“Yes, and what about the devices that people hold to their ears? I do believe they talk into them. Who are they talking to?”
“Women wear the most amazing shoes. How can they manage on such high heels? And the dresses are so short as to be embarrassing.”
He rather liked that part of this world, but was not about to say so aloud.
“And their reticules, Weston! They’ve grown to the size of a portmanteau.”
“What does one need to carry besides a handkerchief and vinaigrette?” he asked.
“In this day and age, who can say?” She looked around the room and leaned closer to him, not quite whispering. “Another thing I noticed is that women are out and about on their own. Not a maid or footman in sight. Do you think it is safe?” She leaned back and answered her own question. “Of course it is or they would not do it.”
Arbuckle came to the table with two cups and returned to gather a third. They were not proper cups but made of some kind of fortified paper. The smell emanating from them was comforting and familiar.
Arbuckle placed packets on the table and told them it was sugar, which they were welcome to add to the coffee.
Weston tasted it first, and his eyes widened in surprise. “This is the most amazing coffee I have ever tasted. Where is it from?”
Arbuckle looked relieved. “It is the standard Starbucks blend. Some people think it too strong.”
“It’s wonderful,” Weston said as he took another taste.
Alice reached for some sugar.
“Aha,” Weston said. “I knew you would add some. Your taste for sweet things has come forward two hundred years with you.”
“And you brought your superiority with you, as well.”
He recognized this tendency Alice had to criticize him as a strategy to encourage a distance she wanted and he did not. He knew from past experience that when she was honest with herself and with him that her words were completely different.
They drank in silence for a few minutes, observing the chaos around them.
One couple was having an intense low-voiced discussion at a table next to them. Two others at different tables were reading something on a device in front of them and then tapping wildly with their fingers, one occasionally stopping to run his hand through his hair. They seemed oblivious to the line of people waiting for service or the loud voices of the waitresses calling out the items that were ready.
“Is there a way to copy this business?” He had not intended to speak aloud, but once said, it could not be called back.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Weston, why would you want to copy this business when there are already dozens of coffeehouses in London alone?” Alice said. “And surely you would not go into trade! Apart from that shocking idea, what does this Starbucks offer that is not already available, besides wonderful coffee and good lighting? Neither of which we can bring back with us without altering the continuity of time.”
“The space-time continuum,” he corrected. Weston turned to Arbuckle. “And what is the space-time continuum?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea.” Arbuckle looked profoundly apologetic. “All I know is the magic coin enabled Miss Amy and Mr. West to travel to your home and for you to travel here.”
“Exactly what is this magic coin?” Weston asked. “You mentioned it before when I was less inclined to believe you.”
“Sir, I can tell you all I know in a few sentences. A shipment of coins bound for India was lost when the ship sank just off the Goodwin Sands in 1810. The ship was found by treasure hunters in 1987, and among the coins was one that was different from all the rest. It grants wishes.”
“Do you have proof?” Weston asked.
“It does sound rather like a grown-up fairy tale, Mr. Arbuckle,” Alice said with a bit more diffidence than before.
“Yes, it does, miss, and yes, my lord, I have proof. I have seen the coin grant wishes time and again.”
“I will take your word, for the moment, but now I want to know how you knew the coin needed to travel back into the early nineteenth century. Indeed, to before it was even minted.”
“Ah, my lord, because the coin had to be there to grant the wishes that are the heart of its mission. I was more than relieved when Miss Amy and Mr. West were willing to take it. I worried about how the coin would travel through time ever since I saw it in your portrait when it was loaned to a special exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.”
“I fear this is beginning to sound like nonsense again,” Weston said.
“Really, Wes, why do you say that?” Alice asked, her head tilted to one side in a gesture of challenge he recognized. “Is it any more fantastical than the two of us skipping ahead two hundred years?”
Before he could answer Alice turned to their host.
“Mr. Arbuckle,” Alice asked, “since you cannot explain the space-time continuity, then how can you be sure the coin can bring them back and return us to our more familiar world?”
“There is no doubt in my mind that Amy and Mr. West will return to their rightful place, as will you,” Arbuckle answered promptly. “Because the coin has enabled me to travel through time as well.”
“You’ve traveled through time?”
“Why did you not tell us that sooner?”
Both of them spoke at the same time.
“Until Amy and Mr. West traveled I thought I, as keeper of the coin, was the only one who could do so.”
“But you have not traveled back, have you?” Weston hated to point out the obvious, but he needed answers.
“No, because I assume my work here is not done. But I have complete faith that when the time is right, we will all be where we belong.”
“Faith in the reality of space and time travel?” Alice asked.
“The space-time continuum,” Weston corrected.
“No,” Arbuckle continued, “I have faith in God. My experience has led me to believe that there are dimensions or realms we do not see or understand. But the Divine does, and He makes all things possible.”
“Including magic coins?” Weston did not share such a broad view of heaven, earth and all between, but Alice seemed more at ease with an explanation that was based on religion instead of science, for she smiled a little and nodded.
“Do you know when that will happen?” Weston hated to spoil her happy mood, but he could not resist asking.
“I have no idea.”
“That seems to be one of your favorite phrases, sir, and it is not at all reassuring.” Weston felt compelled to add, “Though I do appreciate your honesty.”
“I know it will happen, and it will not matter if you are in the library or in Paddington Station. You will return to exactly where they are standing, and they will return here.”
Alice stood up. “So there is no need for us to rush back to the town house? We may explore more of the twenty-first century?”
Excellent questions, the earl thought. If they could explore more he might be able to act on the idea he had had at the bookshop. Namely, did his visit to the future hold a way for him to repair the West family fortunes?
For the first time Mr. Arbuckle hesitated. “I am not sure how wise it is for you to know every detail of modern life.”