Down the Rabbit Hole

They sealed their agreement in the traditional way, so it was quite a little while before Weston brought up his next item for discussion.

“The coin, Alice.” She was tucked against him on the sofa, and he thought she might have fallen asleep. “The very magical coin.” He felt her nod and kissed the top of her head.

“Did you ever actually wish on the coin, Wes?”

When he shook his head, she nodded. “Neither did I.”

“And I am not going to start now, since I already have my heart’s fondest wish.”

“There are any number of practical things we could ask for.”

“If you want to make a wish, I will fetch the coin from the conservatory where the artist is finding the proper place for it in my portrait.”

“You are having it added to the portrait? What a wonderful idea.” Alice sat upright and patted her hair, which did nothing to make it look less tousled. “It will let Miss Amy, Mr. West and Mr. Arbuckle know it is now firmly entrenched in the nineteenth century.”

“Yes, thank you. I think they will appreciate it.”

“Let me think about a wish for a day or so. I am so happy now that to ask for more seems selfish.”

“Only a day or so, Alice, if you please.” He narrowed his eyes, considering his decision once again. “I want to send the coin on its way. I want it to go somewhere, anywhere else but here.”

Alice laughed. “You do not want to have a tussle with it over who is actually in charge?”

“You could put it that way. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am afraid of what will happen to Westmoreland if wishes run rampant.”

“But how will you, as you said, ‘send it on its way’?”

“Anne’s disgraced lady’s maid will be leaving Westmoreland. I thought that we could ask her if she would like to take charge of it, after explaining its peculiarities, of course.”

“Of course.” Alice thought about it. “What in the world makes you think she would be interested?”

“I hate to admit it, but I was holding the coin when the thought came to me. According to the butler, Martha has held the coin too. I suspect she made a wish.”

“Oh dear,” Alice said, raising her hands to her cheeks. “I see why you would rather the coin be somewhere else.”

“Thank you,” Weston said with real relief. He felt as though he were somewhere between a fool and a coward.

“I would suggest that you give Martha some financial support. Quietly, so no one thinks unkind thoughts. It may be a while before she is able to find another position.”

“An excellent notion. And a letter of reference from my soon-to-be countess would help as well.” He took her arm. “Let’s find her now and prepare her for an adventure so that we can begin on our own.”

Arm in arm, they left the library. Weston felt the coin warm his hand and knew they had made the right decision. They no longer needed a magic coin and, for more reasons than one, he would be happy to share its magic. He was certain that he and Alice would have quite enough adventures without it.





ILOVE


ELAINE FOX





For Enrique. And Siri.





CHAPTER ONE




It happened so fast. The dumping. Jeremy and Macy were sitting on the patio of their favorite café, on a strangely balmy day in November, when Macy stood up, said she’d had enough and left.

Well, maybe she’d said a little more than that, but Jeremy couldn’t remember exactly, and the gist was the same.

At first he’d thought she was kidding. In general, women didn’t dump Jeremy Abbott, though that wasn’t why he’d been floored. It wasn’t until he saw her shoes heading past the table—he’d been looking at his phone at the time—and glanced up to see her striding toward the patio gate, curls bobbing, shoulders straight, purse bouncing off her hip, that he realized she’d been serious.