Chapter 4
When Beatrice’s fragile form crumpled, Reese tried to grab her but stumbled on her own stupid long skirts. Fortunately, Jem grasped her arm, while Michael and Gareth caught Beatrice.
Evangeline, who knew nothing about Twickenham’s magic, had let out a strangled gasp, her eyes wide.
Her disbelieving gaze darting between the now-empty portrait and the figure on the floor, she took a single, unsteady step toward her sister.
The Colonel’s military discipline kicked in, and he placed a steadying arm around the poor woman.
“She’s cold as ice,” Michael muttered.
“But she is alive,” Gareth said as they eased her to the floor. “How is this possible?”
Then things really went strange. Something about Beatrice seemed to flicker, as if she were phasing out like in a sci-fi movie. Reese blinked, but when she opened her eyes, everything about Beatrice looked fine.
“I don’t understand what happened,” she whispered so only Jem could hear. “Is Beatrice a ghost?”
“My sister,” Evangeline cried before her voice broke, her face pale and body trembling. “How does one step from a painting?”
Exactly what Reese wanted to know. Ellen, her eyes wide, glanced between her two great-aunts, her expression as confused as everyone else’s.
The Colonel made a harrumphing sound. Gareth straightened, now wearing a resigned expression. Reese noted with respect how he put on his earl persona. Of anyone there, Colonel Pritchard seemed the most likely to have a difficult time with any explanation Gareth came up with.
But before either man could speak, Catherine entered the room. Her gaze went first to the empty portrait and then to the woman lying on the floor. Her only response was the arch of her eyebrows before she rushed over.
“Let me examine her.” Catherine gently brushed past Michael.
He stepped back and extended a hand to Ellen, who moved into his embrace. Reese eased closer, dragging Jem with her.
Living through an accidental time-travel adventure had forced them to accept the existence of Fae magic. But only at Twickenham. Reese had never considered they could bring the magic with them to Kellworth.
Catherine pressed her fingers to Beatrice’s wrist. “She’s alive, though weak and chilled through. Send for Aunt Nellie.”
“No, no,” Beatrice mumbled, making everyone in the room startle at the force in her frail voice. “Not Twickenham.”
“But why?” Catherine frowned. “I’m a physician, but not in this.”
“We know not how to help you,” Gareth added. “Surely Aunt Nellie can assist you.”
“No,” Beatrice said again, sounding stronger. “Twickenham has too much magic. It is not safe. Look at what happened to me.”
And then that odd flickering translucence came again, and Reese was sure she could see the pattern of the rug underneath Beatrice’s form. The poor woman’s eyes went round.
“Not again. Please, Lord, not again,” she cried weakly, trying to lift her hand but dropping it feebly, a single tear running down her cheek.
Then her body turned solid once more, and she relaxed. Catherine knelt beside her again.
“What did happen to you, Beatrice? We don’t understand.
” Reese scanned the group. The Colonel stood with military rigidity, jaw tight, clearly fighting his own battle with reason.
But it was Evangeline who broke Reese’s heart.
The poor woman simply stood there, her eyes on her sister’s face, as though afraid that looking away might make Beatrice disappear again, as she had once before.
“Nellie didn’t sound like she knew either,” Jem reminded her.
“Well, I won’t stand around discussing it while this woman lies here.” Catherine pointed to Jem and then Michael. “I would rather not bring the servants into this, so one of you needs to carry her up to a bedchamber. The one next to Reese’s is free.”
“I will see to the bedding,” Ellen said, already leaving her husband’s arms.
“Looks like you get to explain this to your great-aunt,” Reese added to Gareth, who didn’t look much better than Evangeline did.
“Yes, indeed. I am most confused.” She finally shifted her gaze from her sister’s face and pinned the earl with it.
Then, once again, several things happened at once. Jem and Michael bent to help Beatrice to her feet while Ellen stepped to the drawing-room door. Reese was watching her, wondering if she should offer help, when Beatrice cried out.
Spinning toward them, Reese found Jem and Michael on either side of the woman, trying to help her forward. She was phasing, and their hands went through her.
