Time for Love (24 page)

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. He rose from the couch and she turned to see him almost out the door.

He stopped and stood, gripping the door handle so tightly she feared it might break. He turned back toward her slowly, his face a blank mask. If not for the slight whitening of his lips pressed firmly together, she might have thought him completely unaffected by her rejection. “May I ask why?”

His voice was tightly controlled, but Alex could practically feel the tension.

“I’ve tried to tell you from the beginning, but you just wouldn’t listen,” Alex said. “I have to leave as soon as I find my sister. I can’t possibly marry you.”

“Are you married? You have to return to your husband, is that it?”

“No! Of course not.” Alex shook her head. “I can’t explain it to you, I just have to leave.”

“I see. I thought you were different. Yet you are like all the rest, you are simply a better actress. You had me fooled.” He laughed bitterly.

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t want to leg-shackle yourself to someone who looks like me. You don’t want to wake up every morning and face a monster.”

She jumped to her feet, hands clenched. “Ooh! You are the most annoying, pain in the a—” She reached out as if to choke him, but shook her fists at him instead, and then propped them on her hips, threw her shoulders back, and glared. “Stop putting words in my mouth and listen to me for once. I love you. I don’t care about a few scars. The only thing the scars show me is that you’re brave and… Why are you looking at me like that?”

As she’d ranted, Nicholas’s face had undergone a transformation, and he now eyed her with the oddest expression on his face. What had she said? Oh God. She’d just said she loved him. The man drove her crazy. She hadn’t meant to admit to that!

“You love me?”

“Yes,” she admitted, waiting on tenterhooks for his reply.

His face lit up, and he pulled her back into his arms, crushing her to his chest, his mouth devouring hers. Gradually, the kiss lightened, and he gently nibbled her lower lip, before trailing kisses along her jaw and sending shivers down her spine as his hot breath grazed her ear. “Then say you will marry me,” he whispered.

Alex reared back and stared at him. “You’re impossible. I told you, I can’t. It doesn’t matter how I feel about you, I can’t stay.”

It was Nicholas’s turn to stare. “Why not?”

Oh, God. He’s gonna think I’m nuts.
Alex took a deep breath. Time to admit the truth. “Like I said, I have to leave as soon as I find Charlotte. But…uh…” She paced before the fire. “I don’t know how to explain this. You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I’m telling you the truth.”

“I should hope you will always tell me the truth, and I have faith in you. I could never believe you insane.”

Alex snorted. “Wait ’til you hear me out.” She stopped and faced him. Picking a spot on his right shoulder to stare at, she burst out, “I’m from the future. I traveled back in time to find my sister, who was stranded here while doing research on our ancestors. I haven’t even been born yet. I won’t be born until nineteen eighty-five. Once I find Charlotte, we’ll both go through a time portal and back to the twenty-first century.”

Nicholas just stared.

“Well? What do you have to say about that?” she asked nervously.

“I don’t know whether to be amused or outraged. That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard, and I don’t understand what you are about.”

“I told you so.”

He cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look him in the eye. “You obviously don’t feel you can trust me. While I am disappointed, I understand. Trust does not come easily to me either. The fact-of-the-matter is that we have not known each other long, and you are going through a difficult time right now. I cannot begin to fathom how difficult this must be for you.” He kissed her ever so gently. “I will wait. I will help you find your sister, and you will learn to trust me. You can continue this ridiculous tale all you like. I will not be deterred. But just remember, in the end, we will be wed, and you will tell me the truth.” He looked at the door. Alex could hear footsteps out in the hall. “I must leave now. I will come by to visit you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

At first Alex thought the pain that stabbed her heart was caused by his refusal to believe her, but she had never expected him to, not really. No one would. No, that wasn’t it. What was causing her chest to tighten and eyes to tear was she had admitted to being in love with him, and sure, he had been pleased, but he hadn’t told her he loved her back.

****

The faint murmur of voices outside the door gave Alex less than a second warning before Lord and Lady Downing entered the room. Lady Downing sat next to her on the sofa and pulled Alex’s hands gently into her own. “My dear, is there something you wish to share with us?”

