“Jane, what do you think? Has your husband grown old-fashioned in his dotage?”
“You are a few years from your dotage yet, Edward,” Jane replied.
“Only a few years, then? Shouldn’t you like to flatter me by claiming I am further still?”
“No, I should not like to say that at all. It might go to your head,” Jane said with a subtle smile. “I wonder—perhaps Julia can help us to ensure we are up to date on our French? I have not studied for some years, and we have not visited France for nearly as long. Perhaps there are some turns of phrase we ought to learn in order to remainen vogue?”
Julia happily took on her assignment, giving Aurelia a chance to catch up with Peter and Matty.
They passed a pleasant evening with the characters, all the more so now that Julia didn’t feel pressured to find out why they’d appeared. Not to mention, this new group was much more relaxed and easygoing than their last visitors.
In the final minutes before dawn, Julia grew a little sad when she remembered she wouldn’t be seeing the characters—or any characters—until her next visit to London. She gathered herself together, however, and managed to wave goodbye to them with a smile, promising she’d see them again one day.
55
Inspiteofpackingher things the night before, the next morning Julia ran through the flat and shop in search of items she suddenly remembered having tucked here and there during her visit. Meanwhile, she’d picked so many books to take with her that they wouldn’t fit into her suitcase, but Aurelia gave her one of the shop’s canvas bags so she could tote them all back home to Paris the following week, after the wedding.
Antonia and Max, and their sons Owen and Hugo, arrived at the shop just after eleven. Julia immediately took charge of her brothers and showed them around the shop as though they’d never been before, pointing out her favorite spots and scolding them when they touched or moved anything. After watching them for a minute, Aurelia relaxed, trusting Julia to keep the shop’s secret as she’d promised.
Max joined Aurelia and widened his eyes at her as he pointed around the room.
“Antonia told me, but… is it really true?”
Aurelia checked to make sure the boys were out of earshot before nodding. “Strange as it sounds, it is.”
“They appear here—right here?” he asked, tapping the floor with his foot.
“Well, they appear at the table,” Aurelia said quietly, pointing. “But once they arrive, they wander around.”
Max’s eyes widened still further, but he was distracted from asking more questions when Oliver walked in and set the bell over the shop door ringing. He was carrying two overflowing bags of groceries, and Max rushed over to take one.
“Good to see you!” Oliver said, greeting Max with a friendly thump on the shoulder and a smile.
“And you! Thanks for having Julia. I’d say, ‘I hope she wasn’t any trouble,’ but—well, I know better.”
“Did she get into trouble?” Owen asked hopefully as the three children joined the adults at the front of the shop. “Is that why Mum had to come here, before?”
“She didn’t get into trouble,” Aurelia said with a shake of her head.
“Caused trouble, maybe,” Antonia joined in, “but far less than we might ever hope from you two.”
“Unfair!” Owen said, though a smile broke across his face.
Julia’s face held a little smile, but she kept her peace.
Aurelia began marshaling everyone up to the flat for lunch, grinning to see them spiraling up the stairs to her home, Biscuit following eagerly in their wake.
Everyone was in high spirits as they scattered around the living room to eat. After lunch, Julia went back to the shop with Owen and Hugo to show them how the register worked, and Max immediately turned to Aurelia.
“Did you see them last night?”
“‘Them’?” she asked, confused.
“The characters—were they here last night?”
“Oh, yes. They were. Julia came down with me to say goodbye to them.”
“And you were here? In the flat?” Max asked Oliver.
