Chapter 40
Later that morning, Aurelia pulled out her laptop and started typing up a clean, new draft.
With the amount of edits she was likely to get from Oliver in future, she couldn’t be bothered retyping entire pages on the typewriter, so she’d just have to hide her laptop away before the characters arrived each night.
She smiled thinking that Oliver wouldn’t be able to make fun of her about typewritten pages the next time they saw each other.
A publication contract arrived in her inbox that afternoon, just as Oliver had promised, so Aurelia called Kali and asked if she’d be willing to dust off her solicitor’s skills and review it for her.
Kali stopped by to look at it after one of her art tours, giving the two friends an excuse to catch up over tea.
Before she left, Kali spent a few minutes going over the contract and said it had her stamp of approval.
Aurelia was exhilarated to be one step closer to making Oliver’s commitment to publish the book official, but that feeling was matched by worry over having to ask Vronsky whether he’d let her add a romantic storyline.
Back at her desk after her visit with Kali, Aurelia called Antonia. She still hadn’t told her what she was writing about and thought—as she had a contract to publish it—now was the time. Aurelia dialed and barely registered a single ring before Antonia answered.
“Usually I beat you to it, but this time you did,” Antonia began.
“What were you calling about?”
“Owen’s finally told us what he wants for his birthday next week and I need help figuring out how not to break his heart when we don’t get it for him.”
“What is it—a life-sized robot or something?”
“Worse. A dog.”
“Oh dear. I’ll start thinking of excuses for you.”
“Let me know once you’ve got a few—Max and I haven’t come up with any good ones yet. Anyway, why’re you calling?”
“I have news.”
“Do I need to sit down?”
“No, I think you’re safe standing.” Aurelia paused for dramatic effect. “I’ve got a contract to publish my book.”
“A what?”
“A contract. James’s company is going to publish my book.”
“Aurelia! Have you already finished writing it?”
“Well, no,” she conceded. “But I’m pretty far along now.”
“Has James read it? Does he know what it’s about and I don’t?”
“Not yet, but I figured it’s time I told you.”
“High time. You’ve been closeted away with that writing group and refusing to say a word.”
Every time Antonia mentioned the ‘writing group,’ it took Aurelia a moment to remember the little lie she’d told her back at Christmas.
“You can keep scolding me about it or I can tell you,” Aurelia said, feigning her threat.
Antonia was silent in response.
“I’m writing a sequel to Anna Karenina.”
Antonia remained silent, but now there was a different quality to her silence.
“Okay, I know that sounds ridiculous, but I’m writing about what happens to Count Vronsky after the novel ends. I just sort of… got into his head a bit and feel like I can imagine what he’d want to do and where he’d go next.”
Not too far from the truth, Aurelia reassured herself.
“And James is going to publish it, but he hasn’t even read it yet?”
“His company is going to publish it. I’ve been meeting with one of their editors, Oliver.”
“Oliver… Not that Oliver?”
Of course she would remember him, Aurelia thought, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, that Oliver, but this is strictly professional.”
“Alright,” Antonia said suspiciously.
“Actually, he’s given me a mass of edits. They’re mostly good, but there’s one I just don’t know if I can make.”
“What is it?”
“He wants me to write a love interest for Vronsky.”
“So?”
“I don’t think I can do it. Mum used to say Vronsky would never get over Anna—that he would love her forever.”
“That was Mum’s view of things, though. He’s a fictional character and you’re a writer, you can do whatever you like.”
Hadn’t Aurelia given Vronsky that very advice? Now it was her turn to be silent.
“If you think he should fall in love with someone else, then write it. Don’t let something Mum probably said in passing hold you back.”
“She didn’t say it in passing, though. She really felt it.”
“But what do you feel?”
Aurelia paused, thinking the thoughts that had been running through her mind since her meeting with Oliver.
She wanted to believe that Vronsky could fall in love again, for his sake, but she was afraid to ask him to consider it, afraid to push him down a path he didn’t want to travel.
She’d been pushed and prodded for months now—taking over the shop, writing Vronsky’s sequel, going out with Oliver and now working with him.
As it happened, she was happy with how things had turned out, but would Vronsky feel the same about her pushing and prodding him?
“I’m not sure,” Aurelia finally admitted.
“What does your writing group think?”
“My writing group? Um… I haven’t asked them.”
“Well, are you seeing them tonight?”
As the characters arrived that night, Aurelia made sure to stand closest to the spot where Elinor usually appeared and then, once she’d greeted everyone, Aurelia asked her if they could speak privately.
Catching Vronsky’s eye—and his raised eyebrows when she didn’t meet him at her desk—Aurelia signaled that she needed a minute.
Elinor followed Aurelia to the window seat on the mezzanine and, though she couldn’t hide her look of interest, she patiently waited for Aurelia to start.
“I need some good advice tonight and I think you’re the best person for the job.”
“I shall do my best, Aurelia, though whether my advice is good may depend upon the topic.”
“You know how I’ve met with an editor, Oliver, and he’s given me notes and suggestions for Alexei’s book?”
“Yes, I recall your mention of Mr. Oliver.”
“Oh, just ‘Oliver’ is fine,” Aurelia said, trying not to laugh at the thought of calling him ‘Mr. Oliver’ the next time she saw him. “One of his suggestions is about Alexei’s… romantic prospects. Oliver thinks the story needs a romance between Alexei and another character.”
“I see,” Elinor said carefully. “You have not, I presume, raised this suggestion with Count Vronsky?”
“No, not yet. I haven’t been able to think of a way to bring it up without upsetting him.
And, if I’m honest, it’s hard for me to picture him setting off into the sunset with someone other than Anna.
I’ve read their book so many times… It feels wrong, like I’d be canceling out his heartbreak and forcing him to love someone else. ”
“I agree the suggestion is liable to upset him. But you did begin this project with the hope that he might find happiness in being able to choose his own future.”
“We did, yes,” Aurelia groaned, catching onto Elinor’s meaning. “And here I am, selfishly trying to manipulate that future.”
“No, I do not think selfishness is at the root of your reluctance. But I believe you overstate what a new romance might mean for his love of Anna. I do not think it would cancel out his heartache, as you say. I have seen my own sister become the object of love for a man whose heart was deeply bruised. Having heard Colonel Brandon’s story, I would not have thought it possible for him to love again, yet I have witnessed the earnest love he feels for Marianne and know it to be true.
I am certain you could help Count Vronsky devise a love story that would do honor to Anna without erasing her memory. ”
“Then I guess it’s just a matter of finding a way to ask him. I don’t suppose you fancy doing it?” Aurelia asked.
“Oh, no. As it is your project, I think it far better coming from you,” Elinor said with a wry smile.
Aurelia laughed grimly just as Rachel and Marianne arrived to join them.
She tried to shake loose her thoughts and chat with them but eventually had to admit that she was too preoccupied to stay in the shop.
She asked Elinor and the others to make her excuses to Vronsky so that she could escape to her flat for the night.
What she needed was time to think on her own, a good night’s sleep, and a fresh start in the morning.