Chapter Six

The inn was surprisingly close to Duncan’s family estate. I soon found myself immersed in a deep copper tub filled with soothing lavender scented water, while the heat of the fireplace sent warm waves over my exposed flesh. 

I was in heaven.

I’d learned from various covert conversations that the woman they mistook me for was Margaret-Jane Bush.  I found this interesting since my given name was also Margaret–Jane and I’d shortened it to Jane.  She’d shortened hers to Margaret.

It was remarkable enough that we shared a name, but the fact that we looked the same topped the scales of uncanny. 

I found a small portrait of Lady Margaret and was amazed by the resemblance. It could have easily been me who’d sat for the artist.  Not only did we look alike, but I soon discovered we wore the same size when Elizabeth helped me dress for dinner. I marveled over the fit of the yellow dress with orange underlay.  The delicate embroidered flowers trailed down its front, encouraging the eye to admire the matching embroidered slippers.  It would have been considered garish in my lifetime, yet quite in style there.  After the baroque style wig was fitted to my head, I looked at myself as best I could in the thick, hazy mirror and smiled.  I looked and felt like the lady they’d labeled me to be.

I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to ask about the label of “lady”, but each time I hesitated. Although I was being accepted as an amnesiac whose memory was slowly returning, I didn’t know how far I could carry the ruse.  Instead, I kept my eyes and ears opened for verbal and visual clues that seemed to be everywhere.

Although this was Duncan’s home, I got the impression Lady Margaret spent a tremendous amount of time there.  This was good. It meant she knew Duncan and my concerns of how to get close to him were over.

I was greeted by Lord Collier as I descended the broad, curved staircase to join him for dinner.  He’d brought the party from the inn with him and I could hear them conversing merrily in the dining room as we approached.  No one paid us much notice as he led me to my seat next to his.  I caught a bit of conversation here or there as we made our way up the twenty-six-foot mahogany table, but, in truth, I was so in awe of the massive table with its exquisite table settings and the elegantly decorated room that could probably fit my entire apartment in that I paid them as little attention as they paid me.  Clearly the earl was a man of wealth and he wasn’t afraid to show it.

As I settled into my seat, he called the table to attention.

“My distinguished guests, please welcome Lady Margaret back to our table,” he said in a calm, steady voice while he smiled and nodded toward me. “Lady Margaret has experience trying times and has suffered amnesia as a result. Of course ‘twill not last.  While it exists, we shall do our best to assist her with recall at every opportunity.”  He raised his glass and continued to smile while he looked at each and every one of his dinner guests. “Now, a toast to our beloved, Lady Margaret.”

I raised my glass in reply to their toast and savored the sweet fruity wine as it slid down my throat.  It was the first drink of quality I’d had since I’d arrived.  My entire body responded with a warm ‘thank-you’.  I was just about to dive into the tomato onion bisque one of the servants spooned into my bowl when my attention was captured by a small raucous at the other end of the exceedingly long table.

“I do not give a damn who she is or how dear my uncle thinks her,” bellowed a high pitched female voice.  “She was wrong for the mission and you know it. ‘Twas I who should have gone.  Damn you, Samuel, you know ‘twas I who should have gone, but would you speak on my behalf?  No!  Damn you to hell!”

I followed the words to the end of the table until my eyes settled on the hostile face of the petite beauty who spat them at her nearby dinner companion.  Even with her pinched up anger, her almond shaped, sapphire blue eyes sparkled against high cheek bones that framed a perfect aristocratic nose.  Her lips were pursed in anger, but I could tell they were well formed and probably a bit pouty when relaxed. Her eyebrows hinted of dark hair beneath her elaborate wig.  She would have been all the rage in theater.  Since I’d struggled against beauties just like this one for every part I managed to scrape up, I resented her on principle alone and the hairs went up on the back of my neck.

“Is there a problem?” I asked with more authority in my voice than I felt.

“Ignore her, m ‘lady,” said the man to my left, “Lady Lilith cannot move past her rejection for making the journey.”

“Truly?” I asked.

“She believes in her appointment based on her ancestors’ higher noble status. She is the first to break that chain and she cannot bear it,” he offered.

“’Tis understandable,” I replied.

“’Tis not true, Marcus, and you know it!” Lilly screeched, “I was the best selection.  You all know I was,” she said as she glowered at the earl with obvious resentment.  “I warned you about her.  I shant have returned empty handed.”

