Section I, Section II, Section III, Section IV, Section V

Chapter 24

Almost instinctively, Kelsey and Alexander rose from their seats. Both of them focused on the young doctor standing in front of them.

"Well?" Kelsey asked, terrified at what his look meant. Dear God, what if we were wrong? What if she doesn't have Lennox-Norton disease after all? What if...

"It's going to be touch-and-go for the next forty-eight hours, because she definitely has Lennox-Norton."

"But she's still alive," Alexander said.

"She is, and in very weak condition. I would say that the two of you convinced her to come to the hospital just in time...but she could still die. We're treating her with drugs and will be monitoring her progress every couple of hours. If she's still alive in forty-eight hours, she's most likely going to make it."

Kelsey threw herself into Alexander's arms, giving him strength. The doctor had said that she could still die. She was on the brink of death.

When she let go of him, Alexander shook the doctor's hand and said, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, Mr. Madison. We still have a long way to go," Dr. Falk said, with a small smile. "But I have a feeling that your mother is going to survive. If you would like to see her, she's being moved to ICU."

With that said, Dr. Falk was called away to treat another patient.

"ICU?" Alexander asked.

"Intensive care unit," Kelsey replied. "She's not considered a pressing emergency, but she's still critical."

"Where is it at?"

Ten minutes later, Alexander was standing over his mother's bed. Since only one relative was allowed in the room at a time, and since Kelsey wasn't technically a relative, Alexander was alone with Elizabeth.

"I suppose you never thought you would find yourself here, did you, Mama?" he said softly, looking down at her. Though she was still unconscious, and her skin was extremely pale, Alexander thought he could see where she had improved a little. "A hundred and fifty years into the future. It is quite unlike what our Jane imagined when she used to tell us stories. But 'tis a most marvelous place. There are things here that you would have to see to believe...like cars. Kelsey drives like a maniac, but she does seem to know what she's doing."

Elizabeth didn't respond. He didn't expect her to.

"I guess you know who Kelsey is, don't you? You gave her a message when she accidentally wound up at Pemberley, to take care of me. She's done such a wonderful job, and she's found out what's wrong with you. And she helped bring you here. I think you know what a fantastic person she is, so loving and giving. If you got to know her, you would love her. She is so warm and funny and tender-hearted...and when she smiles, I feel as though I have never seen another as bright. Not even yours, Mama, sorry. And her eyes...God, her eyes are just fascinating. I could spend all day looking into her eyes.

"You should see her with Emma, Mama. She is such a wonderful mother. She's the woman I would want raising my children...the one I intend to have children with. That is what I wanted to say. I am planning to marry Kelsey, just as soon as you are better. I do not know if you shall be able to see me married...there are things I am altogether uncertain of. Yet there was a purpose for my coming to America in this year. More than just finding you a cure for your illness. I truly believe that I was sent to this time for Kelsey...and Emma. They needed me. No one has ever really needed me before, not like they do. It is a wonderful feeling. But I suppose you know that already. You have Father."

Alexander realized for the first time what keeping her for two days was going to do to his father. He would tear himself apart, wondering if she had survived the trip, and if she had survived the treatment. "I could not tell him the truth, so I told him we were in London. How could I explain everything without sounding insane? And yet how can I be insane, when you are here getting well?"

He sat down. "There is just one sad thing about this whole business, and that is that I shall probably never be able to go home again. When you are better, you shall go back through the maze and it shall no doubt close forever. You shall never know what became of your son. You are no doubt thinking, Alexander, is she truly worth it? But Mama, you know me too well to doubt my answer. Kelsey is worth more than the whole world could offer me. Mama, I love her." He smiled at Elizabeth. "Surely you can understand how that feels, to be willing to do anything for love."

He took her free hand in both of his. "I could not ask her to come home with me. If this experience has taught me anything, it is that our time is far too dangerous to live in for someone like Kelsey...and I would never subject Emma to anything dangerous, either. And I would hate to see society change them both forever...Kelsey would probably never truly be happy in my time. She is too modern. And Emma...Emma should grow up to be exactly the way she is now, wild and open and funny. Perhaps she could do that at Pemberley, but...we could not stay there indefinitely. I would not feel it proper or right."

"Mr. Madison?" A nurse walked into the room, carrying a tray of needles and bottles with her. "It's time for a few blood tests."

"Are you certain that that is safe? To take blood from her?" he asked.

The nurse gave him a peculiar look, but her face smoothed out, thinking him concerned over her condition. "I assure you, she'll be fine."

Alexander didn't think he was up to watching someone poke at his mother with sharp instruments, so he excused himself and walked back into the waiting room. Kelsey was on the phone with her next-door neighbor, who was watching Emma.

"We should be home early in the morning if I can convince Alexander to get some sleep. Hmm? Oh...put her on...Hi, sweetie. Yes, Alexander's mother is here. No, honey, you can't. They won't let you in to see her because she's too sick. You might give her germs...I know you're over the chicken pox...we'll see...when she's feeling better, maybe...I don't think she'd mind at all...okay...I love you too...yes, Daddy sends his love...yes, I promise, we'll give her a big kiss from her granddaughter. Bye." Kelsey hung up the pay phone and turned to see Alexander. "How is she?"

"The same."

"Emma...wanted to come see her. She asked if it would be all right if she called Elizabeth 'Grandma.' I told her it would be all right."

"My mother would love Emma."

"I hope so." Kelsey smiled. "You look like you're ready to drop. How about coming home and--"

"Nice try, Kelsey. I am not setting foot outside of this hospital until my mother wakes up and is all right. Or, if the doctor is to be believed, two days from now."

"They know what they're doing."

"I know. All the same, I intend to stay with Mama." He rubbed the back of his neck. The lump Kelsey had given him had long disappeared. "If you would feel more comfortable going home to Emma, that would be all right. I know John frightened you today."

"John is a no-good two-timing jerk, but he's not a kidnapper. In the morning, I'll call my mother and ask her to take care of Emma until this is all over."

"Why did you not..."

"The reception. Remember? It's probably still going on."

"Of course. It has been a trying day."

"Yes, it has. Alexander, I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier, but thank you for coming into the choir room earlier today and..."

"Allowing your sister to do what I wanted to? Do not thank me for that. I was going to, but I did not wish to spoil her wedding day."

"Things might have gotten a lot worse if you hadn't been there. I think I might have let John take Emma if you hadn't been there."

