One Enchanted Evening

  “I will be here tomorrow, Persephone.” He brought her hand to his lips. “If you wouldn’t mind if I stay.”

  She couldn’t answer without falling apart, so she simply squeezed his hand, hard, and hoped he would take that as answer enough.

  Stephen rose and made Montgomery a low bow.

  “You will take my chamber, my lord,” he said in a fairly decent imitation of Montgomery’s accent. “I will find other quarters. I will also find clothing for you on the morrow, if you like.”

  Montgomery sized him up. “Can you wield a sword, Stephen?”

  Pippa had to smile. Stephen de Piaget was obviously not one to back down from a fight, but he swallowed very carefully at present.

  “I might attempt it.”

  “Then let me see my lady to her bedchamber and we will discuss your skills and see if they meet with my approval.” He blinked, then looked at Pippa. “I’m starting to sound like Robin.”

  “Better go to bed until it passes, then,” she advised.

  He smiled, a smile that showed off his dimple to its best advantage. “I daresay you’re right. Let’s be off. I’m sure there will be many marvels to examine on the morrow.”

  She wasn’t sure he had any idea what he was in for, but she wasn’t going to argue. She also wasn’t going to complain about the fact that he didn’t seem inclined to let go of her hand. She exchanged a brief look with her sisters before she walked with Montgomery and Stephen out of the kitchen and back up to the great hall. The party was starting to break up, but she wasn’t particularly interested in waiting it out. She thought it might be all she could do to get upstairs and fall into bed without falling to pieces.

  Montgomery paused on their way through the great hall, looked around him, then shook his head and sighed as he walked with her up the stairs and down the hallway. Pippa stopped him in front of her door, then looked up at him.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  He tilted his head and smiled. “For what?”

  The list was too long and potentially too revealing. She settled for simple. “For the dance.”

  “We’ll have others,” he said quietly, “if you’re willing.” He paused, then started to say something else, but stopped and glanced to his right.

  Pippa looked as well to find Stephen there, looking helpful. She thought it would have been rude to punch him, so she bit her tongue and decided that maybe she would have to borrow a couple of horses from someone so she could take Montgomery out for a private ride and figure out why it was he’d come to see her.

  “My lord?” Stephen said, with a small bow. “If you’re ready, I’ll show you to your room.”

  Montgomery nodded, then took Pippa’s hand and bent over it. He didn’t kiss it, which she supposed shouldn’t have disappointed her. He was, after all, still engaged eight hundred years in the past.

  “Tomorrow,” he promised.

  She nodded, then slipped inside her room as he held the door open for her. He smiled, bid her another soft good night, then pulled the door shut.

  Pippa turned and leaned back against it. She could hardly believe what she’d just seen in her sister’s great hall. It was all she could do not to wrench the door open, chase after Montgomery, then beg him to hold on to her and never let her go—his fiancée be damned.

  She hadn’t had the chance to even take a decent breath before a sudden knock on her door made her jump. She put her hand over her heart, then opened her door to find Peaches standing there practically hopping from one foot to the other.

  “Let me in,” Peaches said, pushing past her. “I want details.”

  Pippa shut the door behind her sister. She imagined their duet would become a trio soon enough, but maybe she could sit down for a moment or two before Tess showed up. She walked across the room and collapsed in a chair next to the fire.

  “Well?” Pippa asked.

  “Well?” Peaches echoed in disbelief, coming to sit across from her. “Is that all you can say? If you ask me, there aren’t words to describe how perfectly hot he is. Where in the world did you find him?”

  “I told you where I found him,” Pippa said with a scowl.

  “You neglected to mention his absolute hotness.”

  “I didn’t tell you everything about him because then I would have had to tell you also about his mousy, tractable, future wife!”

  Peaches blinked. “He’s engaged? Then why is he here with you?”

  “He took a wrong turn?”

  “Oh, I don’t think so, and I think that’s Tess at your door. Better go open it.”

  Pippa did, only to have her other sister push past her into her room. Tess made herself at home in Pippa’s chair and shook her head with a low whistle.

  “Wow.”

  Peaches laughed. “Is that the best you can do? He’s dreamy!”

  “And engaged,” Pippa said pointedly, “remember?”

  “Engaged?” Tess asked in astonishment. “Then why is he here with you?”

  Pippa couldn’t bring herself to even look for an answer or point out to her sisters that they sounded like recordings of each other. She ignored the question and sat down heavily in the last chair there in front of the fire. “I tell you both, it’s Karma again, coming to repay me early for as-yet-unexperienced success.”

  “I think I would choose Montgomery’s luscious French over Stephen’s deep pockets any day,” Peaches said, fanning herself vigorously. “It’s too bad you can’t take him back to Seattle and introduce him to your gazillion first dates. I think you’d really enjoy that.”

  Pippa imagined she would. She looked at her rather unsteady hands for a minute or two, then at her sisters one by one. “This might count as a second date, wouldn’t you say? If he weren’t already hooked up with someone else? Or does this put him in total loser territory because he’s here with me and not with Miss Mouse?”

  “He’s not married to her,” Tess said reasonably. “He could change his mind, you know.”