I had no idea what she meant, but it was clear Lady Margaret failed her mission.  What was she supposed to come back with? Better yet, where had Lady Margaret-Jane Chapman gone? 

It didn’t take long for me to discover the answers.

As the conversation progressed to a heated discussion that bordered on arguing, it came out that Margaret went into the future to bring back the earl’s son, Duncan.   Apparently, Duncan had succumbed to the wiles of a sorceress and when he finally came to his senses and tried to free himself from her clutches, she cast a spell that sent him whirling into the future. Since Duncan hadn’t mentioned this to me, I listened closely and tried to make sense of the story.

“You look confused,” Lilith hissed at me. “Did you conveniently lose memory of Lord Duncan?”

“That will do,” roared the earl, “I shall have no more of this at my table!”

“Why do you protect her?”  Lilith whined as she made to stand up and leave.

“You shall remain seated, Lady Lilith, and we shall dine as do civilized people.  I shall allow no more criticism spoken at this table.  Is that understood?”  The earl bellowed while slamming the palm of his hand on the table for emphasis.

I’d attended some pretty uncomfortable dinner parties in my day, but never had I been the focus of the drama.  I tried to sooth my nerves by reminding myself that it was Margaret and not me who was really in the spotlight, but it didn’t seem to help much.  I wanted to be anywhere than at that table.  It took every ounce of strength I had to remain seated and participate in the table talk that went on around me.

I’m really glad I did.

Apparently Lady Margaret was the bride-to-be that the sorceress managed to keep from marrying Lord Duncan. Margaret, like me, was magical.  In fact, everyone at the table dabbled in magic in one way or another.  Margaret just happened to have a little more skill at it than the rest; with the exception of Lady Lilith Collier who claimed to be her equal. I assumed that the sense of familiarity I had when I first set eyes on Lord Collier was my recognition of his magic.  Since the only other magical person I’d been exposed to was Isabelle, it seemed a logical assumption.

I also learned that Lady Margaret’s parents were deceased and she’d been living with Lord Duncan’s family for some time now.  This explained the earl’s possessiveness over his future daughter-in-law. Apparently her ladyship was already like a daughter to him.  I made a mental note to be extra careful in his company.  If anyone would realize I was an imposter, it made sense that it would be him.

Lady Lilith was another one to watch out for. It wasn’t just because she was an adept magical being who had a bone to pick with Margaret, but because it turned out she was Duncan’s cousin three times removed who’d also been raised by the earl.  Apparently had her nose bent out of shape when Lady Margaret-Jane Chapman came into the household and usurped her territory.

“How many times are you going to let her return empty handed before you understand she is not for the task?” Lilith screeched at her dining companions, ignoring her uncle’s command.

I looked at the earl cautiously and watched his face turn various shades of scarlet.  Was he going to have a heart attack?  I’d seen a man in central park having one once and he looked almost identical to the earl right now.  This was a little scary.

“She shall go until she succeeds and that is all I wish to speak on the matter,” he said between gritted teeth.

“But…” Lilith started to argue again,

“No!  I mean true Lilith. One more word from you on this subject and you shall be banished to your room until I see fit to allow you in our company again.  Am I understood?” he roared.

“Clearly,” she said as she resumed her seat and picked up her spoon.

Dinner was exceptional.  The inn still utilized the two prong fork, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered an iron three pronged fork at my setting to assist me with consuming the roast boar and pheasant.  Although large and cumbersome in comparison to the eating utensils of the future, they were beautifully made and surprisingly efficient to use.  Unlike the inn that often used and reused stale bread -to the point you were wise to inspect it for maggots before you consumed it- to act as a trencher, the table sported beautiful wooden trenchers for eating and pewter platters and with onyx goblets for drinking. I was extremely grateful he reserved the silver dishware for super special occasions, since I knew the silver would seep into my food and cause toxicity. 

I don’t know how they managed to create such artful cuisine in what I would consider a primitive kitchen set up, but the cooks somehow managed to produce food that rivaled the best chefs and bakers in Manhattan.  Since I could barely boil water and abhorred the sight of dead animals, I can’t even explain how happy I was when I got passed over for kitchen helper at the inn and placed on laundry duty instead.

