But now that Lord Hereford sat across from her, with his attention solely on her, she wasn’t sure she’d even notice the opera.
Jane fanned herself. “It’s getting warm in here, and I’m not even getting scorching looks from hot earls across the way.”
“Where’s a hot earl?” The duke’s mock frown made Eva laugh and then he noticed Lord Hereford. “Ah, yes.”
The opera was about to begin and as the lights dimmed, she forced her eyes to watch the stage. As soon as the curtains rose, she was enchanted. She almost forgot Lord Hereford. Almost.
During a passionate scene of great angst in the performance, her gaze wandered to him and he was looking as steadfastly as always. And then he jerked his head to the side. He’d moved so that he sat on the end, Lady Everly and his mother deep in what looked like quiet conversation. And he jerked his head again. Then he rose to stand.
A deep thrill of excitement rumbled through her.
Did she dare?
Of course.
But should she? She didn’t think for more than two more breaths before she stood, winked at Jane, and then snuck out the back curtain. She turned in the direction his head had indicated, rushing through the darkened and quiet area behind the boxes until she saw him approaching, his quiet steps towards her racing her blood.
He reached a hand and held a finger to his lips. They hurried together around the next bend in the circular area where he led her to a small alcove window, with a curtain across the opening. As the fabric enclosed them in such an intimate space, she held her breath. “Lord Hereford…”
He pulled her too him, gazing down into her face, his mouth inches from her own. “I couldn’t wait until intermission, couldn’t stand to see you in front of all the others, only able to smile and nod and politely discuss the weather. I cannot abide only casually knowing you. I wish to make you a part of every intense thought and language of my life, I wish you to be a part of every minute of my day. I want you to be mine, body and soul.”
Were her ears deceiving her? Eva could scarcely believe what he had just said. Is this what her heart wanted?
“Wh-What are you saying?”
This was bound to be the most romantic moment of her life. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she searched this handsome lord’s face and saw only the kind intensity she’d always known. He was a good man. She was half in love with him.
“I—I’m not saying anything in particular…yet. Except for what I did say. I long for tomorrow and the next day and the next when I can call on you.” He closed the distance so that their lips were almost touching, almost. And he whispered. “And I long to kiss you.”
She parted her lips, feeling his soft breath as a caress on her mouth. If she lifted onto her toes, if she stood just a touch taller…
The world had gone quiet. The magic she always hoped to feel surrounded them in their small space. His arms cradled her protectively, and she breathed in the lovely smell they’d chosen for him from the shop earlier. Their combined smells, their euphoric desire, their joint understood effort to delay gratification created such a beautiful scene of intense longing. She was without words, frozen in a beautiful ecstasy unlike she’d ever known.
Then someone ripped open the curtains. Hands went over mouths, and shocked gasps filled the hallway. Eva was tempted to roll her eyes and pull the curtain back to where it had been, but Lord Hereford stepped away in horror as though she were a pariah, and shook his head.
Eva searched the crowd for a familiar face, but finding none, she pushed through those who were blocking her way, ran through the remaining groups and pushed herself back through and into the duke’s box.
Jane took one look at her and rushed forward with her arms out. “What has happened?”
Noise from the conversation outside her box heightened. “…caught with Lord Herefored.”
Jane nodded. “So you’ve created a scandal? During your first month here?” She laughed. “I’d expect nothing less.”
“But I don’t think Lord Hereford’s amused. You should have seen his face.”
“No, he wouldn’t be. The man’s as staid and proper as they come.”
“His mother is going to throw fits. And I would pay a lot to see Lady Everly’s face.”
Her two friends were highly entertained, but Eva could only feel a rising dread. Lord Hereford’s face had told her all she needed to know. Being caught as they had been had ruined their chance to fall well and truly in love. His face said what she hoped his words never would. He was forced to take his own action and when faced with the very real challenge of asking for her hand, he wasn’t looking forward to it. At least his expression had spoken his dread as clearly as anything.
The duke approached the curtain. “Let’s wait until the crowd clears and then I’ll prepare my study for a young earl to come calling.”
“Oh, but that is terrible.”
“Is it so terrible?” Jane’s face asked an honest question that Eva didn’t know how to answer.
“I think I should make my way back to Twickenham.”
“What? No.” Jane shook her head. “Wait and see what comes of this. You’ve likely just earned yourself a marriage proposal, for one.”
“But that’s exactly what I don’t want. Can’t you see? And he’s not too excited about the prospect of being forced to marry me, either.”
“How can you even know that? I suspect he’s the happiest man at the opera right now.”
The three of them looked across the way at the earl’s box. He was in a hushed and hurried conversation with Lady Everly, his mother standing nearby. If her looks could kill, all three of them and every commoner in between would have fainted dead away. “Well, I know for certain I’ve made one enemy while here.”
“She’ll get over it.” Jane started, watched the woman for a moment and then shook her head. “No. I don’t think she shall.”
