Page 100 of Twin Flames
Well, the mission had failed. It was about to be aborted. Cara was rarely beaten, but a bitter taste of loss filled her mouth. What other misery was in store for her? She had had her fill and wanted no more. She wanted to die with him. What was all of this grand plan for if it was only to end like this?
Her Tudor conditioning reminded her that to wish to die was a sin against her creator. She thought of Thomas and May and how much they needed her. Even the thought of their dear, tender hearts did nothing to restore her desire to live. She didn’t want to be in Tudorville without him. Life was too cruel. Despite her best intentions to be stoic, the tears seeped from her eyes and spilt onto her cold cheeks.
Edward nudged her when George stumbled through the door, pushed along by the guard, hood pulled down over his head, wrists bound.
The executioner followed behind, heavy axe in hand. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Everyone was in place. It would be over in a few minutes. Cara was breathless and feared she would faint. Only the thought of George looking for her kept her on her feet.
Edward encircled her shoulders with his arm, and she leant against him. They were a couple of rows back from the scaffold.
George’s hood was removed, and he squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. He looked up and saw her. Even at adistance, she could feel his love. She made an effort to smile for him, but it was more of a grimace.
He smiled back and mouthed, ‘I love you forever.’
Cara blew him a kiss. ‘We will meet again, my love. I am with you always,’ she called, hoping he would catch her words over the noise of the crowd.
She touched her heart with both hands and gestured towards him. She didn’t know if he could see but she thought he looked comforted.
George paid the executioner and officially forgave him for what he was about to do.
The executioner pushed him down towards the block and steered George’s head into position.
Cara gasped. This was it. She steeled herself for the final axe-blow. She had recently witnessed her mistress, the queen, being executed, not imagining that her husband would soon follow.
King Henry stood in the vestibule with Cromwell.
‘You’d better hurry, Sire, or you’ll miss it,’ said Cromwell.
CHAPTER 30
Seville, 1840
George itched to talk to Edward again, but it proved surprisingly difficult to orchestrate. Over the coming days, they frequently met socially but were never alone long enough for George to broach the subject of Joanna.
He grew more restless by the day. Being in Victoriana with Cara was like a dream come true, but what of his old life in York? He seemed to have gained a sister but lost a wife and daughter. It was disorientating, and he was nervous about what other surprises awaited him on his next trip.
George hadn’t been able to get Edward’s comment about Joanna out of his mind. There was something familiar about him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
Could Edward be the missing link between now and then? The more time he spent in Victoriana, the more entangled his memories became.
He’d been to his townhouse and watched from a distance as Joanna arrived home on the arm of another man. He’d waited for Jane, but she didn’t appear.
Where was she? He missed her, of course, but in a strange way, it was as though he’d never lived the old life. He wasn’t surprised to find he was unmoved by seeing Joanna with another man; he felt no jealousy and no regrets. He was relieved she looked happy and it seemed that as if by magic he was released from their marriage.
He had no idea how or why their lives had switched like this, but he was grateful for a second chance. He was now free to be with Cara. But first, he would need to get her attention. He must win her heart all over again. It occurred to him that she might not be single in this strange, new paradigm where all the players had changed position, like a game of musical chairs. That would be a cruel twist of fate.
He wanted to find Jane, but to do that he needed to learn how time travel worked, and he sensed Edward was the key.
He had been amazed to find that almost two hundred years into the future he lived in the same villa he now shared with Cara in Seville. No wonder he was confused.
How could she have been so in love with him both in Victoriana and York, but in this new version of events, not even be interested in seeing him? She hadn’t recognised him when they met, but he was sure there had been a connection. He had begun to fear he might be delusional. What if he had imagined the other lives?
There was so much he didn’t understand; there were empty pockets of time where he didn’t know what had happened. In present day, he didn’t always understand what had been going on, but then suddenly visions and memories would hit him. He hoped Edward could help him to make sense of the chaos. He had no other leads if he was wrong about Edward.
Each time he travelled back to the future, he uncovered a little more of his old life. The most alarming thing was he now knew he was deeply in love with a woman who didn’t rememberhim. He had been stunned when Cara walked into the Seville villa. Later he realised she was his beloved wife from two hundred years ago, but she had no idea who he was. He’d blown it by moving too fast, and she had run away. What an idiot. He didn’t know what to do; he was desperate. What if he couldn’t find her again?
He wondered whether his sister had managed to speak to her yet. He had been most persistent that Kate call, to the point where she had teased him about having a Cara crush.
He had dismissed the notion in the way only a big brother can and told her not to be such a foolish girl. But he knew he hadn’t hoodwinked her.
