HANNAH WRAPPED HER arms around her waist in an effort to calm the elephants that seemed to have awakened the second she saw him. Clayton stood and walked over to shake his friend’s hand. “Chris, I wasn’t expecting to see you until Monday. Is there news?”
“Actually, I’d like to speak with Miss Nelson, if that is acceptable.”
“Oh, really?” Clayton raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”
“I have something to discuss with her.”
“Such as?”
“Don’t start with me,” Christopher grumbled. “Now, I’d like to speak with her alone.”
Clayton snorted and Christopher glared at him as Hannah tried to register their conversation. She couldn’t imagine what Christopher would want to talk to her about.
“We’ll give you a few minutes.” Clayton ushered everyone out of the room.
Hannah couldn’t help but feel excited that he’d sought her out, but she was also confused. “Is something wrong?”
Christopher stood for a moment and stared at her. She wiped her hands on her skirts as she rose to her feet. Her heart raced at his perusal.
“No, actually, I found something you might be interested in.”
“Oh, really? What might that be?”
He pulled his arm from behind his back and presented a bundle tied in string. “A peace offering of sorts.”
Hannah gave him a strange look but took the package from him, untied the string, and opened the paper.
“My clothes!” She let out an excited squeal and hugged him. “I thought you destroyed them.”
“Apparently, Nanny hadn’t done it yet. Gwen stopped her.”
“I knew I liked your sister.”
Christopher chuckled. “I thought you’d say that.”
When she felt his arms tighten around her, she realized that she’d thrown herself into them without thought. She pulled back, mortified. “Sorry.”
“For?”
Stepping away from him, she cleared her throat. “Thank you for my clothes, Christopher. I appreciate it.”
“Dinner is ready. Will you join us, Christopher?” Clayton asked from the doorway.
Christopher nodded. “Yes, I believe I will. Thank you.”
Hannah scurried to the dining room before him. She sat next to Emma, and Jamie and Sophie took places on the opposite side of the table. Clayton and Christopher sat at each end, which meant Hannah was seated to Christopher’s immediate left.
Supper was a simple meal of venison soup and fresh baked bread. Christopher couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Hannah, and when she caught him staring at her, she smiled. Once dinner was over, the group decided to congregate in the parlor.
Christopher held his arm out to Hannah. “May I escort you?”
Hannah slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and they started their short trip to the next room. She heard Sophie and Emma whispering behind them and sent a warning glance over her shoulder. Emma stuck her tongue out at Hannah and grinned.
With her head turned away, Hannah wasn’t watching where she was going and tripped on the hallway rug. Christopher gripped her hand. “Careful.”
Hannah blushed as she glanced up at Christopher and saw his look of concern.
Just kill me now.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Christopher led her into the parlor, where Clayton was handing Jamie a glass of something that looked an awful lot like whiskey. Hannah could almost taste it, and swallowed in reaction.
“I’ll get you some tea,” Emma offered.
“That would be lovely,” Hannah said, although she longed for whatever Jamie was lifting to his lips.
Hannah slid her hand from Christopher’s arm and sat on the sofa near the fire.
Emma returned from her errand and made her way to Hannah. “Mrs. Price will be in shortly.”
Hannah smiled. “Ta.”
“We’ll have something else later,” Emma whispered as she sat next to her.
Hannah raised an eyebrow. “How’d you guess?”
Emma tapped her temple with her finger. “We’re thinking the same thing.”
Mrs. Price, the Maddens’ housekeeper, arrived with a tea tray and sweets, and poured for the ladies.
Light conversation circled around Hannah as she drank her tea. Christopher had managed to sit in the chair next to the sofa and she found him staring at her several times. His smile could melt the fjords, and she thought she might be sick from the mess the elephants were making in her stomach.
The grandfather clock in the foyer indicated ten o’clock, and Christopher rose to his feet. “Thank you for dinner, Emma, but I should take my leave.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Clayton said as he stood.
Christopher glanced at Hannah. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d walk me out, Miss Nelson.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course.” Hannah took the hand he offered and slid off the couch. She followed him to the front door and stood in the foyer as Christopher gathered his outerwear. “Are you riding all the way back to Maryland now?”
“No.” Christopher shrugged into his heavy coat and gave a nod toward the east. “My townhouse is close by.”
“Oh.” Hannah rested a hand on the balustrade. “Were your parents all right with you leaving?”
“They didn’t have much of a say.” Christopher chuckled. “Although, my father wasn’t surprised.”
Hannah raised an eyebrow. “Really? How come?”
“He’s intuitive.”
Hannah gave a tight smile and fought the urge to bite her lip, as was her habit when she was nervous. Christopher took her hand and lifted it to his lips. At the last second, he turned it over and kissed her palm. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
Hannah smiled again, her heart racing as he ran his thumb over the inside of her wrist. He’d yet to relinquish her hand, and she didn’t really want him to. After a few seconds of thick silence, Christopher cleared his throat. “I will see you tomorrow for dinner.”
Hannah nodded. “Okay.”
He pulled his gloves on and walked out the door.
“Hannah?”
She turned to see Emma poking her head out of the parlor.
“Spying?”
Emma smiled. “No, that’s your job, remember?”
“You’re funny.”
Emma stepped into the foyer. “Do you want to talk before we turn in?”
Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Let’s say goodnight and I’ll help you with your dress.”
Hannah followed Emma back into the parlor, and after hugging Sophie and Jamie, they made their way upstairs. Hannah was met by the heat of the fire in her room and sighed with pleasure. “I like this having staff thing.”
Emma giggled. “I know what you mean. Now I just need something to do during the day while Clay’s at work. I don’t like being alone.”
Hannah unbuttoned her jacket and removed her blouse. “You never were very good at it, either.”
“Nice.” Emma drew a circle in the air with her finger. “Let me unlace you.”
Hannah turned her back and Emma went to work on her corset.
“Tell me what’s going on with you and Chris.”
Hannah dropped her head forward and sighed. “There’s nothing going on, Em.”
“Right... What happened in Maryland?” Emma pressed.
“Nothing happened in Maryland.”
Emma yanked at a tie, pulling Hannah back. “Something happened in Maryland, Han. Christopher’s acting weird.”
Hannah shrugged. “That doesn’t mean I know why.”
Emma turned Hannah to face her. “What was the something that happened in Maryland that would send Christopher Butler into such a frenzy he would cut his visit short with his mother, the woman he adores more than life, and seek you out?”
“I suppose you’d have to ask him that.”
“Did you spend a lot of time together?”
“No.” Hannah stalled and then shrugged. “A little, I suppose. We had a picnic down at the lake and he let me drive the buggy on the way there.”
“He let you drive?” Emma’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Oh, my love, you’re in trouble.”
Hannah pushed her skirts and hoops from her hips. “What do you mean?”
“Either you’ve made an impression... or he’s trying to.”
Hannah chewed on her lip. “What kind of impression? I’m the crazy lady he found in his parents’ barn, who tried to escape multiple times, only to be caught again, and yell at him when he hacked me off.”
“Why did he make you mad?”
“He destroyed my clothes for one, and he spoke to Gwen like a Neanderthal, for another.”
Emma started to laugh. “Oh, Han-Han, you’re the first woman—first person, period, who has ever stood up to him, let alone yelled at him. He probably doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
Hannah unhooked the front of her corset and threw it into the corner of the room. “Well, he should probably figure it out, or he might drive me insane.”
Emma crossed her arms. “You’re falling for him.”
“I’m not!” Hannah sat on the edge of the mattress. “I just met him.”
Emma sat next to her. “You’ve never gone gooey over anyone before.”
Hannah dropped her mouth open in disgust. “I’m not gooey over him.”
“Hannah, you’re acting totally out of character. You can talk to a state senator about how to save the planet and then turn around and discuss the meaning of life with a homeless man. With Chris, you said less than ten words.”
“Oh, please. I’m sure I said at least eleven.”
“Admit it, you like him.”
Hannah fiddled with the ribbon on her chemise. “I have never met anyone like him.”
“He’s a very nice guy, Han.” Emma tapped her shoulder with her own. “And just think! If you guys get married, you’ll be a Butler.”
“So?”
“Rhett Butler? We’ll have a complement to Sophie’s Scarlett.”
Hannah groaned. “Oh, please.”
A knock at the door had Sophie poking her head inside the room. “Everything okay?”
Emma waved her in. “We were just talking about Christopher.”
Sophie closed the door and smiled. “Have you figured out you’re in love with him yet?”
“Sophie!” Hannah wrinkled her nose. “I am not in love with him.”
