Page 8 of No Place in Time

Thomas’s gaze sharpened. He was not angry, but focused. “We can. If you do not turn this into a fight we cannot control.”

Rosamund’s face tightened. “We will handle this,” she said.

Cecily shook her head. “Well, you can wait, but I cannot.”

Rosamund’s voice broke. “Cecily, please.”

Cecily stepped back until her hand found the latch.

“If you will not decide,” she said, “then I must.”

She did not wait for permission to leave. She turned and left before her resolve could crack.

And as she reached the turn toward her own rooms, her thoughts swung hard. Back to her grandfather. And to the unfinished device on his workbench.

The one she was never meant to see.

The one he had forbidden her to touch.

5

CECILY

1239

Cecily rode straight to Graston without allowing herself to consider if she should. If she stopped to think about what she was doing, she might not go at all.

The workshop door stood open. Inside, her grandfather was bent over his worktable, sleeves rolled up, hands dark with oil. The contraption filled the far end of the room, an iron frame, wood supports, panels not yet fitted.

Finn stood nearby. That alone caused her mouth to tighten.

Anton looked up. His eyebrows furrowed. “Cecily, child, you shouldn’t be here.”

“I had to come,” she said.

She looked past him at Finn, then back again. “Grandfather—why is he always here?”

“He helps me,” Anton said shortly.

Finn shot Anton a sharp, warning glance, and her grandfather responded with a barely perceptible shake of his head.

“My parents won’t refuse Lord Alard,” she said. “At least, not now. They keep saying they need time.”

Anton straightened. “That doesn’t mean they’ll agree to the marriage.”

“It means he’ll keep pressing, offering more for me, as if I am goods to be bartered for the best price,” Cecily said. “He won’t stop until they say yes.”

Finn spoke before Anton could answer. “She’s right. Alard won’t wait, and he will press hard.”

Anton turned sharply.

Cecily looked between them. “What do you know of Lord de Veyron?” she asked Finn.

Finn paused. “I know enough.”

She turned back to Anton. “I want to ask you again. You told me you weren’t born in this time. What does that mean?”

Anton’s mouth tightened. “I shouldn’t have said that.”