  “Or he could have just come for a tour of the castle,” Pippa said grimly.

  “Get real,” Peaches said with a laugh. She looked at Tess. “Did he look like he was here for a tour?”

  “Absolutely not,” Tess said, “though I will admit to being vastly relieved just the same that I hadn’t trashed his hall. I have the feeling he’s going to be checking the closets before it’s all over.” She looked at Pippa. “Go put on your jammies and go to bed. You look shell-shocked.”

  “A man just traveled over seven hundred fifty years to bring me a lousy pair of shoes,” Pippa said shortly. “Of course I looked shell-shocked!”

  Her sisters only exchanged a look. It was the same look they’d been exchanging for as long as Pippa could remember, a look that usually involved twinnish secrets and plots she couldn’t possibly fathom. It was trouble, pure and simple.

  But since she was already in deep trouble, she ignored it and headed for the bathroom before she had to either sit down or fall there. Her knees were just not equal to the events of the morning.

  He had come.

  She took a deep breath. She would brush her teeth, put on something borrowed from Peaches whose clothes she liked better than Tess’s, then see if she couldn’t just let events unfold the way they would. She didn’t sense any karmic tentacles reaching for her, so maybe she could just relax and enjoy the coming days, however many they were.

  And she would try not to think about the fact that a man she could no longer deny she loved had come eight hundred years to make sure she wasn’t running around barefooted.

  Cinderella would have approved.

  Chapter 23

  Montgomery paced uneasily before the fire in the great hall and wondered not only about what might startle him next, but if he had the stomach to find out. He had leapt through that time gate with all the confidence of a man who had decided what his heart wanted and was going to let nothing stand in his way of having it.

  Unfortunately for him, the Future had tur
ned out to be a bit more intimidating than he’d expected it to be.

  The changes in how man conducted his life weren’t beyond his ability to make sense of, but they had indeed been remarkable. The lights had been astonishing, and he’d found the improvements made in garderobe mechanics to be quite useful. Electricity, something he’d required Stephen to explain to him the night before at great length, had seemed a most marvelous tool he would regret not having the use of in the past, as would be the luxurious bed he’d slept on and the blade he’d used to shave with that morn. He suspected that those were only the beginning of the marvels he would be faced with.

  Marvels a Future gel would have to leave behind if she consented to go live in the past.

  If he had been made of lesser stuff, he might have thought twice about even speaking of his heart’s desire. But he hadn’t come across centuries into a world of wonders simply to remain silent.

  He supposed his first task was to overcome his astonishment at everything he saw so he looked less like an unsophisticated village brat. Perhaps he would spend the day simply attempting to grow accustomed to Pippa’s world and cease trying to commit it all to memory so he would know what improvements to make in his own time—which Stephen had warned him against doing. Montgomery could see the wisdom in that, though he could certainly bring to mind several odd things about Wyckham that seemed much less odd now that he’d seen their likeness several centuries in the future.

  Stephen had been gracious enough to make a loan of several items of clothing that Montgomery had happily donned. There was no sense in not fitting in whilst he could. He had promised Stephen to return the favor should his nephew ever find himself lingering in the thirteenth century, something Stephen seemed to consider with horror.

  Obviously, the man needed a bit more time in the lists to stiffen his spine.

  Unfortunately that happy moment was not to be that day. Stephen had acquired entrance to some sort of display of things that he was sure would interest Pippa and their travels required them to have an early start. The thought of traveling to London during the course of a single morning, much less a single day, had left Montgomery shaking his head, but what did he know of modern wagons? Perhaps the horses were fed and tended so well that they ran on wings.

  He took the opportunity to look at his hall. He understood now that expression of disbelief Pippa had worn so often that first handful of days, as if she dreamed what she was seeing. He hadn’t ever doubted Sedgwick’s potential, should he have ever managed to rid it of its unsavory personalities, but to see it adorned with lovely tapestries and full of clean air instead of smoke from clogged flues was a marvel indeed.

  He heard a heavy footstep and turned around to find Stephen walking toward him. He had decided early on the evening before that whilst Stephen seemed to be quite protective of Pippa and her sisters, he was limiting himself to brotherly feelings. He would therefore live another day.

  “Good morning, my lord,” Stephen said, stopping in front of him and bowing.

  “You needn’t do that,” Montgomery said, feeling slightly amused by the deference. “You are older than I am, I daresay.”

  “I’m ingratiating myself in order to have a lesson or two in swordplay.”

  “I can’t imagine why you’d need it here in the Future, but I’ll humor you. Perhaps tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to interrupt our journey toward London today—”

  He looked up at the sound of other light footsteps running across the hall, sure it was Pippa. It was indeed, though he was shocked to find she had arrived half dressed. He clapped a hand over Stephen’s eyes and gaped at his would-be love. Never mind that she was dressed as he was, in jeans and a tunic-like shirt. Those clothes left her so exposed, she might as well have been wearing nothing at all.

  She stopped short. “What’s wrong?”

  He gestured at her clothes, then decided that perhaps he should set the example and avert his gaze as well. He looked up at the ceiling. “Saints, woman, go back up and put on something . . . well, something more.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re wearing jeans!”

