Let the hell storm begin.
“I told you one minute I was someplace else, and the next, in your pasture.”
Millie nodded. The duke glared. “Well, that someplace else was a parking lot in the year two-thousand and twenty-five. I don’t know how it happened, but apparently, I traveled back in time.”
She held her breath as the man and woman on the chaise stared blankly. The mantel clock ticked away the seconds, and neither moved nor spoke. In an effort to dampen the tension, she stood and walked to the window.
A soft click from behind her made her turn, and her gaze collided with the empty space on the chaise where the duke had been sitting.
Chapter Sixteen
“Iguess he didn’t like what I said, but I knew it would come as a surprise.” Haven plopped down next to Millie, hanging her head.
“My dear, surprised isn’t the word I would use. I think flabbergasted is more appropriate.” Millie held her gaze, her piercing blue eyes digging for the truth.
Haven shrugged. “I guess you’re right, and probably ready to get up and walk out, too.” She smiled crookedly.
“Don’t tell Logan, but I think I like crazy people.” Millie laughed, grinning brightly.
Relief flooded Haven. “Why?”
Millie leaned in and whispered, “The nobility have a misplaced sense of the serious. It bleeds them of all hilarity. Crazy people are entertaining. I like to be entertained.” She laughed and gave Haven’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “You aren’t crazy, dear. I believe every word you said.”
Her heartbeat screeched to a halt. “You do?”
“When I first met you, I knew you were intelligent, interesting, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. Believe it or not, the older you get the less fun you have. When you’re young, you can dance the night away under theglimmering light of a thousand candles. When you’re old, they banish you to the far reaches of the ballroom, where you’re required to sit and glance about all the young bucks and their antics. I would much rather be dancing.” Millie laughed again.
Haven beamed. She couldn’t help it, she liked Millie. “Thank you for your...uh...interest in me. I wish your nephew would give me a chance.” She also wished she could go back to where he’d pushed her into the rock. The watch had to be there.
Millie’s expression turned thoughtful, almost sad. “My nephew has been through a lot in his life. Understandably, those things have made him the man he is. Also, he can’t read you like I can. Logan isn’t going to be as easy to convince. Give him time, dear.”
“Time is something I don’t have. I have a life in 2025 I need to get back to.” She hadn’t spent five years working her butt off just to get stuck in 1817 without the chance to start her life over.
Like a train blindsiding a moped, she knew what it would take to get the duke to believe her. “I have an idea.”
Millie’s bright eyes turned radiant, and excitement spread across her face. “What is it?”
“When I landed in the pasture, I had a bag with me, and inside is a bunch of stuff from 2025. Once he sees them, he’ll have to believe me.”
Millie jumped in with both feet. “I’ll have Logan send a footman.”
She held up a staying hand. “No, no. I need to go myself. No offense, but where I’m from you can’t trust people to handle your private things.” She didn’t like the idea of a stranger going through her bag. Who knew what he’d think about the strange things he’d find.
Millie nodded in understanding. “Are you sure the bag came with you, and the items inside will convince my nephew?”
“Absolutely.”
Nodding, Millie walked to the door. “This is going to be marvelous.” Her smile was mischievous on her otherwise mature face.
“She’s a bloody loon,”Logan exclaimed, pacing before Harry who lounged cross-legged on the settee. “She claims she’s from the year two-thousand and twenty-five. Not only is it ludicrous, but it’s also impossible.” He stopped and poured another drink.
“Well, old man, I think it’s time you called the magistrate. He can put her where she belongs—Bedlam.”
When he pictured Miss Edwards huddled in squalor within the walls of Bethlem Royal Hospital, he shuddered. Bedlam, as it was affectionately called, was a place of nightmares, hopelessness, and death. Of the hundreds who entered its doors, few left, and those that did were never the same. Hollow shells where vibrant souls used to be. Something twisted in his chest at the image of the flames in her fiery jade eyes slowly fading, the brilliant gems replaced by two dull, lifeless rocks. No, she didn’t belong in Bedlam, but she sure as hell didn’t belong in his home.
“No.” He tightened his fists.
Harry quirked an eyebrow. “What will you do with her? You can’t keep her locked up.”
