21
Aurelia had come back into the living room to find Julia still sleeping on the sofa. After waking her, they ate dinner and watched the rest of Pride and Prejudice. Even so, they still had a few more hours to while away until midnight, which felt as though it took longer than usual to arrive.
As they waited downstairs at the Recommended Reads table, Aurelia told Julia about The Moonstone and the possibility of being able to introduce her to Sergeant Cuff and, perhaps, Rachel, who Aurelia had met alongside him years ago.
Biscuit and Fezz had stayed upstairs, which Aurelia decided was just as well.
Their presence would be one less thing to juggle that evening.
When the mists appeared above the table, Julia caught her breath. Aurelia reached for her hand and they watched together as words swirled across parchment-colored mists that eventually rolled off the table, rose up into columns, and began to shape themselves into each character.
“Does it always happen like this?” Julia whispered.
“Mm-hmm,” Aurelia said, smiling.
She counted the shapes that were forming: five.
Just as she’d hoped, one became Sergeant Cuff, looking wizened yet formal in his usual suit of funereal black.
The other figure was unfamiliar. It was a woman, but she was older than Rachel, perhaps in her early forties, and had a pinched, tight look to her face.
“Welcome everyone! And welcome back, Sergeant Cuff!” Aurelia said as she walked toward them.
She felt the urge to reach out and hug him. He’d been one of the first characters she’d met in the shop and had encouraged her to write a sequel to Count Vronsky’s novel in order to give him a happier ending. Given that a hug was impossible, she simply grinned at him.
“Back again, are we?” Mrs. Jamieson observed, looking around the shop.
Ignoring her, Aurelia motioned for Julia to join her and said, “Let me introduce you to my niece, Julia.”
“Your niece?” Cuff repeated, his eyebrows raised in interest.
“Yes. As it turns out, she seems to be able to see and hear you all.”
“That’s hardly surprising. She does have eyes and ears,” Blanche scoffed.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Julia said, holding out her hand to Cuff.
“Don’t forget, we can’t touch each other,” Aurelia reminded her.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Quite alright,” Cuff said with a smile. “It is a pleasure to meet another generation of this fine family.”
He gave a short bow, and Julia started to dip into a curtsy before stopping herself. Aurelia smiled at the instinct since she’d felt the same one herself just a few nights earlier.
“Could you introduce us, Sergeant Cuff?” she asked, gesturing to the woman who had appeared with him. “It seems you’re both from The Moonstone.”
“We have never been introduced, but I believe I might be able to guess at her identity.”
“Don’t trouble yourself. I am quite inconsequential and easily overlooked,” the woman said in a simpering tone, though it was obvious her self-deprecation was just for show.
“Miss Clack, I am certain of it,” said Cuff.
“Why, yes. Though really, you shouldn’t have bothered, I’m sure.”
Aurelia’s excitement at seeing Cuff again was momentarily chased away by the appearance of Miss Clack.
It had been a few years since she’d read The Moonstone, but she had a distinct memory of Miss Clack being an interfering and sanctimonious woman.
Another unpleasant woman in the shop was yet another sign that something must be very wrong with the shop’s magic.
Aurelia introduced herself and Julia to Miss Clack, and then introduced Miss Clack and Sergeant Cuff to Blanche, Kitty, and Mrs. Jamieson. Everyone seemed to be eyeing and assessing each other, as though picking sides for battle.
“I see your niece has put on more appropriate attire today,” Mrs. Jamieson observed.
Aurelia gave Julia a meaningful look. It had taken some work but she’d finally convinced her to wear one of Aurelia’s longer dresses for the evening.
“I didn’t exactly plan to come down here to meet people last night,” Julia said. “I was sleeping when I heard everyone arguing.”
“Was there a touch of discord?” Miss Clack asked hopefully.
“We’ve had a bit of a rough patch since Julia’s arrival,” Aurelia explained, turning to Cuff. “I put your book on the table this morning, hoping you could help sort a few things out for us.”
“I would be happy to offer my services.” Cuff inclined his head and seemed pleased to have been called in to help.
Kitty and Julia began speaking together in hushed voices, moving to a corner of the shop. Blanche looked after them disdainfully at first, but then Aurelia thought she caught a hint of longing in her face before she turned to speak with Mrs. Jamieson.
“I wonder if we might just—”
Aurelia was about to suggest that she and Cuff go up to the mezzanine to talk, but she spotted Miss Clack hovering as though she wanted to be included.
Aurelia felt a twinge of guilt, but she wanted to talk to Cuff alone, without having to watch her words around someone new, particularly someone like Miss Clack.
“Is this your first time visiting the shop?” Aurelia asked her.
“It is, yes. What an interesting phenomenon to be drawn into, though it does seem a tad… improper.”
“Improper?”
“You understand—being brought into a room with perfect strangers. We’re only lucky that Sergeant Cuff is here to moderate. What if it were a shop full of men? I should hate to think of the potential for impropriety under the right circumstances.”
In spite of her words, Miss Clack seemed positively gleeful at the possibility.
“I think you mean the wrong circumstances, then,” Aurelia said impatiently.
“Well, yes. Naturally! Of course.”
“Julia?” Aurelia called out. “Could you give Miss Clack a tour of the shop? She’s never been.”
“But I’m telling Kitty about her movie,” Julia said in a near-whine.
Aurelia suspected she wanted to get out of having to talk to Miss Clack altogether but felt no sympathy since she’d been stuck with Mrs. Jamieson and Blanche the night before.
“I’m sure Kitty won’t mind waiting a few more minutes to hear about it.”
“Merde,” Julia said under her breath.
Blanche and Miss Clack gasped. Julia’s comment hadn’t been as covert as she’d thought. Meanwhile, Kitty looked between all of them, clearly unsure of what had happened.
“Sorry,” Julia said, looking around at them. “I didn’t think anyone here spoke French.” She looked at Aurelia. “Sorry for swearing. Again.”
Aurelia had already given Julia a mini-lecture about the expletive she’d let out the night before, though Aurelia had admitted she probably would have said the same thing in Julia’s shoes.
“Alright, Miss Clack. You can follow me,” Julia said, the resignation thick in her voice.
Aurelia turned back to Cuff, eager to fill him in on everything he’d missed.