"No, you would not have. You do not give yourself enough credit, Kelsey. The moment John attempted to find Emma, you would have done what Madeline did. Only you would not have stopped with two punches."

Kelsey smiled. "Probably not. I'm surprised that you didn't challenge him to a duel."

"Duels are illegal even in my time, Kelsey. Besides, I am not nearly very good with pistols, which are all that people seem to use these days as weapons. I am a much better swordsman."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If I had called him out, he would have been chosen the weapons. That is the way it would be."

"I see." Kelsey led Alexander to a couch and took a seat beside him. "You know, when your mother finally wakes up, she's going to ask questions about how she got here. She'll probably want to go home to your father first thing."

"And he shall probably shoot me when I return with her for giving him such a fright," he replied. "I must admit, it was not well done of me."

"It was the only thing you could do under the circumstances. I have a feeling that your father will probably forgive you when he sees your mother alive and well, knowing it's all thanks to you." She pressed her cheek against his shoulder, and he instinctively put an arm around her. "You avoided the topic, by the way."

"What topic?"

"Of how we were going to explain to your mother what she's doing here. And how she got here."

"We shall simply tell her she is in London under the care of a peculiar doctor, who prefers her to come to him rather than the other way around. This is inconvenient, Kelsey, to have to go to a hospital."

"Would you rather the doctor drag all of this stuff to your house just for a visit?"

"I suppose that would be a tad inconvenient."

"More than that."

"At any rate, she is in London, and all of the gadgets and gizmos are of the doctor's invention and only used by him. She shall never realize that she left her own century."

"You hope. Elizabeth never struck me as being quite that gullible."

"She believed that my Uncle Wickham was the wronged party after my grandfather died."

"How did you know that? I thought you said you knew nothing about..."

"I read the book last night, by that lady named Austen. It was quite interesting...and quite accurate. Unlike that other book that you gave me in the library."

Kelsey groaned. "Look, that was a mistake. It was a work of fiction, and it was wrong of me to give it to you."

"That is all right. I forgave you almost as quickly as I realized that it was all made up."

"The point is, I don't think she'll buy the story so easily."

"But she'll accept it. That is the point. And she won't speak of it to Father."

Kelsey raised her head and faced him. "Alexander, if you were to stay in this time, what would you do for a living?"

"I...I do not know." He thought of something. "I shall ask my father for more money from our time, to bring to this one. We shall sell it to those who want it, and live off the income of that. How does that sound?"

"I suppose that would work. But...if we...Alexander, there's a problem with your staying in this time."

"What is that?"

"Technically...you don't exist."

"I most certainly do. I am here, am I not?"

"I didn't mean in the physical sense. I meant in the documented sense. There's absolutely no proof of your existence in this time. You haven't been born. You haven't got a Social Security number. I...I made up one for your mother when they asked. You've never paid taxes, you've never gotten an education, you've never had a job. Nothing. See the problem?"

"Not quite."

"If you want to do anything without the government suddenly cracking down and thinking you're a spy or something, you have to have proof of your existence. And if you live in this time, you'll have to prove this in order to...to get married."

He smiled. "Now I see the problem. How does one go about getting this proof?"

"I have no idea. I only ran around with the petty criminals when I was a kid. It's been a while. And...the only person I know who might know is my father. That's stretching it a bit at that." She sighed. "We'd have to tell him, and he might not believe me as easily as Maddie did."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"We should wait until this crisis has passed before thinking any more of how we're going to bring me to life in this century. When my mother is well and safe at Pemberley, then we shall get around to creating a past for me." And getting married, my darling. That's the important thing.

She again rested her head on her shoulder. "You're right."

"Of course. Am I not always?" He did it deliberately, trying to get her to laugh. And it relaxed him as well.

Now he felt as though he could get through the next two days without going mad. At the end of the road was the promise of marrying Kelsey.

Chapter 25

It was still a long forty-eight hours. Elizabeth changed very little, and every time Kelsey got a look at her, she thought that she hadn't changed at all, until she began noticing that her skin had slowly gone from gray to chalk white and finally, the tiniest bit of color. Alexander, as he had sworn, did not set foot outside of the hospital in the entirety of the time his mother was unconscious. Emma stayed with Kelsey's mother, who sent her best wishes and prayers for Elizabeth. Emma asked time and again why she wasn't allowed to see her "Grandma Darcy," but she was able to accept that Alexander's mother was very ill, and that she was sure to get better, and then she could see her.

Kelsey began to worry about Alexander's health as the hours tolled on. She remembered his own words about his father worrying over his mother as she became weaker...but here, Elizabeth seemed to be getting better. He could have slept, but he refused to. Kelsey asked Dr. Falk if he could persuade Alexander to sleep, and if not, then to give him something that would make him sleep. As they passed into hour thirty-six, Alexander, having discovered the wonders of espresso, appeared to be wide awake.

"You're going to be awake for a month if you keep drinking those," Kelsey said when she caught him with another mug of coffee. "Where do you get them from, anyway? The only coffee the hospital has is that weak stuff you get from the machines."

"There is a small coffee shop across the street. I have arranged to have one sent me every hour or so."

"Good God," Kelsey said. "You're going to overdose."

"I shall be quite all right."

"You should sleep," she said.

"I do not need to sleep. I need to stay here and---"

"And what? If something happens with Elizabeth, I'm sure you'll be awakened and hear it. The hospital can bring an extra cot into her room."

"No, no. That shall not be necessary." Alexander put a hand to his head.

"Something wrong?"

"A dreadful headache."

"A side effect of having too much coffee. Would you like me to get you some aspirin?"

"I would appreciate it, yes."

Kelsey smiled. Alexander was concentrating too much on his headache that he did not notice her gray eyes gleaming with a purpose. "I'll be right back."

Kelsey immediately hunted down Dr. Falk--who was about to leave. "Could I talk to you for a second?" she asked.

"Mrs. Madison, if it's about your mother-in-law's condition..."

"Actually, this is for me. I'm having trouble sleeping--"

"Nice try, Kelsey. If you're still wanting Alexander to sleep, talk to him. You're not going to persuade me to give him something he doesn't want to take."

"Then could we get some highly overpriced aspirin? He has a headache."

"Now that you can get in the pharmacy. You might want to give him Tylenol 3."

"Something with codeine? Dr. Falk, I think you've got the right idea there."

The doctor wrote out the prescription, which Kelsey took to the pharmacy across the street to have filled. When she returned fifteen minutes later, Alexander said, "That took you long enough."

