Time Travel With a Rude English Boy from the Nineteenth Century.
Chapter Fourteen
PAYTON’S POV
I watched Dacre exit the room in a hurry.
“I wonder what that was all about,” I frowned. My father smiled and shook his head. Before I could ask him what he was thinking, my mother whispered, “Payton, you’ve grown so stunning. I don’t know how your father could bare to ever leave you.”
“Darling,” Dad assures my mother softly, “I could never leave you.”
Her words linger in my mind and agitate me. “That’s right, I had almost forgot.” I said, stepping away from the both of them. They look startled at my sudden mood swing. I clench my hands at my sides to keep from trembling with anger.
“You left me!” I accuse my father harshly. “You abandoned me when I was just a kid! Do you know how long I waited for you? Are you aware that I sat on my doorstep every day for the last ten years for hours, waiting for you to return? I thought you were kidnapped! I thought you were murdered! But I refused to mourn the loss of you, because you said you’d come back.” I took a shuddering breath and ignored the tears stinging my eyes.
“But you didn’t come back,” I said quietly. “I had to come find you, more than a hundred years in the past.”
“Payton, I never wanted to hurt you. I didn’t know that I caused you such grief…” my father says, looking lost. He looked to my mother for help, but she had closed her eyes and is breathing steadily.
I hate seeing my father so downtrodden and I hate that he only had my best intentions in mind. I take his hand in mine, smiling sadly at him. “Dad, I’d search anywhere for you. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Dad smiled and gave my hand a little squeeze. He kissed my forehead and met my gaze. “Payton, you have no idea how proud of you I am. And I want you to know that I’ve missed you terribly, all these years. I owe you something.”
I started to refuse, but he smiled sadly and brushed my bangs from my eyes. “I think an explanation is in order.”
LIONEL’S POV
“Let me explain,” the Duke announced while Azalea clutched to me. “I think an explanation is in order.”
“No!” I cried while shoving Azalea away from me. She looked at me with wide eyes: I had never raised my voice before in all my life. “No, an explanation is not in order! I demand that you bring my bloody best friend back and his American potential-girlfriend, you bloody wanker!”
I was heaving from my outburst. Both the Duke and Azalea appeared taken aback. My anger subsided, and I was appalled with my brash behavior. In a more reasonable tone, I amended, “I mean, an explanation is a good place to start. For now. And then I expect your aid in recovering them, if you please? That would be appreciated, thank you. You have my regards.”
The Duke was still baffled. Azalea said to him, “He’s really the most polite gentleman I have ever had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with, and a rather exceptional inventor. I don’t know what’s come over him.”
The Duke composed himself enough to motion for me to sit down. I remained standing and begged, “Please just start explaining, I really don’t know what to think anymore.” The Duke sighed and began elaborating.
“The story starts with a young man, an inventor not unlike yourself. The man was an American in the late 1930’s. He was very passionate, because he had made a mistake and wanted to erase what he’d done. He worked day in and day out, and at the age of twenty he had invented the very first time machine in a golden pocket watch heirloom that he had inherited from his grandfather.” The Duke paused to recollect his thoughts. He continued,
“When he had finished his creation, he tried to enter the date he wanted to attend but mistyped it. He was transported back in time about fifty years to England. Right onto my doorstep. I’ll never forget how flustered he was, after finding that his contraption was fully effective.
“When I brought him inside, he was rambling and in shock. It took a while for things to be sorted out, but soon we got the proper facts straight and we realized what a genius he was. But when he tried to leave to the time he had originally set, it did not work. The watch had a 24 hour resting period, so he was forced to stay the night. That’s when he met my sister, who was coincidentally staying the weekend at my manor. After one night, they managed to fall in love.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” I said anxiously, “but how does this pertain to Dacre and Payton, who are lost in the confounds of time and space as we speak?”
“Patience,” the Duke told me. “All in due time, Lionel. Where was I, again?”
“They fell in love,” I supplied rather impatiently.
“Ah, right. They fell in love. The American man felt obliged to return to his own time. He said that he did not belong in the past, and that he had a life to return to. My sister begged him, and found out that the American was miserable. My sister promised him a life full of happiness together, and they moved into an American house in the early 1990’s and had a child. Do you have any idea what they named her?”
Azalea beamed and informed me, “They named her Payton, Lionel.”
“Very good, Phoebe,” The Duke smiled fondly.
