Laurie Brown by Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake Page A

room as myself.”
    “I’m getting a headache. You can’t be in the same room as you?”
    “That’s about the gist of it.”
    Josie paced and rubbed her temples. “If you are both in the same room, it would create an anomaly.” She looked at him. “What
     happened to you when he, the other you, walked into the parlor?”
    “I was...pushed by...something into another room. Right through the wall as if I had no substance at all. And that’s another
     thing. I can’t fully materialize. No matter what I try.”
    “You look pretty solid right now.”
    “Only to you.That maid didn’t see me at all.My own mother can’t see me.”
    His voice broke a little on that last statement. She hadn’t thought about how he would be affected by revisiting his youthful
     reality. She sat beside him on the windowsill.
    “We’ll think of something,” she promised. She wasn’t sure what, but something. “Maybe we should leave and come back later,
     or earlier?”
    “I’m afraid we only have this one chance.”
    “Why? Can’t you remember how you did it? You do know how to get us back, don’t you?”
    “I can get us back, but the trip will use a great amount of energy. Even if we left right now, I most likely will be out of
     contact for a number of years, ten or twenty, maybe more.”
    “That’s not so bad,” she lied. She could be forty the next time she saw him.
    “That will be too late to help Amelia save the castle,” he continued.
    “No it won’t. I’ll help her all I can. The Regency-themed inn is actually a great idea.We can invite visiting professors and
     get certified for guests to earn college credits.We’ll have special events for Jane Austen fans.We’ll...”
    “It won’t be enough to save the south wing. I’m afraid even Amelia is unaware of the extent of the damage years of neglect
     have caused.”
    “Then when you come back I’ll...”
    “Stop,” he said gently. He hadn’t wanted to tell her the rest of the consequences. But she was making plans that would deprive
     her of the life she was meant to have. A life he couldn’t give her.“When Amelia dies without a direct heir, the property will
     go to a distant cousin. I’ve never met him, but if he has a lick of sense, he’ll tear down the decrepit south wing.”
    “And you won’t be there to stop him.”
    “More than likely I won’t be there to ask him to preserve it. I’ve always returned to my suite of rooms in the south wing,
     and when it’s gone...”
    “Limbo forever?” Josie blinked back tears.
    “I’m not sure what will happen.”
    Josie jumped up. “Then we will have to make this chance successful.”
    “Without my help, you can’t...”
    “I’ve managed so far.”
    “Two whole hours.”
    She resumed her pacing.“This might even work out better than having you here...in the flesh, no, in the materialized...oh,
     you know what I mean. In the way you’d planned.Think about it.”
    “I am trying not to.”
    “Stop sulking. Look, since no one else can see you, you can go anywhere.You could snoop out stuff I would never know without
     my gadgets.”
    “Do you mean eavesdrop?”
    “Oh, don’t give me that lemon-sucking face. You’ll be doing it in the name of science, or rather in the name of...oh, never
     mind. Just remember you’re doing it for Amelia.”
    “And myself. Self-service is hardly noble no matter how you phrase it.”
    “When you protect your family, you protect yourself at the same time.You are a Thornton.”
    “If I agree,what sort of information do you need?”
    Josie grabbed her reticule and pulled out her notebook. Making lists helped her organize her thoughts.“I’ll need to know where
     they’ll hold the séance. I can examine the room before it starts to check for hidden wires and trick furniture.Then...”

Six
    “T O WHOM ARE YOU SPEAKING?”MRS. BINNS asked as she entered Josie’s bedroom. “No one. Just myself. Bad habit.”
    The older woman stopped stock-still in the