"I had to get it at the pharmacy so it would be cheaper," she replied.

"But we have no need to hold back on money. We appear to have plenty of it."

"Yes, but we agreed only to spend as little of it as possible until Maddie and Ben return from their honeymoon and we can ask Ben to help invest it for us. At any rate, here it is. Tylenol."

"Ah, that painkiller you gave me before."

"Yes."

Alexander took two tablets cheerfully with some coffee.

"That's enough of that," Kelsey said, pulling the mug out of his grasp.

"All right. If it makes you so extremely nervous to have me drink coffee, then I shall stop."

Kelsey checked her watch--it was nearly four in the morning. Twelve hours to go, almost, until Elizabeth hopefully awakes...good God, how are we going to make it to then?

"You know what I have been thinking?" he said, yawning.

"Tell me."

Alexander pulled her into his arms. "I have been thinking of how much I have gained in the past week. I have gone from the third son of a wealthy family, forced to either earn my living, live off of my relations, or marry extremely well...being loved by none save my parents and siblings...feeling like the worst sort of wastrel...to being a man with a child, and money of my own...and a woman who...well, a woman who cares for me. A woman as wonderful as you. I love you, Kelsey Angelica Madison." He deliberately left off the "Chandler."

Kelsey felt her eyes fill up with tears. She had heard the words before, spoken by a man she had thought she loved just as much. And before, they had sounded honest. Until that moment, however, they had never meant as much as they did just then. Spoken by a man who was completely in love...with her.

The tears spilled over, quickly falling down her chin. She was about to speak when she realized that Alexander's weight, which had been supporting her, was suddenly being supported by her.

Alexander had fallen asleep...and rather quickly. She couldn't prevent a smile from escaping. A nurse happened by just then and said, "You look like you'd want a cot for him."

"He is a bit heavy."

With Alexander resting in a cot in the same room with Elizabeth, Kelsey found herself unable to sleep. So she sat down and kept up Alexander's vigil at Elizabeth's bedside. She looked down at the woman who seemed so unlike Kelsey's picture of her. Of course, she was about thirty-some years older than she had been in Kelsey's mind. But her somewhat unhealthy pallor changed things.

Kelsey caught the band of gold on Elizabeth's ring finger, feeling her own empty hand. She'd thrown John's ring off her finger as quickly as she'd been able to. She had never known the happiness in marriage that this woman had known.

"You have...no idea...of how much I envy you," Kelsey said quietly to the still form. "You have had everything I ever dreamed of...of course, I didn't think you real when I imagined them, but how could I? You had a wonderful husband...wonderful marriage...wonderful children." Kelsey looked over at Alexander, then back at Elizabeth. "You would be so proud of Alexander, and the way he's handled himself in this time. He's been so sporting about the whole thing, really. I don't think I could've forgiven someone who had bashed me in the head. We've only had a couple of bad arguments, and one of those was over my being divorced."

She sighed. "Listen to me, talking to a practically comatose woman who only knows me as the girl who helped her son out. And I lied about that." She gave a short, stifled laugh. "I guess you'll forgive me, though. I hope so."

Kelsey looked out at the window. The sun was beginning to dawn.

"I wish I knew what to do. I can't go back to Alexander's time. I don't think he'd ever consider asking me...even if would be the most convenient solution. And I can't ask him to stay here...even if he's decided on it. It's too difficult for him to be able to stay here. I mean, it would be next to impossible for us to create an identity for him. It would be easier for me to go back...but I have a daughter. I couldn't allow her to become sick with some trifling problem when I know how to cure her...and wouldn't be able to. And what if she got something like you have? I would die if she did...as surely as Mr. Darcy would if you died. And Alexander..."

Kelsey's thoughts drifted away. Her eyes searched for the sunlight, streaming into the room. "I'm so scared. I think I've done something completely stupid, because I've fallen in love with him. I haven't even been able to tell him. I told my stupid ex-husband, but I couldn't tell him. Because if I do...he'll think he has to stay. And he has to go back."

"Why...do you...believe he...must go back?"

Kelsey had only heard that voice once in her life, but she knew it as well as the owner's son would. She turned around to see a pair of keen brown eyes looking at her with curiosity.

"You're awake."

"Of course I am."

"D-do you remember anything about your illness?"

"Flashes...doctors...painful treatments. And my Fitz...looking so scared. And...I..." Elizabeth's eyes brightened. "I remember you."

"You do?"

"You are Miss Madison."

"Mrs. Chandler," Kelsey corrected. "But I hate that name, because it's...a long story. You can call me Kelsey."

"Elizabeth..."

"I know."

"Where...where is...my..."

"It's a long story, too. But I think you're finally going to get well."

"I...seem to have plenty of time, Kelsey."

Kelsey related as much of the story as she thought Elizabeth could bear, telling the lies that she and Alexander had concocted with as much honesty as she could muster. She motioned to Alexander on the other bed, confessing that she'd given him the equivalent of a sedative in order for him to sleep.

"Now I feel bad, because he so wanted to be awake when you regained consciousness," Kelsey said in conclusion.

"I am sure he shall thank you for it in time."

"I somehow doubt that."

Elizabeth gave her a ghost of a smile. "I know my son...he shall forgive you."

"Can you forgive me? Your husband knows very little about where we've taken you."

"I somehow believe he knows nothing."

"Well..."

"I understand. He shall, too. Now I must ask...what did you mean...when you said..."

"She's awake? Oh, thank God, she's awake," a voice at the door said. It was one of the nurses. There were so many of them that Kelsey had long since lost track of their names. "I'm going to call Dr. Werner, since Dr. Falk's already gone." The nurse left as quickly as she'd arrived.

"Why is everyone so amazed...at my recovery?" Elizabeth asked.

Kelsey hadn't mentioned what had caused her illness, or how close she'd come to dying. "You had an illness called Lennox-Norton Disease. If we hadn't gotten you here when we did, you probably would've died. The last day and a half...have been perilous."

Elizabeth's faced turned pale, and Kelsey was contrite. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No...it is good...that you did. I...how could I have gotten..."

"Some sort of parasite. It's found in certain wooded areas in England and here in Amer--"

Elizabeth's eyes widened at the slip. "I am in America?"

"I...I..."

"I hear that we've returned from the dead," a new voice said.

You have no idea, Kelsey thought with a small smile.

