you did disrupt my and Cedric’s murder.”
“What could it mean, Jestyn? Why was I able to do that?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps when you felt the warmth of my hand you felt a portent of what was to come. You said that Cedric and I were accosted by highwaymen beyond the bridge. Well, we turned back because of the accident you caused with your light and went back to Halensford’s house.”
“Then, for whatever reason,” said Jane. “I’m very glad I caused you to return to Lord Halensford’s estate.”
There was a sudden silence between them as they gazed at each other. Then Jestyn spoke.
“Please remember not to call me by my given name, when we are with the staff or in company, Jane. You have already aroused a lot of suspicion with your clothing. I have tried to explain away your clothing and manner of speaking by telling them you are from the Colonies, but I can tell they don’t really believe me.
“Well, I trust that together we might find a way for me to return to my time. If I came here then I can go back – through the same gate or whatever it was that opened up and sent me here, Jestyn.”
“Gate?”
“Gates or portals are what they call them in fiction. Time travel in my time only exists in fiction, Jestyn. That was why it took a lot to convince me that I was no longer in my time but had shifted into another era. A lot of books have been written about people going back to the past or on to the future across fictional ‘gates’. Hopefully, that fiction had some basis in truth and that there may actually have been real cases of people going back in time. We must find the way for me to leave your age. I’m convinced the answer lies in the pendant. Since the pendant brought me here, it must also have the power to take me back, if we can only find the clue that connects our pendant with that “gate” or whatever it is.”
“We shall look through the family’s diaries and journals, and we will find it,” he assured her. “We must have faith we can accomplish it together.
“The doctor has said you must remain here at least a week; you can’t leave your bed for three days. Please agree to abide by the doctor’s orders.” There was an earnest look in Jestyn’s eyes that made Jane smile warmly at him.
“Tell me more about your time, the future,” he asked with boyish eagerness that was most appealing to Jane. She was alarmed at how attracted she was becoming to the real version of Jestyn Greywick. And she could feel the same attraction toward her in him. Sadly, that road led nowhere.
Jane took her bag and dumped the contents of it on the bed.
“Here are the keys I use to drive my car, Jestyn. Are there any keys in your time that resemble these? And this cardkey is the key to my hotel.”
“A card for a key? How does it work?”
“You insert the card in a slot at the door and an electronic “eye” reads it. A tiny green light flashes, opening the door at the same time and you turn the handle and push the door as it opens. Not everything is opened by cardkeys, though. Regular keys are still used in most things. But hotels and some companies, at least, have adopted them.”
“Amazing! And what do these other more normal-looking keys open?”
Greywick handled the keys in wonder, turning them over in his hand.”
“This key is used to turn on the motor of an automobile – a horseless carriage, driven by fuel – gasoline, or as the English refer to it, petrol.”
Jestyn handled the keys for a long time, turning them this way and that.
“This is my driver’s license,” said Jane, handing him her license.
Jestyn ran his fingers over the license.
“Amazing,” he said. “Is this miniature painting of you?” Jestyn gazed at Jane’s photo.
“It’s a photograph, not a painting,” said Jane, leaning over to look at the photo with him. “This photo was taken with the camera that’s inside my cell phone. Here, I’ll show you. Look into the camera and smile. Jestyn did