Alex started. “Uh…no…why?”

Lord Downing answered, “What my dear wife is trying to say is we heard every word of your conversation, and she would like to discuss it with you.”

Alex sat up straight and glared at the two of them, ripping her hands from Lady Downing’s grasp. “You were eavesdropping? How dare you! You had no right.” Being angry right now was easier than dealing with her pain. Alex tried hard to hold onto that anger, but the ache was already creeping over her heart.

“I am so very sorry, but you were not precisely quiet, and we worry so for your welfare…”

“You were worried, my dear. I am an excellent judge of character, and I trust that Lord Oakleigh will do nothing to hurt Alexandra.”

“He looks so fierce most of the time. It’s not the scar, though that adds to the impression. It’s those eyes. I get chills when he looks at me with those piercing eyes.”

Alex sighed. “Yeah, me too.” At Lady Downing’s knowing look, she blushed.

“Our point, Alexandra, is we heard your rather unusual reasoning for turning down Lord Oakleigh’s proposal of marriage.” He paced as he talked and looked like he was preparing to deliver a long, fatherly sermon. “I must say I feel honesty would have been a much wiser course of action. To make up such a blatant falsehood is unbecoming of a young lady of your position.”

Before he could continue, Alex decided to put an end to this debacle. “Lord Downing, please stop.” Alex rose and gestured for him to take the seat next to his wife. “I know you can’t believe what I told Nicholas, but it’s the truth. I really did travel back through time from the twenty-first century. I’m not your daughter, and when we find Charlotte, I will be returning to the future where I belong.” She looked at their stunned faces and felt like crying all over again. It was so unlike her to cry, but she felt like that was all she was capable of lately. Would she ever get back to herself again?

Yes. As soon as she was back in her own time—to her
real
life.

Thinking of her life brought her real parents to mind. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small, neatly folded newspaper clipping of her parents’ death. She opened it carefully and smoothed it out. “Here.” She held the paper out to Lady Downing. “
This
was my family. Read it.”

Lady Downing took the paper and read with Lord Downing looking over her shoulder. It didn’t take them long, and they seemed more interested in the photograph than the article.

Lord Downing spoke first, “The date—nineteen hundred ninety-nine. It’s not possible.”

They studied the proof of her incredible story. Her fingers ached, and she realized she’d been squeezing them tightly into fists. She straightened her hands and smoothed down her skirt, before folding them lightly in front of herself.

“All right then, my dear. If you insist you are telling the truth, and this article does appear to support your claim, we believe you.” Lord Downing looked at Lady Downing as he talked, and she nodded her head slightly in agreement.

Alex’s jaw dropped, and she found herself completely tongue-tied. Did he just say they believed her? As proof went, she didn’t think the newspaper clipping was that infallible.

“Believe what?” asked a male voice from the doorway.

Alex turned to see Mary and Gregory enter the room. Both were dressed in elegant evening clothes, like their parents. As dressed up as Alex felt in her borrowed finery, she felt plain compared to the rest.

“Alex has decided to trust us with some information on her past. Her story is quite amazing, and she feels sure we will be unable to believe her. I was assuring her that we believe
in
her and will do our best to put our skeptical natures aside and trust she would not lie to us.”

“Why of course we will believe you, Alexandra! We are your family.” Mary came up and gave her a big hug. “You look marvelous in that dress, by the way. I just knew it would suit you beautifully.”

“I agree. I am pleased to learn you have decided to trust us with your past. We all would like to help you in whatever manner possible.” Gregory took her hand and gave a slight squeeze before releasing it. “I believe we have time before the play is scheduled to begin; shall we all have a seat and listen to Alexandra’s story?”

“You’re all insane. You can’t possibly believe me.” Alex looked from one to the other in disbelief, but as they looked back at her, she saw simple acceptance on all their faces. Never in her life had anyone trusted her like this. She didn’t know what to do, except tell the truth and see what happens.