"I...certainly seemed to have done such."

Kelsey smiled even wider. Elizabeth was going to be all right.

She was going to live.

Chapter 26

Over the next several days, Elizabeth slowly began to regain her health and strength. If she would never completely have either of these as she had before her illness, both Alexander and Kelsey agreed that it was a small price to pay. She was still alive.

The doctors were very pleased with her progress, and Dr. Falk worried only about some memory lapses, which no one could tell him were caused by the fact that his patient had never set foot in the twentieth century. So he merely attributed it to the high fevers.

But as Elizabeth became better, Kelsey's heart grew heavier. The doctor had come to visit Elizabeth for the last time, for he had informed them that she would be well enough to leave that evening. Kelsey knew she had to go home...to Pemberley.

And just as surely, she knew that Alexander had to go with her.

She was uncertain when the thought had struck her that Elizabeth, for all that she was over her illness, was going to be unable to return to Pemberley alone. She was still had very weak legs, and if she fell trying to walk through the maze--which, when Alexander had asked her about it, she could remember but could not recall how to get through--it was possible that no one would find her. There were so many complications that Kelsey could no longer see past them.

And the only solution was ripping at her heart.

As Kelsey looked at mother and son, she saw small similarities--he looked more like his father than his mother. But those eyes...they were almost identical. Kelsey smiled as Alexander told her something that made her laugh...and her eyes danced. This was more the woman Kelsey had pictured.

Emma had been in to see Elizabeth, to Elizabeth's delight. She had laughed at Emma's calling her "Grandma," and when Emma had asked if she was sure it was okay, she had said, "Of course, for I consider you a granddaughter already." Emma had been happy, and glad to see that her new Grandma was better.

Alexander hadn't been happy to hear that Kelsey had accidentally told Elizabeth of her being in America, but no one had thought to mention that she had not only left the country, she had left the century. But some things don't need to be told to be understood, and Elizabeth knew instinctively that she was in a very strange time indeed. And she asked few questions, except of her son. She asked for the truth from him, and he had thus far managed to dodge her inquiries.

Kelsey had wondered about that, why Elizabeth seemed to accept everything. She asked Alexander, who had then confessed that she was asking a great deal about the whole situation when they were alone.

"She never asks me," Kelsey said.

"She has no right to. You are a virtual stranger to her." Alexander gave her a short smile, thinking of how much he'd told Elizabeth about her when they were alone, and how he intended to stay in America and marry her. Elizabeth had been pleased, for even though he'd startled her by telling her about Kelsey's being divorced, she had understood that he didn't care about it at all.

But Elizabeth was about to be discharged from the hospital...and dear God, how were they ever to get her from the hospital to Kelsey's house without her wondering at everything this world had to offer? At stoplights and cars and neon signs and...

"We shall simply have to risk it by telling her..."

"The truth?"

"Kelsey..."

"She's a very trustworthy sort. I'm sure she won't tell your father."

"I think this century would be too much for her."

"It wasn't too much for you."

"But--"

"No, no. You should tell her. She's going back to her century soon." Kelsey struggled to keep her voice level, thinking the thought which had been her constant reminder of the truth in the days since Elizabeth's awakening.

And in the end, it had been much easier telling Elizabeth the truth. She had laughed at first, thinking that they were teasing. When she realized that they were in earnest, she had a million questions, but Kelsey said they had no time to answer them just at that moment. They were off for home and the maze, and Kelsey's final moments together with Alexander. She was dreading it most of all.

Dreading it so much that she could barely muster a smile for Elizabeth's astonishment at the world her son had brought her to. She gawked at everything, and when she begged for Kelsey to stop in front of the arch, Kelsey couldn't resist. She had been amazed at anything being that high, and wondered how they had been able to build it. Kelsey had wished that they had been able to leave the hospital earlier, for she had a feeling that taking Elizabeth up in the arch would've been an interesting experience. So they settled for just looking at it, the sun glinting off the steel.

At last, they reached Kelsey's house. They reached the end of the road. She'd sent Emma to her grandmother, not wanting her to have to witness the good-byes that were about to take place. Slowly leading Elizabeth into the house, Kelsey could see even from the front yard that the maze was in place, beckoning for the return of the people it had allowed to pass.

When they reached the backyard, Alexander set Elizabeth on the porch swing (with an admonition not to rock it too hard, as he had one day quite by accident) and walked up to Kelsey. He'd noted her sadness and despair all afternoon but had not an opportunity until then to quiz her about it.

"Is something wrong, Kelsey?" he asked softly, cupping her chin in his hands.

"No...of course not. It's just going to be so strange, having to explain to Emma how...she's never going to see...her Grandma Darcy ever again."

"I am trying to be optimistic about the maze. I think that it shall be open for holidays and special occasions...children, birthdays...deaths. For I am realistic. My parents will someday die."

"How would you explain this world to them, Alexander? How would we explain your world to Emma? No. The maze will open one final time...for Elizabeth and..."

"And what?" Alexander was clearly confused.

"Have you not thought it all out? Are you truly considering letting your mother go back alone?"

"I..." He obviously hadn't thought about it.

"She's going to need someone who remembers clearly what the maze is like. And someone strong enough to get her through it without collapsing. She needs you, Alexander."

Kelsey had been fighting the lump that had risen in her throat as she spoke. "And that maze is only going to open once. I've been thinking about it...it opened three times before, for specific reasons. The first, to let you come here, where you could find the cause. The second, for me to go back, so I wouldn't think you insane and refuse to help you...and you were clearly going to need me." She sighed. "And the third time was for us to bring your mother here. And remember that it only opened after we discovered the cause. Dr. Falk told me that we were lucky to have mentioned Lennox-Norton, because it's a rare disease and they wouldn't have looked for it right away. In the time it would've taken them to rule out everything else, she could've died. And that's it. Since she's better, clearly the maze will open tonight...and once you've gone back, it'll never open again."

"I refuse to believe that."

"You have to! Otherwise we'll be getting each other's hopes up and...and we'll never be free."

"Free for what?"

"Free to live our own lives."

"Is that what you wish, Kelsey? To live your own life, free of me?"

"No!"

"Then why do you consign me to life on the other side of the maze? I am here, I always shall be."

"No...I know better. You'll disappear."

Alexander suddenly understood the fear. "I'm not John. If it were John..."

"John wouldn't have cared enough for his mother."

"He would disappear. I love you, Kelsey. I shall come back, and we shall be together always."

