‘William, please…’ I pleaded, but he shook his head.
‘You know why I have to go.’
‘They will manage without you. You can stay with me. You can go through the portal with me. Back to your time, if you want to.’ I would go with him. If it was a choice of losing him forever or returning back to the eighteenth century, at least temporarily, I would take that chance. But he looked down at his feet and I knew his answer.
‘Tegan, you and I both know that there are no guarantees about where we would end up if we did travel through time together. And you’re right, I don’t belong back in 1755 now. It’s too late. My fate there was sealed when I left.’
‘Then come with me, back to my time. We can try that.’
‘I do not think I would fit in your time. I would seem even more antiquated to you there.’
‘William, that’s rubbish! You are you. I… Iloveyou.’
The words hung in the air between us. He had said it, but I hadn’t, until now.
He looked at me for a long moment, emotion brimming in his eyes.
‘If you love me, then you will let me go,’ he said, finally. He turned away from me, went to the carriage and jumped onto the cab.
‘Time to go, ladies,’ he said. I ran to the carriage and looked up at him.
‘William! You can’t just leave like this! I might never see you again!’
‘I cannot say goodbye to you, Tegan,’ he replied, gruffly, and had I not known him like I did, I would have thought that he was being rude. But, I could see that William was barely holding his heart together in that moment. ‘Please, let me go. Let me do what I must.’
‘But… you dreamed of me. I dreamed of you,’ I said, hopelessly. I knew I was crying and I knew the others were watching us, and I didn’t care. All I cared about was losing William. ‘It must mean something. That we are fated to be together.’
I couldn’t lose him. It was unthinkable.
‘Perhaps it was just that we were meant to meet. Meant to take the journey together that we have.’ He shrugged. I knew he couldn’t be so cold. ‘Nobody knows the full destiny that lies ahead of us. Not even pellars.’ He blinked, and looked away.
‘William, I won’t ask you again. This is the last time – please. Stay with me,’ I begged, the tears running down my cheeks.
‘I cannot, Tegan. But I do love you.’ He turned his face to me and held out his hand. I grasped it desperately. ‘Never forget that. I love you. And whatever destiny lies ahead of me, I am grateful that I knew you, and knew what it was to love again.’
He let go of my hand.
THIRTY-THREE
‘Right.’ Aunt Bill looked unsure for a moment, then she stamped her feet on the ground, as if to stir herself into action. ‘Fine. There it is.’
Dread filled me like cold sand.
No.
The word vibrated in every part of my body. I didn’t want Aunt Bill to go, either. I didn’t want this to be the last time I saw her, in this timeline or another one. There was no guarantee that I’d get back to the twenty-first century at all; I might end up elsewhere. And if I ended up in another timeline, I might never see her again.
She turned to me. ‘I s’pose this is goodbye, then, maid.’ Her eyes were filling with tears.
I was bereft; I hadn’t expected to have to say goodbye to her this soon, and not along with William. It was too much.
‘Please don’t go.’ I felt myself start to cry. ‘Come with me. Come home.’
‘I can’t, maid. You know that,’ Aunt Bill said, kindly. ‘I ’ave to look after Violet an’ Lady Hermione. ’Tis my duty. I saves people. I told you that.’
‘Don’t I need saving?’ I asked, tears running down my cheeks.
‘Of course, maid. But you can save yourself. Miss Violet needs me. See, she won’t go without me,’ Aunt Bill said, quietly; indeed, Violet had been standing next to Aunt Bill the entire time, and now she hung on to my aunt’s hand with a grim tenacity. ‘She’s ’ad precious little security in ’er life, Tegan. If I can give ’er a bit o’ safety, I must. I’d ’ate myself if I left ’er now. An’ Lady Hermione.’
