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waited expectantly until she stuttered out her name.
    “Er, Matilda Jacobs. You can call me Tilly. I’m American.”
    She immediately felt stupid, but Duncan at least seemed interested. Ashford waved, not looking up from his book.
    “How charming. From America, you say?” Duncan turned to Ashford. “Shall I prepare a room, Lord Ashford?”
    “A room?” Tilly piped up, wringing her hands.
    A room? For whatever reason, she hurried back to the corner, hoping what happened before would happen again. But maybe Lord Ashford was the one who made it happen. She pounded on the wall, then looked at him with desperation, willing everything back to normal.
    “It’s closed,” he said, still looking down at his book. He fluttered a finger at Duncan, who nodded and motioned for her to follow him.
    “What do you mean, it’s closed?” she demanded. “Can’t you open it?”
    Ashford raked his fingers through his hair and turned a page, his scowl growing darker as he continued to ignore her. Duncan came and took her by the arm.
    “It operates on a schedule,” he explained.
    “Yes, about that, Duncan,” Ashford said. “I have some things to discuss with you about that. I’ll need to speak to Adkins about it as well.”
    “Certainly. Perhaps while you’re preparing for the Chadwick ball?”
    That got Ashford to look up from his infernal notebook, the scowl melting into disbelief. “Surely I missed that? I’ve been in time travel purgatory for weeks.”
    “Sorry, but you’ve only been gone three days. I take it your trip went awry somehow? I mean, other than Miss Jacobs here? Were you able to get the young school teacher back?”
    Ashford groaned. “Yes, barely, and yes things went awry somehow, so I most definitely won’t be attending the Chadwick ball.”
    Duncan looked meaningfully at Ashford. “Jeremy is back in town, has been leaving messages for you. He should be there tonight.”
    This made him close the notebook altogether, and stand up. Tilly huffed, feeling invisible and getting angrier by the minute, a welcome relief from the fear of a moment before.
    “Jeremy’s back from France? Well, in that case, I shall certainly go.” He glanced her way as if only just remembering her existence.
    “Yes, hello.” She waved.
    “Get her something to wear, Duncan,” he said, making to leave the room.
    Her eye twitched and she looked down at her gown. “What’s wrong with this dress?”
    He strode forward and tapped the top button, his finger brushing close to her skin. “What’s this material?”
    She rolled the button between her fingers. It looked like mother of pearl but she suspected it was plastic due to the seam she felt along its side.
    “We don’t have that yet,” he said, before she could answer, then flounced the pretty lace at her sleeves. “And this is machine made, mass produced, not yet common in this time, and the fabric is most certainly synthetic—”
    “Okay, I get it,” she said, feeling hurt. “It’s just a costume. But why do I even need a different dress? Can’t I go back? My cousin will be out of his mind.” His eyes softened a bit before he looked away, exhaling long and hard. “What?” Her heart hammered against her plastic buttoned bodice. “Am I stuck here?”
    “A bit, yes.”
    “A bit? What does that mean? How long am I stuck here?”
    He sighed again, unable to meet her eyes. “Three months.”

Chapter 5

    Emma Saito was pissed as hell. It was the first and foremost thing she felt and she clung to it for dear life, afraid she would spiral into despair if she let it go. But she had to explain to Dexter what was going on before he completely lost it. So, she couldn’t lose it just yet, and she certainly couldn’t have the police coming. She wordlessly followed him as he searched each room, repeatedly trying his cousin’s phone, which of course she wasn’t going to answer.
    “Dexter, stop,” she finally said, surprised her voice came out sounding normal.
    How