“I don’t understand… Payton said her father abandoned her at a very young age?”
The Duke’s smile faded and a seriousness set the lines of his face. “I was not finished with the story. My sister birthed Payton, but she grew very ill. It is not natural for a person of the future to reproduce with a woman from the past. But the damage was already done, and Payton’s mother, my sister, began to die. Payton’s father was ravaged with grief, but he had a little girl to care for. He dropped my sister off with me to be in my care. When Payton was old enough to care for herself, he returned to the past to his true love. They claimed that their love was timeless, that the centuries would not span longer than their love. My word, are you quite all right, lad?”
His last sentence was directed at me. To my great surprise and embarrassment, I found that I was crying. I ducked my head and dug in my trouser pockets for a handkerchief. “Quite all right,” I assured him as I dabbed at my eyes. “Please, please continue. What does this have to do with us? How does Azalea play into this?”
The Duke smiled and took Azalea’s hand as she offered it. “Why, Azalea is my daughter. That makes her Payton’s cousin.”
“So…” The gears whirred madly in my brain. “That makes you Payton’s uncle, Duke?”
“Quite right! What a bright young chap.”
I collapsed into the chair behind me. “This is quite a lot of information to take it.”
“I assure you, there is only a little bit more. I will proceed with the story quickly,” the Duke persisted. “Many years passed in this era, my sister and her love tucked away in a rural cottage under my care. One day my sister claimed that she was close to dying, and requested to see her little girl. Phoebe— er, Azalea offered to set everything up, but my sister begged her to keep it a secret from any outsiders. Azalea claimed that she would need outside help if she was to complete the task, and my sister begged and begged until Azalea hatched a plan. She pretended that she stole the time machine from my clutches and presented it to you, Lionel, because you were such a technological whiz and because you did not know she was related to me, the Duke. You recruited Dacre, and Azalea set up the plan. And, well… the rest is history.”
“But where are they now?” I demanded.
“Why,” the Duke said, “They’re meeting with Payton’s parents. My sister is finally meeting her daughter.”
I watched Dacre exit the room in a hurry.
“I wonder what that was all about,” I frowned. My father smiled and shook his head. Before I could ask him what he was thinking, my mother whispered, “Payton, you’ve grown so stunning. I don’t know how your father could bare to ever leave you.”
“Darling,” Dad assures my mother softly, “I could never leave you.”
Her words linger in my mind and agitate me. “That’s right, I had almost forgot.” I said, stepping away from the both of them. They look startled at my sudden mood swing. I clench my hands at my sides to keep from trembling with anger.
“You left me!” I accuse my father harshly. “You abandoned me when I was just a kid! Do you know how long I waited for you? Are you aware that I sat on my doorstep every day for the last ten years for hours, waiting for you to return? I thought you were kidnapped! I thought you were murdered! But I refused to mourn the loss of you, because you said you’d come back.” I took a shuddering breath and ignored the tears stinging my eyes.
“But you didn’t come back,” I said quietly. “I had to come find you, more than a hundred years in the past.”
“Payton, I never wanted to hurt you. I didn’t know that I caused you such grief…” my father says, looking lost. He looked to my mother for help, but she had closed her eyes and is breathing steadily.
I hate seeing my father so downtrodden and I hate that he only had my best intentions in mind. I take his hand in mine, smiling sadly at him. “Dad, I’d search anywhere for you. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Dad smiled and gave my hand a little squeeze. He kissed my forehead and met my gaze. “Payton, you have no idea how proud of you I am. And I want you to know that I’ve missed you terribly, all these years. I owe you something.”
I started to refuse, but he smiled sadly and brushed my bangs from my eyes. “I think an explanation is in order.”
LIONEL’S POV
“Let me explain,” the Duke announced while Azalea clutched to me. “I think an explanation is in order.”
“No!” I cried while shoving Azalea away from me. She looked at me with wide eyes: I had never raised my voice before in all my life. “No, an explanation is not in order! I demand that you bring my bloody best friend back and his American potential-girlfriend, you bloody wanker!”
I was heaving from my outburst. Both the Duke and Azalea appeared taken aback. My anger subsided, and I was appalled with my brash behavior. In a more reasonable tone, I amended, “I mean, an explanation is a good place to start. For now. And then I expect your aid in recovering them, if you please? That would be appreciated, thank you. You have my regards.”
The Duke was still baffled. Azalea said to him, “He’s really the most polite gentleman I have ever had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with, and a rather exceptional inventor. I don’t know what’s come over him.”
