Page 28 of The Girl Out of Time
Louisa released the hug, although she still held Emmeline by the shoulders as she took a step back and grinned at her. She was close to her age and had a friendly, round face, with caramel-brown eyes, made larger by thick, rounded spectacles.
“Oh, you’re so pretty. My brother is going to love you.” Louisa giggled. “I can’t believe we’re going to be sisters!”
Chapter 7
“Louisa, why don’t you show Miss Grey her quarters? She’ll be staying in the Emerald Room,” the duchess said. “You two go on. I feel a headache coming.”
They named their rooms?Emmeline scolded herself for her priorities; how were room names a problem when she had a fiancé out there?
Well,shedidn’t. Miss Grey did, but she currentlywasMiss Grey, or at least pretending to be. She wasn’t yet sure what was happening in this not-quite-like-a-dream place.
But what she was absolutely certain about was this: she was in knee-deep trouble.
“Yes, Mama.” Louisa looped her arm around Emmeline’s and led her to the foyer.
“And lend her some of your gowns, please. Miss Grey was attacked by highwaymen.”
“Oh, how terrifying!” Louisa’s gasp indicated excitement rather than horror. “Were any of them handsome?”
“Louisa!” the duchess scolded from the sitting room.
“Don’t mind Mama,” Louisa whispered to Emmeline as they went upstairs. “I can never do or say anything right for her.”
“I understand that very well.”
“I adore your dress, though. Fascinating style. Is that what’s fashionable in Wales?”
Emmeline detected no mockery behind Louisa’s words, so she simply said, “Yes.”
“I should love to go someday. Perhaps once you and Daniel are married, you can take me when you go visit your family? I’d love to see all the sheep—the Welsh Mountain, you know, the small ones—”
Emmeline blinked. This was rapidly devolving into a more nonsensical dream dialog.
“Here we are.” Louisa opened the door, leading Emmeline into a richly furnished bedroom deserving of its name. The plush deep green brocade furniture matched the canopy of the wide four-poster bed, decorated with sea-blue fringes. An intricately carved chest of drawers, a writing desk, a vanity table with a round mirror, armchairs with fluffy pillows—it was all incredibly fancy, but also old-fashioned, like a well-preserved palace room.
“This is where you’ll stay,” Louisa said. “But let’s go to my room for the dresses.” And Emmeline was carted off again, farther down the hallway, into a room similar in furnishings, only the fabrics were a mix of light pink and soft yellow, and it was clearly lived in. A shawl hung over an armchair, the writing desk was full of crumpled-up papers, and a stack of books was left on the bedside table, the top one proclaiming to beTheory of the Earth.
“These should all fit you.” Louisa laid out a bunch of dresses on the bed. “You’d look wonderful in pink. Mama keeps insisting on pink gowns,even though I’ve told her dozens of times it makes me look sallow. But the objection is coming from me and, therefore, is wrong.”
Emmeline looked over the dresses as Louisa ranted. They varied in materials, from light, almost sheer cotton to fine silk, but they all shared a high-waisted design. The high waist was coming back into fashion, and Emmeline owned a few such dresses herself, but these still felt off. The sleeves, whether long or short, were overburdened with ruffles and lace, as were the bottoms of the skirts. Then Louisa lay down a jacket in a fashion Emmeline had never seen before. The bodice was short, barely covering the chest, and the deep purple velvet had the braid trim of a military uniform.
“You can take them all.” Louisa swept up the dresses and dumped them into Emmeline’s arms. “Oh, I’m so happy you’re staying with us! Even if it’s only for a month.” She hugged her, crushing the dresses between them.
“Y-yes,” Emmeline squeezed out. Louisa finally let her retreat to her room. She deposited the dresses on her bed, then sat down next to them and bit her nails, rocking back and forth as she stared at a far wall.
If only I could be someone else. Be anywhere else, have a different family, a different life.
Had she made that happen?
All of this was too much for a dream. But how could she have altered reality? How could she have made a new life for herself? It didn’t seem possible—and yet, here she was, in the exact life she’d have imagined. A veritable palace to live in. A new name, a new family, a young woman who’d be her friend, a handsome young man as her fiancé …
And then there was Leon. She had no idea why she’d twist reality so he’d end up wounded, almost dead.
But Leon would be fine. The duchess said she’d take care of it, and Emmeline could do nothing more for him until he woke up. She breathed untilher shoulders relaxed. Maybe she shouldn’t be worried about this strange, alternate reality. She should enjoy it—it was what she’d wanted, after all.Yes. It would be like a play. She’d been whisked away to Neverland; she only needed to assume her part. The costumes were ready. The characters, she was getting familiar with.
She only needed a bit more information about the scenes.
Emmeline chose one of the less intense gowns—a day dress, cream with thin pink stripes—and headed downstairs. A footman stood in the foyer, motionless, like a statue clad in fine black-and-lavender livery. He said nothing, even as Emmeline went through the servants’ entrance.
