by Sy Walker
“Hello Cynthia,” Madam Victoire said as though she were greeting an old friend.
Cynthia froze immediately. “How do you know my name?”
“Because I have seen you in my crystal ball,” Madam Victoire said mysteriously as she gestured for Cynthia to sit down.
“So then… you know that… I don’t belong here?” Cynthia said almost desperately as she sat down.
“Indeed,” Madam Victoire nodded.
“Do you know what will happen next?” Cynthia asked.
“Give me your palms.”
Cynthia presented her hands to the soothsayer and she looked over them carefully. “Hmm… this is very interesting…”
“What is it?” Cynthia asked urgently as she leaned in.
“You are from another time,” Madame Victoire said softly.
“Yes.”
“And I see that you will return soon.”
Cynthia felt her heart drop. “When?”
“That I cannot say for sure,” Madam Victoire replied. “It could be a week, a month or a year.”
“And… will I ever return?” Cynthia asked. “Return back to this time?”
Madam Victoire looked back down at her palms. “Your future is open child. It all depends on you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Then wait for understanding to come,” Madam Victoire advised. “And make your decision then.”
Cynthia left the tent in a haze of confusion. William seemed to notice her preoccupation because he led her away from the crowd to a secluded little nook behind some trees. “Cynthia?” he said gently. “Are you alright?”
“I… I’m not sure,” Cynthia replied honestly.
“What did she tell you?” William asked.
“I… nothing definite,” Cynthia replied. “She was very vague.”
“It was the same with me,” William nodded.
“What?” Cynthia asked, jerking her eyes up to meet his.
“When I visited the soothsayer at the fair, she told me some things too. They were vague to me at the time but I have since come to understand what she meant,” William explained.
“What did she tell you?”
“She told me that I would spend my life in confusion, until one day a mysterious woman would appear and when she did my confusion would clear.”
“Really?” Cynthia asked.
William nodded. “I was only thirteen at the time but I never forgot her words. They didn’t make sense to me… until the day you turned up.”
“Oh,” was all Cynthia could think of to say.
“She was right Cynthia,” William nodded. “My confusion is gone and my path forward is clear.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a box. “I want you to have this,” he said as he opened it to reveal a beautiful emerald green ring, the same emerald green ring that had transported Cynthia back to this time in the first place.
“Oh my God,” Cynthia breathed.
“It’s been in my family for generations,” William said. “I want you to have it.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to marry me Cynthia,” William said fervently. “I want you to be my wife.”
“William…”
“You and I both know we’re perfect for one another…”
“But you’re mother,” Cynthia said.
“I told my mother of my decision… in regards to the land and to you just before we left.”
“She must be furious.”
“She knows I cannot be swayed,” William said. “She has decided that once we are married… she will move to the city on her own.”
“I see,” Cynthia nodded.
“Presuming of course… that you say yes to marrying me,” William said with a shy smile.
“William…”
“Yes?”
“I may have to leave soon,” Cynthia said sadly.
William looked puzzled, a thousand questions burned in his eyes. “Is that what the soothsayer told you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Cynthia nodded.
William put his hand beneath Cynthia’s chin and lifted her face up to meet his gaze. “Then perhaps we should enjoy whatever time we have left together… until we meet again.”
Cynthia stared at the burning hope etched across his face. It gave her both faith and confidence. “Until we meet again,” she nodded as they leaned towards each other for a kiss.
DESTINED TO THE DUKE
Chapter 1
Jill Darling was beyond excited as she heard the box truck pull up outside of her cottage. She had bought the home a few months before as a place to live when she was not traveling for work. Though she was only 25, Jill was one of the most in demand concert pianists in the country, spending most of the year touring concert venues. She had come across the little stone cottage while on vacation in the area. When she had a few days off in her scheduled, she often got away by herself to relax and reboot.
It had been on just such a trip that she had found her new home. She had rented a car to drive from the city to a spa out in the country. Jill had, as usual, gotten herself a bit lost. While trying to find her way back to the main road, she had stumbled across the place that would become her home. It was a grey stone cottage with sweet little window boxes. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, and she had fallen in love with in instantly. For years she had been looking for just the right place to make her home, a quiet, calm place where she could hide from the bustling chaos of her life.
Her managers and friends had been confused by her decision to buy a home so far from the city where she was usually needed most, but that was just why it was perfect. It was completely removed from all of the stresses and pressures that usually surrounded her. It was a quiet place where she could enjoy the simply pleasure of her music without all the distractions and business that came with it.
