curls and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. “I am. Are you going to come and have a look?”
“Me mum is going to take me up.” She turned her head as if contemplating something. “Why don’t you live there anymore?”
William laughed. “Well, it burnt down in a great fire in 1784 and the family didn’t have the funds to rebuild it. So we built a smaller home not far from the site instead.”
“And now you let people go through it.”
“We do,” William answered, smiling.
William looked up as the little girl’s parent rushed over and apologized. He waved the woman’s concern away and said goodbye. Then turned on his heel and moved toward his car.
“Home, Mr. Dowell?” His driver asked.
“Yes, but go via the castle, Paul. I want to check something.”
William twisted the family ring around his little finger on the drive back to the estate. Foreboding sat heavy in his stomach. But why, he couldn’t figure. The car made a turn and William looked out the window and glimpsed the castle huddled in the valley beneath. A hazy memory of a wagon and horses coming over the crest swam in his mind. A woman stepping down from the vehicle then lifted up to sit before a man on horseback.
William slumped back in the car seat. Why was he seeing these pictures? Always the same woman and man. But who was the man? His features were hazy and never clear.
The car pulled to a stop. William stepped out and walked toward the gatehouse, unchanged since the day the castle was built. He walked into the outer bailey and toward the ruined keep, its four walls still intact and some higher floors as well, but inaccessible due to the main stairwell having collapsed in the fire.
William stopped as another vision swam in his mind. He turned and walked into a small stone shed beside the gatehouse and noted the woodshed sign on the door. His throat closed over and his mind reeled at a memory.
He had been here before.
With the woman from his dreams and he had kissed her. He touched a hand to his lip and could still feel the sting of that nip. And the memory of Lady Madeline finally became clear.
His wife.
His love.
His life.
William walked back out into the bailey and saw Kingston Castle as it once was. A working medieval village. His home and sanctuary. Pain tore through him at seeing the place of his birth brought low by an accidental fire and passing years. He stumbled and held the woodshed door for support.
People milled about the grounds, some picnicking while others walked the battlements all in awe of this once grand home. And all unaware that William Dowell, once the Baron of Kingston Castle, was among them, torn between two times and with not the faintest idea on what to do next.
***
Maddie’s hand ran down the cold stone of Kingston Castle’s gatehouse, her mind bedazzled once again by the estate.
She stepped into the shadow of the doors and walked toward the outer bailey. It was all here but different from what she remembered. Where there was once dirt, cobbles now lay. Buildings that once stood tall and proud now lay in ruin. Signage was their only link to what they once were used for.
Maddie walked toward the keep and smiled when she remembered the first time she came here. She looked up to the building and remembered the dread that assailed her. Her fear of not knowing what type of man she had married. How wrong had her fears been. For he had been the best of men. Perhaps a little blind to her charms at first, but she’d soon fixed that little problem.
Maddie pushed the longing for him down in her heart and walked into the castle. She headed along the corridor that led into the great hall. Rushes no longer crunched under foot. A fire did not burn. There was no dais or trestle tables.
She looked about the vacant space. Walked toward the hearth and bent down to touch the blackened bricks from fires past.
“It’s not possible.”
Maddie jumped and hit her head on the stone mantle. She turned and searched the room then sighted a figure that stood in a doorway. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. “William?” she said. Her feet, like lead, wouldn’t move. “Is that you?”
“Yes.” William walked into the light and Maddie felt her mouth drop open. Gone were the hose, tunics and chain mail and in their place stood a suit cut to this modern man’s perfect form.
Maddie pinched her arm to check she was not asleep and having this wonderful dream. “How?” she asked.
William slipped a ring off his finger. “This,” he said. “I found it some weeks ago. Apparently, it’s an old family heirloom. I’m not normally superstitious but since the day I placed it on my finger I’ve been having dreams.” He met her eyes. “About you.” He paused and walked closer to her. “I believe the ring has somehow given me access to a past life of mine.”
Maddie took a step then stopped. “So, you remember everything about this past life and the life you are living now?”
“I do. Seems the ring has changed the way it works over the past nine-hundred years,” William said, smiling at her for the first time.
Maddie walked the rest of the way and stopped before him. She took in his features, not one difference could she notice. Unable to stop herself, she cupped his face and revelled in the warmth beneath her palms. His jaw was so familiar and comforting after weeks of unhappiness. “Are you real, or a figment of imagination?”
William clasped her hands and brought them before him. “I’m no ghost, Madeline. I was born William Dowell in 1978 but I have the memory of William Dowell, Baron of Kingston as well.”
Maddie stepped back. “Do you remember everything about my life with William?” she asked. This was so strange. She almost felt like she was cheating on William just talking to this man before her.
“I do. I remember everything about you and me. Everything,” he said, with emphasis. Maddie’s stomach flip-flopped at the heat in his gaze.
