30
Although dinner began with Antonia trying to maintain a stony silence toward Aurelia, she eventually let her guard down. Whether that was just out of habit or due to a purposeful pause in hostilities, Aurelia couldn’t be sure, but she was grateful for it either way.
Julia seemed to recognize the need to give Antonia a break from any mention of the characters, so instead she told her about the show she’d seen with David and James, how she might like to learn more about art history because she’d liked touring the National Gallery with Kali, and about the hairstyle she thought Aurelia should try for the wedding.
The one break in her constant flow of chatter came when Aurelia’s phone rang.
“That’s probably Oliver,” Aurelia said, not moving to answer it.
“Do you want me to get it?” Julia asked, starting to stand.
“No, that’s alright. I… I think it might be better to save it for tomorrow.”
Julia looked confused.
“He’ll wonder why your mum is here, and I’d rather not get into it tonight.”
Aurelia hated not to answer his call but felt as though she had to get through one crisis at a time, and with Antonia and Julia sitting in front of her, this one had to take precedence.
By eleven thirty, they were all tired after the heightened emotions of the day.
Even so, they were determined to see their experiment through.
Julia disappeared into her room, emerging in a different outfit.
Now, in place of her halter top and shorts, she was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a short-sleeved shirt.
When Aurelia, too, changed into a longer dress than the one she’d been wearing, Antonia registered that something was going on.
“What is this?” she asked, pointing at them. “Why the wardrobe change?”
“Aunt Aurelia thinks it’s too shocking for them to see us in ‘tiny clothes,’” Julia said, rolling her eyes.
“It’s not just me who thinks that,” Aurelia said. “Everyone had a thing or two to say about your outfit the other night.”
“I mean, I was in my pajamas. What did they expect?”
“A full-length nightgown,” Aurelia said, laughing.
“Can you two stop? Please?”
Antonia was shaking her head, looking from one to the other.
“Sorry,” they said in unison, quick to mollify her since they knew she might change her mind at any moment.
“Why don’t we head down?” Aurelia suggested, leading the way.
At the bottom of the stairs, she and Julia slid on their shoes, and Aurelia opened the door into the darkened shop.
“Oh! There’s usually a light that comes on when they appear. After midnight, look under the door and you’ll see it.”
“You could very well turn the lights on while you’re in the shop.” Antonia sighed.
“No, it’s different. Look—I’ll show you.”
Aurelia walked onto the mezzanine, which was dimly lit by the streetlamps from the square outside, and closed the door to the flat. From the other side she called out, “I’m turning on the shop lights now,” as she flipped the switch. “See? The light under the door is bright, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” came Antonia’s voice.
Aurelia turned the lights out again and opened the door.
“When the light comes on after midnight, it’s dim, like candlelight. The shop lights don’t have a dimmer, so you’ll know it’s not us turning them on.”
Aurelia hoped this new fact would join all the others and eventually add up to some sort of sense in her sister’s mind.
“Fine.”
“We’ll ask them to come upstairs, near the door, to make sure you can hear them,” Aurelia added.
“Mrs. Jamieson won’t like that,” Julia said.
“No, but Cuff won’t mind.”
“I bet Kitty will help us too.”
“These are characters?” Antonia asked.
“Yes, they’re from—” Aurelia was about explain which books they were from, but Antonia waved her hand to silence her. “Okay,” Aurelia continued. “Well, I think it’s nearly midnight, so we should close the door.”
She looked at her sister, who was staring back at her with an unreadable expression.
“I really hope you can hear them, Tonia.”
“I hope you can too, Mum.”
“You know what? I actually hope so, too.”
Antonia closed the door, and Aurelia and Julia filed down the spiral staircase to the shop floor. They stood at the Recommended Reads table and, just as the clock began winding up to strike the hour, Julia took Aurelia’s hand.
Having tried to convince Antonia for several hours of just how real the characters were, how they really did appear in the shop at night, Aurelia had started to doubt herself.