"I can't ask you to do that. How would you live in this world?"

"Would it be better, I suppose, to ask you to live in mine? I know your hesitations. They are mine as well. I would never ask you to live in my world. I could not."

"I..."

"Would you? Could you? How would you explain to Emma that there is no more television or preschool or cars or anything she has become accustomed to?"

"She's young."

"Not young enough. And there are other problems."

"You have to go. I...I know you'll have to go, now."

"I agree. I shall go. But I shall return."

Kelsey fought back tears, refusing to cry. "I hope to God that you're right."

"You shall see. I shall go through it, and it shall not go away until I have returned. Our love..." Alexander suddenly paled. "Love."

Kelsey turned away.

"You have not once said...but I thought...do you?"

Kelsey thought that maybe it would be best to tell him no, that she didn't love him. He would return to his own time and...

Believing that she didn't love him. Believing a lie.

I'd lived a lie once. I refused to live one again!

Our love...

"I love you," Kelsey said, the tears finally rolling down her cheeks.

Alexander suddenly found himself crushing her to him, tears in his own eyes as he finally heard the words he'd wanted to hear since he'd known her. "That shall be enough to get us through it," he said. "I shall return to you. I could not leave you behind." He smiled. "I could not leave Emma behind. Especially not now. Trust me."

Kelsey nodded. "I do."

"Good. Then believe that I am going to return."

She nodded again.

Elizabeth had been watching them from the swing, a soft smile on her face as she remembered days from long ago, the courtship of herself by her husband.

"It's time for you to go," Kelsey said softly.

"Right." Alexander walked up to the porch and extended a hand to his mother. "Mother, this might very well be the last time we walk together."

"I understand."

"If it is...tell Father that I love him. And Will and Edward and Jane and Victoria. Tell them all that I love them..."

"Of course I shall. But we must go, or I may never get back to your father."

Alexander smiled and put his arm around his mother for support. They walked slowly toward the maze, Kelsey walking behind them in case Elizabeth should fall.

Alexander turned back to look at her, then told his mother to wait a moment, allowing her to hold onto the swingset for support. He tipped Kelsey's face up to look at his and kissed her.

A kiss for love. "I love you, Kelsey," he said. "And I shall be right back."

"Promise me."

"I promise." He reluctantly let her go, then walked back to Elizabeth. They entered the maze, and Kelsey stood rooted by Emma's sandbox, unable to move anywhere. Praying that it wouldn't disappear.

And feeling her last hope fade when it did. With a choked cry, Kelsey finally sank to the earth, gasping for breath, feeling as though she were about to die. Alexander was gone.

Forever.

Conclusion

Pemberley. June 21, 18--.

Fitzwilliam Darcy was working in his library when he caught a familiar sight outside his window. The figure had gone through the maze and had stopped at the water's edge, looking out with pain and longing. He knew that the figure would stand there for a good long while.

He knew it was Alexander.

The night of his wife's return to Pemberley was one that he would remember for quite some time. Even as the family rejoiced in the good health of Elizabeth, they all felt sorrow for Alexander's loss. Elizabeth had, in the privacy of their chamber, related the story to him as she knew it. Furious as he had been at his son for practically abducting Elizabeth, and grateful beyond words that he had been able to find a cure, he knew exactly how much Alexander grieved for his lost love. It had been the one thing which had prevented him from giving him a stern lecture.

As Darcy had held his wife in his arms, Alexander had disappeared suddenly, heading back toward the maze. When he came to the end of it, however, his roar of shock and rage could be heard in London. Yet not even that had startled his parents as much as the bleak hopelessness on his face when he had come back into the house. Never in all his life had Darcy seen his son in such a sad state, not even during Elizabeth's illness. It was clear that Elizabeth's life had exacted a high price for his son.

And there was absolutely nothing Darcy could do to help him.

"Oh, Fitz, he is so unhappy." He heard his wife's voice behind him. He turned at the sound, marveling as he had so often in the month at the sight of his wife alive and well. After preparing himself for her death, it seemed as though God had given them a miracle.

And He had. Yet even miracles did not come free.

"Did he truly love this girl?" Darcy asked. "He barely knew her."

"How long did you know me before you fell in love?" Elizabeth asked with an impish smile.

"It was longer than two weeks."

"Oh? According to Lady Hampton, you made a comment about my exceptional eyes a scant week or so after we met."

"I did not love you then, however. I was fascinated by you."

Elizabeth put her arms around her husband. "Alexander loved her. You should have seen the two of them together. It was almost...magical."

"Was it?"

"Yes. And there was her daughter! Emma just adored Alexander, and he was equally enamored of her. You would have been amazed, Fitz. Our youngest son, playing games with her and treating her as though she were his own daughter. And he was never much one to be so paternal, you know."

Darcy sighed as he saw his son abruptly head back through the maze. "That's peculiar."

"What is?"

"Usually, Alexander stays at the edge of the pond for quite a while, almost as though he expects to be magically whisked away again. He's left after a mere quarter of an hour there."

Elizabeth sighed. "Kelsey was right. She said that the maze would open up one final time...and it did."

"Lizzy...when you came back...why did Alexander come with you?"

She wrinkled her brow, trying to remember what she'd heard that evening in Kelsey's backyard.

"I believe," she said finally, "that they were concerned about my ability to walk. I must confess, they were right--I practically collapsed soon after we entered the house. Kelsey said that Alexander had to take me back to be certain that I reached the house safely. Alexander believed--right until the moment when he went through the maze after we returned--that he would be able to go back. He believed that their love was strong enough for the maze to stay open."

"And it was not. Would that not suggest--"

"You did not see this girl's eyes when Alexander and I entered the maze. She was so terrified, so sad...she loved him. The maze was open only to find a cure for me, not for Alexander to find true love at last."

Darcy leaned his cheek on the top of his wife's head. "Perhaps we should try to find a way to help Alexander."

"The only way that can happen is if he finds his way back to Kelsey."

"That event is not likely to occur, however, so we must find a way to help him get past Kelsey and find someone else."

"If I had refused your proposal that day at Longbourn, would you have found someone else?"

"I--well, Lizzy, this is different. At least you were living in the same century as I."

"You would not have."

"Of course not. Yet Alexander is not me."

Elizabeth replied, "That, my dear Mr. Darcy, is the problem. If you could not have me, you would have eventually married, possibly without love. Alexander is too much of a romantic. He always was. He shall probably never marry."

