Out of Time: A Time Travel Mystery
Page 32
Elizabeth patted at her hair.
“If you’d allow me?” he asked, and before she could protest, plucked a leaf from her hair.
“That was embarrassing,” Elizabeth mumbled.
He turned on that smile of his again. “I think it was rather becoming. And I’ll cherish it always,” he said as he stuffed the leaf into his breast pocket. “Maxwell Alexander Harrington the Third, your humble servant,” he added with a bow.
The older woman sighed and lowered her glasses. “You are incorrigible.”
“You’ll have to forgive me,” he said, not taking his eyes off Elizabeth. “Love does strange things to a man.”
“Ignore him,” the woman said. “Riding in that new motorcar of his has scrambled his brain.”
For a long moment, he didn’t react, just simply stared at Elizabeth. It should have been discomfiting, but he exuded an earnestness no amount of brashness could cover. Handsome by any standards, he was the very definition of the All-American Boy--tall, easily over six feet, sun-streaked hair and dimple in his chin you could crawl inside.
“And your manners,” the older woman prompted. “How you could possibly be a relation of mine is beyond me.”
“She’s my distant aunt,” he said by way of explanation.
“And growing more distant with every passing moment.”
Elizabeth liked her immediately. She was Helen Hayes with attitude. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “No, no. Maxwell was just leaving. What can I do for you, dear?”
Elizabeth’s throat went dry. This was the moment of truth. “Mr. Holland sent me.”
A brief flicker of surprise and then recognition crossed the woman’s face before she smiled as though Elizabeth had just complimented her prized petunias. “Oh, isn’t that lovely,” she said coming down a few steps and holding out her hand. “I haven’t heard from him in ages. Won’t you come inside dear and you can tell me how everyone’s doing?”
Just like that Elizabeth was being shuttled into the house.
“Another of your secret liaisons, Aunt Lillian?” Max said trailing behind.
Mrs. Eldridge never stopped escorting Elizabeth inside and merely said over her shoulder, “Goodbye, Maxwell,” and promptly shut the door behind them. Once they were a few feet into the entry hall she squeezed Elizabeth’s arm gently. “Welcome to 1906, dear.”
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