She had spent months making everything in the cottage perfect. Much of the furniture she owned was too modern for the cottage. Instead, she hunted in antique shops in each of the cities that she visited on tour, picking out pieces that spoke to her. The one thing that had eluded her, though, was the perfect piano for her new home. The practice piano that she had was entirely too modern to complement the style of her new home. In her travels, she came across a few very fine looking pianos, but she needed one of the highest sound quality and none had fit her needs. Until her last trip, that was. She had been in England for a rare international appearance when she had found it in a tiny shop in London. The piano was just perfect. The wood was light in color, with exquisite golden scrolling details and intricate carvings.
The sales woman had even told her that it once belonged to a Duke, though she had not needed that fact to convince her that it was the perfect piano to complete her new home. No, she had known that the moment that she sat down and began to play it. The sound was transcendent, as was the feeling of the keys against her skin. She had purchased it instantly, and spent weeks waiting for it to arrive and complete her home and now, the day had finally arrived.
She rushed out to meet the delivery men. Her blond hair, usually pinned tightly back when she performed to ensure that it did not interfere with her concentration, was hanging in a loose braid down her back and her green eyes were alight with excitement as she signed the delivery form, and showed the men just where she wanted it in the house. As they carried it in, she cringed with every movement, afraid that she had waited all that time for it to arrive, only to see it broken before she ever got it in to place.
It took them quite a while. Though it was smaller than her concert piano, it was still quite large and it was made to last, which made it a very heavy instrument. Soon enough, though, the movers had it just where she wanted it, beside the French doors that looked out on to the private gardens behind her cottage.
Once they left, she sat at the piano bench and ran her hands along the wood and felt the cool grain of it beneath her hand. Gently, she lifted the cover to reveal the keys beneath. She tou
ched them hesitantly at first, but soon the feelings of the keys beneath her fingers felt familiar to the touch. The antique piano offered a special charm, making her feel connected to all of those who had made music on it before her. With each note she played, the piano began to feel more and more her own. It was hours before she rose from the piano to go and get herself a glass of water. When she returned to the piano, she noticed a strange notch in the side of the bench that had come with the piano. She got down on her knees and touched it gently, causing a secret drawer to pop out from under the bench.
She reached her hand in to find a brittle piece of paper within. Carefully she unfolded it and found upon it one of the most complex and beautiful pieces of music she had ever seen. Each note was more soulful and joyful than the last. Her fingers itched to play the song, so she gently placed it upon the piano and sat down at the keys.
From the moment that she began, she felt as though her hands were on fire, burning with an electricity that she had never felt before. Usually when she played, she was in absolute control, every move calculated to best serve both the song and her audience. This piece though, took all control away from her. It transformed her, making her one with the music. She felt it in every inch of her body and it was glorious. It reminded her of why she had fallen in love with music as a child.
When she played the last note, the room began to spin. She tried to stand but she could not take her fingers off the keys. Instead, everything around her went dark. It felt as though she was weightless, floating. The air whipped around her, but there was nothing there for her to hold on to.
What she felt next was a crushing pain as she landed, hard, on stone. She looked up to see two women staring down at her, in finely dressed clothing from a past era. She tried to focus, to understand what was happening to her, but the pain was too intense and she lost consciousness again.
Chapter 2
When Jill next opened her eyes, she was no longer on the cold stone upon which she had landed. Instead, she was in one of the most lavish rooms she had ever seen. When she toured, she usually stayed in five star accommodations, but none of them compared to this room. The walls were covered in intricate carvings of flowers, as was the bed. The headboard towered over her. The linens were beautiful and so soft she felt as though she was wrapped in a cloud. The rest of the furniture in the room was equally luxurious. Several high back chairs were placed about, as was the most beautiful vanity she had ever seen.
As she continued to survey her surroundings, she was startled to see a man sitting in the corner, glaring at her. She jumped when she saw him at the electricity she felt in his gaze. His clothing was old fashioned too, much like the women she had seen when she fell. It was then that it began to dawn on her that all of the antiques surrounding her looked remarkably new. Either she had stumble upon some theme hotel, she thought, or somehow she had ended up in Regency era England. Both explanations, she knew, were unlikely considering that only moments before she had been in her little country cottage, simply playing her piano.
“Where am I?” she asked guardedly of the man who glared at her from the corner.
“You do not know?” he asked skeptically as he rose to come closer to the bed. He stood over her, staring down at her with an anger that she did not at all understand.
“Everything is such a blur,” she muttered, placing her hand on her aching head. As she came more and more awake, she became more aware of just how much her body hurt. At least, she knew, the fall that she remembered taking was real.
“You are in London, in my townhouse,” he replied, his eyes locked on face as though he was studying it for a deception.