The two of them watched as Alexander trudged slowly toward the house.

"My poor baby," Elizabeth murmured. "He helped me when I needed it. Maybe this time, I can help him. I hope to God that I can."

St. Louis. June 21, 199-.

The first days were the hardest. Kelsey had been forced to tell Emma that Alexander had gone away with her new Grandma, never to return. After Emma had cried for most of the night--Kelsey crying right beside her--she then had to get on with the business of living again. John had called to ask for his month with Emma, and Kelsey didn't argue when he made the request rather suddenly. John had been surprised, but had said nothing when he picked Emma up.

With Emma gone, Kelsey had had little reason to leave the house. She'd gone to see Madeline and Ben when they'd returned from their honeymoon, and to see her father about how to sell the coins she had been given without getting into a heap of trouble. Her father had suggested an ingenious solution in which she found the coins "disguised" as checkers in a box of old games she'd bought at an auction. Of course, getting him to give her ideas had forced her to tell the whole story to him. He had listened sympathetically then given her the idea. From Ben she received advice on the best way to invest her money, and she followed it.

But it meant nothing next to the emptiness she felt without Alexander. The emptiness that was so deep and unending that she'd long since run out of tears to shed. She had found the white polo shirt he'd bought and started wearing it around everywhere. She felt closer to him when she wore it. Everything brought memories back to her. When she'd watch a movie, or television, she'd think of the morning she'd had to explain it to him. When she stepped into the shower, she remembered his words upon first seeing it. Driving her car reminded her of his belief that she drove like a speed demon. When she sat on the porch swing, she remembered the two of them sitting together, talking for hours about her family, about his, about life.

Kelsey had been sitting on the porch swing for quite a while when Madeline came to see her, bearing a Twinkie with a lit candle stuck in it..

"Happy birthday, sis," Madeline said quietly.

Kelsey turned to look at her. "Happy birthday to you, too."

"Mind if I sit?"

Kelsey swung her legs off the seat to make room for her twin. "Make a wish and blow out the candle," Maddie said.

Kelsey could think of only one wish she wanted, and blew out the candle without thinking twice. When Madeline had taken the candle out and handed the snack cake to her, Kelsey asked, "How's Ben?"

"He's doing good. He's concerned about you--we both are. First Alexander disappears, apparently forever. Then John calls and says that he wants Emma to spend her month with him, leaving you alone."

"Having John take her for the month was probably the best thing for her. At least it dulled the pain of not having Alexander for a daddy anymore. God, why did I let her get her hopes up? I knew he couldn't come back!"

"You had to have hope," Madeline said. "So when does she come back?"

"She should be back in an hour or so. John was pretty agreeable to the whole arrangement, getting her back for my birthday."

"John's been pretty agreeable overall lately."

"He's still a slimeball. He's called once a week to let me know how much Emma's enjoying her time with him, and that she remembered that he was her daddy, and...oh, God. She thinks Alexander left her just like John did. She told me the night before John came to get her that she was sorry she'd asked him to be her daddy."

"She's just a little girl, Kelse. She's very confused about everything."

"She's not the only one." Kelsey's chin quivered, the only outward sign of how badly she was doing. "It just doesn't seem fair. I finally found something wonderful, and he had to...I shouldn't be surprised that it didn't last. Nothing in my life ever does."

"Listen, it's not because of you! It's nothing you've done wrong. It was just fate."

"Why? Why did he have to be such a gentleman that night? Then at least I might have something to remember..."

"Kelsey, listen to what you're saying! You're a woman of the nineties talking of having a baby as a remembrance."

"I could afford a baby." Kelsey looked at her sister. "Thanks to Ben."

"Thanks to Alexander's father giving you the money."

"It's all I'm ever going to have. Alexander's gone, and he's never coming back."

"Listen...I came over to invite you to dinner tonight. It's just going to be me and Ben and a few of our friends--"

"Oh, no. Forget it. I don't want to be set up with any of your friends."

"I'm not trying to set you up. It's going to be a group, not an intimate dinner setting."

"And it just so happens that a couple of single, attractive young men will be included."

"Well..."

"Thanks, Maddie. I appreciate it, but I'm not interested."

"Then at least come to dinner because it's your birthday."

"It's Emma's first night home..."

"Then we'll come here."

"What?"

"We'll bring dinner here, that way I can see Emma. How about it?"

"All right."

Madeline soon left her sister, planning to call four of her friends, two of whom happened to be single, attractive, and male. She refused to let Kelsey doom herself to a life of unhappiness, not after her life with John.

She intended to get her sister to start living again.

Pemberley.

Alexander stared out at the water for a short time. He was drawn to the pond at least three or four times a day, going through the maze with the hope that he would find Kelsey on the other side. It never happened.

He wondered every moment about her--what she was doing, how Emma was. If she thought about him as much as he thought about her. In his heart, he was convinced that she was hurting as greatly as he was, and he felt even worse for causing her such pain.

He kept thinking about that final night in her backyard, when she had looked at him with such love and hope in her eyes that he had almost thought of waiting until his mother was even stronger to go back. Yet they had both known that the maze might have disappeared, trapping Elizabeth in the future when she belonged with Darcy. And that would have been just as cruel as what had happened to them.

He finally decided to give up. This, he tried convincing himself, would be the last time he went through the maze in the hopes of finding Kelsey. She wasn't going to be given back to him. He wasn't going to go back to her.

But you cannot give up hope. If you do, what have you left? Nothing.

Alexander slowly started walking back through the maze. When he was finally back within sight of the house, he noticed his parents looking at him from the library window. He gave them a small wave and a pathetic smile, then continued walking. He had just reached the front doors when he heard a commotion and a sudden, high-pitched screech.

St. Louis.

"Emma? Honey, where are you? Sweetie, I know you're not happy about Alexander not being here when you came back, but that's no reason to get mad and refuse to see Aunt Maddie! You haven't seen her since she came back with Uncle Ben. Come on, Emma."

Kelsey sighed. Not fifteen minutes after Maddie had left, Emma and John had come back. Her daughter had returned with high hopes to find that Alexander had decided to come back, and when she hadn't found him, she had become furious with Kelsey. John had luckily left before that happened. Now she was hiding from her and Kelsey couldn't for the life of her figure out where she was. She checked her usual hiding places--the closets, the basement, the attic (although Emma had stopped hiding in there because she was afraid of spiders)...even under her bed and in the kitchen cabinets.