As the conversation around the table relaxed, I listened intently to see what else I could learn about Lady Margaret and her life at the estate.  When I heard them speak of Lady Vivian Everhoust at the far end of the table, I stopped eating and focused as best I could on what was being said.  To my relief, others at the table joined into the conversation and soon the entire dinner party was discussing Lady Vivian and her evil ways.  It was clear she was not a popular figure amongst the group.

From what I could gather, they thought Vivian teleported Duncan into a different time and place and they kept sending Margaret off in search of him.  Once she found him, she planned on reversing the spell and bringing him home.  It was clear they had no idea Duncan was vampire.

“I wish I remembered where to I’d ventured in search of Lord Duncan,” I whispered to the earl. “Perhaps then some information would return to me.”

“Our seers tell us Duncan is in the future.  We sent you there,” he replied quietly before popping a boiled potato in his mouth.

“How do you know?  I mean, the seers… how do they know?”  I asked timidly.

I hoped I wasn’t being too obvious.

“Dear child, do you remember nothing?” the earl asked in surprise.

I shook my head.

“Dear, dear,” he reached over and patted my hand, “never mind. ‘Twas a challenge to send you that far into time.  Truthfully, I knew not if you would survive the trip.  A feat of such magnitude has ne’r been tried before. ‘Twas only with the assistance of Lady Vivian’s grimoire that we managed a’tall. She has retrieved it since then, of course,” he shrugged.

“When?”  I asked.

“When what my dear?” he said absent mindedly as he cut his meat into small and manageable bite size pieces.

“When did she retrieve it?”  I persisted.

He stopped eating and thought for a moment.

“Shortly after you teleported,” he replied as he continued to attack his venison with gusto.  “No matter…  We recorded what we needed before that happened.  You never risked being stuck in the future.”

“Did she know the Lady Margaret… I mean… did she know of my absence?  Did she have details?”  I asked anxiously.

The earl thought for a minute.

“I ne’r considered it. Hmm.  Had she been aware you traveled through time in search of my son, she would likely cast a spell to make you forget. Verily, if she did know about your journey, I am surprised you returned a’tall,” he said thoughtfully.  “The ways of Lady Vivian are wicked,” he shook his head in distaste, “I should be amazed she let you live.”

It broke my heart to realize the odds that Vivian hadn’t let Margaret live were pretty high.  My emotions were roaming everywhere.  I felt sad that Lady Margaret-Jane Chapman had been the victim of the evil Lady Vivian Everhoust, but I also felt sad and confused to discover that I was a dead ringer for Margaret.  Lord Duncan and Lady Margaret were childhood sweethearts and had almost made it to the wedding alter before he became the recipient of a vampire attack.  More than once he’d held me close and sworn his undying love for me, but was it really me?  Who did he see when he looked at me?  Was I just a fantastic find to replace the love that was stolen from him? I wasn’t sure and the possibility of it broke my heart. 

It suddenly hit me full force in the chest and overshadowed all of the other traumatic news of the evening.  I’d learned Duncan was gone.  This meant that he’d already been attacked and gone into hiding.  I’d miscalculated my timing.  I’d taken the risk and endured the hardships that followed for nothing.

The earl must have mistaken the mist in my eyes as a reaction to his comment about how surprised he was that I’d returned because he immediate rang for Elizabeth to take me to my room to lay down, declaring to the dinner party that I’d had a terrible ordeal and needed rest more than I needed food.  He had no idea how right he was.  Besides, their meals were far larger and more complex than the microwavable ones I was used in the future or the sparse portions I’d been given at the inn and I was beyond full.  I can’t imagine how they managed to fit it all into their small waist stomachers.  I’m sure if I ate too many meals of that proportion I’d double in size in no time.

I waited restlessly for Elizabeth to complete my toilet and leave.  I wanted… no, I needed to be alone with my thoughts. What had I done wrong with my calculations?  How long had Duncan been missing? Why hadn’t Duncan told me I was the image of Margaret? What was his reason for keeping such a significant thing quiet?  I thought we were completely open and honest with each other.  I know I had been.  I thought back on how I’d bared my soul to him; thinking all along he was doing the same.  Now, I discover he hadn’t.  What else had he kept from me? Did I even really know him?

The realization that I’d risked my life to go back in time for a man who was not even there and who wasn’t who or what I thought he was, shattered me to the core.

I blew out the candle and wept.