Lord Hereford did not look back in her direction even one more time. As soon as the music began, the three of them, of one mind, stood and made their way out of the box.
16
Oliver could not decide how to feel.
His feet dragged on a walk for some air after a long Shakespearean-like tragic monologue from his mother; but once out of sight of his house, his pace picked up and he found himself humming. Married to Lady Eva. He couldn’t think of a more delightful prospect.
But he’d embroiled them both in a scandal the size of which the ton would enjoy for many months. He’d well and truly ruined her reputation, and right on the heels of Beau Brummel’s unmitigated support. She went from stardom to outcast in the matter of one act at the opera. And it was his fault.
His pace kept up and he distracted himself with all the manners in which he would propose. “My dear Eva, if I might call you so?”
“Eva, my love…”
“Would you do me the great honor…”
A voice cleared.
Oliver’s face whipped around and breathed out in relief. “Algernon.”
They approached and clapped each other on the back.
“I’m on my way to see you.”
“We suspected as much.” The duke’s face was troubled, foreboding.
“What has happened? Is Lady Eva well?”
“I presume she is as healthy as she ever was.”
“You presume?”
“She’s left us, gone back to her home, or is en route, at any rate.”
The world spun in a crazy whirl. “No.” He took off running toward the duke’s house, but Algernon called him back.
“I have a letter. She’s gone, man.”
Oliver returned, out of breath. “A letter, you say?”
Algernon held out a folded paper, with a new crest he’d never seen.
“I’m sorry.”
Oliver barely heard. He tore open the crest, his eyes devouring the page.
Dear Lord Hereford,
I regret to inform you that I have left. I couldn’t bear the nonsense
I brought you by our being discovered. And so to avoid the scandal that would likely surround us were I to stay, I’m leaving you free to pursue a life without such talk. I don’t belong where you are, not really. And so this decision is for the best. But if it is any comfort at all to you, during our short time together, you captured my heart. I love you, Oliver.
Eva
“Where has she gone? I’ll go to her, stop her in her tracks. What care I for a bit of scandal?”
Algernon eyed him. “Is this the same Oliver I’ve known my life through? The man who shunned impropriety like a scourge?”
“Yes, it’s me. Don’t be daft.”
“You know what an attachment to such a woman will bring you?”
“Happiness! Great and long lasting happiness.”
The duke stared at him for what seemed an entirely long and boorish waste of time before he said, “I think you need to come back to the house with me.”
“Will you share with me where she’s gone?”
“I believe so, but you might not thank us when we do.”
He had no patience for these riddles, so he said nothing, only hurried after the duke to his home.
As soon as they stepped in the door, the duke gave instructions to his butler. “We need to depart within the hour if we’re to make the full moon next week.”
“Full moon…”
Then the duke ushered him into his office. “Jane has left with Lady Eva and Anna. She has some more items she’d like to pick up before she returns. Oh did I tell you? We are expecting our first child.”
“That’s wonderful! Congratulations.” He waited for the duke to begin making sense once again.
“And so they’ve left, but we can join them if we hurry. I can’t guarantee we’ll arrive in the same month, though within thirty days should do the trick.”
“Make sense man. I cannot follow this gibberish.”
“Don’t be concerned. All will be explained on the journey.”
He pulled out paper and his ink. “Would you like to write a missive for your mother, let her know you will be traveling, likely gone for two weeks, time to go to Twickenham and back, lingering a week there? Though we could arrange things so that you arrived even earlier if you like. It would be like you’d never left.”
Oliver gave up trying to understand and quickly penned a note to his mother and sealed it with the duke’s wax and seal. “What shall I do about my trunks?”
“Will you be needing them? Not likely. I’ll loan you a few items to get you through the days at Twickenham, and you’ll have to pick up some appropriate things when you arrive. Or you won’t fit in. I highly recommend a good leather jacket. The women love them.”
Oliver followed the duke around while he readied this things, and eventually into his carriage. Once they were finally on their way, Oliver stared him down. “Now. Explain, Algernon. You haven’t made a lick of sense since you found me in the park.”
“I don’t know if I’m the person to be explaining all the particulars.”
Oliver waited.
“But I’ll tell you what I can. And trust me, you’re not gonna believe a word of what I say. You’ll just have to trust me until you see for yourself.”
Oliver crossed his arms.
“Eva has gone to Twickenham. Remember, where you met her?”
“Of course.”
“Those paintings. There’s something different about them, do you recall?”
He remembered the strange circumstances of his meeting Eva. The house itself, Nellie, everyone at the ball. “Odd sort of people in that place.”
“They’re odd for a reason. You see, everyone in those portraits has the ability to travel through time.”
Oliver waited for him to laugh or admit to the falsehood, but the duke stared back with the same sincere expression he ever had.
“And Eva is from an entirely different time period. Jane is from the same. Eva’s on the run, feels like she’s ruined your life, and she is going back to her time period.”