It quickly became apparent that Emma was nowhere to be found.

Kelsey's heart began speeding up in rate as she ran out of places to look for her. She ran outside, calling, "Emma!"

But Emma wasn't playing in the garage, or in the backyard, or in the car or under the porch. "Emma Caroline Chandler, you'd better come out now or you'll be grounded for a week!" Kelsey couldn't keep the anger from her voice, but she felt her breath coming faster, and a chill had crept through her at top speed. She went through Emma's hiding places again and didn't find her.

"EMMA!" Kelsey's fear intensified, as she realized that her daughter wasn't anywhere.

Pemberley.

Alexander ran from the house to the direction of the maze, which was where he thought he'd heard the noise. It was, in fact, where he found what he sought, as an undergardener appeared, holding a small figure tight to him. The creature was struggling for all she was worth, trying to get away. It made it difficult for Alexander to see her clearly.

"I want my mommy!" she screamed. "MOMMY!"

"Shut up, ye little brat!"

"MOMMY! HELP!"

Alexander gasped as the little girl turned, giving him an unmistakable view of her.

It was Emma.

"Emma!" he shouted, starting to run toward the little girl who could not possibly be there.

Emma recognized the voice. "Daddy! DADDY! Let me go! That's my daddy!"

"Don't be ridiculous, ye brat! That's the master's son, Mr. Alexander."

"Let her go!" Alexander commanded.

"But Mr. Alex--"

"I said, let her go." The arrogance which had worked so well with John worked with this man with much more ease, as the man reluctantly let go of Emma. She immediately ran toward Alexander, who pulled her into his arms and hugged her so hard that she said, "Daddy, you're hugging me too tight."

"Sorry, sweetheart. W-what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to go to Tommy's next door, but I found myself in these bushes and I couldn't get out so I started crying and that bad man heard me and pulled me out and tried to take me away."

"Tommy is the next-door neighbor?"

"Mm-hmm. I decided that I wanna wait to marry him, though."

Alexander couldn't stop the ripples of laughter which coursed through him. "God, I am glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too, Da--" Emma stopped. "Why did you leave us, Alex? Mommy was so sad, and so was I."

"I did not wish to. I had to go."

"Are you gonna come back with me to stay?"

"I--I--"

The bushes...the MAZE! Dear God, Emma went through the maze, which meant that it was still there, still working...

"I believe I am," he said.

"And will you still be my Daddy?"

"If you want me to be...but first, Emma, we must do something. Come."

Alexander was relieved that his siblings were gone to London, for he would only have to explain this to his parents. And that would be hard enough. He led Emma into the house, where the butler was waiting.

"Mama! Father! You must come see who is arrived!" Alexander called. He could not prevent the joy he felt from showing even if he had wanted to.

The moment Elizabeth entered the foyer, Emma shouted, "Grandma!" and ran to her. Elizabeth was unable to pick her up, but bent down to give her a hug.

"Hello, little one. What are you doing here?" she asked.

Emma smiled. "I don't know. Aren't you glad to see me?"

"You have no idea how much," Elizabeth said. "Would you like to know who this is?" she asked, motioning to Darcy.

"Gramps?" Emma asked with a smile.

"Why, yes. How did you..."

"He looks like Daddy."

"Gramps?" Darcy mumbled the title to himself, but smiled nonetheless. "You must be Emma."

"I am," she said cheerfully. "Pleased to make your aquariams."

"Acquaintance," Alexander corrected.

"Acquain--acquaints."

"It's a big word for a little girl," Darcy said. "Where's your mama, Emma?"

"I don't know. At home, I guess. Alexander, can we go home now? It's Mommy's birthday, and Aunt Maddie's too."

"Her birthday? I did not know it was her birthday." Alexander smiled. "I do not have a gift for her."

"That's okay. I'm sure Mommy won't mind."

I hope you are right, Alexander thought. He turned to his parents. "The maze has brought Emma here. It shall surely take us both back."

Elizabeth's dark eyes glimmered with tears. "Oh, Lord...if I had known this was good-bye, I...oh, Alexander!" She threw her arms around her son.

"I have faith that the maze shall open up more often now," he said. "We shall surely see each other again. It may not be good-bye forever."

"I pray that is so."

Alexander turned to his father next, who gave him a hug. "I shall miss you, son," Darcy said gruffly.

"I shall miss you as well."

"How shall you survive in the new world? What shall you do?"

"We have money," Alexander said. "The money you gave us was quite valuable in Kelsey's time."

"Then you shall have more of it as a wedding gift," Darcy said.

"Oh, no--"

"I insist. You...you never had much in the way of an inheritance. Just some money from your Grandfather Bennet and some jewels...and I lost those."

"Jewels?"

"Yes. Some rubies I had given your mother that she loved dearly but did not think they suited her. She intended to give them to your bride...and I lost those."

Alexander laughed. "Then those were meant for Kelsey all along."

"What?" Darcy frowned in confusion.

"The rubies were in the bag of money you gave Kelsey when she was here."

Darcy saw the humor and laughed as well. "Fate does work in mysterious ways," he said. "Do not let Kelsey believe that they are Elizabeth's cast-offs, for Elizabeth did love them. Yet they were not for her. It seemed as though she knew they would be better for another."

Alexander nodded. Darcy retreated to the library and returned a moment later with a heavy bag of coins. He handed them to his son. "Spend them well," he said with a smile, tears shining in his eyes.

They mirrored Alexander's own.

"Why's everybody crying?" Emma asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Alexander said. "Everything is going to be all right, Emma. At last."

St. Louis.

Kelsey had frantically called all of Emma's friends, starting with Tommy and ending with her preschool teacher. None of them knew where she was. She had called Madeline to tell her not to come over because she couldn't find Emma. Madeline had told her to call the police, but Kelsey knew they wouldn't do anything for another day or so. Two, even. Forty-eight hours.

When Emma didn't turn up at a friend's, Kelsey started hunting the house again. She was so engrossed in the search that she almost missed the sound of Emma's bright laughter...sounding like it was coming from the backyard.

Kelsey heard it, however, and came running down the stairs and through the kitchen, stopping only when she saw her daughter standing in the yard. At first, she didn't even concentrate on who else was standing with her, or the fact that the maze had just disappeared in the background. All she saw was her daughter, alive and apparently unharmed. After seeing this for herself, she saw the person who was patiently waiting for her to notice him.