Why? Reese scanned the room, her gaze landing on the only magical object around: the empty portrait. She grabbed it and brought it closer. Beatrice turned solid again.
“Blimey,” Michael muttered.
“Wow. That was good thinking.” Jem was now able to give Beatrice a supporting hand. “I guess we’ll need to bring that with us.”
“I’ll carry it. Could you help Ellen prepare the bedroom?” As Catherine took the painting from Reese, she lowered her voice. “Gareth has some ’splainin’ to do. By the look of the Colonel, the sooner the better.”
Reese gave Jem a quick kiss and hurried to join Ellen at the door.
“That poor woman,” Reese whispered as they left the drawing room. “I hope Aunt Nellie brings some of her calming potion.”
“I am astounded,” Ellen said, glancing back at the doorway. “However, you are correct. Grandmama and the Colonel most certainly will require some.”
Ellen stepped into a vestibule and tugged on the bell pull. A footman must not have been far, because he came quickly.
“Please send word to Aunt Nellie at Twickenham that Lady Beatrice has arrived and is in need of her assistance,” she told the young man.
“Tell her it’s an emergency,” Reese added. “That means she should make haste.”
He glanced at Ellen for confirmation. She nodded, and he dashed away.
Reese heaved out a sigh. “We’d best make haste, too, if we’re going to get the bed made.”
By the time they reached the top of the long stairs, she was wishing she had on more reasonable clothes. It struck her as absurd that downstairs a woman was flickering in and out of existence while she and Ellen were getting ready to make a bed for her.
“Will your housekeeper get upset about you doing this?” she asked Ellen after they raided the upstairs linen room where the bedding was kept.
“Yes, however, I fear overhearing us speak of magic would disturb her more.”
“Good answer.” Reese had confidence Ellen would somehow soothe the woman for taking over some of her responsibilities.
They had barely gotten the bed prepared when Michael opened the door, and Jem entered the room carrying the frail woman.
Everyone in the drawing room followed. Evangeline’s attention was only for the miracle of her sister’s return, but the Colonel wore a deep scowl.
Would he pitch a fit and make accusations of witchcraft?
Reese moved to Gareth, who stood near the door. “Is the Colonel going to be a problem?” she whispered.
“He could be,” the earl said, watching the man.
“I’ll bet Aunt Nellie has something to help people forget,” Reese suggested.
Gareth shook his head. “He and Grandmama have grown close again since she took up residence in the dower house. She has grieved for her sister since Lady Beatrice’s disappearance.
Lady Evangeline will not be one easily put off.
We must first discuss it with Aunt Nellie.
” He glanced at Reese. “It may be necessary for you and your husband to prove that you are from the future.”
“Do you think the Colonel overheard Catherine say she’s a doctor?” Reese asked.
Gareth gave a soft groan. “Yet another complication.”
Reese shot him a sly grin. “Well, we both know this isn’t the first time Nellie has dealt with someone figuring out there’s something hinky going on at Twickenham.”
“Touché.” The earl gave a dark chuckle but frowned. “Hinky?”
“Dodgy. Did you need anything to ease it when you came to my time?” Reese couldn’t remember him mentioning it. All she’d heard was that he had demanded Nellie grant him a visit to the future after she and Jem had returned to their own time.
“Merely the one for a sick stomach.”
“It works really well,” Jem said, stepping beside Reese and putting an arm around her waist.
“After how Aunt Nellie used her teas to save my sister’s life...” Gareth’s voice broke with emotion, and he cleared his throat. After a moment, he continued. “I must believe Nellie also has the power to assist us with this new situation.”
He rubbed his chin. “It is a shame we tend to become so rigid when we age. Grandmama often spoke wistfully of what an adventurous spirit the Colonel had as a young man. I believe that was why he chose the military when Grandfather denied his suit. We must hope Pritchard can rediscover a more flexible part of himself.”
“I can’t wait to hear what Aunt Nellie has to say about Beatrice stepping out of the painting.” Reese leaned closer to her husband. “I know the magic makes it feel like we’re falling into our portrait, but I didn’t think that’s what we actually do.”
“She said she didn’t know what happened to Beatrice all those years ago. But Nellie must have felt something because she painted the portrait,” Jem mused.
