Under An English Moon (26 page)

“Good news about Samuel though, right?” Phoebe said brightly.

“Yes, indeed. I am pleased though to hear that my brother succeeded in entering the profession of his choosing.”

Annie snapped the computer shut. “Okay, I believe you.”

“You believe us?” Phoebe stopped laughing abruptly and stared at her cousin. “Just like that? Time travel? That’s okay with you?”

“Well, there’s a portrait that looks a whole lot like Reggie on there, and it was painted in the nineteenth century.”

“Don’t say when!” Phoebe clamped her hand over her ears.

“I wasn’t going to,” Annie said. “It’s all good though—long happy lives, both of you.”

“Both of us?” Phoebe whispered.

“Both,” Annie nodded. “But I know you didn’t want to hear that.”

“Very funny!”

“So, now what? You go back? And that’s it? I never see you again?”

Phoebe winced and gave her a faint nod. “That’s about it, Annie.”

Two tears spilled down Annie’s cheeks, and she wiped at them with the back of her hand.

“It’ll be like you died, Mouse,” she said in a husky voice.

Phoebe jumped up and crossed over to the couch to kneel in front of her cousin. She took Annie’s hands in hers.

“Oh, Annie, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do.” Phoebe glanced over her shoulder to Reggie whose face registered sympathy...and just a little bit of apprehension.

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. It’s so surreal,” Annie said. “But I believe you. You’re in the history books,” she muttered.

“
Am
I?” Phoebe whispered. She looked at Reggie again with a tender smile.

“Yes. Can’t you come back at all? Even to visit?” Annie asked.

Reggie rose and came to sit on the sofa near Annie and Phoebe.

“We do not know if it is possible, Annie. We do not even know if it is possible to return to my time, but if it is not, I am fully prepared to live out my life here...with Phoebe.”

“But you’re there, both of you,” she said. “I saw it on the Internet.”

Phoebe shook her head, terrified Annie might accidentally reveal any more of her future...or past...than she wanted to hear.

“I’m not sure that’s a guarantee,” Phoebe said. “Who knows how this time travel thing works? We talked about this when we were in England. Can we inadvertently change the past by what we do now? If Reggie and I decided not to go back, then would you still see us there in 1827 or whenever you saw us listed?” Phoebe held up a hand. “Don’t say what year!”

“But what if you do get back without a problem, isn’t there any chance you can come back to visit...ever?” Annie asked.

Phoebe reached for Reggie’s hand. She would let him decide. He seemed to understand her intent and he spoke.

“As long as Phoebe and I can travel through time together, there is a possibility we could try to return.” He paused. “But once we have children, it will not be possible. I trust you understand why that must be so, Annie.”

She nodded. “You can’t risk the children or being separated from them.”

“Just so,” Reggie said. He smiled sympathetically.

Phoebe’s mind had been brainstorming for the past few minutes.

“Come with us, Annie!” she exclaimed.

Both Reggie and Annie turned startled eyes on her.

“What? Are you nuts? I can’t do that,” Annie said. “I’ve got my life here, my money, Johan.”

“Phoebe, my love, I do not think it is necessarily possible for Annie to travel as we do. Remember, as with Mattie and William and you and I, it is the power of our need for each other, our shared wish for love, that compels the travel through time...or at least so we believe.”

Phoebe bit her lip. “He’s right. If everybody could travel just by wishing on the moon, it would happen a lot more than it seems to. So far, we only know of one other woman who has traveled back in time. I don’t know if it would work for you, not if you don’t have a fervent wish to love someone in the nineteenth century.”

“Well, I don’t,” Annie said with a skeptical look on her face. “And at any rate, are you guys sure that’s how you travel?”

“The means are unclear, but it is true that I wished for my destiny, and Phoebe wished for...?” Reggie raised his eyebrows in question.

Phoebe blushed. “A Georgian man of my own. I remember the words.”

“Ah! That would be me,” he said with a smile. “As with the other lady who traveled, she tells us that she and her now husband also wished on a full moon for love, and their wishes were granted in the finding of each other.”

“Gosh, you guys are way too romantic for me,” Annie said with a grimace as another tear slipped down her face. “Stop!”

“I love you, Cousin,” Phoebe said.

