Page 83 of The Midnight Book Club
She’d stopped walking and Vronsky had to turn back a few paces to stand beside her again.
“We are nearing the date when you will have a book to place on the table,” he said softly.“I myself have questions about how to proceed.”
Aurelia nodded, saying, “We’ve been so focused on writing the book that I haven’t had time to think about what’s actually going to happen.”
She stopped short of listing all the questions that had been spinning through her mind that day, but she was sure Vronsky had thought of them too.
“Let us ask Sergeant Cuff if he can enlighten us further now that we are so near the end,” he suggested.
They found Cuff sitting in the armchair, with Marmee and Laurie standing beside him as they discussed Laurie’s hothouse and its various roses.
“I would only need one guess as to why you are here, and I assure you that would be sufficient to get at your reason,” Cuff declared as he spotted them.
“I see you anticipate our every maneuver, Sergeant Cuff,” Vronsky replied with a charming smile.“You would make a formidable chess opponent.”
“I am satisfied with having been a formidable opponent of lawlessness prior to my retirement,” Cuff said, puffing up at his own compliment.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Aurelia said.“We were just hoping to ask you a few questions about the experiment.”
“Yes, time is drawing near, is it not?”Cuff asked.“When will you have a book ready to set out on the table?”
“It’ll be a few months still.”
“Time is indeed drawing near,” Cuff said again, now with a dramatic flick of his eyebrows.
Although Aurelia had hoped to speak with Cuff confidentially, a crowd was gathering around them.Everyone else seemed curious to know what would happen next, and Aurelia couldn’t blame them.They were all invested in Vronsky’s new story since they’d been witnesses to the making of it.
“If we put the new book on the table, you think Alexei might appear from it, right?”she asked.
“Ah, that I cannot say for certain,” Cuff said as he shook his head.“The characters who appear vary each time their book is set out.”
“But perhaps two other characters would appear that could give a good report of Count Vronsky?”Marmee asked.
“I should think so.”
Aurelia knew that was the goal—to be assured of Vronsky’s happiness—but still her heart sank to think she might not get to hear about his new life directly from him.
“And if he doesn’t appear from the new book, and we put his original book back on the table, will he come back to the shop again?”
“That I also cannot say,” Cuff said sadly.“It may be considered a new selection, in which case different characters may be due to appear.If the experiment has worked, two new characters might appear, rather than Count Vronsky alone.He may be one of the two, or they may be two different characters entirely.”
Aurelia’s and Vronsky’s eyes met, both looking uncertain over how they felt about Cuff’s theories.She realized she would have to speak next, to give permission for him to leave despite the fact that it might mean losing one of her closest friends.She took a deep breath, looking around at the faces of the characters she’d grown to love as they waited for her to speak.
“We’ve come this far—we can’t let fear stop us now.Once your new book is published, we’ll pick a date for me to take your old book off the table and put the new one in its place.”
She tried to sound decisive but wasn’t sure she’d convinced anyone that she was confident about that plan.
“But you mustn’t put our books away,” Rachel said suddenly.“We should like to see if the experiment works, and to ask Count Vronsky how he likes his new life.”
“You would never put us away before then, would you?”Marianne joined in.
“No, of course not.We should all get to hear how he’s doing in his new book.”Aurelia smiled, trying to feel the encouragement she was giving everyone else.
“I should like that very much,” Vronsky said, looking around and nodding at each character in turn.
The others seemed satisfied and began to wander back into small groups.Aurelia and Vronsky thanked Cuff and walked to her desk, where they took their seats and sat silently for a moment.
“I would like you to promise me something,” Vronsky said in an undertone, looking around to make sure the others weren’t listening.
