Read Online Timeless Desire by Gwyn Cready - Free Book Online

said. “They’d hurt a little boy?”
    He reached back into the satchel and pulled out a pistol.
    A cannon explosion shook the room. The ball left a trail of smoke and gunpowder in the reddening sky.
    “They’ve begun the attack.” She gazed at the castle set high in the rolling hills across the water.
    “Demonstration,” he corrected as another cannon let loose. He slipped the pistol into the belt. “They have not a flea’s chance of taking the place.” He unhooked a square panel of wood on the floor and lifted it. A narrow circular staircase came into view.
    “Where are you going?”
    “ We are going.”
    “No, I can’t.” She thought of Marie waiting for her.
    “I’m afraid you have no choice. I can hardly let you return to the people who employ you at this point.” He gave her gown a disapproving look and muttered, “Though I could certainly wish for a less conspicuously clothed companion.” He grabbed a pencil from the wall and began to fiddle with a sheet of paper on the desk.
    “I’m not a spy. You have to believe me.”
    “The woman who just told me she came from the future? I don’t think so. Tell me, if you come from the future, who is monarch after Queen Anne?”
    She froze. Was it one of those Georges?
    His mouth formed a thin line. “As I suspected.”
    “ No . I’m telling the truth. I’m a librarian, not a historian. And the questions you’re asking are from a long time ago. But I can tell you this much: England conquers France. A hundred years from now, England is the world’s first superpower. Your colonies stretch from one end of the globe to the other. You are ruled by a queen who sits on her throne for more than sixty years—longer than any monarch in England’s history.”
    He gazed down the length of his noble nose at her. “A queen ? A queen conquers the world?”
    “Yes. Her name is Victoria. She’s married to a prince named Albert. After he dies, she never recovers. She wears black the rest of her life.” And Panna, who knew too well the abyss of grief, understood why.
    “Queen Victoria?” he repeated, incredulous.
    “Yes. And later she falls in love with a Scotsman, a man who takes care of her horses and—”
    “A groom ?”
    “And Victoria and Albert’s daughters—they had, like, ten kids—marry into practically every dynasty in Europe as a way to try to unify the countries, but it didn’t really work. And in the end it didn’t matter, because by the twenty-first century the countries are united. Well, at least they share a parliament and courts and a common currency.”
    Bridgewater fell back a step, as if he’d taken a blow. “That’s lunacy.”
    “It’s not lunacy. It’s what happens. I can tell you whatever you want to know. I’m not a spy. I came here by accident.”
    He regarded her closely, and she considered how hard it was to prove one was from another time. If she knew what happened an hour from now—or had a better handle on all those Georges—perhaps he’d believe her. Unfortunately, what she knew of the future sounded like the ravings of a madwoman, and that wasn’t helping her much.
    He shook his head. “No. You’re coming with me.”
    “Let me tell you about iPods.”
    “Eye-whats?”
    “Music can be captured and played back without the original musicians. And you can carry thousands of hours of it in your pockets.”
    His eyes darkened. He wasn’t buying it—any of it.
    “Gatorade,” she cried. “Cheez Whiz. Reverse mortgages. QVC. ‘I’m a Mac.’ Hot yoga. Lolcats. Sexting. Dijonnaise. Lady Gaga. Toaster Strudel. Jeggings. Eight-minute dating. Tofu turkey. Google Street View. Botox. Breakfast Burritos. I can go on like this all day. Boca Burgers. Odor-Eaters. Krispy Kr—”
    “Stop!” His face was a mixture of astonishment, confusion and fear. He stared at her as if he were sizing up a flaming thunderbolt that had landed in front of him. “Never speak in such a manner again. You’ll be hanged.”
    “Then you