Sophie sat in the chair across from the bed. “But you are in like with him.”
Hannah sighed. “I don’t know. He’s so intense and kind of bossy.”
“That’s probably because of his job,” Sophie said.
Emma nodded. “Yes, Clayton can be a bit like that too.”
Hannah pulled her knees up to her chin. “What exactly do they do?”
Sophie leaned her head against the back of the chair. “They’re part of Lincoln’s War Cabinet.”
“Yes, but what does that mean?”
“Well, they work with the military on strategic movements and protection of the President, but not quite like it is in our time. There’s no secret service at this point in time, so Christopher and Clayton are pretty much it.”
“There’s no secret service?” Emma’s eyes widened. “At all?”
Sophie shook her head. “No. In 1865 it will be formed to protect money. It’s started for the sole purpose of suppressing counterfeit currency.”
“Money’s more important than our President?” Emma asked incredulously.
Sophie nodded. “At the moment, yes. They don’t do full time protection of the President until 1902.”
“That’s stupid.” Hannah rubbed her temples. “But of course you’ve told them about the threat to the President, right?” She saw Sophie glance at Emma. Hannah raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t?”
Emma shook her head. “Clayton knows.”
Sophie frowned. “Yes, and we told Andrew and Christine, but no one else.”
“Who are Andrew and Christine?” Hannah asked.
“Christine’s become my closest friend, and Andrew’s her brother.”
Hannah tucked her feet under her bottom. “How did you meet them?”
“Their sister, Nona, offered me shelter and now Jamie and I live with her and her husband, Michael.” Sophie leaned forward. “Dr. and Mrs. Wade. Norine, we call her Nona, is Christine and Andrew’s eldest sister. They also have another sister, Elizabeth, and they’ve all been wonderful.”
Emma ran one of the ribbons on her dress through her fingers. “Clayton’s brother, Richard, lives in the house next door to the Wades’. He and Clay built it years ago, and we stay there whenever we visit. Richard breeds and trains the horses that the cavalry use.”
Hannah widened her eyes. “Have you told the family... or Richard... anything?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Wow, Sophie, I really thought you’d be yelling from the top of the White House about the threat and figure out a way to save him.”
“I can’t. I’m leaving it to Clayton. If he thinks Chris should know, then I suppose he’ll tell him.” Sophie groaned. “There is the Maryland connection, too, which is disheartening.”
“The Mudd house?”
Sophie nodded. “Next year, Booth will visit Maryland, claiming to look for real estate investments. Of course, it’s a cover... he’s scouting out an escape route, but during his visit, he meets Dr. Mudd. He stays overnight, buys a horse from a neighbor, and Mudd’s fate is sealed.”
Hannah bit her lip. “Doesn’t Mudd have something to do with the assassination?”
Sophie dropped her chin into her hands. “That’s highly up for debate. Depending on which side of the fence you’re on, you can make a case for both sides of the argument, but he is pardoned in the end, and I think he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one believes he had anything against Lincoln, so there was no motive to assist Booth.”
“I can’t believe you’d keep that information from Christopher,” Hannah said. “He’s essentially a neighbor, right? Don’t you think he should know?”
“I don’t know!” Sophie blew air through her lips and groaned again. “A hundred of those questions come up every day, and I still don’t know if I should do anything to purposely change the future. The fact that we’re here alters it as it is. If I do something dramatic, maybe I’ll screw something up.”
“So I guess that means Christopher’s focused on the here and now, and maybe we shouldn’t bombard him with too much,” Hannah deduced.
Emma nodded. “Yes. Chris is Clayton’s boss, even if they’re more like brothers. Clayton has more authority than most, but Chris has the last say.”
Hannah snorted. “How does that work?”
“Oh, Clayton can find a way around Christopher Butler.”
Sophie chuckled. “Yes, but don’t think Chris doesn’t know he’s doing it.”
Emma sighed. “You’re probably right.”
Hannah yawned. “Well, I just want to crawl into bed and sleep.”
Sophie stood and Emma slid from the bed. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
They said their goodnights and left Hannah to her thoughts. She took a minute to explore the space. The bed took up much of the room, and there was a dresser in the corner with a porcelain bowl and pitcher on it. Overall, the room was welcoming, even if it was small.
The large fireplace, roaring with flames, had two chairs facing it, and Hannah added a log before climbing into bed and pulling the covers over her head.