Once home, Julia showered and went to bed early. Oliver called and he and Aurelia chatted for a bit before she took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on editing. She had just over a week to finish on deadline, but she was sure it wouldn’t take her that long. As Aurelia sat on the sofa with her laptop, Biscuit and Fezz were stretched out on the floor at her feet, their fur ruffling each time the fan turned in their direction.
The quiet of the flat, the whirring of the fan, and the silence from Julia’s room initially provided white noise to help Aurelia focus on her writing, but eventually it had the opposite effect and started lulling her to sleep. She fought it at first but then found herself giving in as she drifted off to sleep.
14
Aureliawoketothesound of raised voices. It took her a moment to process where she was—on the sofa instead of in her bed—and where the voices were coming from—the shop. She sat up, rigid and suddenly wide awake as she tried to figure out what was going on. The voices sounded angry, and her first thought was that Jane, Rochester, and the others were upset with her for staying away for so long. Usually she made sure to tell each round of characters that she wouldn’t be able to join them every night, but had she forgotten to tell this group?
She squinted at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. Her choices seemed limited; she could either ignore the voices and hope they didn’t wake Julia, or go and try to calm everyone down and hope Julia didn’t make another appearance. She opted for the latter as the best of a bad selection.
Moving quickly to the bathroom, Aurelia combed her fingers through her matted hair, then splashed water on her face and hoped it would make her seem more composed than she felt. She’d been wearing a short, sleeveless dress when she’d fallen asleep on the sofa and it was now a wrinkled mess, but just as she was about to go into her bedroom to change, the voices spiked in volume. Aurelia froze before moving back into the hallway and pressing her ear to the guest room door, but there was no sign of Julia stirring. Only moderately relieved, she made for the stairs, slipped on a pair of shoes at the bottom, and then quickly opened the door.
“I’m sorry, I can hear everyone’s upset, but we’ve got to keep it down to a dull—” Aurelia had started speaking as she closed the door behind her and moved to the mezzanine railing to look down at the characters, but she lost all ability to finish when she caught sight of what was happening below.
There were three women in the shop, and they were standing in a circle, cheeks flushed and faces twisted with anger. At the sound of her voice, they looked up and turned their rage on Aurelia.
“How unaccountably rude! I’ve never been treated so poorly in my life and hope I never will again. Come down this instant and let us out of this place!”
15
Aurelia’smouthgapedopen.Where were Lizzy, Jane, and the others? Whowerethese women?
“If my mother were here, she’d tell you to close your mouth or you’d catch flies,” said a young woman who looked to be about Julia’s age.
Aurelia closed her mouth automatically, then opened it again to speak.
“Who are you?”
“We? Who areyou? Why have you locked us inside this place? We demand you arrange our immediate release,” said the woman who had first spoken moments before. She was older than the other two, perhaps in her fifties, with a haughty look, expensive-looking clothes, and a parasol that she waved around emphatically.
“Well, I’m Aurelia. Aurelia Lyndham. I own this shop.”
“A shopkeeper, of course,” scoffed the third woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties and had dark hair and eyes. She might have been very pretty if it weren’t for what appeared to be a permanent sneer on her face.
“We won’t be coming back to patronize this establishment, I can assure you,” she continued. “My mother will have this place closed down by the end of the week, you mark my words.”
“Yes, we must ensure no one else is held here against their will,” agreed the older woman.
“Okay,” said Aurelia slowly.
She began walking down the spiral staircase, trying to order her thoughts. New characters usually appeared when she put new books on the Recommended Reads table. Were the books she’d set out for Julia still there? Aurelia side-stepped the women and walked toward it.
“Excuse me a moment, I’ll try and answer your questions, just—” Aurelia fell silent as she looked at the table and confirmed that, yes, the same books were there. “Can I ask, is anyone here from a novel calledPride and Prejudice?”
“That’s my novel,” the youngest woman said possessively, as though Aurelia were claiming it as her own.
“Right. Okay. And are you two fromJane EyreandCranford?”
“I am fromJane Eyre, though saying that woman’s name sets my teeth on edge.” This was from the woman in her mid-twenties.
“Oh, are you Blanche?”
In her novel, Blanche had tried to catch Mr. Rochester’s eye before being thrown over for Jane.
“I am,” Blanche said proudly.
“Yes, and I am fromCranford, but I hardly see how that matters. Let us out!” The older woman shoved her parasol at Aurelia, who dodged it, forgetting for a moment that it would only pass through her.
“So, this is all very unusual—I’m sorry. Um… I take it none of you have been here before?”
