“Didyouever see anything strange?”
He turned around to signal a need to have his other side scratched, leaving Aurelia none the wiser about what he might have seen in the shop after hours.She obliged him, then stood and gathered her dishes.It was just past nine o’clock, and she was eager to get downstairs.
A few minutes later, Aurelia caught sight of herself in her bedroom’s full-length mirror.She was dressed in jeans and a fuzzy jumper.Would it be silly of her to change into something more formal?All the characters last night had been in dresses and suits, so maybe she ought to smarten up for the occasion?She opened the doors to the closet, eyes wandering over her options.A simple black dress with white spots might work—it had an empire waist, similar to Elinor’s and Marianne’s Regency dresses, and wasn’t too low-cut or short for a gathering of nineteenth-century characters.Aurelia changed into the dress, then realized she’d also need a pair of tights.She sighed; if she was going to do the thing, she might as well do it properly.
Once she was at the top of the stairs that led down to the shop, she called Fezz, but he remained curled up in the warm spot she’d left on the living room floor.
“Suit yourself.”
Aurelia made her way down the stairs, suddenly nervous for what may or may not be on the other side of the door.She closed her eyes for a long beat.What a difference a day made—tonight she was no longer hoping to see an empty shop.
Exhaling, she opened the door to find it quiet and dark, and her heart sank.The shop looked just as it had when she’d gone upstairs for dinner—the blinds were closed; the lights were off; and there wasn’t a living soul, or embodied fictional character, to be found.
Although disappointed, Aurelia quickly reminded herself that last night the characters hadn’t appeared right away, but instead she had woken up to find herself surrounded by them.Heartened somewhat, she walked down the spiral staircase.Strong coffee was in order if she was going to stay awake to meet them, so she set about making it and then sat at her desk, mug in hand, waiting.It was nine forty-five.
Two hours later, and Aurelia was struggling to keep her eyes open.The novelty and excitement had worn off, multiple cups of coffee were no longer working to keep her awake, and she was now tired and finding it more and more difficult not to assume the worst—that the characters wouldn’t reappear and that the past few nights had been unique, one-off events borne out of her own exhaustion and grief.How much longer should she wait for something that might never happen again?Something that might never have happened in the first place…
Slowly, she began to tidy up the desk, taking her coffee mug and a box of biscuits to the back room.As she stood at the bottom of the spiral staircase, she could hear Fezz rattling the door handle upstairs.Picturing him on the other side of the door, standing on his hind legs to bat at the handle, Aurelia sighed.She knew if she went upstairs now, she likely wouldn’t return to the shop that night.What was the point, really?Clearly she’d gotten herself worked up over a dream, or a delusion brought on by the heightened emotions of the past few days.It had been interesting to consider that the shop might hold some secrets left undiscovered, but it was all too unlikely.
She pulled herself up the spiral staircase, turned off the lights, and opened the door to let Fezz out.He wound around her legs, then walked directly to the window seat, ignoring her now that he’d gotten what he wanted.
“You’re here for the night, Fezz.Keep an eye on things, eh?”
The mantel clock below began tolling midnight.Aurelia looked back across the shop and was about to pull the door closed behind her when something glimmering and white caught her eye.No, not white exactly, more like the color of parchment or the pages of a book.She stepped toward the railing of the mezzanine and looked down into the shop.
From the stacks of books on the Recommended Reads table rose a collection of off-white mists, each bearing printed words that moved and shifted as the mists swirled above the table.They were just like the mist that had appeared when Vronsky tried to touch her hand the night before, or when that other man had put his hand through a book.Each grew and expanded above the books, then spilled over the table and onto the floor.Aurelia felt goosebumps spread over her skin as she gripped the handrail.
What was happening?
When each mist touched the floor, it rose into a column, forming a human shape.Soon the parchment and ink swirls resolved into skin, clothes, and hair, so that once again she saw the characters she’d met the night before.As each one materialized from their respective cloud of printed words, they looked around the shop but didn’t seem at all surprised to find themselves outside of their own stories.Some patted down their clothes or hair, while others seemed to hardly consider their surroundings as they continued conversations or found places to sit with needlework or books they’d brought with them.
As the characters took shape, the shop’s dark interior brightened.It was as if the shop were illuminated by the soft glow of a dozen chandeliers with wax candles reflecting across the wrought iron of the mezzanine’s railing and the rows of books.Though the mysterious light wasn’t coming from the shop’s fixtures, but some hidden source.
A smile spread across her face as each character appeared and made themselves at home in the shop.Tears filled her eyes but, unlike her tears of the past few months, these were tears of joy and absolute wonder at what she was seeing.It was happening again—they were here again!
Aurelia surveyed the crowd below and saw Laurie standing near the table, looking up at her.She smiled and nodded to him, and he made a modest bow.
“Won’t you join us, Aurelia?We require a hostess.”
Although she would have been happy just to observe the characters from afar, Aurelia quickly walked to the spiral staircase and did her best not to trip down it in her excitement.Sergeant Cuff was waiting for her at the bottom.
“I am gratified to see you again, miss.Thank you for your hospitality.”
“I’m happy to see you again, Sergeant Cuff.I wasn’t sure whether I would—or could.”
“You doubted, even though many here indicated they had met your aunt and ancestors?”he teased.
“I’m ashamed to say that I did,” Aurelia admitted.“It seemed too wonderful to be true, but I’m glad I was wrong.”
She caught herself beaming, happiness radiating out of her like the mysterious light that filled the shop.
One by one, the other characters approached her to say hello.As she greeted them she spotted Fezz, who’d come down from the mezzanine behind her, winding through the characters to claim a spot on the armchair.He seemed to see or at least be aware of them, though he clearly wasn’t any more troubled by the characters as he was by the customers that came in and out of the shop each day.As he passed Marianne, his tail twitched and caught at the edge of her dress, momentarily releasing a cloud of words.Neither Fezz nor Marianne seemed to notice.He simply leapt onto the chair and promptly began a bath.
Soon, Aurelia started talking with Rachel fromThe Moonstone, who was interested in learning more about how she ran the bookshop all on her own.But Aurelia had a hard time focusing because she was constantly thinking of new questions for Rachel and the other characters.Time felt precious when she was unsure whether she would get another night with them.Just as she had the night before, though, she tried to relax into the experience and—as Antonia would often tease her—‘live in the now.’The ‘now,’ at this moment, was a miraculous adventure and she was content to sink into it.
14
Evenafterafewhours of chatting with the characters, Aurelia’s questions about what she was experiencing kept multiplying.Determined to find answers, she found Sergeant Cuff, who seemed to know the most about the magic of the shop, and asked if they could sit and talk.He agreed, and they made their way to the window seat upstairs.
