Always and Forever (5 page)

Quinn's eyebrow rose at that. "Katherine?"

"Miss Danvers, Archer's…" he hesitated like he didn't know the right word before he finished "...lady friend."

Oh. What like a kept woman or a girlfriend? Quinn mused over what kind of woman would tolerate the arrogant jackass she had met earlier? She found she was actually looking forward to the meal just so she could find out.

"She's very curt. She has had a spat with nearly every person employed in this household. She is not an easy person with whom to get along."

It was Quinn's guess that that was Thaddeus' way of saying that this Katherine was a bitch. She leaned further over the table. "I can sometimes be difficult myself and never more so than when faced with a trying person. It's one of my idiosyncrasies, like when someone starts to laugh I can't help but laugh along with them. Anyway, if I start misbehaving you need to stop me."

"You have a most unusual way of speaking. Idiosyncrasy?" he asked for clarification.

"Habits," Quinn replied.

"Ah, I see but I have another question. How, pray tell, am I to stop you from misbehaving?"

"I don't know. Kick me under the table or something, but believe me, once I get going I can't stop myself. It's a problem."

"I would never kick a lady."

"Thaddeus, if I get started, kicking me is the least of what you'll want to do."

"Oh, I'm sure you exaggerate."

Their banter was cut short when Archer stepped into the room escorting the most beautiful woman Quinn had ever seen. They were an exquisite study of opposites, his tall, hard body dressed entirely in black and she stunning in silver. Her hair was so pale blonde it almost looked white and it was pulled up to accentuate her long, elegant neck and high cheekbones. Under winged brows were thickly lashed blue eyes so pale they shimmered like aquamarines. Her silver gown was gorgeous against her coloring and enhanced her perfect willowy figure. She looked ethereal and Quinn was almost fooled by her beauty until the woman's gaze landed on her and she saw the coldness behind those pale eyes.

"Miss Shaughnessy, Miss Danvers," Archer offered.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Danvers."

Katherine tilted her head, regally, before she dismissed Quinn and turned her attention to Archer. Quinn glanced over at Thaddeus in warning because it was clear this meal was not going to go well.

The first course was soup. The footmen brought large tureens filled with a variety of soups, a spicy consommé, a root vegetable puree laced with cumin and cinnamon, and a mushroom and leek chowder. The salad course came next and not just greens but spiced fruits and nuts, cheeses and dried meats. Following that was capon cooked in an herb-broth flavored with nuts and fennel, curried pheasant cooked in a stew of exotic fruits, white fish roasted to perfection and drizzled with herb-butter and boar sliced thinly swimming in a spicy broth.

Quinn did her best to sample everything but there was no way any human body could eat all of this food especially when strapped into stays. She was barely aware of the conversation during the meal and also the reality that only Thaddeus deemed her worthy enough to be included in the discussion. As far as Archer and the ice princess were concerned, she didn't exist. They only noticed her when at one point during the meal, Quinn couldn't control her inhaled breath as a footman placed a Rouen serving dish just in front of her. She had seen this same very piece in a museum in London.

"Are you familiar with Rouen porcelain?" There was disbelief in Katherine's tone as she addressed Quinn.

Quinn was so in awe of the piece that she answered before she thought about it. "Yes. I've seen this piece before."

The condescension in Archer's voice pulled Quinn's attention and she looked up into his mocking green stare.

"That piece was just created, commissioned by me, a few years ago and it's a one of a kind. It isn't possible for you to have seen it before. Perhaps you shouldn't pretend knowledge on things you know nothing about."

Quinn was livid. Not only could she tell them all about Rouen but every other manufacturer of soft-paste porcelain of the time. She could also educate them on hard-paste porcelain which wouldn't be discovered for another seventy-odd years and would become known as Limoges -- some of the most sought after porcelains ever. Instead of flaying a layer of skin off the arrogant Archer, Quinn bit her tongue and lowered her head, but inside she was seething.

Katherine eyed Quinn from across the table as she battled to control her fury because despite Archer's abruptness with the other woman, Katherine didn't miss the looks he was giving her. He was hers and she didn't like to share so Quinn was going to have to leave, either on her own or with a bit of help, and she knew just how to do it because she had done it before.

Katherine suspected Quinn was smart enough to catch the insult when she directed her question to Thaddeus. "Other than her active imagination, what does your friend do?"

Quinn's head snapped up at that because what a rather odd, and eerily modern, question to ask considering women of this day did very little beyond embroidery and child bearing. It was the arrogant look on Katherine's face that had Quinn speaking without thinking. "You can ask me directly. I've been speaking for myself for the last few years now."

Katherine ignored Quinn and looked pointedly at Thaddeus awaiting an answer. Before Thaddeus could respond though, Quinn feigned concern as she looked right into Thaddeus' blue gaze.

"I didn't realize that Miss Danvers was hard of hearing. Oh, I am so sorry." She then looked directly at Katherine.

"I'll be sure to speak louder and use smaller words to make sure you understand."

Outrage turned Katherine's face pink.

"That's a nice color on you. It takes away that pale, pasty look you were sporting earlier."

"How dare you," Katherine hissed through perfect white teeth and Quinn couldn't help but think she looked an awful lot like a snake at that moment.

Archer's loud harsh words were like a slap in Quinn's face. "That is quite enough, Miss Shaughnessy," he bellowed.

Quinn couldn't help the glare that she leveled on him. He could sit by silently while his bitch of a lady condescended to her but heaven forbid Quinn should speak up for herself and give a little of it back. Oh no, instead she was treated as the recalcitrant child. She knew her fury was easily read on her face; she was never able to keep her feelings a secret. A flash of some emotion crossed over his face, no doubt in response to the fury that was radiating off of her but before she could identify it, he lowered his lashes.

