Page 187 of Feathers in the Wind
‘Just the boys.’ His mouth tightened. ‘They are my greatest concern. I abhor the world in which we now live, a country at war with itself, and I fear for them. You have no children?’
I shook my head. ‘No.’
‘And why do you have no husband?’
I couldn’t answer that. I would have married Mark, until the ‘incident’. I looked up and saw Nathaniel looking at me.
He arched an eyebrow knowingly. ‘A broken heart, I think?’
I managed a watery smile. ‘Something like that.’
‘Then whoever he is, he is entirely undeserving of your grief.’ He brushed my cheek with a finger and a shiver ran down my spine. ‘You are a lovely woman, Jessica. There will be others.’
‘Not many men like playing second fiddle to a career, particularly when they have one of their own. But enough of me. What about your parents?’
‘Both dead. My sister still lives at the Hall and my grandmother, Dame Alice.’ He looked at me and smiled. ‘You would like Alice. She is--’ He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. ‘I am tired, Jessica. Would you excuse me if I retired for the night?’
As he rose to his feet, I asked, ‘Can you work the bath?’
‘Another bath?’ he inquired with a raised eyebrow. ‘I only had one yesterday?’
‘Well, these days we bathe daily,’ I told him, adopting a severe expression while trying to keep a smile off my lips.
‘Too much bathing can sap your strength,’ he replied.
‘Nonsense. Just call it a house rule. Good night, Nat.’
‘Good night, Jessica.’ A slow smile spread across his face. ‘My witch.’
I felt an unfamiliar warmth wash over me. Mark never had any terms of endearment to describe me. ‘Why do you call me that?’
‘Because you have bewitched me.’ He bowed and left the room.
I heard the bath water running and sat back, nursing my glass and thinking about the curious man who had dropped into my life. My safe, clinical world had been turned upside down and, I thought, even if Colonel Nathaniel Preston were to leave tomorrow, it would never be quite the same again.
* * *
I cannot sleep.
Every time I close my eyes I see this new world and all its wonders. The noise overwhelms me. Even now in the dead of night, I hear the carriages racing past and see the bright lights illuminate the curtains over the windows.
Light. There is so much light.
I try to order things in my understanding, relate them to my own time, but I fail. My own ignorance fails me. I am a savage in this land. Jessica the Witch must think me a veritable fool, and that concerns me. I think of her warm, sun-touched skin on that day I first saw her, and the courage with which she faced me. I want to touch her. I need that touch of a warm, living being to remind me that I am still a man and not an object of pity.
The knowledge of my death tugs at my mind. I keep pushing the memory of that cold stone in the chapel away. I don’t believe I am to die. I am only thirty years old. I have two small sons. Who will care for them? Who will protect my sister and my grandmother?
Alice. Help me. I can’t live with this knowledge.
I hear her voice coming through the mist of my mind. ‘You must find the strength. Remember why you are there. Learn as much as you can of this new world Nathaniel, and you will have a chance to set things in order.’
I close my eyes and remember all we talked about, Alice and I. She is right, I have to acquire the knowledge needed to set my world in order.
But to do that I will return to my time.
To do that, I must die.
Chapter 3 - NORTHAMPTON