“What am I doing here?” she asked, truly uncomfortable now with his presence in her room. She could feel the negative energy spewing off of him. It was true, he was a handsome man. His black hair made his strong features all the more appealing. His blue eyes would have been beautiful if they were not looking at her with such annoyance.
“My sister and mother found you on the street,” he said, pacing around her like a predator.
“On the street?” she asked, not at all sure how that was possible.
“Quite unconscious. They thought though, from your clothing, that you must be a lady. They could not in good conscious have just left you there,” he explained. His words were plain enough, but his tone told her that he did not at all believe that his mother and sister finding her was a coincidence.
At his mention of her appearance, she looked down to see that she was wearing a green day dress. She might have thought that they dressed her in it when they found her, but it fit her too perfectly for that to be possible. Jill could see how they might think she was a lady, though she could not think for the life of her how she had come to be wearing it.
“My head throbs,” she said as she rubbed her temples. Nothing made sense and the harder she tried to concentrate on all that had happened, the more her head hurt.
“Yes, the doctor speculates that you had a nasty fall,” he responded, looking as though he did not believe that for a minute.
“That does not make any sense,” she said, trying to focus on everything that had happened. Everything felt so real, but it was impossible. She vividly remembered the feeling of her fingers on the keys of her piano only moments before and now, somehow, she was in another land and another time.
“No, it does not,” he muttered, a calculating look on his face. It was clear that he was not happy with her presence, she just had no idea why.
“Are we here alone?” she asked, realizing just how inappropriate that was for the time that it appeared that they were in. Perhaps she was dreaming after all.
“Yes,” he answered, smirking. There was no sign that he was even the least bit embarrassed by their current circumstance. Oh course, it did not truly bother her either but she was from a different time in which it was not at all odd for men and women to be alone together. Here, it was an entirely different matter.
“Is that not improper?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. She thought perhaps if she could draw him out a bit then he might be able to give her some clues as to what had happened to her.
“It would be if you were a lady, but I have my doubts. I wanted to see if you spoke any words in your sleep that would betray who you really are,” he explained, looking as though he would gladly have thrown her out on the streets while she was still unconscious. Something about her bothered him on a deep, emotional level, and she had no idea why.
“Well if you figure it out, do let me know. I have not the foggiest idea,” she retorted, knowing that the cover of amnesia was safer for her than trying to explain to him that she had traveled through time. The man was already skeptical of her and telling him something like that would give him enough cause to turn her over to a sanitarium.
The one thing she was certain of what that there must be a way back to her own time somewhere. There had to be if there was something in her own time that had sent her backwards. She just needed to find it and she would not find it in a sanitarium. She needed to remain free to explore and find her way home.
“Oh do not worry. I will,” he growled.
Just as he finished speaking, she heard footsteps rushing down the hall. Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. There, stood a lovely older woman. She was short, with bright eyes and a sweet smile that put Jill completely at ease from the moment that she saw her.
“Oh good, you are awake,” the woman cried as she crossed the room quickly and took a seat on Jill’s bed.
“Yes, I am terribly sorry but I do not remember you,” Jill answered apologetically, not sure what on earth to say to the woman.
“Oh you were out like a light my dear, no need to worry,” she said with a smile as she placed her hand gently on Jill’s shoulder. It was only then that she seemed to sense that they were not alone. She turned to face the man who Jill had found in the room with her when she awoke and the older woman did not at all seem happy to see him there. “Ga
reth, were you closeted in here alone with this young lady?” she demanded, clearly his mother by the tone in which he allowed her to speak to him.
“Yes mother. I thought I heard something. I thought she might be in distress,” was his answer as he feigned innocence. Things began to make more sense to her. The lady of the house had found her and rescued her. This Gareth gentleman had had no say in the matter, and he clearly was not in favor of bringing her in to their home.
“Were you my dear?” the woman asked, looking concerned that perhaps she had some sort of health scare. She could have exposed his lie to his mother, but she did not think that tattling on him to his mother would make him any less suspicious of her presence in their lives.
“No my lady. I was just shocked to wake up in a strange place,” she said, which was not in itself a lie, though that had not been what brought him in to her room.
“I am sure it was quite a shock,” she said, taking her hand and squeezing it encouragingly. Then, she rose and walked to the door and called out, “Gabby, come here. She is awake.”
Then, Jill heard a flurry of footsteps and quickly, a young girl rushed in to the room. She was perhaps fourteen, with her mother’s eyes and lovely blond hair that made her look like an angel. Her cheeks were rosy from rushing and her smile was sweet and genuine when she saw for herself that Jill was indeed awake and well.
“Oh Miss, I am so happy you are alright. The doctor looked so grave when he left here we were afraid we might lose you,” Gabby cried with glee as she rushed to her mother’s side.