Bastard.

"There's nothing wrong with Miss Danvers' hearing," Thaddeus offered as a way to defuse the situation. But Quinn, who was now firmly in temper and, since she was already being treated like a naughty child, leaned back in her chair and sneered at Katherine from across the table before she bit out her next words.

"Oh, so it isn't a physical defect that she suffers, just an abominable lack of social grace." Quinn's attention never left Katherine's so she saw the hatred that swept across Katherine's face. Suddenly a foot nailed her in the shin.

"Oww." Quinn closed her eyes a moment at the pain shooting up her leg. "I thought you couldn't kick a lady? I'm going to be limping for a week." She looked over at Thaddeus only to find that he was barely controlling his laughter.

"Don't you dare," she threatened, "I'm a train wreck and you're going to laugh now?"

Quinn glared at him as his suppressed laughter caused him to turn from pink to bright red.

Archer was saying something which had Quinn unconsciously rolling her eyes and that was all it took for Thaddeus to lose it completely. She knew it would only be minutes before she started laughing, too, so she stood.

"I could use some air. Thaddeus?"

As Thaddeus stood he almost doubled over from his uncontrolled merriment. Quinn moved quickly around the table and grabbed his arm just as her mouth started to twitch.

"Excuse us."

She just managed to pull him from the room before she erupted into a fit of, not feminine giggles but roaring, raucous laughter.

Thaddeus had tears running down his cheeks but he managed to say through his mirth, "You weren't jesting."

She wiped at her tears before she replied, "Nope."

Later in the evening, Quinn was walking through the gardens while she attempted to get some control over herself because she was freaking out a bit. She shouldn't be here and she was more than likely just dreaming but if she wasn't, how was she supposed to get home? Dinner had been a disaster, between Archer and his demonic girlfriend and Thaddeus and her laughter fit, she wasn't going to survive too many more dinners like that.

When she heard the sound of voices, she ducked into a patch of trees moments before Archer and Katherine appeared. Katherine's arms were laced through Archer's arm but it was the looks on their faces that gave her pause. For as cold as Katherine was to Quinn, she could see that Katherine felt a genuine affection for Archer. She reminded Quinn of a love-sick teenager looking up at her idol. Archer, despite the intimacy of their stroll, looked angry, even disgusted, yet Katherine didn't even seem to notice. There was definitely a very strange dynamic between the two but hopefully she wouldn't be in this fantasy land long enough for it to matter. She dismissed them and snuck back to the castle.

In the morning, Quinn woke, sat up, looked around the room and groaned. She was still in the 18th century. She felt her heart beating erratically in her chest as panic filled her. What if she wasn't dreaming, what if this was somehow real and she was truly in the past? The idea was just so far out there that Quinn wasn't ready to think too hard on it. Instead she decided since she was here, dream or not, she might as well get her fill of history in the making. She dressed quickly so she could spend the early morning studying the castle unobserved.

She marveled over the contents of the great hall, kitchen, several guest rooms and the music room. She wanted to go into Archer's solar but knew if he walked in on her he would probably accuse her of stealing and lop off her head. Yet for as much of an ass as he was, she couldn't deny that she was wildly attracted to the man.

After spending most of the morning -- and a good portion of the afternoon -- inside the castle, Quinn walked outside to get a better look at how the construction of the castle was done in the 1700s. It was extraordinary, she was actually here witnessing the place being built, of course, this probably was all just in her mind even though she never thought she had that great of an imagination. What she wouldn't give to have her digital camera or even her phone in this dream.

The men seemed to be taking a break, she didn't see Thaddeus or Archer, but there was one young man who was working a pulley and when Quinn looked up she noticed several rather large rocks in a net. She wondered what they were for and watched, with interest, manual labor in the truest sense of the word.

She moved down to the river bank loving the way the sun reflected off the water to make it glisten. She didn't know how long she stood there but when she felt a warmth burn down her spine, she turned to see Archer standing a bit of a distance from her but looking in her direction. He was looking at her. There was an odd look on his face, one that looked remarkably like longing, but of course that couldn't be because he was not a fan of hers at all. He seemed rooted there for a few minutes, completely unrepentant, to be staring at her and then, quite suddenly, he turned and walked off. She watched him go, felt an emotion she wasn't ready to examine too closely, then turned and started walking along the river's edge.

Before long she headed back up to the castle, keeping a safe distance from the construction site and that was when she heard the sound. It was very faint but it sent a chill through her. Quinn raced around the wall to the source of the noise. It took a minute for her brain to catch up to what her eyes were seeing and then she felt the bile rise up in her throat. A young man, the same one she had watched earlier, was pinned under a pile of rocks. She noticed the frayed rope and pulley and immediately realized what happened. It was instinct that had her reaching for her cell phone but then she remembered where, or more to the point,
when
she was as her hand dropped to her side and she hurried over to him. She dropped to her knees, pulled her cloak off and pillowed it under his head.

"I'll go get help."

"No," his voice was barely audible.

Quinn wanted to protest but she knew he wasn't going to make it. In the future he would have had a chance but not in this time. The only help she could offer was to stay with him until he died. She never felt more helpless in her life.

"Is your family close?"

"No, I haven't any. My pa died the winter last. It's just me."

"Please let me get someone, maybe we can help you."

"'Tis too late. I don't feel anything now."

"What can I do?"

"Oh, Lady, just being with me is enough."

Quinn stroked his forehead as she held his hand.