Celine exclaimed with glee upon seeing it. “Oh, Papa! It is lovely,” she said in French, jumping from her chair and throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
“Open it,” he said.
Celine opened it and music filled the room. “Oh, Papa! It is the music from my first ball! How lovely. Thank you, Papa!”
After another hug, he then bid her adieu and left the room. Celine set the music box down on the table next to her, admiring it several times through dinner.
Celine explained to them as they ate that the journey to Celeste’s house would take them about half a day by carriage. She informed them if they left by midmorning, they would be there in time to rest and change before dinner. They would eat a light picnic along the way. Celine was sure that her father would be pleased to have the Carlyle’s traveling with her given that her nanny was quite aged and was not the most capable traveling companion for the journey.
They made light conversation for the rest of dinner before Celine excused herself to make her own preparations for the trip. Before she went upstairs, Michael took a chance in asking her if she had ever seen or heard of The Book of the Dead, but Celine shook her head, telling them she had never heard of such a book. Defeated, the two also retired to their rooms, hoping that their travels would bring them closer to the book.
The quartet set off the following morning around 10 a.m. in a horse drawn carriage. Michael and Damien were not prepared for the ride offered by the antiquated mode of transportation. The carriage was bumpy, and they were knocked about on the less-than-smooth roads continuously, both of them wishing they were still in the time of modern suspension.
They were grateful for the stop at midday to eat their picnic lunch and allow the horses to rest. As they approached 3 p.m., signs of life in the form of a small town appeared through the carriage window. They had reached civilization again so Celeste’s house could not be far.
The carriage slowed to a stop outside a grand looking house on the edge of town. Celeste, it seemed, had done rather well for herself when she married. Michael and Damien saw several people waiting outside the home.
As they exited the carriage, they were met by a couple who looked identical to the Theodore and Celeste they had met in their time. This couldn’t be a coincidence. They must be the same people. They must also have the strange gift of immortality that Celine seemed to possess. Yet, Damien still didn’t quite understand how she possessed it since he had grown up with her. He had known her as a child, yet in this time, she was a teenager already. Was she reborn every so often?
When Celine emerged from the carriage, her sister ran to her, throwing her arms around her and greeting her warmly in French with a hug and several kisses. The two talked excitedly for a few moments before they all entered the house. Theodore welcomed them all, seeming pleased to have more guests to entertain. As luck would have it, the couple was entertaining Duke Marcus Northcott for a fortnight and they hoped the additional guests would make for more lively dinner conversations. Theodore was sure that the Duke would appreciate having additional people to regale with his tales of world travels. He left the staff to show Michael and Damien to their rooms while he returned to finish some business before preparing for the evening meal. Celine, along with Celeste, withdrew to her room to get settled in, the two sisters disappearing down the hall in a cloud of giggles.
That evening for dinner, Theodore had lent some clothes to Michael and Damien since they told him their trunks had been lost in an unexplained accident and they’d had no time to track them down with the unexpected travel. The two found the new clothes equally uncomfortable, but arrived for cocktails before dinner. The day held one final surprise for them. They were astounded to meet Duke Northcott, who they had known as the Duke in their time, the source of all the problems for the Buckley family and townspeople of Bucksville.
The two sisters, Celeste and Celine, joined them in short order. Celine wore a beautiful sapphire blue dinner dress that brought out the blue in her eyes. Celeste introduced her to Duke Northcott. “Duke Northcott, please allow me to introduce my sister, Celine Devereaux.”
He took her hand, his eyes never leaving hers. “Why, Mrs. VanWoodsen, I thought you to be a rare beauty, but I think your sister may have you beaten.”
“Oh, please, you’ll make us blush,” Celeste said, batting her eyelashes. She always excelled at flirting with men.
The ladies moved away to sit on the couch with Damien and Michael joining them in two nearby armchairs. Duke Northcott and Theodore remained removed from the group, having a more private conversation. Marcus never removed his eyes from Celine.
“She is exquisite, Theodore,” he said, sipping his brandy.
“Yes, well the Devereaux women are both quite beautiful, it runs in the family.”
“And you said she has talent?”
“Yes, oh yes, she does. Perhaps even more than Celeste. Of course, it’s raw, and she is not aware of what she is capable of but I think under my tutelage she will be quite a force.”
“Absolutely not!” Marcus asserted.
Theodore looked at him, confused. “You don’t want her trained?”
“I will train her. She will
