10 Timeless Heroes; A Time Travel Romance Boxed Set
Page 196
Alice’s eyes bulged. “Oh, miss, I wouldn’t know.” She giggled. “I don’t even own one.”
“Lucky you,” Ellie whispered under her breath as she sucked in her stomach to see the dress finally snap into place around her curves. She tested it gingerly by walking across the room. The silk material rustled delightfully, and she felt like a princess going to a ball. Alice had redone her hair to leave a few curls falling to her shoulders. A sprig of glass crystals peeked out from the crown of her hair.
Melinda followed Ellie to the mirror and made some minor adjustments to the off-shoulder gown with its heart-shaped bodice. She stood next to Ellie and surveyed her own golden taffeta dress, similar in style but uniquely flattering to her particular blonde coloring.
“We look very stylish tonight, I must say.”
“Yes, we do, don’t we?” Ellie murmured. “Is your grandmother coming down to dinner?”
“Yes. We are having quite a few guests tonight, as a matter of fact.”
Ellie turned to stare, open-mouthed. “What? Like a dinner party? I thought this was just your family and Constance.”
“Oh, no. We have had this planned for some time. I am surprised Robert did not explain. There is to be dancing afterward.”
“Dancing?” Ellie choked. She held up a hand as if to ward off an invisible terror. “Melinda, I don’t know how to dance. I’ll just head to bed early. No wonder Robert didn’t mention this. He knew I would take off,” she muttered.
“What do you mean take off?” Melinda leaned into the mirror and smoothed back a wisp of hair.
“Leave. Depart.”
Melinda turned to Ellie with a waggling finger.
“Well, you are not taking off then. You are staying for the evening. We should have great fun. Some of my friends are coming, and there is one young man...James.” She blushed. “It will be great fun.”
Ellie eyed her skeptically. She tried to smile, but one or both sides of her lips failed to cooperate beyond a slight grimace.
“Are you ready? We should go downstairs.”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ellie tried to take a deep breath but failed. The air seemed thin. “Good night, Alice. Thank you.”
“Oh, good night, miss. I’ve laid out a nightgown for this evening, and a tea gown for the morning.”
“Thank you, and thank you so much, Melinda, for loaning me your clothes.”
“You are welcome, Ellie. I am happy to see you wear them. I have grown too tall for them.”
Ellie hovered in Melinda’s shadow as they descended the stairs. She followed Melinda as the younger woman lifted her chin and sailed into the drawing room, where some guests already waited. Ellie found an inconspicuous spot by the wall while she watched Melinda, the first of the family to arrive, work the crowd by welcoming the guests, cooing over beautiful gowns and shaking men’s hands. Already quite the accomplished hostess at her young age, she appeared to be in her element.
“You look as bashful as I feel, madam.” Ellie jumped when a warm, masculine voice spoke near her ear. She turned to find an attractive sandy-haired, mustached man of medium height smiling at her. He executed a small bow.
“How do you do? My name is Stephen Sadler.”
“Ellie Standish,” she murmured.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Standish.” He nodded toward the group with a small sigh. “I do not know why I allow my sister to bring me to these gatherings. I am usually uncomfortable in large crowds.” He nodded his head in the direction of one of Melinda’s friends, a young blonde woman in a pale blue gown.
Ellie turned to him with relief. “Me, too. I’m only here because I’m staying with the family.”
Stephen regarded her with sympathetic blue eyes and a pleasant smile.
“I see. And will you be visiting for a while?”
Ellie scanned the room briefly and shook her head.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“Are you new to Seattle, Miss Standish?”
“Please call me Ellie.” She turned back to him. A handsome man who appeared to be in his early thirties, Stephen wore a dark blue suit with a pale yellow waistcoat over a well-starched white shirt.
“Yes, I am new.” Ellie paused. Had she told someone else she was new to Seattle, or that she wasn’t? She had to remember to keep the lies straight.
