Page 68 of No Place in Time

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. They needed this. A man around, even for a little while. Someone kind.” She paused. “I needed it too.”

Finn set down his bowl. “Alys…”

She held up a hand. “Don’t. I knew what this was. Ye were always leavin’. I just… I hoped maybe…” She stopped, shook her head. “Doesn’t matter now.”

Finn said, “What you did for me. Taking me in. Caring for me when I had nothing to give. I won’t forget it. Not for the rest of my life.”

She looked away then, out the window, at nothing.

“Go to yer woman,” she said. “I know there’s someone. Maybe that noble lady, the yellow-haired one, who came with Lady Isabel.” Her voice was steady, but her eyes were moist. “I want ye to be content.”

She stood, touched his shoulder briefly, then went to her bed behind the curtain. Finn watched the curtain fall behind her and sat for a long time without moving.

Tomorrow. He would find a way to Cecily. The rest—the machine, the escape, the impossible future—would have to follow.

Finn lay by the hearth, the fire’s warmth a small comfort against the chill of the unknown. Sleep did not come easily. When it did, it was not Cecily’s face he saw, but the fresh footprints in the mud outside the window.

36

CECILY

1299

Finn. Alive. The chapel ruins. His arms around her, his mouth on hers. It had all been real.

Cecily woke with the phantom taste of his kiss on her lips. He was coming for her. They would take the machine, he’d promised, and vanish where Julian could never find them. All she had to do was survive the waiting.

The morning passed slowly. Cecily tried to focus on the seamstress who came to adjust her wedding gown, standing still while the woman pinned and tucked the blue silk. Her uncle stopped by to tell her Julian would visit in a few days to finalize arrangements. She nodded, smiled, and said all the right things.

All the while, her mind was elsewhere. With Finn. Wondering if he was working on the machine right now. Wondering how long it would take him to fix it.

By afternoon, restlessness had taken hold. She walked the halls, looked out every window that faced the path to Malethurst Hall. There was no sign of him. No message.

She told herself to be patient. He needed time to repair the machine, but doubt was harder to silence than she expected. What if something had happened? What if Finn had changed his mind?

She was standing at the solar window when she heard a carriage. Her heart leapt. But when she looked down, it wasn’t Finn. It was Isabel.

Cecily hurried downstairs. Isabel was already in the hall, speaking to Uncle Stephen. She looked pale and drawn. When she saw Cecily, she looked like someone who had come to deliver bad news and hadn’t yet decided how.

“Lady Isabel,” Stephen was saying. “What a pleasant surprise. Will you stay for the evening meal?”

“No, thank you. I need to speak with Cecily. Privately, if I may.”

Stephen looked between them, then nodded. “Of course. Use the library.”

Something is wrong, thought Cecily as she led Isabel to the library. Isabel wouldn’t have come all this way without good reason.

Isabel closed the door behind them and turned. “You need to leave. Now, if you can.”

Cecily stared at her. “What is it?”

“Last night, Benedict came to Julian. I was in the next chamber. I overheard everything.” Isabel’s voice was low and urgent. “Benedict followed you. To the chapel ruins. He saw you with that man, that soldier who was helping the widow Alys.”

Cecily’s legs suddenly felt weak. She held onto Isabel’s arm to steady herself.

“That’s not all of it,” Isabel continued. “Then Benedict followed the soldier to Alys’s cottage. Benedict watched through the window while the soldier worked on something. A machine of some kind.”