It came as a relief, then, when the mists began to appear above the table and the soft light that always accompanied the characters began to brighten the shop.
“Do you see the light, Antonia?” Aurelia called upstairs.
There was no answer, but Aurelia was sure Antonia was paying attention.
“They’re starting to appear now, so we’ll bring them up as soon as we can. Let’s start with Cuff,” Aurelia said, turning to Julia as the mists began spilling over the edge of the table. “Maybe he can think of something else we might try to convince your mum?”
“Good idea,” Julia agreed.
The characters took shape and, in spite of the trouble they’d been dealing with all day, Aurelia and Julia greeted them with smiles.
“Good evening! Hello!” Aurelia said as the characters shifted into their distinct shapes.
“Hi,” Julia said with a small wave.
“Very delighted to see you both again,” Cuff said.
“Yes, how good of you to include me in your gathering,” Miss Clack joined in. “Oh dear,” she added, stepping closer to Aurelia. “I do hate to be indelicate, but you look quite careworn this evening.”
Aurelia raised an eyebrow, knowing Miss Clack was only too pleased to be indelicate.
“Fortunately, I was able to bring several of my tracts with me,” she said, patting the small bag on her arm.
“I am sure one of them might be just the thing to lift your spirits. They address a range of topics that are certain to be of interest to you and your guests here. Let’s see, I have one on modesty,” she said with a nod to Julia as she began riffling through her bag.
“Aurelia! I heard something—a woman’s voice, I think?” Antonia called from the other side of the door upstairs.
“Yes! That’s Miss Clack!” Aurelia called back as everyone looked up at the door. She turned to Cuff.
“My sister, Julia’s mum, arrived today. Julia told her about all of you, and now… Well, she—Antonia—would like some sort of proof that you’re all”—Aurelia was about to say ‘real’ but decided instead on—“actually here.”
“How did your mother take it?” Cuff asked Julia.
“She doesn’t believe us,” Julia said, shaking her head. “She thinks we’re making it up or that something’s wrong with us.”
“It’s been a bit of a day,” Aurelia acknowledged. “Am I right in thinking she won’t be able to come into the shop to meet you?”
“You could attempt it, but I do not think it will be possible. Unless you plan to transfer your ownership of the shop to her?”
“No, I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I hear a man’s voice now!” Antonia shouted.
Everyone looked up at the door again.
“How very uncivilized!” Mrs. Jamieson said, drawing herself up as she stared at the door. “Show yourself, young lady, and stop this impertinent shouting!”
“A woman is raising her voice—I can hear it!” Antonia yelled down.
Mrs. Jamieson looked slightly embarrassed to have been caught shouting her disapproval of shouting.
“I know Oliver hasn’t been able to come into the shop to see all of you, but I thought maybe my sister could—since her daughter can?”
“While I suspect that any female descendant of Cristobel’s has the potential to see us, I know that only the shop owner or future shop owner has ever actually seen us.
Therefore, I am afraid, should your sister appear in the shop, her presence is just as likely to dispel us as your husband’s—because, while she is a female descendant, she is not the shop owner,” explained Sergeant Cuff.
“Then she ought to leave us to our conversation,” Mrs. Jamieson announced with a shake of her parasol toward the mezzanine.
“Do you know, it is rather pleasing to know there is a certain exclusivity to this shop. It does change one’s perspective somewhat.
” She twirled her parasol as a coy smile played across her face.
“If Antonia can’t come into the shop, we wondered if you might be willing to come upstairs with us,” Aurelia asked Cuff. “Maybe you could say a few words to find out if she can hear you?”
In spite of directing her request to Cuff, Mrs. Jamieson was quick to take offense.
“I am not about to engage in some parlor game. No, those of us who are cultivated and have some respect for propriety will remain here.”
