Free Laurie Brown by Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake Page B

Josie reached for her notebook, only to realize she must have left her reticule in the parlor with her fan. Didn’t Regency
     women understand the value of pockets?
    “Pockets would ruin the line of your dress.”
    “I thought you couldn’t read my mind.”
    Deverell rolled his eyes. “Your thoughts were transparent to the most casual observer. You reached to your left wrist for
     something that wasn’t there. What would be hanging from your arm other than your reticule with your notebook? Then you patted
     your side where your usual modern attire of a jacket would have a pocket.A little huff of breath signaled your frustration.The
     interpretation is obvious.”
    “Fine,” Josie said, stifling her sigh of relief so he wouldn’t read anything into it. “Now what about your degree-of-materialization
     comment?”
    “Ah, yes. Back to the research.”
    “It’s the reason I’m here.”
    He cleared his throat. “As I told you before, everything I do uses energy.”
    “Of which you have a finite amount.”
    “Yes. As with many things I have attempted to do, full materialization uses a lot of energy. On a scale of zero to one hundred,
     I usually spend the majority of time in a five-percent materialization that uses very little energy.To an observer I would
     appear to be a shadow, or a wisp of smoke, or a stray beam of sunlight. Unremarkable.”
    “So a person who saw you would dismiss it.”
    “Correct. But I still maintain a presence and move from room to room as I desire. If I want to be seen, I can partially materialize.”
    “Does that mean partial like just your head or just a hand? Or like a...a...”
    “Ghostly image? Yes.”
    “Yes, what?”
    “Both. Either. The answer to your question is yes.”
    Josie was sure she’d rather not see just his head or other body parts, and she told him so.
    “It does save energy.”
    “I don’t care. It’s just too creepy.” Then it occurred to her to ask, “What happens if you run out of energy?”
    “Zero. Nothingness. Blackness.”
    When she saw the bleak look in his eyes, she immediately regretted bringing up the topic.“How long does it last?” she asked,
     knowing he would read her sympathy in her tone of voice.
    He shrugged off his distress. “I do try to avoid that particular situation, however it has happened in the past without a
     discernible pattern of recovery. Five years. Twenty years. What matters a few years when I have eternity?”
    Josie shivered, and this time she couldn’t blame the weather.
    “In anticipation of your next question,” Deverell continued, “the last time was when Amelia was a young woman. I blinked out
     of existence, and when I came to myself again, forty-five years had passed.”
    “Maybe that wasn’t what I would have asked,” Josie said even though he was right.
    “Liar. Do you know you blink three times after you tell a lie?
    “What percent were you manifested when I could see you, but the others could not?”
    “The usual. About five percent.”
    “What did you do differently?”
    He barked out a laugh. “Typical woman’s response.Why are my actions in question? I should think your ability to see me has
     more to do with you than with me.What did you do differently?”
    “Nothing. What could I have done? I don’t have the option of appearing or not appearing as the whim strikes me. I was there
     to learn to dance per your blasted list. Why were you there?”
    “As your instructor...”
    “Cecily and Ian did just fine without your help. They are the experts.”
    “Bah! What better expert than one who actually attended the assemblies and danced the dances they cobble together from bits
     and pieces? Research cannot recreate the excitement of a ball.After weeks of expectation, the evening finally arrives. Everyone
     dressed in their finest. The ballroom decorated in some theme or other and lit with thousands of candles. The joy of hearing
     music once again after the long silence of the countryside.The