“Alexandra has just explained that she comes to us from the future. The twenty-first century, in fact.” Lord Downing handed the paper to Gregory before he continued, “This is as far as she has had a chance to explain thus far. Please Alexandra, continue.”

Mary and Gregory looked stunned but quickly rearranged their expressions to show polite interest as they studied the paper between glances at Alex. Belief was easier said than done, apparently.

Not sure where to begin, Alex started at the beginning with Charlotte’s phone call and disappearance. All four stared at her intently, but with such interest and compassion in their eyes, she could have wept.

“So, I came through the portal to find Charlotte before that newspaper article can come true. When I do, we’ll be going home.”

“This is quite extraordinary.” Lady Downing held one hand to her head as if trying to ward off a headache. “And I am sorry to hear of the death of your parents, my dear. Were you taken in by relatives upon their demise?” Lady Downing asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

“No. My entire family died in that fire. Until Charlotte called me, I had no one.” Alex wasn’t used to talking so much. She swallowed, holding back her grimace at the pain in her throat as she reached for a cup of tea. The perfect hostess, Lady Downing had served the refreshments as soon as she had realized they would be staying for a while.

“Oh my, how dreadful!” Mary exclaimed, her hands covering her mouth. “What a terrible memory that must be for you.”

“Actually, I don’t remember anything.” Alex shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about the extremely painful void in her memory. “I was injured during the fire and spent about two years in a coma. The first memory I have is waking up in the hospital.”

A small noise brought Alex’s attention back to Lady Downing, and Alex was surprised to see her look happier than she had all evening. She stared radiantly at her husband, and Alex saw the same joy reflected in his face.

“I have to admit, your reaction is not what I normally get when I tell people my family’s dead and I suffer from amnesia.” Alex spoke a bit harshly, hurt that these two kind people could be so callous over her suffering. Not that she wanted pity or anything, but unalloyed joy was a bit much.

Lady Downing’s expression fell. “I do not mean to belittle your suffering, child. I would do anything to be able to take away all the pain you must have suffered. It near breaks my heart to think of you, all alone, thinking your family dead.”

Lord Downing handed her a handkerchief, and she dabbed at her eyes. “However, you must see that this all supports our belief that you are, in fact, our child.”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “How, exactly?”

“Don’t you see? It all fits. Doesn’t it, my lord?” Lady Downing turned to her husband and seemed encouraged by his expression. “Please, darling. Won’t you explain?”

“Of course, my dear.” He gave her hand an encouraging pat and looked Alex in the eye. Gregory and Mary sat nearby, watching with rapt attention. “You say time travel exists, that you were sent to this time by a man that could not give you a satisfactory answer as to why he required
you
to take part in your sister’s rescue. Do you not see the answer? He sent you back because you belong here. They must have lied to you when you were a child. Mayhap in a misguided attempt to protect you. I do not begin to understand their reasoning.

“Your family did not die in a fire, because we are your family. You and Charlotte must have stumbled through the time portal when you were children, and you were raised in the future. Thank goodness you did, or you may not have survived. The fiend who kidnapped you may have killed you had you not managed to escape. While I mourn all the time we lost, I can rejoice in your presence now.”

Alex stared. A roaring sounded in her ears, and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. The light dimmed but for tiny flashes at the corners of her eyes. She tried to lean over and put her head between her knees but was unable to bend due to her corset. The long ruler-type thing in the middle, Evelyn had called it a busk, prevented her from having anything other than perfect posture. She felt like ripping it out, but was sure she couldn’t manage on her own, besides which, she had shocked her family enough for one evening.

Her family! Oh my God. Could it be true? It actually made a weird kind of sense. Well, more sense than the crazy story Sawyer had fed her. The one she had gobbled up—hook, line, and sinker.

She looked around the drawing room then closed her eyes, the images of their kindly faces burned to her brain. She forced herself to breathe deeply, though she wanted to gasp and cry or simply let the light fade entirely and sink back into the couch unconscious. She had never fainted in her life and wasn’t about to start now.