Now, in the shadows of these walls, she was witnessing two love stories taking place. Yes. These stones would carry the message through time. She just had to let the duke and Olivia know. And be subtle about it.
As soon as the car stopped, they got out. All except Dariux, who stayed inside setting up the time machine. He had some fancy name for the technology, but she had never bothered with it.
She turned to the duke. “These ruins are still standing in my time. Isn’t that amazing? Do you know how old they are?”
The duke shrugged. “The original castle is over a thousand years old,” he replied without enthusiasm. It was obvious he didn’t care to talk at the moment. She could empathize. It was difficult to converse with your heart trampled and bleeding inside your chest. And yet, this was important. So she persisted.
“Is that so? How fascinating. I knew it was old, but I did not realize how much. Do you know anything about its history? I must admit I’m fascinated. I’ve always lived near these ruins. Sometimes I visit this place to walk through them and think about bygone eras and how the castle must have been in its heyday. I think it’s what sparked my interest in time travel. But in my time, nobody knows about the history of this place. Nobody cares either. So it’s been a mystery.”
There. She hoped that would give him enough information. He didn’t realize it now, but this conversation was transcendent.
The duke sighed. Clearly uninterested in the conversation, but too polite to refuse.
“The castle has been damaged and rebuilt several times. The last time was in the sixteenth century, when it was attacked during the dissolution of monasteries. Subsequently, the family lost favor with the crown, so the castle was abandoned. It was not until some fifty years later that the next Duke of Avondale returned, intending to rebuild. But by then, the castle had fallen to ruin, and it was not worth rebuilding. He built the Hall instead. For which I am grateful, as these old castles are notoriously drafty and gloomy. In contrast, the hall is so much more comfortable and modern. So, the castle has lain in ruins for three hundred years or so.”
He recited the information from memory. As if it was something that had been engraved on his brain by force of repetition.
“Fascinating,” Kalli said, running a hand over the old stones. “I will forever look at it with new eyes, now that I know a little about its history. I wish I could stay longer. Find out more. Not only about this but also about so many other subjects from our past that my society seems to have purposely forgotten.”
Dale nodded distractedly. She hoped she had given him enough information so that if he ever thought to communicate with them, he could do it. Olivia didn’t look like she had heard anything at all. Kalli wanted to say more but didn’t dare. And she had lost what little attention the duke had spared her. He had gone to his love.
Their embrace was beautiful and heartbreaking to watch. Opening his greatcoat, he pulled her close against his chest and enfolded her in his warmth. Olivia buried her face in his chest. And they stayed in that position until Dariux said they were ready.
For a moment, neither of them moved. And Kalli wondered if they had even heard Dariux. Or if they could not bear to part. But then the duke slowly loosened his arms and stepped back.
“Goodbye, Livvy. Be happy.”
Olivia’s were not the only eyes flooded with tears at the poignant words.
CHAPTER 32
He was the freakingvillain of the story. They all thought so. Including Kalli. He was the evil man who had torn the lovers asunder. He was the one who didn’t believe in love and was refusing the woman who, right now, could be carrying his child. A shudder shook him at the thought.
It shouldn’t matter to him. He knew he was doing the right thing. The logical thing. But damn it all, it mattered. He cared. For all his pretensions otherwise. He had feelings. Inconvenient, annoying, and useless feelings. No matter how much he’d tried, he had never been able to rid himself of them completely. Sometimes he envied parbots. It must be so much easier to be a robot.
The first leg of their journey though time had gone smoothly. They had arrived in Olivia’s time on the morning after the night when she had been transported in time. After he collected their luggage, Olivia drove off in her car, leaving them by the ruins. He arranged their trunks around them in a compact pile, and then set up the observation tent over them, leaving just enough space for them to crawl inside.
