Page 22 of The Tides of Time (Storm Tide #1)
F or the second night in a row, Armitage hardly slept. Whereas his whirring thoughts had before been focused on Lili’s reticence to share openly with him, that night his disquiet had arisen from what she had shared with him.
She had said her family was of the “third estate,” which was the pre-Revolution way of indicating the common class.
She’d further said that her parents were killed by the inhumanity of the Nobles toward the common class. But nobility had been, in essence, eliminated in France by the revolution long before her parents could possibly have suffered at the hands of the Nobles. She’d also referred to that group of people as the “second estate,” another antiquated term done away with during the Revolution.
She’d spoken more than once the day before of her France being filled with terror, violence, death, fear, and vengeance.
France hadn’t been entirely peaceful the past decade or more, but it couldn’t rightly be described that way now. Whereas France of the 1790s could be described no other way.
Everyone who grew up on Loftstone knew the tale of the Tides of Time. But they also all knew it was folklore and nothing else. Mere superstition. A tale told to children to inspire awe and excitement and, as they grew, a bit of shared laughter.
No one is safe. I have seen people killed, Armitage. I have seen people dragged to what I know were their deaths. Every face is either angry or terrified. There is nothing but fear and suffering.
Heavens, if she wasn’t describing everything he’d heard of the Revolution and the reign of the guillotine.
The only people who are not terrified are the ones who are cheering. And those who cheer hide themselves amongst those who fear. They could be anywhere or be anyone.
And that fit all he knew of those who did the bidding of the infamous Robespierre and his ilk.
He shook his head at himself as he sipped his morning coffee and walked across the lighthouse tower’s ground floor to the door leading to Grandfather’s side of the keepers’ quarters. Lili had once again been noticeably proud of herself for sorting out the friction matches and the cast-iron stove. Two things, if he wasn’t mistaken, that hadn’t existed eighty years ago.
No. There had to be a different explanation.
Armitage gave a quick knock on Grandfather’s door. His knock was answered after a swift moment.
He attempted to look and sound less burdened than he actually felt. “I’m for the village this morning to fetch the lighthouse parcel. Be’est anything you’re needing me to fotch home for you? Thissen’s our payment parcel.” They’d be receiving their quarterly allowance for the lighthouse’s operation and upkeep as well as their own salaries.
“The parcel should also have a replacement for that cladding bolt us’ve been fighting these weeks. Fotch that home, and I’ll be pleased as can be.”
Armitage nodded his firm agreement with that as he took a sip of coffee.
Grandfather motioned to the cup with a twitch of his chin. “Lili sorted the lighting of the stove. Her told me as much yesterday. Puffed up with pride over it.”
“Her deserves a bit of pride over that. It befuddled she for quite a time.”
“I might be even prouder of she than her is of sheself.” He even smiled a little. He’d hardly ever done that these past years. “Our Lili is a wonder.”
“ Our Lili?” Armitage took another sip.
“Her was always meant to be here,” Grandfather said. “I’ll not believe it was anything but fate that brought she to we. To you .”
Fate had brought her. That was a bit easier to believe than the Tides of Time doing so.
“There may be a few things her’d like you to fotch home,” Grandfather said. “Her’ll be getting her pay today as well.”
“I thought Lili might want to wander to the village with me,” Armitage said. “Her can do a bit of shopping if her’d like.”
“How ... considerate of you.” Was Grandfather laughing at him? “If her wants to hold your hand, Armitage, you ought to make the sacrifice and do it. You’ll suffer, but it’s for the greater good.”
“You act a great deal more footy since her arrival than I think you ever have.” Armitage shook his head as he turned to walk back to his bit of the home.
“I might be’est a bit more ridiculous, but you’re being far wiser.”
If only Grandfather knew the bit of irrationality Armitage was currently pondering. “You might have Géraud wandering about the place while Lili and I are gone. But I think him’ll stay out of your way.”
“Him’ll go with you; I’m certain of it.”
Armitage had nearly reached the door to his quarters. He turned back to look at Grandfather. “Why are you so certain him’ll hie to the village with we?”
“Géraud Gagnon keeps a main close watch on his sister. Him likes to know where her is at all times, even down to where her is in a room. Mark me, Armitage.” Grandfather nodded slowly. “There’ll be three of you making the journey.”
Not an hour later, Armitage walked with Lili on one side of him and Géraud on the other. Neither sibling was entirely comfortable with the other nearby.
“Was the place where you two lived larger than Loftstone?” It seemed a neutral enough topic.
Géraud answered with a scoffing, “ Oui. ”
He hadn’t seen Loftstone Village yet, but he was immediately and entirely certain that it not only wasn’t as large as his place of origin, but also that the very idea that it could be was ridiculous.
They had come from someplace extremely large. Yet Lili had indicated they’d had no stove, no matches, no trains, no music boxes, no ready-made clothing. The French equivalent of Manchester or York or even Dover would have contained all those things. But for Géraud to be so sure that Loftstone could not possibly be the equal in size to their home, Armitage couldn’t dismiss the possibility that these siblings hailed from Paris.
But when ? The harder Armitage tried to dismiss the idea, the more difficult it proved.
“The parcel I’m collecting will be at the train station,” he warned Lili.
Lili didn’t cower or pale, but her posture did grow stiffer. “Do we have to go there with you?”
Armitage took hold of her hand as they walked, though he told himself he didn’t do so because his grandfather had suggested it. “I can make my collection on my own. You and Géraud could wait by the docks.”
Her eyes darted to her brother. “Can the train be seen from the docks?”
“The billowing steam can be, but the train’s around a bend. It can’t be seen.”
Géraud said something in French.
Lili, as had become her custom, responded in English. “A train is a vehicle of transportation, one we do not have in our France.”