“I love you too, Minnie Mouse,” Annie said. She extricated her hand from Phoebe’s and rose as if to stretch her legs. She crossed over to the window to look out, and Phoebe and Reggie joined her there.

“How do you know if it’s a full moon?” Annie asked.

“We don’t,” Phoebe said. “It seems to have been full for the last few nights.”

Annie turned to Phoebe and Reggie. “You’d better go back tonight. If the moon doesn’t stay full, you might not get back for a month...not that it would be a bad thing.”

Phoebe nodded. “I agree...on both counts.”

Reggie smiled. “Phoebe returned to say ease your worries about her disappearance.”

“I know,” Annie said. “Thank you.”

“Well, I need to print out some stuff on the computer and grab a few things before we try to leave again,” Phoebe said. “I can’t stand leaving you here like this. It feels like forever.”

Annie shook her head. “Johan is waiting for me. And maybe it’s not forever.”

Phoebe hugged her. “Maybe not.” She turned and headed into the bedroom to grab a small cloth bag. Annie followed her into the room and sat down on the bed to watch. Phoebe threw a couple of I.C. Moon’s books into her bag, especially those with cover models who resembled Reggie.

Annie picked one up. “Man, he really does look like the cover on this book.”

Phoebe grinned. “I imagine he probably is. The author is a new friend of mine.”

Annie chuckled. “Leave me what you don’t take. Maybe I’ll take a few to Hawaii with me and see what you think is so all-fired great about these romance novels.”

“Maybe you’ll fall in love like I did,” Phoebe said with a chuckle.

“Oh, Johan would like that,” Annie murmured in a sarcastic tone. “Are any of them set in Switzerland?”

“Nope, all England.”

“Early 1800s England, huh?”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Phoebe ran to her computer on the desk in the room and turned it on. “I’m going to need a few bits of information,” she said. “Did I tell you that Reggie bought a little castle for me? It’s a house, but it looks a little bit like a castle.”

“Awwww,” Annie said. “Really? So, he’s got money to go with his title?”

“Yes,” Phoebe said. She searched for a few items on the computer and then printed them to the printer next to the computer. She folded the papers and stuffed them into her bag before returning to the computer again.

“An e-mail to work, telling them I have to resign unexpectedly. I really hate doing this!”

“You loved that job,” Annie said.

“I know, but it’s not really all lost to me. I’ll still be editing, just by hand though.” Phoebe caught Annie’s confused look and shook her head. “Long story.”

She knelt down by the bed and retrieved a container of photographs from under the bed, rummaging through them hurriedly.

“Let’s see, a couple pics of Mom and Dad, Gramma and Grandpa, and here’s one of you! I’ll take that,” Phoebe said brandishing the picture.

Annie peered over her shoulder. “Oh, not that one! My high school prom?”

“You were beautiful,” Phoebe said. “That red dress...stunning. You looked like a princess.”

“Pshaw,” Annie muttered. “I’ll keep the rest of your stuff. It’ll be here if you manage to get back.”

Phoebe lowered herself to the bed next to Annie and took her hand.

“I think I have everything I can carry...if I can carry anything. I don’t know what else I’d take. I mean, I’d take everything I could to make life more comfortable there, but I’m kind of worried about getting back. Reggie’s brother is in a bind. We didn’t tell anyone we were leaving, exactly. Reggie just bought a new house, and I’m supposed to be getting married in a few weeks.”

“Already?” Annie said. “I’m sorry I’ll miss it. Send pictures,” she said with a short laugh.

Phoebe chewed her lip. “Tell you what! I’m sure Reggie and I will travel to the States...sometime in our lives. I’ll open up a safety deposit box at a bank, and authorize you to access it. I’ll put stuff in it. I’m not sure what. That way, you’ll know I’m okay, and you’ll know I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Let’s see what bank was open then and is still open today.” She peered at the computer screen again.

“No need,” Annie said. “My bank, Bonner and Little, International, has been in existence since forever. In fact, they have a London office. Just get a box there, and I’ll check it out next time I’m in London.”

“Good! That makes me feel connected to you in some way,” Phoebe said. “Too bad you can’t send me a care package.” She attempted to smile, but her face crumpled. “Oh, Annie, I’m going to miss you so much!” She caught her cousin up in a fierce embrace.

“I know, Mouse, I know,” Annie whispered. “I’m going to miss you, too. We may not see each other all that often, but we’ve always at least been in the same century.”

