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Toby’s head was beginning to clear somewhat but that didn’t take away her confusion. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a dress similar to Victoria’s. It was all white, with short, puffy sleeves, a low neckline—but she was showing only half as much as Victoria was—and a long skirt that was beautifully embroidered around the hem. Vaguely, she seemed to remember that she had done the embroidery, which was absurd since she’d never sewn anything in her life.
“Do you mean I’m to tell Jared something?” Toby asked.
“Dearest, there are a dozen Jareds on this island. Which one are you talking about?”
“Jared Montgomery Kingsley the Seventh,” Toby said, giving her friend’s full name.
Smiling, Victoria took Toby’s hands and pulled her up from the little sofa. “The only Montgomery on this island is me, and I can assure you that there’s no Kingsley who I’d attach my name to. Arrogant bunch of swaggering …” She broke off. “I am telling you nothing that you don’t already know.”
Victoria looked Toby up and down and seemed satisfied with what she saw. “I have changed my mind. There will be no more hiding in here. Come and join the celebration.” She put her arm through Toby’s and led her out the door.
“What are we celebrating?” Toby asked tentatively.
Victoria laughed. “You are inebriated! It’s John and Parthenia’s wedding, but I know how you feel. It’s all rather plain, isn’t it? When I get married I shall wear a gown of silk, with blue satin ribbons on the sleeves. And I shall marry a man who will love me for all eternity.”
“That’s asking a lot,” Toby said.
“You think that because all you ask of a man is that he stay alive.” When Victoria opened the door there was a burst of light and sound: music, laughter, and the blaze of what had to be a hundred candles. Before them was a scene out of a period drama. They were in the large back parlor of Kingsley House and it was full of people who were all dressed as though for a Jane Austen movie. The women had on dresses like the one Toby was wearing: high waisted, with long, flowing skirts. The men wore jackets that stopped at the waist, with trousers that were like tights.
Three men stopped in front of Victoria, silently waiting for her to notice them. Toby wasn’t surprised by that, for Victoria was a ravishingly beautiful woman, and the very low cut of her dress left little to the imagination.
“Will you be all right?” Victoria asked.
“Of course,” Toby said, even though she was feeling as though she wanted to run away and hide.
Victoria leaned toward her and whispered, “Remember that tonight you must tell them.”
“Tell who what?” Toby asked, feeling a bit of panic that Victoria was leaving her side.
Victoria laughed. “If I had to say what you must, I would also try to forget.” She stepped toward the dancers. “Eat something. It will clear your mind and give you courage.”
Victoria turned away and Toby stood where she was. This is a dream, she thought. A very vivid dream caused by too much emotion in the last few days.
She took a step back, moving behind some women who were watching the dancers. They smiled at her as though they knew her, but Toby didn’t remember ever having seen them. When she was in the shadows she felt safer, not overwhelmed by this much too realistic dream.
A couple walked by. He was holding her arm tightly and leaning over her as though he feared that she might fly away from him. With a jolt, Toby realized that they were Jilly and Ken, who’d only recently met but were already a couple.
The familiarity of them made Toby relax somewhat. It looked like she was putting people she knew in her dream. Victoria and now Ken and Jilly. That they were all wearing Regency clothes made sense, as Toby loved any Jane Austen movie and owned all the DVDs. “Wonder who else I’ve put in my dream?” she said aloud.
“Did you say something, Tabby?” an older woman in front of her said as she turned to look at her.
Toby smiled. “Is that short for Tabitha?” she asked.
Two other women turned to look at her, frowning. “I think you should seek out your mother,” one of them said.
“No,” Toby said pleasantly. “This is my dream, so I think I’ll skip that encounter.” She moved around the women and went to the doorway. She had to let three people pass—none of whom she recognized—before she could go through, and found herself in the back hallway of Kingsley House.
The house looked so new! Everything was so clean and fresh, as though it really had just been built instead of being over two hundred years old. At the end of the hall, she came to the front parlor. It had always been the most formal room in the house, where all the best furniture was, where the beautiful things that Captain Caleb had brought back from his voyages were kept.
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The room was much like Toby knew it, but there was half as much in it. And everything looked sparkling new. The old couch that she and Lexie had sat on many times wasn’t there. In its place was a long settee upholstered in needlepoint of a seafaring scene: a harbor with a ship; ladies holding on to the arms of gentlemen; men in big shirts, tight trousers, and boots; and workmen moving huge bales of goods about.
There were a few people in the room and they smiled and nodded at Toby.
“Tabby, be sure to get some cake before it’s all gone,” a man said as he and the woman with him left the room.
Toby answered that she would, then returned to looking about. There was a long, narrow lacquered box on a corner cabinet and she recognized it from having seen it in the attic of Kingsley House. When she’d tried to open it, Lexie said, “There’s no key. It’s been lost over the years.”