Miss Clack moved to Mrs. Jamieson’s side, clearly sensing a kindred spirit. Meanwhile, Kitty walked to the spiral staircase and turned to Julia.
“I should like to meet your mother. Even if only through a doorway.”
They smiled at each other and Julia followed close on Kitty’s heels as they climbed the staircase.
Aurelia turned to Cuff.
“What do you say? Are you too proper for an experiment?”
“Not at all,” Cuff said with a smile before following Aurelia upstairs.
Blanche looked up at the mezzanine, then at Miss Clack and Mrs. Jamieson.
“I shall join you,” she said quickly. “I hardly think it improper to make a new acquaintance,” she added coolly to the two women.
“Mum? Can you hear us?” Julia asked through the doorway.
“I can hear you and Aurelia.”
“What about the others? You said you heard voices?” Aurelia asked as she stepped behind Julia.
“I can hear voices, but not what they’re saying.”
Aurelia looked to Cuff.
“Good evening—Antonia, is it?” he asked.
Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting for Antonia to answer.
“I hear a man’s voice,” she said finally. “But I can’t tell what he said—it’s all muffled. Is he standing right there with you?”
“He is. It’s Sergeant Cuff, and he asked if your name is Antonia,” Julia said.
“Oh… yes. That’s me.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Antonia. I have enjoyed getting to know your sister and daughter.”
There was silence again.
At last, Antonia said, “It’s like someone is murmuring. I can hear that the voice is just on the other side of the door, but…” She trailed off. “I can’t make out a single word.”
“He said it’s a pleasure to meet you, and that he’s enjoyed getting to know me and Julia.”
Aurelia’s thoughts were a tangle of worrying that Antonia might not take a mumbled voice as proof, and sadness to know that she couldn’t share this with her sister, after all.
“You said Sergeant Cuff knew the aunts?” Antonia asked.
“He did, yes,” Aurelia said, starting to feel silly for talking at a door.
“Then I want you to ask him a question. Ask him what color the curtains were before Marigold took over the shop. You won’t remember, but if he really knew the aunts—if he’s really been here before—then he’ll know.”
“The curtains were a pale shade of pink,” Cuff said proudly.
“He says they were pink,” Aurelia translated. “But actually, I did know that—another character told me that they were pink linen, and the carpet was aquamarine.”
Antonia was silent for a moment, then said quietly, “You couldn’t possibly remember that. You were a baby when Marigold redid the place.”
“I don’t remember it at all,” Aurelia agreed. “I only know because the characters have told me.”
A spark of hope was catching in Aurelia’s chest.
“Are you starting to believe us, Mum? Maybe Kitty can try talking to you.”
“How do you do, Mrs.—” Kitty turned to Julia and whispered, “Mrs. What?”
“Mrs. Bergerac,” Julia whispered back.
“How do you do, Mrs. Bergerac? My name is Catherine Bennet.”
“Oh—Kitty’s short for Catherine?” Julia asked.
“Yes, my sisters started calling me Kitty when I was younger. Mama still calls me Catherine at times, but I prefer Kitty.”
“Are you talking to Kitty?” Antonia asked, her voice still low.
“I am. Didn’t you hear what she said?”
“No, but I heard her voice.”
“She says hello, and that her real name is Catherine, but she likes to be called Kitty instead.”
Julia’s tone was light at first, but then she turned to Aurelia and her smile faltered.
“Why can’t she understand what they’re saying?”
“I don’t know.” Shaking her head, Aurelia turned to Sergeant Cuff.
“I am sorry to say that it seems to be one more of the shop’s mysteries,” he said. “There is a certain sense to it, I suppose. If one cannot see the characters, one likewise cannot converse with them.”
“Mum,” Julia said through the door. “Sergeant Cuff thinks it won’t work, that you won’t be able to… Mum, I’m sorry.”
Julia began to cry. Kitty put an arm around her, which dissolved into a swirl of printed words before she raised her arm so that it rested just above Julia’s shoulder.