The Duke composed himself enough to motion for me to sit down. I remained standing and begged, “Please just start explaining, I really don’t know what to think anymore.” The Duke sighed and began elaborating.
“The story starts with a young man, an inventor not unlike yourself. The man was an American in the late 1930’s. He was very passionate, because he had made a mistake and wanted to erase what he’d done. He worked day in and day out, and at the age of twenty he had invented the very first time machine in a golden pocket watch heirloom that he had inherited from his grandfather.” The Duke paused to recollect his thoughts. He continued,
“When he had finished his creation, he tried to enter the date he wanted to attend but mistyped it. He was transported back in time about fifty years to England. Right onto my doorstep. I’ll never forget how flustered he was, after finding that his contraption was fully effective.
“When I brought him inside, he was rambling and in shock. It took a while for things to be sorted out, but soon we got the proper facts straight and we realized what a genius he was. But when he tried to leave to the time he had originally set, it did not work. The watch had a 24 hour resting period, so he was forced to stay the night. That’s when he met my sister, who was coincidentally staying the weekend at my manor. After one night, they managed to fall in love.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” I said anxiously, “but how does this pertain to Dacre and Payton, who are lost in the confounds of time and space as we speak?”
“Patience,” the Duke told me. “All in due time, Lionel. Where was I, again?”
“They fell in love,” I supplied rather impatiently.
“Ah, right. They fell in love. The American man felt obliged to return to his own time. He said that he did not belong in the past, and that he had a life to return to. My sister begged him, and found out that the American was miserable. My sister promised him a life full of happiness together, and they moved into an American house in the early 1990’s and had a child. Do you have any idea what they named her?”
Azalea beamed and informed me, “They named her Payton, Lionel.”
“Very good, Phoebe,” The Duke smiled fondly.
“I don’t understand… Payton said her father abandoned her at a very young age?”
The Duke’s smile faded and a seriousness set the lines of his face. “I was not finished with the story. My sister birthed Payton, but she grew very ill. It is not natural for a person of the future to reproduce with a woman from the past. But the damage was already done, and Payton’s mother, my sister, began to die. Payton’s father was ravaged with grief, but he had a little girl to care for. He dropped my sister off with me to be in my care. When Payton was old enough to care for herself, he returned to the past to his true love. They claimed that their love was timeless, that the centuries would not span longer than their love. My word, are you quite all right, lad?”
His last sentence was directed at me. To my great surprise and embarrassment, I found that I was crying. I ducked my head and dug in my trouser pockets for a handkerchief. “Quite all right,” I assured him as I dabbed at my eyes. “Please, please continue. What does this have to do with us? How does Azalea play into this?”
The Duke smiled and took Azalea’s hand as she offered it. “Why, Azalea is my daughter. That makes her Payton’s cousin.”
“So…” The gears whirred madly in my brain. “That makes you Payton’s uncle, Duke?”
“Quite right! What a bright young chap.”
I collapsed into the chair behind me. “This is quite a lot of information to take it.”
“I assure you, there is only a little bit more. I will proceed with the story quickly,” the Duke persisted. “Many years passed in this era, my sister and her love tucked away in a rural cottage under my care. One day my sister claimed that she was close to dying, and requested to see her little girl. Phoebe— er, Azalea offered to set everything up, but my sister begged her to keep it a secret from any outsiders. Azalea claimed that she would need outside help if she was to complete the task, and my sister begged and begged until Azalea hatched a plan. She pretended that she stole the time machine from my clutches and presented it to you, Lionel, because you were such a technological whiz and because you did not know she was related to me, the Duke. You recruited Dacre, and Azalea set up the plan. And, well… the rest is history.”
“But where are they now?” I demanded.
“Why,” the Duke said, “They’re meeting with Payton’s parents. My sister is finally meeting her daughter.”
♠ ♠ ♠
I love Lionel so much. He shouted for the first time in his life, admitted that Dacre was his best friend, and cried in this chapter. Well, this chapter reveals all. You find out Payton’s past, what Azalea was up to, and how the Duke incorporated into it. There’s even the romantic story of how Payton’s parents met.This story was a blast to write, and now it’s almost done. Only a few more chapters left (Dacre and Payton still need to hook up! But will Dacre be too creeped out by Payton’s past to love her?). Thanks for reading, this story is one of my favorites(: