Page 86 of Sebastian.

“I hope my little secret is safe with you, Hannah.” Her tone is cold and suspicious. “No one needs to know about Amelia. Are we understood?”

“Sure….” Then putting on my most innocent voice, I ask, “Um, do you know why she included that Shakespeare’s quote?”

To our surprise, Oma doesn’t answer immediately, there’s a few beats of silence before she finally says, “I do yes. It’s not about the play itself, but what happened to us when Malvolio said those words out loud.” Unfortunately no further explanation whatsoever is given, and Oma quickly changes the subject. “Thank you for doing this for me, Hannah, please bring the music box back with you. We will meet upon your return from England.”

Seeing the disappointment in Johan’s face, I summon the courage to inquire further. “Can we know a bit more about what happened to you and Amelia? Did you two go to watch that play together and something happened there?”

“One day,” Oma answers back, her tone guarded. “Have a good one, Hannah, and thank you again.”

The call ends, and Johan and I are left totally speechless, still processing everything Oma told us.

“This was the weirdest call I have ever had with her,” I tell him, still processing everything. “And that’s saying something.”

“Hopefully you will learn more when you get back.” We exchange a smile, before Johan continues to ruminate. “This Amelia seems a very enigmatic character. If you want, I can do my own little investigation about her.”

My brows lift in surprise. “Really?”

“Of course,” Johan replies, nudging me playfully. “And thank you for trusting me enough for sharing this family secret with me.”

My heartbeat quickens at his warm voice, blood pumping through my veins.

This little investigation into Amelia might be the beginning of a thrilling mystery, one that might just bring us closer together. All of a sudden, though, we are interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves caused by someone approaching. We raise our heads immediately, and find nonetheless than the driver himself, his posture filled with nervous energy.

“Ms. Hannah, I think it’s best we keep going,” the driver says in a low, discreet voice as he strides in our direction, his tone setting off alarm bells in my head.

“What’s wrong?” I ask right back, while standing up at the same time as Johan does.

Once the man gets close enough to us, his posture becomes very much protective as if he’s no longer a simple chauffeur but a body guard tasked to escort us safely back to the car. He starts gesturing us the way, while keeping himself close to us for protection.

His whole behavior causes my heartbeat to rise steadily but Johan and I follow him, and we rush back to get inside the car. The lack of answers from the driver as we hurry isn’t helping.

Once we are both inside the car, and the driver sits in front, I notice how he not only locks the doors immediately, but also how quickly he turns the engine on and hits the road. As we drive away, the car filled with nervous tension, the driver remains glancing at the rear view mirror from time to time, which doesn’t ease me.

“What’s going on?” I ask again, my patience wearing thin.

“I…” the man seems to struggle to come up with words, and I raise my eyebrows at him in return. “Well, my apologies for the sudden interruption, but I think we were being followed.”

“Followed?” Johan repeats, his voice filled with shock. “By who?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, sir.” Despite his fingers squeezing firmly on the steering wheel and his eyes being focused on the road, the chauffeur seems to be thinking something through. “If I may, would it be okay for me to escort you at the horse show?”

“You mean coming with us inside?” Now I’m the one who is in shock.

The driver looks at me from the rear view mirror and says, “I just want to make sure you’ll be all right inside, Miss.”

“I’m sure I will,” I tell him, my tone firm and decisive. “You have nothing to worry about; the event has plenty of security.”

He ponders for a moment, looks again in the rearview mirror, and gives a long sigh. “Fine, but I will wait for you outside. If anything goes wrong, please just call and I will join you.”

“Why are you saying we were being followed?” Johan asks, shifting in his seat.

“I, well, I saw two men passing by the car while you were by the river. They seemed very much intrigued and interested in seeing the car and my party waiting. At first, I thought they were just curious passers-by, but the way they behaved wasn’t much of my liking so I decided it was best to go.”

Johan leans back against his leather seat, exhaling loudly in return. “Maybe it was nothing. But good call. Better safe than sorry.”

“Thank you, sir.” The driver nods once, his face always so serious as he keeps his eyes steadily on the road ahead.

Johan then turns to face me, his eyes staring right at mine, but doesn’t say anything. It’s like he’s just staring to piss me off.

---