Page 60 of No Place in Time

Everyone was pleased.

To hear them talk, the marriage of handsome Julian de Veyron to the lovely Cecily de Malet was a splendid thing. Cecily heard their cheerful plans as if from underwater, nodding when they asked her opinion. A blue gown to match her eyes? Yes. A three-course feast, with musicians? Of course. She agreed to it all.

She didn’t care about any of it.

Easter had come and gone. She had delayed giving her answer to Julian as long as she could, but in the end, it was not her answer to give. Whether she was living in her own time, or this time, someone else would always arrange her marriage. Now Pentecost loomed three weeks away, and the household hummed with preparations. Seamstresses arrived with rare bolts of silk. The cook consulted daily about the wedding feast. Stephen walked the halls with a lightness in his step that only caused Cecily more unease.

On the fifth morning after Easter, Cecily found her uncle in his study and asked for a favor.

“I need to travel to Marrowden,” she said. “To see Master Nicholas, the physician.”

Stephen looked up from his accounts, his brow furrowed. “Are you unwell?”

“No,” Cecily said quickly. “Not unwell. But I need… there are women’s matters I should discuss with him before the wedding. Herbs and such.”

It was vague enough to be embarrassing, specific enough to be believable. Stephen’s face reddened slightly.

“Of course,” he said quickly. “I’ll arrange a carriage.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

He smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re being sensible about all of this, Cecily. Taking care of yourself for Julian. He will be a good husband. You’ll be happy.”

Her stomach felt sour. She forced herself to smile back and left quickly.

The journey to Marrowden took a good part of the day. Cecily watched the landscape pass and tried not to think about the last time she’d made this journey. Back then, the same carriage and driver had fetched her from the physician’s home.

As the wedding drew closer, every turn of the wheels seemed to beat out Finn’s name. The anger and hurt she’d nursed for so long had become tangled with a longing that left her breathless.

Where was he? Was he even alive? Did he think of her, or had he moved on, found some other life? Another woman.

Did he know she was about to marry a Veyron?

By late afternoon, the carriage rolled into Marrowden. Master Nicholas’s house still stood at the edge of town. Cecily climbed down from the carriage and told the driver to wait.

The door opened and there stood Master Nicholas, a little grayer than she remembered, but his eyes were the same: sharp, yet kind.

He stared at her for a long moment. Then his face broke into a smile.

“Young Cecily,” he said. “By God, it’s good to see you.” His voice carried a genuine ring of pleasure.

“Master Nicholas.” Her voice caught. “May I come in?”

“Of course, of course.” He stepped aside, ushering her into the familiar front room. “Sit, please. Let me get you something to drink.”

He returned with cider and settled into the chair across from her. For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

“You’re well?” he asked.

“Well enough.” She paused. “I’m living with my uncle now. At Malethurst Hall in Kent.”

“Ah, I heard you’d found family,” Nicholas said. “I’m glad. I worried about you after you left. I suppose it’s Lady Cecily now.”

She smiled, her hands tightening around the cup. “Master Nicholas, I came because I need to ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“My… my brother. Finn.” The lie still felt strange on her tongue, but it was the story they’d told everyone. “Did he ever come back? Did he ever come looking for me?”