Page 55 of Borrowed Time

Ah, yes, Grace Wilcox, the only blonde in that bevy of raven-haired beauties. I wondered why Samuel had chosen her for his wife, when it seemed as if his brothers had selected women on purpose who looked as though they could have been born Wilcoxes rather than merely married into the family.

Somehow I doubted Samuel would be too keen to clear up that particular mystery.

“Then I suppose it was providence that I needed this exact dress,” I said. “Let me just slip it off and get back into my own gown, and we’ll leave you to your work. What time do you think it will be ready tomorrow?”

“Come by around four,” she said promptly. “I have several fittings in the morning, and I’ll have to squeeze the alterations in around some other projects, but I’m sure I’ll have it done by then.”

Since we weren’t expected to be at Jeremiah’s house until six, that timing should work just fine. I’d have an ample span to pick up the dress and head back to the hotel to get changed before Seth and I needed to make our way over to Park Street.

I told Mrs. Adams that sounded fine, then went back behind the screen and took off the dress and climbed back into my own. The procedure went a little faster this time, so about five minutes later, I was ready to go, once again thanking the dressmaker for her help and promising her that I would be back the next day at four.

“That was easy,” Seth said as we made our way back to the hotel.

“Yes,” I agreed…but I couldn’t resist tacking on a small caveat.

“Let’s hope dinner tomorrow night goes as smoothly.”

All the Wilcox homes on Park Street had the gaslamps on their front porches glowing as Seth and I approached. Was that their way of being welcoming, of making sure there was no chance we could get lost coming to an unfamiliar place?

Well, at least they thought it was unfamiliar to us, thanks to Jeremiah’s avoidance spell. All except Emma, of course, who knew the truth of the matter. Theprimushad made it sound as though she could be trusted to keep our secret, but it wasn’t as if I knew the woman. Yes, she’d healed me, but that was kind of what healers did, wasn’t it?

What if this whole dinner was a setup, and the Wilcox women and their husbands were planning to pounce the second Seth and I sat down at the dinner table?

I told myself that was ridiculous, and even if they had formed some kind of cabal to drive us out of town, none of them were foolish enough to plan something that would force them into direct conflict with theirprimus. From what I’d heard, while Jeremiah’s younger brothers were fairly strong warlocks — and their witch wives were no slouches, either — even their combined strength wouldn’t have been enough to take the clan leader down.

Sometimes I really wished my chattering brain would leave me alone.

At least I had my new dress to give me courage, and the welcome assistance of Seth’s strong arm as he helped me up the front steps to Jeremiah’s house. I thought it interesting that he was hosting this dinner himself, when it sounded as though the two times my mother had dined with the Wilcoxes, it had been at Emma’s house.

Maybe this was his way of ensuring that he had full control of the situation.

Seth knocked, and almost at once, Mrs. Barton opened the door.

“Mr. and Miss Prewitt,” she said. “Come in. They’re waiting for you in the dining room.”

So everyone was already here? I knew we couldn’t be late, not when we’d left the hotel at precisely ten minutes before six so there wouldn’t be any chance of arriving after the appointed hour.

Well, I supposed they could have all left their houses just a little bit before, since obviously, they had much less distance to cover to get to their brother’s home.

We paused in the foyer so Seth could help me out of my cloak and take off his overcoat and hat, and then the housekeeper led us into the dining room. Although I’d passed it several times, I’d never been in the space before, with its huge dining table that even despite its size would be straining to accommodate all eleven of us and patterned burgundy wallpaper above gleaming mahogany wainscoting. Gaslamps flickered on those walls, and two candelabras studded with a dozen candles each gleamed from the cloth-covered tabletop.

Everyone was chatting when we entered, although the conversations almost immediately died down. Before the moment could get too awkward, Jeremiah came over to us, saying, “How good of you to come, Miss Prewitt, Mr. Prewitt. Please — let’s get you seated. Miss Prewitt, you’re on my right, and Mr. Prewitt, you’re across from your sister.”

He went to the chair he’d indicated was mine and pulled it out, and waited while I seated myself, doing my best to arrange my voluminous skirts. I would have much preferred to have Seth next to me rather than across the table, but I was relieved to find that Nathan, the youngest brother and my great-six-times-over grandfather, was the one who took the chair to my left. From everything my mother had told me about him, he seemed to be the most easygoing of the Wilcox brothers…and the least intimidating as a dinner companion.

After that, everyone took their various positions, all the while saying their hellos to us and also saying they were so glad we could make it to dinner.

“Our clan is very new,” Jennie, Nathan’s wife, said. She seemed pretty young, probably around my age or maybe a year older at the most. “It’s just us most of the time, so we all think it’s wonderful to have some visiting witch-folk to liven things up a bit.”

Yes, I supposed their circle was pretty small these days. It wasn’t as though I’d been hanging out with them much since getting here — or, more to the point, being around them at all — but based on some of the things my mother had said, it sounded as if the women of the Wilcox clan pretty much stuck to their own kind. At least they were a large family, but still, it had to be difficult sometimes. As the years went on, their children would grow up and get married — to civilians, I assumed, because they were far too closely related to start marrying cousins until they had a few more generations under their belts — and eventually, the clan would grow to the enormous size it was in my own time, but for now, they only had each other to fall back on.

And I had to admit they seemed friendly enough, although I had no way of knowing whether their geniality was genuine or just a front they’d put on so as not to act rude in front of theirprimus.

“We’re very glad of your welcome — and the dinner invitation,” I said, with a slight nod toward Jeremiah. “I have to admit that it is a sad errand which brought us here. No one we’ve spoken to has been able to provide any information to helpus learn what really happened to our sister. More and more, it seems as if it is a mystery that will never be solved.”

All the women made sympathetic noises, although I guessed the glint I saw in Samuel’s eyes had absolutely nothing to do with the reflected candlelight from the candelabra sitting a foot or so away. He’d seated himself on the opposite side of the table kitty-corner from me, but as far as I was concerned, the distance still wasn’t sufficient.

Both Nathan and Edmund looked uncomfortable, and I wondered how much they knew of the story. Probably not anything more than what their wives also knew; I’d gotten the impression from Jeremiah that what had happened at the cabin was a secret both he and Samuel had known they needed to keep to themselves.

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