Chapter Sixteen #2
“Oh no. I worked at an occult bookstore and started reading about it…though I didn’t like some of the books.
And I did a lot of research online, and kept a whole journal full of notes about herbs and stones and rituals and things.
” She shrugged. “There’s a lot of contradictory info out there.
So I just try to listen to my instincts.
And then I try different things and see what works. ”
“That is very similar to the scientific method. Observation, reason, and experiment.”
“In my case, it’s scouring the Internet, intuition, and experiment,” Rose said, numbering them off with her fingers.
Then she cast a worried look at him. “I really am sorry I can’t just whisk you back to the year of your choice.
My intuition tells me it’s impossible. And I can’t find any advice about how to do it. ”
He had been considering that. “I am not sure going that far back in time would’ve worked as I once hoped.”
She lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “Why not?”
His unexpected affair with Rose had led him to this thinking. It was so marvelous, despite the future being so uncertain.
He stared out over the rooftops. “I would never have told her that she would die young, for that would’ve stripped her days of joy.”
“Definitely.” Rose nodded.
“For me to know, and not to tell her, would’ve been a terrible secret, and there were no secrets between us before. I would have been constantly anxious, always endeavoring to prolong her life…it would’ve changed the nature of our love. It might’ve ruined it.”
Rose pressed her fingers to her lips. “Maybe it’s just as well you didn’t figure out how to turn back time. It would be terrible if you didn’t even have all your good memories.”
Henry’s gaze slid to her. “Not to mention memories of a certain charming witch.”
She leaned over and kissed him, and he felt a twinge of longing. If he had met her in 1818, things would have been very different.
“It is good of you to try to return me to the year from which I came,” he said. “And to go on this mad escapade with me.”
She smiled. “Hey, at least I get to go to a swanky party.”
“I generally loathe such affairs. Will we be expected to dance?”
“Even if there’s dancing, it’ll be optional. Hardly any men will dance.”
He cocked his head. “The ladies will dance with each other?”
“No, they’ll just…You don’t need a partner to dance, most of the time.”
“Ah. Is it like ballet, then?”
She laughed. “Definitely not. People just get out there and do what they feel like doing.”
How was that even dancing? “Show me,” he demanded.
“Nooo.” She set down her wineglass and hugged her knees. “I’m not even a good dancer. I just think it’s fun at a party.”
“But I want to know what modern dancing is like.”
“You first. Show me how to do the…what was it? The reel.”
He stood up. “You will not master it in one lesson, but I can give you an introduction.” He held out his hand to her.
“Hold on.” She tapped on her phone. “Let me see if I can find Scottish reel music.” He watched her thumb move against the screen. “See if this sounds right.”
The familiar strains of a reel reached his ear. “Yes, very good.”
She jumped up and stood next to him. “Okay, show me.”
His memory flashed back to his first meeting with the dancing tutor, long ago. “The main step is like this…”
“Oh, wow.” She laughed as she tried to follow the footwork. “This is so dainty.”
“Hardly. This is a vigorous country dance. And then you kick one side and the other, like this…”
“Look at you!” she squealed. “You’re so good!” Henry had never considered his dancing to be anything more than passable, but he could not help but be very pleased by the compliment.
She tried in earnest to imitate his steps, then declared, “This is so hard.” Giving up, she skipped and whirled around the roof with abandon, waving her arms in the air as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
He laughed, took a few long steps toward her, and caught her up in his embrace. “I am afraid you are doing it wrong.”
“Oh, I disagree,” she purred, looking down at his arms around her. “I think I’m doing it right.” The next moment, he was kissing her deeply.
When she pulled back and gazed up at him, her eyes were shining. “When I rented this apartment, I imagined spending time out here with someone special. But I never did, until you.”
He felt again the longing for things that couldn’t last. “Have we made a mistake?” he couldn’t help but ask. “With every day, we make a goodbye more difficult.”
“Did it really feel like a choice?” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You of all people know that all we have is now.”
“No, I will also have the memory of it.” He took both her hands in his. “It is strange how in one’s memories, certain nights may mean more than whole years of one’s life.”
She said, “As far as I’m concerned, my time with you happens outside of time. It’s never not happening. Anytime I want, I can come right back here and be with you again.”
“That is one theory of time I have not heard yet,” Henry said and kissed her again. “But I will believe it, too.”