‘Shh.’ I frowned at him.
‘No one is listening to us.’ William dismissed my concerns with a frown. ‘Did you see that poor woman, his wife?’
I nodded.
‘She looks terrified of her own shadow,’ I agreed, getting to the main doors of the ballroom. No one had paid any attention to us leaving. We’d served our purpose, and now everyone wanted to return to the party. ‘I keep wondering what happened to Mary Elizabeth. Aspecial child. What does that mean? As soon as I mentioned it, he walked away.’
‘I do not know. It is most mysterious. I cannot stop thinking about Edith. I can only imagine the life of pain she must have endured with Favisham. Just like Lady Hermione, or worse. She had to do it without me there to look after her.’ William’s hands balled into fists. ‘There must be some way I can go back and help her.’
‘I know, William. But if you go back, you know what will happen. Simon Favisham would have you thrown in prison. He wanted Trevarron, and he took it. You can’t go back to the same timeline where you already are. Evelyn’s book said there can’t be two of you in the same timeline. I want to help Edith, too. I do. We will find a way. But unless you want to stay in the nineteenth century, you know what I think. I think we need to go to the twenty-first century and work it out from there.’
‘I don’t know what I think anymore,’ William said, morosely.
It was then that I looked across the crowd and saw Aunt Bill.
FIFTEEN
She wove her way through the crowd and met us at the back of the room, then gestured subtly to me that we follow her, out through the door of the large ballroom.
‘Goodness, maid. You almost gave me a ’eart attack when I saw you up on the stage!’ She exclaimed in a half whisper and reached out for me, enveloping me in her arms tightly. ‘Oh, Tegan. I ’ardly know what to say, I’m so befuddled! I hoped I might one day meet you ’ere, but it’s never ’appened. I didn’t know it was possible.’
The shock of seeing Aunt Bill again was so sudden that I felt faint. I forgot how to breathe, and was relieved that she’d hugged me, otherwise I thought I might have fallen over.
I had spent months trying to get back home. I had spent so long yearning for my aunt and her cottage – to feel safe again, grounded and protected, no longer having to worry about being so totally out of my usual world – that I could hardly take in the fact she was here. She was real. I could smell her hair; rest my head on her shoulder.
‘Aunt Bill?’ I disengaged myself from the hug and stared at her. ‘Is it really you?’
She hugged me tightly again and planted a fervent kiss on my cheek.
‘Course it is, you silly wench! I’m as real as you are. More real, cos I’m fatter. My, my. I cannot believe I’m seein’ your dear face again. This ’as never ’appened.’ She looked as shocked as I felt.
‘Come on. Let’s find a quiet spot.’ Aunt Bill cast a wary eye at a couple of passing maids, who had cast a suspicious glance or two our way. She took my hand and pulled me into a nearby doorway. William followed. Inside, we found ourselves in a small library-cum-smoking room. I didn’t remember seeing it when I’d been at Trevarron before, but I reminded myself that this was a hundred years or more later. Things changed. ‘Now we can speak more freely. No one’ll come in ’ere while the party’s ragin’.’ Aunt Bill rolled her eyes. ‘I tell you, these rich Victorians. They never met a bottle o’ wine they didn’t like. Or a fancy cake. You should see what come out o’ the kitchen for one small girl’s twelfth birthday. Madness.’
‘Now then.’ Aunt Bill exhaled, and bent over for a moment, resting her hands on her thighs and taking in a deep breath. ‘Dear Lord, I just ’ave to take a moment, as they say. That was quite the shock, seein’ you onstage.’ She stood upright again and took my face in her hands. ‘Tegan! ’Ow did you get ’ere? Well, I can guess, of course. Oh, I’m blatherin’.’
She looked up at William with one of her kooky stares, with one eye closed and a half grin. ‘And ’ooo, exactly, is this?’ She looked at him closely, and then stepped back a little. ‘William De Vere Trevarron, as I lives an’ breathes. Done all right for yourself, little miss.’ She dug me in the ribs with her elbow.
‘At your service, milady.’ William bowed, though I could see he was confused by what was going on.
‘You know William?’ I was now totally taken aback. ‘How?’
‘Seen ’is picture in the ’ouse, silly.’ She tutted. ‘Not now, of course, but previously, there used to be a portrait up on the stairs. Course, Favisham took them all down, when you’d gone. Never visited when you was lord, milord, but that was a relatively small time period, what with the fact you disappeared.’ She turned tome. ‘Don’t you remember me tellin’ you the story, when you were a girl?’
‘I do remember. But I didn’t remember you saying that was who it was, specifically.’
‘Hm. Maybe I didn’t. But it was always intriguin’, what ’appened to the disappearin’ Lord of Trevarron. Now I know.’ She raised an eyebrow archly. ‘You ’appened, you little minx.’
‘Well, that’s not exactly it!’ I protested.
‘Hm. You got William De Vere Trevarron ’ere on the stage with you, singin’ like a nightingale, makin’ goo-goo eyes at you.’ My aunt chuckled. ‘No offence, milord.’ She nodded to William, who looked bemused. ‘Seems like the mystery’s solved to me. I always wondered if ’is disappearance was related to the time portal. I was right, but that was only one side o’ the coin, wasn’t it, my lovely?’
‘I suppose so,’ I said.
‘This is your aunt?’ William asked. ‘The one that lived in Nancy’s cottage?’
‘Yes. This is my aunt Bill.’ I cleared my throat. Reality still seemed very shaky. My heart was pounding, so I leaned against a nearby table. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘I can, my duck. But I didn’t know when it would ’appen. I must say I’m delighted to see you,’ Aunt Bill said.