Phoebe gave her a watery smile. “It’s getting late. We’d better go.”

“I’ll come watch,” Annie said. “Hopefully, that won’t hex you.”

Phoebe rose and shouldered the bag.

“Please tell me you have at least one pair of decent jeans with you,” Annie said as she wrapped her arm around Phoebe’s waist.

Phoebe nodded. “I do, the ones I traveled in to get there.”

“Thank goodness!”

They returned to the living room where Reggie stood near the window with his back to it. Phoebe looked at him questioningly.

“I did not wish to look at the moon lest I inadvertently make a wish,” he said with a wry smile.

“Good plan,” Phoebe said. She picked up her bonnet, set it on her head and tied the ribbons.

“Is it time?” he asked.

Phoebe nodded. “Before we lose the moon.”

Reggie executed a deep bow in Annie’s direction. “Farewell, Annie. Until we meet again.”

Annie nodded, her lips pressed together. Phoebe could see she was trying to hold back tears.

With what felt like superhuman effort, Phoebe turned her back on her cousin and took Reggie’s hand. She looked up at him and nodded, and they turned in unison to stare at the moon—shining brightly above them in the cloudless sky.

“I wish I was back in 1827 England with my own Georgian man, Reggie.”

“I wish I was back in 1827 England with my destiny, my own dear love, Phoebe,” Reggie said.

They smiled at each other.

Chapter Nineteen

Phoebe awoke to the sound of Reggie’s voice.

“Phoebe? Phoebe, dearest, awaken.” He cradled her in his lap, stroking her cheek.

She opened her eyes to darkness, lightened only by the bright moon overhead. The same moonlight reflected against the bay windows of the house.

“Are we back?” She felt her bonnet on her lap. Reggie must have removed it. Her bag lay by her side.

“Yes, dear, it would appear we are. Exactly where we left.”

A sharp pain seared through her chest at the thought of Annie, and yet she couldn’t deny the joy she felt at their successful to return. A tear spilled down her face, and she wiped at it.

“I know, my love,” Reggie murmured. “I know.”

She swallowed her pain and reached up to kiss him. “I’m so glad we’re still together.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “As am I,” he said softly.

“Look at how the moon glows on the windows of the house,” Phoebe said. “Isn’t it gorgeous? Let’s call it Moonglow Castle. What do you think?”

Reggie leaned his head back against the stone balustrade and studied the house.

“I shall enjoy calling it Moonglow Castle.”

“Very new agey yet medieval,” Phoebe said with a sigh.

“New agey?”

“I’ll explain another time, dear.” She rose to her feet and grabbed her bag. “As happy as I would be to sit here in your lap all night, it’s kind of chilly. We could see if the door is unlocked and spend the night inside.” She grinned mischievously. “Since we’re going to be married and all.”

Reggie stood up beside her. “No, madam, that will not do. We must still observe the conventions of 1827.” He kissed the top of her head. “That is to say, as many as we can still salvage. We have ignored so many of them to this point that it seems foolish to insist on the few remaining rules for behavior that we have not violated, but indulge me in this one last attempt to salvage your reputation.” Reggie laughed, but Phoebe knew he was serious.

“My reputation,” she sighed. “Do you think that’s salvageable?”

“When you are the Countess of Hamilton, no one will dare question you.” He drew himself up with that haughty posture that she loved.

“Oh, Reggie! You’re so cute when you get all aristocratic. Really!” She grabbed his lapels and pulled his face to hers.

“Minx!” he said with a laugh when she let him up for air. “Come! We must find a way back to Ashton House.” Despite his words, he tried the handle on the door leading into the house, but it was locked.

“Too bad,” Phoebe teased.

“A pity,” he said with a broad grin. “I might almost have been coaxed into staying.”

Phoebe laughed, and Reggie took her hand. Together, they set off down the long lane to head to the village. The moon still shone brightly, lighting the way.

“Don’t make any wishes,” Phoebe warned.

“I have everything I wish for at my side, Phoebe. There is nothing else I need.”

“Me, too,” Phoebe said. “I don’t think I could be happier.”

****

Two weeks later, Phoebe knew she was mistaken. She could be happier, and she was—on her wedding day. As she and Reggie drove away from the church in a carriage festooned with ribbons and flowers, she held his hand and relished in that happiness.