  “So are you.”

  “I am a man.”

  Stephen might have laughed. Montgomery wasn’t certain, but he was certain ’twas never too soon to teach the man a few manners. He lifted his hand from Stephen’s eyes and glared at him.

  “Look at her and you’ll die by my hand.”

  “I’ve already seen—”

  Montgomery reached for his sword only to realize he’d left it above in Stephen’s chamber. He scowled at his nephew. “I don’t need a sword to kill you.”

  “I imagine you don’t,” Stephen said faintly. He smiled briefly at Pippa, then very wisely began to study the tapestries lining the walls near the fireplace. “I’ll humor you, my lord, though I will point out that this is the least of the things you’ll see today.” He shot Pippa a brief look. “I told you it was a mistake to take him to London.”

  “I don’t want to leave him behind,” Pippa said firmly, “and I’m not going to waste your very expensive tickets. He’ll be fine.”

  “Pippa, my dear, it’s the twenty-first century,” Stephen warned. “I’m only saying he won’t like what he sees.”

  Montgomery opened his mouth to state that he would be the judge of what he did and did not care for, but Pippa took his arm and pulled on him before he could. He shot Stephen a warning look, then allowed Pippa to lead him across the hall and out the front door. She stopped in the middle of the very clean courtyard and looked up at him.

  “Things are different in my time.”

  “So I see!” He drew his hand over his eyes. “And I’ve seen too much already this day.”

  “Would it make you feel better if I put on a long coat to cover up what you’ve already seen too much of?”

  She was laughing at him, he could tell that much. “I’m not sure anything would help at this point,” he muttered. He considered, then looked down at her. “I don’t like to admit weakness, but I might be a bit, ah—”

  “Overwhelmed?” she offered.

  “Overwhelmed by my ability to manage difficult things, perhaps,” he said, knowing he sounded exactly like his eldest brother but somehow unable to help himself. He cleared his throat. “I fear I’m losing my wits.”

  “I understand, completely,” she said. “You know, I don’t have a sword, but I do know my century. I’ll keep you safe. If you’ll let me.”

  He took a deep breath, then reached out and pulled her carefully into his arms. He rested his cheek lightly against her hair. “ ’Tis a grievous blow to my pride, but since you’re the one wielding the sword, I suppose I’ll endure it. Now, tell me again where specifically are we going on this journey of Stephen’s?”

  “To a fashion show in London. We’ll watch women walk up and down a raised sort of path showing off the clothes a designer has created to sell to others.”

  “I would rather see yours, of course,” he said, “but I’ll come today because I don’t want to leave you unprotected in London.” He paused, then attempted to tread carefully, because he didn’t want to make her look foolish. “Though I don’t see how we’ll manage to return home tonight. ’Tis too far.”

  She pulled back and looked at him seriously. “That’s something we need to talk about. We’re going drive in a car. It’s a wagon that requires no horses. We’ll be to London very quickly—or not, depending on the traffic. It’s Friday, so apparently it could be a real nightmare.”

  Montgomery wished heartily that he’d had a peek at that manuscript Nicholas was rumored to have in his trunk of secrets, the manuscript that detailed all manner of Future marvels. He could have at least been familiar with the sight of a few of the things he had already been subjected to, such as the shower and jeans and the Aga stove that delivered such lovely, hot repasts, though he supposed no manuscript could ever have prepared him for the reality he now faced.

  “Do you want to come look at the car???
? she asked.

  He would have preferred to remain in his courtyard with her in his arms given that she was the reason he had leapt through that shimmer in the air, but he supposed he might do well to be prepared for the journey. He nodded slowly, for he knew he must.

  She smiled, pulled away, then took his hand. “You did leave all your blades upstairs, didn’t you?”

  “What difference does that make?”

  “You’ll see.”

  The saints preserve him, he feared he just might.

  Eight hours later, he was still trying without much success to pick his jaw up off the floor. The journey to London had seemed like something from a dream. The surrounding countryside had been a blur and the number of other cars on the road had made him claustrophobic. He had sat in the front of the car with Stephen, trying not to look as unnerved as he had been.

  He couldn’t say he’d been any happier when they’d stopped in London. He felt as if he had truly been dropped into another world. The city had been full of souls in his day as well, but now that number seemed quite manageable compared to what he’d seen that afternoon. He hadn’t minded what the men had been wearing for the most part, but the women had terrified him. He didn’t consider himself particularly weak- stomached and he was certainly not unused to the mores and complexities of court life, but modern London . . .

  It was enough to make a man of a medieval vintage suspect he should never have left his village green.

  Now, he was sitting in an Italian restaurant hoping that the food that would soon come from the kitchens might be something he would recognize. He looked about himself and tried to make a list of things he cared for and didn’t, but it was difficult. The noise in the tavern was excessive, the music unfamiliar, and someone on the other side of a low partition was smoking something that made him ill. He turned to listen to Stephen, Tess, and Peaches discussing the clothing they’d seen that afternoon, clothing that made what the sisters were wearing look fit for a nunnery. The trio had said more than once that Pippa’s designs were far superior. Though he hadn’t had the chance to see for himself, he imagined they had it aright.