Gareth stared at them and then nodded slowly. “Indeed. If that is what she told you, then it must be so. But do you not find it odd that in spite of her having been caretaker at Twickenham for centuries, she didn’t know what happened to Beatrice?”
“I don’t.” Michael stepped beside them while Ellen moved over to put an arm around Evangeline.
“Why?” Reese asked.
“Because my grandmother disappeared too. Not like this,” Michael said, “but in both situations, Aunt Nellie didn’t know what had happened. Despite the appearance she gives, she is not all-knowing.”
Colonel Pritchard finally turned and came to face Gareth. “This is madness, my Lord. No woman steps out of a painting without some... unnatural force at play.”
“I understand your skepticism, Colonel.” Gareth straightened, looking every bit the earl. “I know how impossible it must seem. And this occurrence is most unusual, but I can assure you that no one here dabbles in... witchcraft.”
It surprised Reese that Gareth would use the word.
Though maybe not. He’d confessed to her that he had once suggested to Nellie she was a witch, and the Fae woman had turned indignant and made it quite clear she was not one.
They sure didn’t want the poor Colonel spewing that kind of accusation once she arrived at Kellworth.
“Sir,” Reese said kindly as she stepped forward, “we may not have all the answers, but we know this isn’t witchcraft. We’ve experienced things that have changed our understanding of the world.”
“And what of those in our society who would accuse you of consorting with the devil? And me by association?” Colonel Pritchard’s voice had an edge to it, but there was fear mixed with his defiance.
“I notice you smoke a pipe. Do you use matches?” Reese asked, hoping they had been invented by now.
“Lucifer matches,” Gareth confirmed, his voice soft.
She forced herself not to wince at the name but pressed on. “I imagine when you used them in India, in front of people who had never seen them before, that they might have thought it was magic.”
“While it was only a chemical reaction,” Jem said. “It only seemed magical because it was new to them and beyond their understanding.”
Nodding thoughtfully, the Colonel’s gaze shifted to Evangeline, who stroked her sister’s brow with tenderness. “You would have me believe it was...” He swallowed with difficulty. “It was magic that brought Lady Beatrice back?”
“We know Aunt Nellie well. She helped me and Ellen improve the health of the Kellworth cottiers. Lady Ellen was injured earlier this year, and Nellie saved her life.” Reese frowned, worried she had shared too much. “We know she’s not evil. We trust her.”
“Whatever happened wasn’t intentional.” Michael nodded toward Evangeline. “Aunt Nellie would never purposefully hurt anyone, and it’s obvious that Beatrice’s disappearance caused a great deal of pain.”
Gareth stepped closer to the Colonel, his voice smooth and calm. “Aunt Nellie is the guardian of the magic at Twickenham. We have sent for her.”
The Colonel’s scowl deepened. “A guardian... of magic?”
“She’s a faery,” Reese said. “Though she may not like that term, since she always refers to herself as Fae.”
“A Fae?” The Colonel stared at her, incredulous. “And you expect me to believe that?”
Evangeline rose and turned to face them.
“Arthur, my sister vanished nearly forty years ago, but look at her. She is here. Alive! I do not understand how it is possible, but I accept this gift for what it is. A miracle. If you cannot...” She swallowed, her bottom lip trembling.
“If you do anything to spoil her return, I shall never speak to you again.”
The Colonel’s stiff resolve wilted in the face of Evangeline’s declaration.
Reese felt for the man and could almost feel the battle raging inside him.
After all, he had spent his life as a man of discipline and was used to being in command.
Now he faced something that made no sense and that he couldn’t control.
“I do not like it,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. “I do not like any of this.”
“We completely understand,” Jem said sympathetically. “All of us have been there. Well, except Lady Evangeline.”
“All of you?” the Colonel asked doubtfully, but his gaze never shifted from the woman who, it was clear, held his heart. He straightened and said to her, “Very well, my dear Evangeline. But I will not stand by and allow you to be hurt or placed in danger.”
“Agreed,” Gareth said, quickly echoed by the others.
Just then, the door opened, and a footman entered, bowing to Ellen. “Lady Ellen, a message for you. From Twickenham.”