Page 21 of Charlotte's Story
A knock on the door interrupted us, and I hurried to open it.
“Lizzy!” Her name escaped me in a surprised gasp.
She pulled me into a hug. “I heard what happened and I came straight over. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I pulled back, taking in a whiff of her peppermint scent. Having Lizzy here was reassuring, not that I expected her to fix everything with her magic, especially since she was still practicing how to control her Portents, but she’d at least investigated a murder before.
“Here, I brought this for you.” She passed me a basket that smelled faintly of pine with their bakery’s homemade hot cocoa and some croissants. She was a saint.
William appeared beside me and thrust out his hand with a pleasant smile. He gave her that polite, slightly awkward grin of his. “Oh, hello Elizabeth.”
Lizzy blinked at him, then slowly offered her hand. “Hello, Mr. Collins.” She cut me a curious glance, and I shook my head in a silent promise to tell her everything later. She must’ve heard about the murder but not his amnesia.
“I’m guessing Lizzy is here to help,” I told William.
“Excellent.” He nodded and ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I’ll look through some of my things and see if that jars anything loose. Maybe I’ll even try a memory charm, although last time I tried as a boy, I accidentally turned myself into a frog.” He frowned, then waved a hand in the air. “Anyway, we’ll need to leave for Rosings Park at 5:30 if we want to be on time for dinner. Punctuality is of the utmost importance to Lady Catherine, and so it must be of the utmost importance to us when we visit her. And of course, you’re welcome to come as well, Elizabeth.”
Lizzy smiled faintly. “If Lady Catherine’s charm is as important to her as punctuality, then you’re in for a treat.”
“Indeed we are,” William said, completely missing her sarcasm.
“Punctuality can’t be that important to her or she wouldn’t have been late to our wedding,” I said. William’s brow furrowed, sending a twinge of guilt through me. I snagged Lizzy’s arm to escape into the other room. “We’ll meet you in time to walk over.”
“All right.” William nodded and wandered into the other room, still frowning.
I pulled her toward the kitchen. “Come on, Lizzy. We can make some cocoa.” The kitchen was warm and cozy, even with my half-unpacked boxes taking up too much space. Fairy lights twinkled over shelves lined with jars of spices and dried herbs, and vanilla and pine scented the air, wrapping us in a festive embrace.
As soon as the door closed behind us, Lizzy spun me to face her. “What’s going on with Mr. Collins and why is he sort of hot now?” She scrunched her nose. “I never thought I’d say that.”
I sighed and rummaged through a box of dishes in the kitchen until I found a suitable pot for the cocoa. I refused to use the one in William’s kitchen since it whispered compliments to you as you used it and it sort of weirded me out. “Amnesia. And apparently one of the officers told him to dress better.”
“Amnesia? No wonder he’s being so nice to me.” Her eyes widened, but then she winked at me. “And thank goodness for reliable law enforcement.”
“I’ll be sure to send them a fruit basket as a thank you.” I added a pinch of kinako—roasted soybean flourOkaa-sanalways used for winter treats—to the cocoa powder.
Lizzy laughed, then added, “If most weddings are like this, I think I’ll avoid it for a few more years.”
I chuckled and poured some milk in to heat. “You’re telling me.”
“And here you thought you had everything all figured out.”
“Is this really the time for an ‘I told you so’?”
Her smile dimmed. “Sorry, guess not. But is it terrible for me to say that I might actually prefer Mr. Collins this way?”
“I don’t,” I muttered, pulling open the bag of cocoa and sending a little puff of chocolate powder into the air. The kitchen filled with the comforting scent of chocolate and cinnamon. I pulled out another mug from the set my aunt had sent from Tokyo and washed the cup I’d used yesterday.
“How could you not? He’s so much friendlier and less pompous.”
“He’s too friendly. Him being awkward and pompous was precisely why I agreed to marry him. Now I feel like I can’t predict his next move, and I hate that. It’s like I’m married to a stranger!”
“To be fair, you already were sort of married to a stranger,” she said. “You two hardly knew each other.”
“Be serious, Lizzy.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “I want you to come to Rosings Park.”
Her eyes widened. “What? Why? Seeing Lady Catherine at your wedding yesterday was bad enough, but seeing her two days in a row is terrible.”
“Because you’ve done this before.”