A very large city, yet neither of them had even heard of a train, let alone seen one. No logical explanation existed for that. But was Armitage ready to truly contemplate an illogical explanation?
“ Est-ce qu’il vous tient souvent la main ?” Géraud had told an entire story in English the night before but had spoken entirely in French ever since. There was no question he was choosing his language to make a point.
While Armitage didn’t understand every word Géraud had just said, he was able to ascertain the heart of the question. “I hold your sister’s hand whenever her permits me to.”
Géraud looked at him, shocked.
“ Ma mère était francaise ,” Armitage said. “ Je parle un peu de francais. ”
Laughter danced in Lili’s eyes, though beyond that, she didn’t allow her amusement to show. He was growing more adept at spotting it.
“My sister did not tell me this.” Géraud spoke in English. That felt like a victory.
“Likely because my French is very limited, something my mother would likely think a shame.”
“Of where in France was your mother?” Géraud’s English, though remarkable, seemed more rusty than his sister’s.
“A small village in the Arrondissement of Bayeux.” Both of his companions looked confused by that description, the reason he’d used it. The Arrondissement of Bayeux was not created until shortly after the Revolution. But it had been in existence for over seventy years now.
Seventy years. And neither Géraud nor Lili seemed to have the least idea what he was talking about.
If Armitage had been required to guess how he would respond to his own growing suspicion that he’d fallen top-over-tail for a woman who’d traveled to Loftstone over the Tides of Time, which he didn’t think he even believed in, he’d have assumed it would be something involving backing away slowly and sneaking away. Instead, he found himself holding more tightly to Lili’s hand, a growing worry that this connection was fragile and fleeting, that the mysterious powers that had—perhaps—brought her here could also snatch her away without warning.
“Is something wrong?” Lili whispered to him.
“You worry me, Lili Minet.”
That seemed to surprise her as much as anything he’d said during their journey. “What have I done to worry you, mon Armitage?”
He squeezed her hand. “I don’t know yet.”
As they walked through Loftstone Village, they were waved to and greeted from a distance by everyone they passed. Géraud received curious glances, which he returned with looks of suspicion. When Lili had made her first journey to the village, she’d exuded a concern emerging from a place of vulnerability. Géraud gave every indication of being not so much in danger as being dangerous.
“It didn’t have to become so bloodthirsty a place,” Lili had said, speaking of the France she knew. “And Géraud didn’t have to choose to be part of that. But he did.”
He chose to be part of bloodshed. Armitage didn’t like the idea of leaving Lili alone with him. But he knew she wouldn’t go near the train again, and he suspected she would keep Géraud away as well, knowing he would be as shocked as she had been. Of course, assuming Lili would want to hide her brother’s shock meant Armitage was beginning to believe the impossible reason why.
Lili eyed the sky as they reached the dock. “I can see the cloud of steam.”
The steam wasn’t moving, so the train had already arrived. It would remain for a little while, though it didn’t have to be there still for Armitage to complete his purpose at the train station.
Armitage pulled Lili a bit aside and spoke in low tones. “Are you certain I ought to leave you alone here with he?”
“I am not, in this moment, in danger from him.” She gave much the same answer she had the night before, and it proved just as inadequate in settling Armitage’s concerns.
“You told me a few things last night about your brother that give me reason to doubt that.”
She lightly touched Armitage’s face, something she hadn’t done before. “ Mon cher Armitage . Fetch your parcel. I will be here, whole and safe, when you return.”
He wanted to press the matter but chose to trust her.
“ Le vaisseau du Capitaine Travert est-il ici ?”
Either Armitage remembered more French than he realized, or Géraud was phrasing his questions more simply. Realizing he’d asked about Captain Travert’s boat, Armitage did a quick search of the vessels docked there.
“I do not see Le Charon ,” Armitage said.
“ Quelt dommage. ” And quick as that, Géraud proved that Armitage’s French was, in fact, quite limited. It sounded like disappointment, so he assumed that was what Géraud had expressed.
Armitage lifted Lili’s hand to his lips. “I’ll not be gone long.”
He was coming to truly like that almost-smile of hers.
The train was indeed sitting on the tracks when he arrived at the station.
Nicholas Carr greeted him warmly. “There be’est a package for the lighthouse.”
Armitage nodded. “The reason I’ve hied here.” He followed Nicholas into the station office.
“Whispers in the village say you’ve grown main fond of your visitor at the lighthouse.”
“The whispers are true this time.” Armitage took the parcel Nicholas held out for him. “I’m hoping the upcoming fete’ll help convince she to stay.”
“Do the women overseeing it know that?” Nicholas asked. “The added pressure might push ’em to soaring heights.”
Armitage sighed dramatically. “The last thing any of we need is those three growing more zealous in their ambitions for me.”
“I think that’s the last thing you need, Armitage.” Nicholas laughed, and Armitage couldn’t help joining in. “Still, us can say good things about you at the fete if you’re needing a heap of lies to help convince the woman to think well of you.”
“A heap of lies?” Armitage shook his head. “I’ll have you know, Lili already thinks quite well of me, and I only had to tell a couple of lies about how wonderful I am.”
“Is her cowed by your grandfather?”
“Far from it. Him’s fond and protective of she. And Lili thinks of my grandfather as her own.”
That shocked Nicholas, and well it ought. Grandfather was famously grumbly and standoffish. But he truly had liked Lili straight off.
“I’ll join the rest of the village, then,” Nicholas said.
“Join they in what?”
“Petitioning the heavens and the fairies and anything else that’ll convince your Lili to stay on Loftstone.”
Armitage smiled a bit to himself. “I’m doing quite a bit of that myself.” Except his petitions were beginning to shift toward the Tides of Time, foolish as that made him feel. But understanding how Lili came into his life gave him a much better chance of keeping her there.