“Nope, but he did make me breakfast with bacon. Find someone who will treat you to a good English breakfast,” Aurelia said, pointing the last of her ice cream cone at Julia for emphasis. “I’d take that over a one-time on-a-knee proposal any day.”
Fortunately, the walk and heat had tired Julia out and she went to bed early again. There was something childlike in her ability to completely crash after a busy day, which would come in handy since Aurelia wanted to be down in the shop well before midnight to see who might appear. Her fingers were crossed that she’d see Lizzy, Jane, and the others. But, if the disgruntled ladies appeared again, she’d remove their books the following morning and put a different set on the table. She wouldn’t be able to gather up the insight about their books that she’d been hoping to share with Julia, but it was a better option than dealing with their bad tempers for the rest of her visit.
17
“Ladies,please!Keepyourvoices down!”
Mrs. Jamieson, Kitty, and Blanche were all arguing again, this time with each other.
Aurelia had stood by the table just before midnight with her fingers crossed; she was that desperate to see her first batch of characters appear again, but luck wasn’t on her side.
Instead, the trio of women had reappeared, and at first Aurelia thought she’d managed to get through to them. Dressed to impress and with her hair carefully arranged for once, she’d greeted them all with a smile, in spite of her initial disappointment.
“Welcome! So lovely to have you back.”
“Back again? I thought I made myself perfectly clear on my last visit.” Mrs. Jamieson stood taller and tapped the floor with her parasol to emphasize each word as she said, “I do not wish to patronize this establishment.”
“I understand,” Aurelia said evenly. “But this shop works in mysterious ways. I can’t control who appears here. So I’m very sorry for the bother, but for tonight at least, we’re stuck with each other.”
“Just… go outside again,” Blanche demanded, waving her hand toward the door.
It was an appealing option, but Aurelia suddenly felt obstinate in the face of their domineering attitudes.
“No. Tonight we’re just going to have to chat and get to know one another. I know you don’t like it here, I know you think I’m just a shopkeeper, but I liked your books and I’d appreciate the chance to get to know you. This might be”—will be, Aurelia added to herself—“our last night together, so you’ll be back to your books soon enough and good riddance to me.”
“It is something to hope for, at any rate,” Mrs. Jamieson said under her breath.
“I don’t mind staying for another evening,” Kitty said quietly. “I don’t much like books, but I like your dress and shoes. Is that the fashion here? Where are we, exactly?”
“We’re in London,” Aurelia said, grateful to have an opening. “And this is the fashion here during my time, which is nearly two hundred years after your novel was written.”
“Oh! You’ve come to us from the future, then?” Kitty whispered in awe.
“Well, it’s more like you’ve come to me from the past.”
“Not by choice,” Mrs. Jamieson cut in.
“Yes, understood,” Aurelia snapped back impatiently.
Her mind worked to try to think of something to say to the women, then the obvious occurred to her.
“You know, usually two characters appear from each book on that table there, but only one of you has appeared from each of your books.”
“How very astute,” Blanche said witheringly.
“Sometimes,” Aurelia went on, ignoring her, “that can mean that a character is unhappy with how their story ended… But that doesn’t seem to fit all of you, does it?”
“It certainly does. My story has a horrible ending,” Blanche declared.
“Which is?”
“You said you’ve read my book, but clearly you haven’t. Or at least if you did, you weren’t paying attention.”
“What don’t you like about what happened to you, then?”
“My fiancé ran off with that little governess! What is there to be happy about?”
Aurelia thought that Blanche calling Mr. Rochester her fiancé was stretching things a bit but decided to be generous to avoid another argument.