Unsure of what to talk about, she settled for watching Melinda work her way toward a tall, handsome young man with curly brown hair, who had eyes only for the vision in gold. He blushed when Melinda drew near, and Ellie noticed that Melinda’s cheeks took on a rosy hue, as well.
“And where are you visiting from, Ellie?”
“Chicago,” she murmured without thinking.
“Chicago! I know it well. My grandfather lives there. I visit there often. Perhaps I have met your family?”
Ellie turned back toward Stephen. “Uh...no, I don’t think so. I’m an orphan.”
“Oh, dear. I am sorry to hear that.”
Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes...either at the sincere note in his voice or the fact she’d used the word orphan to describe herself. Or maybe she was just homesick and wanted the comfort of her own bed and her own clothes. She’d never had a dream go on this long or continue in such a sequential, story-like fashion.
“Ellie? Miss Standish? Forgive me. Did I say something wrong?” Stephen bent near to peer into her eyes. He took one of her hands in a gentle grasp and shook his head. “I can be very tactless. I’m sorry.”
She dashed at her eyes and swallowed hard. “Oh, no, you didn’t say anything wrong. I don’t know what that was. Silly me.” She gave him a watery smile.
“I do apologize.” He continued to hold her hand and study her face with his soft, sky-blue eyes.
“Please don’t worry, Stephen. Whatever that temporary aberration was, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Sadler. Perhaps you should let my guest have her hand back. You have held onto it long enough.”
Chapter Ten
A tight-lipped Robert stood in front of them in a deceptively relaxed posture, his hands behind his back, but Ellie felt the tension in his body even at a distance of three feet.
Stephen looked at Robert for a moment, then to Ellie. He smiled at her and unhurriedly patted her hand before letting it go.
“Robert, how nice to see you.” Stephen gazed passively at the taut man in front of him.
“Stephen,” Robert nodded briefly. “Miss Standish, I believe it is just about time to go in to supper. Are you ready?”
Ellie looked from Robert to Stephen and back again. The situation felt surreal. They weren’t...surely they weren’t staring daggers at each other? Stephen’s soft blue eyes grew hard. Robert eyed him narrowly.
“Okay, sure, let’s eat.” Ellie decided it was time for some good old-fashioned twenty-first-century lingo.
She caught Stephen’s startled look as she moved away on Robert’s arm.
“What was that about, mister?” she muttered between clenched teeth and a tight smile.
“I would like to know the same thing, madam. Tears in your eyes and some chivalrous handholding? If something troubles you, perhaps I may be of assistance.” Robert nodded his head graciously at the guests as they started to file out of the room in Melinda’s wake. Mrs. Chamberlain walked on the arm of a tall silver-haired gentleman who bent his head to hear the older woman.
“It was nothing. But your behavior was embarrassing. For Pete’s sake, the man was just holding my hand,” she hissed.
“Yes, madam, I noticed. If I did not know better, I would think you must have known Mr. Sadler for some time.” His whisper seemed loud to Ellie’s ears.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ellie asked. “And lower your voice, please. People can hear you.”
“It means exactly the way it sounds. Crying on a man’s shoulder and holding hands is usually reserved for someone you have known for months...someone who is courting you, at least in this c
entury.” He cleared his throat. They moved through the foyer and toward the back of the hall into the fabulous dining room, now glistening with sparkling china, crystal stemware and elegant silverware. Harvest gold velvet curtains were drawn against the night, and candles cast a warm, festive glow over the table.
“Don’t be such a fuddy-duddy, Robert.” She pulled her hand out of his arm, leaving him to lead the way to her seat. He waved away a staff member and pulled out her chair, bending low near her ear to whisper.
“What on earth is a fuddy-duddy, woman?”
“You are!” she flung over her shoulder. She turned away and plastered a pleasant smile on her face. Robert moved away to take his seat at the head of the table with a grim look. Melinda sat next to her grandmother, who presided at the opposite end of the table from Robert.
