Austen’s entire body tensed, and he took another step forward. I grasped his hand and held him back. “It’s not worth it,” I said to him.
Mr. Maybrick lifted a corner of his mouth in a sardonic smile and then strode to the door. “I will take care of this mess,” he said to Father. “And I know just how to do it.”
With that, Mr. Maybrick was gone.
Father lowered himself into the chair behind his desk, and for the first time in his life, he looked old, weary, and defeated.
“You two will be married as soon as I can arrange it,” Father said without even looking at us. “Now leave.”
I started to speak, but he lifted his hand to silence me.
We walked out of Father’s study and stood in the front hall for a moment.
“I’m sorry, Kate,” Austen said. “This is not how I wanted our marriage to begin.”
“I know.” I put my hand over his and nodded. Even though Father had just told me that Austen and I would be married, it was the last thing I could think about now. There were so many other things pressing for my attention. “We’ll talk about it later.Right now I will go up and change, and then we need to go to the Public Records Office.”
Austen shook his head. “I’m going to follow Maybrick. I suspect that he knows who Jack is, and if that’s true, he’ll lead me right to his front door.”
I grasped his hand. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I’ll be fine.” He smiled. “You saw me in 1938, didn’t you? I was still alive.”
“I went to your house yesterday to speak to you, but you didn’t answer.”
“Maybe I knew it was best that we didn’t speak.” He kissed my forehead. “Get some rest, and as soon as I know who Jack is, I’ll be back. I promise.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
“No.” He smiled. “But I’ll be careful.”
I let him kiss me again and then watched as he left the house.
Exhaustion, hunger, and worry plagued me as I started up the stairs. Once all my needs were met, I planned to go to the Public Records Office and start searching for Bryant on my own.
I had to find him.
28
November 9, 1938
London, England
My eyes opened quickly the next morning as I woke up at 44 Berkeley Square and tossed my covers aside. Mama would still be asleep, but I couldn’t wait to talk to her.
“Mama,” I said gently after I entered her room and touched her shoulder, not wanting to startle her.
Her eyes fluttered open, then she sat up quickly. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t lose 1888,” I told her. “I was there yesterday.”
“What?” She frowned as she blinked a couple of times and readjusted on her bed. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t, either.” I quickly told her that Mary had been planning to leave Miller’s Court either way, and her friend Jane was more than likely Jack’s victim. It didn’t surprise me that Sir Rothschild wouldn’t know what Mary looked like, since he was not part of our lives in 1888. “So, I didn’t change history.”
“But you tried,” Mama said, frowning. “When Libby tried, even though she didn’t succeed, she still lost 1774.”
“She tried to stop Henry from going to Boston,” I told Mama. “But he still chose to go. The difference might be that Mary wasnever going to be killed. It was always going to be Jane. So I wasn’t changing anything.”
