“I had not thought about that,” the duke replied, chagrined and bemused.
“Oh, Dale, but we must. I wouldn’t want you to be blamed for my disappearance, the way you were...” Olivia trailed off, and Kalli sensed there was a story there.
“I don’t care. People can think whatever they want. They always do, no matter what I say.”
“Nevertheless, we should try to come up with a plausible story,” Kalli intervened.
“Would it be ok to say Kalli and Dariux are friends, or relatives from America, and that I went with them to take care of some business? Then, after a while, you can say I died in America.”
The duke’s eyes flashed with pain, but his voice was calm and controlled as he replied, “I supposed we could say that. That’s as good a story as any.”
“Will you have problems with the law?” Dariux asked.
The duke shrugged, unconcerned. “I doubt it. The most likely outcome is a scandal. But either way, I can handle it.”
“Are you sure, Dale?” Olivia said, placing her hand on top of his.
His hand turned to grasp hers, and the gesture was so heartfelt and intimate Kalli averted her gaze. “I will be fine, love. You need not worry about me.”
They continued eating in silence for a few minutes, before the silence became oppressive and she felt the need to fill it.
“Do you think the weather will be good tomorrow for our expedition?” God, what an inane line. Who cared about the weather?
The replies were as unenthusiastic as her idiotic comment deserved. The rest of the dinner passed in the same way, with desultory conversation punctuating moments of charged silence. No one ate much. Kalli was sure the food was excellent, but she barely tasted it. She was sure that was the case for everyone. Even Dariux, who claimed not to be controlled by emotion, was subdued.
When the painful dinner passed, they all retired to their rooms. She could not even imagine the pain Olivia and the duke must be going through. She didn’t know the reasons Olivia had decided to return to her time, and it wasn’t her place to ask, but she knew they must be mighty indeed. Because the love Dale and Olivia shared was so powerful that it was like a tangible thing in the room.
Were her feelings for Dariux as intense? They had already separated. Their affair ended, and he had no intention of resuming it. She was sad, but even without measuring, she knew her distress could not compare to Dale and Olivia’s. Was what she felt real love, then, or just an infatuation that would pass?
She didn’t know. But she was not in the same position as them. Dariux was not being taken away from her, never to see him again. Forever out of her reach. How would she feel if that was the case? The sense of hollowness and loss was swift and devastating.
She had to find a way for Olivia and the duke to reunite if they wished to. But what could she do? The expert in the time-travel technology was Dariux, and he was adamant that every person must live in their own time.
But that was now. Maybe something will change in the future. Her generation had found the way to travel in time. The technology was incipient; they were the pioneers in the field. But further down the line, time travel could become easier. Maybe she would one day find the way to reunite these two star-crossed lovers.
She had time. Her whole life and beyond. But how would she know if they wanted to reunite? How could they send her a message that would travel through time? An idea sprouted in her mind. She turned it around in her head as she fell asleep.
These people knew how to love. It would be a shame to take that most precious of gifts from them.