Over the top of a lovely white rose centerpiece, Ellie saw Constance for the first time that evening, across the table. She looked years younger in an off-the-shoulder satin gown of emerald green, which suited her complexion...and matched the color of Robert’s eyes. Constance caught Ellie’s eye and nodded with a small smile. Ellie saw her look to Robert and then back at Ellie again. She gave the dark-haired beauty a toothy grin and dropped her gaze to fiddle with her linen napkin. When she raised her eyes again, Constance was deep in conversation with the attractive silver-haired gentleman who’d escorted Mrs. Chamberlain in to dinner.
“Well, this is most fortunate, Ellie. How could I have been so lucky?”
Ellie turned toward her right to see Stephen sliding into the chair next to her. She smiled in relief. Now she wouldn’t have to try to converse with a stranger.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re sitting here, Stephen.”
“Why, thank you, Ellie. I am flattered.”
She blushed. “Oh, you know what I mean. It’s just that I don’t know anyone here, and I’ve already met you, so...”
Stephen chuckled and nodded. “Just so. I feel exactly the same way.”
Ellie found herself in the difficult position of either having to lock her eyes on Stephen or occasionally glance past him down the table to see Robert watching her with narrowed eyes and a deepened cleft in his chin as he frowned.
“Ummm... So what do you do, Stephen, for a living?”
“My family has some holdings in Seattle, so I am blessed such that I do not have to work. I teach history at the University on occasion.”
Previously distracted by Robert’s continued glares, Ellie did lock eyes on Stephen at that.
“Really? I teach college too.”
Stephen’s eyes widened, and he sat back to study her. “You, Ellie? A college professor?”
“Well, I’m not a professor. Adjunct faculty, actually.”
“I did not know women...” He left the sentence hanging. “Chicago has certainly taken some unusual steps in their educational system.”
Ellie knew she’d made a mistake, given women’s roles at the turn of the century, but she tried to bluster through.
“How so, Stephen?”
“Well, I...em...I have never heard of a female teaching at the college level.”
“Oh, really?” Ellie moved into her drawl. “But you make it sound farfetched. An improbability.”
He blushed. “Oh, no, far be it from me to judge. No, I think it is an excellent idea.”
Ellie couldn’t keep her eyes from Robert. He had turned away to speak to an older woman at his side.
“Do you teach home economics, then?”
Ellie narrowed her eyes and regarded him. He was growing less attractive by the moment.
“No, like you, I teach history. Women’s studies.”
“Women’s studies? I have never heard of such a class. What would a class like that entail? What sort of material might you cover?”
Ellie sighed. She had to give the man a break. He was just another turn-of-the-century kind of guy.
“Women, Stephen,” she spoke patiently. “We study women. The contribution of women in history and society.”
“Oh,” he murmured with the grace to blush. “Forgive me, Ellie, I did not mean to sound boorish. It is just that I have never heard of such a curriculum.”
“I’m sure a lot of people haven’t. It’s fairly new.” Ellie snuck another look at Robert, who had downed his second glass of wine, by her count. Good gravy, was the man an alcoholic? He met her eyes over the rim of her glass, his narrowed gaze cool and distant.
She dropped her eyes and welcomed the arrival of the first course.
Course after course arrived. Cook had prepared a few things especially for Ellie, and she soon found herself full of food, in part due to the tightness of the dress. Stephen spoke of benign matters such as Seattle and the university; she listened with half an ear while she watched Robert. Occasionally, she turned and caught glimpses of Constance, apparently deep in conversation with her silver-haired neighbor.
While Stephen was occupied with his companion to the right, Ellie looked down the table at Mrs. Chamberlain, who caught her eye and gave her a reserved nod. Seated next to Mrs. Chamberlain was a terrified-looking James. He wore the look of a trapped animal as he stared at Melinda across the table to her grandmother’s right.
In between courses, Ellie found time to greet the young girl on her left, who seemed as shy as Ellie felt. They smiled at one another in recognition and left the conversation at that, relaxed and silent as they surveyed the room or picked at their food.
When the twelve-course dinner ended, the guests returned to the drawing room, where chairs and tables had been rearranged to allow for dancing. A trio of string players was warming up in a corner of the room.
