Aurelia waited until Julia reemerged with a small bag. Once they were back at the shop, Julia opened it and spilled the contents onto the desk.
“I got a notebook and pen, so I can take notes about why I think the characters are here. You mentioned clues, and we were talking about Sergeant Cuff, and it made me think of a detective writing things down in one of those little notebooks, like you see in movies.”
“That’s a great idea. You should keep it with you when you’re reading, too, in case you think of questions to ask the characters about their books.”
“Oh, right. Iwasthinking of something earlier, when I was reading,” Julia said, wrinkling her forehead in concentration. “Um, what was it?” She picked up her notebook and pen and wandered up to the window seat, where she’d left her copy ofJane Eyre. Aurelia loved seeing her niece so engaged in a book that she’d only recently described as ‘slow torture,’ and decided to congratulate herself on the victory, even if it might have had more to do with the shop than her.
By midnight, Julia’s notebook had several pages full of notes and questions. She clutched it in one hand while holding Aurelia’s in the other as the characters began to materialize in front of them. They grinned at each other before Julia cornered Sergeant Cuff, leaving Aurelia to entertain the others.
As Aurelia talked with Blanche, she watched Julia out of the corner of her eye. She could see her flipping through her notebook, asking Cuff questions, and getting flustered when—again and again—he answered by shaking his head or giving her one of his mischievous smiles.
Aurelia caught herself smiling as she watched them, and her distraction annoyed Blanche enough that she moved on to talk with Mrs. Jamieson. Once Julia and Cuff had finished, Aurelia saw Julia seek out Kitty, and noticed Blanche looking longingly at them. She could see why Blanche might want to join in their fun, rather than getting caught up in Mrs. Jamieson’s imperiousness, or Miss Clack’s smug lectures. Aurelia felt just the same.
Several hours later, as Aurelia and Cuff were just finishing a conversation, Kitty appeared at her side.
“Had enough of Julia, then?” Aurelia asked.
“No, but it seems she has had enough of me. She has fallen asleep.”
Kitty pointed upstairs, where Julia was curled up on the window seat.
“Not yet used to these late nights, I suppose,” Cuff said.
“It does take some getting used to,” Aurelia replied with a knowing smile. “How were you two getting on, before she fell asleep?”
“Very well.” Kitty smiled and then nodded as Sergeant Cuff took his leave. Turning back to Aurelia, she continued, “I am quite jealous to know she lives in Paris. I have longed to visit that city. Lydia and I had been scheming to ask our aunt and uncle to take us there, but I doubt both of us could have gone.”
“Then it’s lucky for you that she’s married now. You won’t have to compete to see which one of you will get to go.”
“That is very true,” Kitty said, brightening.
“And maybe Lizzy might take you with her if she and Darcy ever go.”
“They very well might! Perhaps they may even take Darcy’s sister, Georgiana, so that we may be company for one another.”
Kitty’s entire face lit up at the possibility.
“Have you ever traveled outside Britain?”
“No, and I have only been to London a handful of times. I should like to see more of the world—Italy, Paris, perhaps even St. Petersburg one day.”
“Really?” Aurelia had always thought of Kitty as a flighty girl, one of a pair with her younger sister Lydia. She was pleasantly surprised to hear that she had an interest in the world beyond her small social circle. “I knew someone from St. Petersburg. He was from a novel by a Russian author.”
“A Russian novel! I should like to read one of those. Lizzy almost always used to read to us from novels by British authors.”
“Did she?”
“Yes, she always seemed to get first pick of the books from the circulating library, but I suppose—now that she is settled at Pemberley—I shall have more say in which books we borrow.”
Kitty was becoming more interesting to Aurelia by the minute, and she settled in for a long conversation with her that carried them through until dawn.
24
Aureliaawoketoinsistentringing and light coming through curtains she’d forgotten to fully close before tumbling into bed at dawn. She now stumbled out of bed and found her phone.
“Antonia?” she answered, slightly embarrassed to hear that her voice gave away that she’d only just woken up.
“You’re alive, then?”
