Page 44 of The Midnight Book Club
“Well, that’s hardly likely to happen, is it, Aurelia?”Elinor asked, confident of the answer.“Who would be in the shop late at night other than you?”
Aurelia composed herself, trying hard not to blush.
“Yes, good point,” she managed to say.“I’m sure that’s very unlikely.”
She was secretly grateful to know that the characters couldn’t detect gaps in time when she wasn’t in the building or when someone else might be there with her, since it would avoid some awkward conversations.Aurelia might have a boyfriend come through the shop to spend the night at the flat, or she might stay at a boyfriend’s.Either way, the characters wouldn’t be there to witness her very modern dating habits.But, given the state of her romantic life, she reminded herself, there wasn’t much to observe anyway.
Marmee and Elinor moved off to the front of the shop with Cuff, who continued discussing his theories.Aurelia began to follow them but stopped when she noticed someone reaching out to catch her attention.It was Rachel, who was arm in arm with Marianne.
“We hoped to engage Alexei in conversation,” Rachel said with an arch smile.
“Let us see what future he has conjured!”Marianne added excitedly.
“We have been concocting our own adventures for him and would like to see how his ideas compare.”
They walked over to Vronsky, who had begun talking with Laurie about their experiences traveling through Italy.Both men bowed to the women as they approached.
“We arrive with a plot afoot,” Marianne began.
“Yes, we are ready to share our visions for the life you might lead after your novel ends,” Rachel continued.
“Oh!Is Vronsky featured in a sequel?”Laurie seemed eager to join the ladies’ fun, likely recognizing his friends, the March sisters, in Rachel and Marianne’s scheming.“I myself am in a sequel—two, in fact.”
“You know aboutLittle MenandJo’s Boys?”Aurelia asked in wonder.
“Yes, Cristobel told me about them.”
“And… did she tell you anything about what happens?”
Aurelia wasn’t sure whether Laurie and Marmee were aware that some of the March family didn’t survive the sequels.
“No, she insisted it wouldn’t do to know all that would happen.She only told me enough so that I would know I had a fulfilling life ahead of me.She quoted one line fromJo’s Boysabout me and Amy, and said that should give me peace of mind: ‘Life had been a kind of poem to them since they married…’”
Laurie smiled, seeming to find comfort in what Cristobel had shared.Aurelia, too, smiled to think of the great-great aunt she’d never met.
“And you have a sequel, Count Vronsky?”Laurie asked again.
“I do not, and sadly my novel ends at a most unfortunate period in my life.”
His smile dimmed and Aurelia thought again of the strain he must feel, held forever in the limbo of his grief at the end ofAnna Karenina.
“We have been working on a project for Count Vronsky,” Rachel said.“We thought that imagining his future could give him some comfort, just as you said your sequels have done for you.”
“Rachel and I are quite happy with our endings, as our authors gave us some hint of what our futures might hold,” Marianne explained.“Sergeant Cuff is happy with his, and Marmee is happy with hers as well.Only Alexei seems to have been left to face a troubling future.”
Something clicked in Aurelia’s mind.Only Vronsky was unhappy with his ending and where it left him; only Vronsky had appeared alone from his novel.She looked around the room and saw Sergeant Cuff smiling at her.His eyes sparkled in amusement and she knew she’d figured out his mystery at last.She smiled back, but then frowned as she realized she wasn’t sure what it all meant.They were trying to help Vronsky think of a better future, but once they’d helped him, what then?Would he come out of the book with another character?Could just dreaming about a new life really make a difference for him?
The others in Aurelia’s circle noticed her distraction, and Rachel reached out again as if to touch her arm.
“Are you quite alright, Aurelia?Has Sergeant Cuff been troubling you?”She nodded in Cuff’s direction and gave him a sly smile, which he returned.
“I was just lost in thought for a moment,” Aurelia said.
“Speaking of old Cuff, I had best rescue Marmee from another of his monologues on roses,” Laurie said, nodding in farewell.
Marianne suggested they move upstairs to the window seat, so Rachel, Vronsky, and Aurelia followed her up the spiral staircase.They shared their ideas and though Vronsky tried to look interested, something seemed to hold him back.Aurelia found herself watching him, wondering again and again about Cuff’s hints.
26