“You look just like him.” Maddie bit her lip trying to stem the tears that threatened. “What happened to you?” she asked, sniffing.
“
You died in my arms. Well, the Lady Madeline who was left behind did.” William walked over to a glassless window and stood with his back to her. “I was crazed, angry, and desperate for you. I went into a stupor of drink. Travelled to London and stayed there. I could not face life at Kingston or Aimecourt.”
Maddie came to stand beside him. “History states you died some three months after my death. How did you die?”
“I don’t know.” William paused then looked down at her, his eyes haunted with grief and remorse. “I did return home when I remembered how you believed I would be a good lord to our people. I could not fail you again. I had already failed once by letting Lord Ribald take your life.”
Maddie clasped his hand and frowned. “You never failed me, William. You brought me back to life,” she said, meaning every word.
He grinned. “One night at Kingston I placed the ring on my finger. It had not even entered my conscious that the ring may throw me into your time. But I believe it did. And into a life of a future relation,” William said, his fingers massaging the top of her hand. “After that it was like I had two memories but one life. It was very strange and I still don’t believe what has happened to me.”
Maddie nodded, her mind a whirr of thoughts. “That day in the woods, had I not put that ring on I would have died too, William. Perhaps you may think me a coward for doing it, but I didn’t want to die. In some small part of my mind, I held onto the hope that I would see you again. I found you once; surely there was a possibility of finding you again.”
“I never thought you a coward, Madeline.”
Maddie heard the truth behind his words. She turned his hand and looked down at the ring. She ran a finger over the smooth metal and looked up at him. “I never thought you may enter my time and find me.”
William smiled. “I have an ache to hold you. Can I?” he asked.
Maddie went willingly into his arms and welcomed the familiar strength and warmth of his embrace. A healing balm to her heartbroken soul.
“I’ve missed you, Madeline.” His hold increased. “God, you have no idea how much.”
Maddie pulled back and looked up at him. Could not thank divinity enough in having William back. “I’ve missed you too.” She leant up and kissed him then pulled him into her arms. Never wanting to let him go again.
“Say something to make this real. Tell me something that only William would know,” Maddie asked.
He laughed a sound as familiar as Maddie’s own. “Will you come for a walk with me, ma chère? I believe I was to show you my castle’s stone enforcements.”
Tears welled in her eyes at the familiar endearment. “I always loved it when you called me that. And yes, I’d love to see the improvements, my lord. Better late than never,” she said, laughing.
He kissed her lips, a lingering embrace that promised so much more to come. “I know,” he answered, his voice tinged with desire. “Will you marry me, Madeline?”
Maddie smiled already nodding. “Yes, I will marry you. Again.”
William laughed and pulled her into his arms. “I am never going to let you go.”
Maddie met his gaze and saw the truth behind his words. She chuckled as he scooped her into his arms. “This is new,” she said as her mind started to adjust to the situation. “Is this the medieval William or the twenty-first century William who is carrying his fair lady this day?”
“Both,” William replied his face serious.
William carried her out into the bailey and toward the gate. Maddie ignored the startled and curious stares of the people that milled about. “Where are we going?”
“Home,” was William’s curt reply.
“What about my tour?” she asked.
“That can wait,” he said.
Maddie smiled and cuddled into the curve of his shoulder, her arms secure around his neck. She kissed beneath his ear and felt the familiar shiver that ran through him at her touch. “And where would home be exactly?”
“Not far from here. And this time, my lady you will be accompanying me.”
Maddie bit her lip, remembering their wedding day in 1102 and William’s refusal to allow her to travel with him in his own conveyance. She looked up and watched his profile, couldn’t believe her luck in finding him a second time. And it was her William, such memories were not privy to everyone. Her throat closed as emotion swamped her.
“I love you,” she said.
William stopped and looked at her, his eyes pools of emotion. “I love you more.”
Maddie grinned. “Perhaps some other time, my lord, but today I do not feel like quarrelling with you.”
“’Twould seem we are in agreement, ma chère.”
Maddie kissed him. “Well, it was bound to happen one day.”
“True,” William replied. “And it only took nine-hundred years.”
Maddie laughed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tamara is an Australian author who grew up in an old mining town in country South Australia, where her love of history was founded. So much so, she made her darling husband travel to the UK for their honeymoon, where she dragged him from one historical monument and castle to another.
A mother of three, her two little gentleman’s in the making, a future Lady (she hopes) and a part-time job keep her busy in the real world, but whenever she gets a moment’s peace she loves to write romance novels in an array of genres, including regency, medieval and paranormal.
Tamara loves hearing from readers and writers alike. You can contact her through her website, and sign up to follow her blog or newsletter.
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For reading the SWEPT THROUGH TIME boxed set. We hope you’ve enjoyed our time travel romances as much as we all enjoyed writing them.
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