Stephen had offered Ellie his arm following dinner and now led her to a seat near the wall.
“Oh, I couldn’t sit. I’d better stand. I ate too much,” she murmured as she patted her stomach. She kept a watchful eye out for Robert, who had not yet entered the room.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw Stephen blink in surprise at her comments. She realized with a twinge of guilt that she needed to make more of an attempt to conform to the customs of the day, especially simple ones in etiquette and language. She was sufficiently well read on the era to avoid making huge mistakes, but some mischievous part of her insisted on acting as if she were in the twenty-first century. For now, only Robert knew of her origins—what little they both knew.
“Sorry. I’m a bit outspoken,” she murmured.
“Not at all,” Stephen said gallantly. “I find your forthrightness quite refreshing.”
Ellie dragged her eyes from a search for Robert long enough to meet Stephen’s sincere gaze. He certainly was a nice man, she thought wistfully. Seemingly uncomplicated and honest. Relaxing. Safe.
Robert entered the room at that moment accompanying the older woman with whom he’d been seated. Ellie watched with admiration as he bent his dark head toward the woman, who literally batted her eyelashes at her handsome escort.
She sighed and bit her lip with a pang of remorse. She had treated him poorly before dinner, forgetting that she took of his generosity by staying in his home, eating his food and wearing his sister’s clothing.
Still, wasn’t it all just a dream, she wondered? Did she need to worry about the niceties? About pretending to be from this era? What did it matter, if she was going to disappear soon anyway? Time travel, indeed! Didn’t there have to be a catalyst, some angst, or at least a machine to facilitate such a journey?
Robert seated the woman on a green velvet settee across the room, next to his grandmother, then lifted his head and met Ellie’s eyes for a brief moment. Her heart began to pound in her throat, and she wondered if he could see the surprise in her eyes as she realized she’d fallen in love. She tried to smile, but her lips refused to do more than lift at one corner. Robert turned away and made his way over to the musicians.
“Ellie, did you hear me?”
Ellie came back to reality at the sound of Stephen’s voice. She turned to him in a daze.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I asked if you would like to dance. The musicians appear to have warmed up, and the music should begin momentarily. I do not normally dance, but I would be pleased if you would honor me.”
His face finally came into focus as she let go of a green-eyed image. “What? Dance?” She turned toward the musicians who indeed were rubbing bows across willing strings. “Oh, Stephen, I don’t know how. I can’t.”
Stephen took her hand in his warm, reassuring grasp and tucked it into his arm.
“Neither one of us does, so we will just muddle as best we can out there.” He led her away from the wall and toward the center of the room. Ellie looked around in a panic, the blur of faces seeming to stare only at her. Melinda arrived to join them with an extremely tall James. A young, redheaded man led her friend Amy onto the floor.
Ellie had visions of standing in the middle of the floor, completely ignorant of the steps to some intricate quadrille while onlookers stared and whispered. As the music began in earnest, Stephen opened his arms as any twenty-first century man might, and Ellie went into them. He began to move her around the floor in a modified waltz suitable for the size of the room. For all his protestations, Stephen danced with a smooth, elegant style, and Ellie relaxed into his arms.
Over his shoulder, she saw a grim-faced Robert lead a glowing Constance onto the floor. He glanced at Ellie once without expression and looked away. She dropped her eyes to Stephen’s shoulder, hating the jealousy that hit her with a wave of nausea. She’d only met Robert two days ago—if they’d really ever met at all. She was engaged to Kyle. Robert would have a life of his own—without her. She reminded herself as she had reminded Robert. She was just passing through. It seemed quite likely that she would wake up in the morning—or in an hour—and Robert would be the fleeting whisper of a dream she couldn’t remember in the light of day.
“You are making me look like a very accomplished dancer, Ellie.” Ellie looked up to see Stephen smiling. She’d almost forgotten where she was.
“Yes, we do dance well together, don’t we, Stephen? I didn’t know what everyone was dancing these days.”