“But she hasn’t ruined my life. She’s made my life everything that is good and interesting and actually real.”
“How much is she worth to you?”
“How much…”
“Yes, is it worth it to step into a painting and get sent forward in time to a place you know nothing about, to find her and convince her to come back with you?”
His heart hammered so hard he found it difficult to breathe. As much as he wanted to think the duke had suddenly lost his mind, he appeared as sane as ever. But how could any of the nonsense he was spouting be true?
No matter what was going on, it sounded as though he was on a path to see Lady Eva again. So, he would follow the path until it seemed dangerous to his person. Perhaps that would be the best move?
“Anything is worth being with her again. I need to convince her to stay. My life is an endless boredom with nothing to lighten my path until then. I foresee only misery and obligation and duty, with no joy, love or happiness if we are apart.”
“I understand. I remember when I thought Jane was lost to me.” As the duke searched Oliver’s face, his expression turned calculating. “I’m going to need to explain some things before you go.”
“Honestly, I would welcome any further explanation.” He hoped the duke would begin to sound like a person not bound for bedlam.
But hours into their carriage ride the duke still hadn’t spoken much about where they were headed or what would be required of him or where exactly Eva was.
At last he cleared his throat and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “Twickenham Manor sits on a line of Fae magic. And the veil between the two worlds is very thin all along the line, but at the very location of Twickenham Manor, there is a crack of sorts, and not all of the magic is on the other side.”
“Not on the other side? Meaning there’s magic at the manor itself?”
“There is. If you think about it, you noticed it.”
He tried to remember his time there. “It was definitely odd. And meeting Eva for a moment only and then she disappeared, that was odd.” As he contemplated the whole party, he recognized now, looking back that there was an energy there, a feeling or a hum that coursed through him. “So, you’re saying it’s magic, Fae magic?”
“Yes, Aunt Nellie. She is the ancient administrator of the magic. She paints the portraits and if you have one, you can travel through time. Anytime.”
Oliver sat back on the carriage bench, not believing his ears, but not knowing what else to believe. His story explained a lot about Lady Eva, about the strange words she used when with the duchess. “And you’re saying her grace came back in time also?”
“Yes, but I was the first. I traveled to her time and met her there.”
“You did?” He searched his old friend’s face and saw nothing but honest sincerity.
“Once a month at the full moon, Nellie enables time travel.”
“And Eva is traveling there to catch the full moon?”
“She is.”
“And we are as well.”
“Yes, but there is a chance we will miss it.”
At the immediate distress that filled him, Algernon held up his hand. “But do not be concerned. You can travel to her time next month, but arrive the same time she does even if you leave a month later.”
Oliver ran a hand through his hair, mussing it in such a manner he would normally be greatly disturbed by how many hairs were out of place. But now, it seemed to fit the general disarray at hand. “I don’t know what to think about any of this, but as I see no great harm to my person in attempting it, I am in full support.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“There is a chance we could catch her before she leaves.”
“Then that will be the goal moving forward.”
He nodded. “But even if you do. You might want to consider the possibility that you’ll have to go forward in time just to convince her to be with you.”
Oli
ver did not respond. He couldn’t fathom on a real level that anything the duke said was true.
“However, maybe she needs to miss you in her time, and perhaps she would be touched by the gesture and be willing to come back with you.”
“Are women from her ‘home’ all this difficult to win over?”
“I think so. They’re raised in a completely different environment. They work. They are independent. Live on their own. They go where they want. Do what they want. And the men have to be really special for them to even want to spend time with them.”
Oliver considered his words. “This is what makes Eva so interesting.”
“Perhaps. She and Jane were raised to learn and work and grow and become something all on their own, separate from who they marry.”
Oliver had never considered such a thing. “Why, that’s astounding.”
Algernon smiled. “And that response makes me believe you might be just the man for someone like Eva.”
They traveled through the night and rested only for the horses. At last, they arrived on the doorstep of Twickenham Manor. “It feels as though I was just here yesterday.”
“This place has that effect on everyone. It matters not how long you’ve been away, it could possibly have been years or a matter of hours. It’s all the same here.”
Nellie opened the front door opened before they even knocked. “Oh, I’ve been expecting you.”
They hurried into the front room. Oliver looked in every room they passed. “Is she here?”
Nellie didn’t answer but led them into a front parlor.
Algernon smiled. “I have many good memories right here in this room.”
“So. You wish to travel through time?” Aunt Nellie eyed Oliver over a pair of glasses. Did she have glasses the last time he saw her? He didn’t think so, and he wondered if she even required the use of them.
At any rate, he nodded. “I do. Or rather, what I really want is to be with Lady Eva. Wherever, or whenever she might be.” He felt ridiculous, but Aunt Nellie appeared to think everything he said perfectly normal.
Back to his Lordship: Clean time travel regency romance (Twickenham Regency Romance Book 2) Page 12