"Mommy! Look who I found!" Emma cried before Kelsey could say anything. "It's Daddy!"

Kelsey's face turned pale, and it seemed as though she were about to faint. Alexander rushed over to her and took her in his arms.

"You're here," she breathed. "It's really you...isn't it?"

"It is." He smiled. "Emma tells me that today is your birthday. I hope I make a suitable gift."

"What are you--how--why--"

"I do not know."

"Are--are you going to..."

"I intend to stay. Forever," he whispered. He couldn't resist temptation any longer, however, and so he kissed her. "I kept my promise."

Emma giggled shyly as they continued kissing.

"I love you," Kelsey said softly.

"I know. I love you. And this time, I am here to stay."

Kelsey smiled. "I know."

They slowly started to walk into the house, Emma running ahead of them.

"Tomorrow," Alexander said, "I want to learn how everything works in your world. I want to read all about history. I want to--"

"Tomorrow," Kelsey interjected quietly, "I want to wake up in your arms and experience the feeling of knowing that I'll be there for the rest of my life."

Alexander smiled. "That sounds wonderful to me."

Epilogue

It had taken Kelsey and Alexander nearly a month to prepare for the wedding, even though they had been ready to marry each other since the evening of his return. In fact, they would have preferred marrying much sooner, as Alexander had continued to insist of celibacy until their wedding night. Legality, however, had been an obstacle to their marriage that they could not avoid. Kelsey and Alexander could not marry until he had a legal identity. Obtaining one for him required them telling their story to her father.

Joshua Madison was suitably dubious about his daughter's tale, and even suspected her would-be groom of some deceit and malevolence, but when he looked deeper than the surface, he realized that even if it wasn't the truth, it was enough for Kelsey and Alexander. There was a light in her eyes that indicated a peace she'd never known, that her father had never seen within her. It glowed even stronger when she was with Alexander. So Mr. Madison set aside any misgivings he might have had and welcomed Alexander into the family in the best way he could. He set about getting Alexander proof of his existence in the twentieth century.

It took a good deal of money and nearly three weeks, but by the time the deed was accomplished, Alexander George Darcy had a birth certificate proving that he'd been born on December 9, 19-- to William and Lisa Darcy, progress reports and a high school diploma indicating that he had an education, and other documents which looked so authentic to Kelsey that she almost believed them real. When Alexander had looked on his wedding gift from his future father-in-law, he had jokingly asked of his bride, "Does this mean that I am now allowed to marry you?"

"Legally you are," she replied.

Yet even as they made their happy plans together, a shadow of sadness was cast over the wedding. Kelsey knew that Alexander dearly wished his family would be able to join them for the wedding. Every evening, he would look out the kitchen window three or four times for a minute or more, looking for the maze. It was when she caught him at it that she had nightmares. They were all the same--Alexander disappeared through the maze again and never returned. Against what he wanted, she sometimes hoped that the maze never opened again. Then she would feel guilty, because the Darcy family was a wonderful one, and she would have liked to have them at the ceremony as well.

Emma made note of none of this. She was making plans to call herself "Emma Darcy" when she went to kindergarten in the fall, even though Kelsey had explained to her time and again that Emma would keep her last name because Alexander wasn't technically her father.

"But Mommy," she said, "you get to be named Darcy. Why can't I?"

"Because...because it's not allowed."

Emma, of course, could not understand why it was not allowed, but she made no further argument.

"Kelsey Darcy," Kelsey mumbled under her breath. "I suppose it could be worse."

After all, Alexander might not be here at all. And you wouldn't be this happy.

As rushed as Kelsey was during the final days before the wedding--simple affairs were not as simple as they looked--she would not have traded it for anything. She loved being involved with flower arrangements and dinner plans (since the wedding guests were limited to family and close friends only, they were holding an intimate dinner at her mother's after the ceremony) and everything that went with getting married. She and Alexander were finding many different collectors for their coins, which were selling rather well--better than either had expected.

Kelsey couldn't help but wonder, however, what had happened to the rubies that had been in the bag that Alexander's father had given her. She prayed that she hadn't misplaced them, even though it was unlikely that she would ever be able to give them back to their rightful owner. She had looked everywhere and had yet to find them. She'd even asked Alexander if maybe he'd given them back to Elizabeth before he'd left, but he insisted that he hadn't.

The rubies were soon forgotten in the midst of dress fittings and final preparations as the day came closer.

July 24, 199-.

The morning of her wedding, Kelsey awoke at sunrise having gotten very little sleep. Alexander was staying with her father, so that he wouldn't be able to see her before the wedding--if there was one thing that Kelsey wasn't going to court on her wedding day, it was bad luck. Madeline was in the guest room, now empty. Alexander's belongings had been moved into the master bedroom with hers. Kelsey tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone up. She walked into the kitchen, marveling that only about two months earlier, she had been thinking that she would never fall in love again, that her life was essentially over.

On this morning, she had never felt more alive. She was about to marry the man she loved. She had plenty of options for the rest of her life. She could do anything.

Pouring water into the coffee machine, she glanced out her window for a quick second...and froze.

Standing in her back yard, huddled together and clearly out of their element, stood Alexander's family. His father and mother, brothers William and Edward with their wives, sisters Jane and Victoria with their husbands.

"Hello?" she said tentatively.

Darcy turned to look at her immediately. "Miss--er, Mrs. Chandler," he said.

"Hello, Mr. Darcy. It's good to see you."

He walked up to her and gave her a strong hug. "It is good to see you as well. For I am now able to say what I have wanted to say since my son and wife returned--thank you. I cannot express my gratitude enough for what you have done for my family."

"Don't thank me. Thank Alexander."

"I have, I assure you."

Kelsey smiled at Elizabeth, truly happy to see that she seemed to have regained all her strength and had no lasting effects of the illness. "It's good to see you, Elizabeth."

"It is good to see you as well."

The question had to be asked. "How did all of you get here?"

"It was a most curious thing," Victoria said. "Father sent each of us a message saying it was imperative that we return to Pemberley. We were all afraid that Mama had had a relapse, but he said that he had had a feeling that he should send for us. He was correct, for the...dear Lord, it was the maze. It opened up and allowed us to come here."

"I hope you haven't been here long," Kelsey said.

"We only just arrived," Jane replied. "Thank you, Kelsey."

Each of the siblings thanked her for saving their mother's life. Kelsey insisted every time that it wasn't necessary.

"Alexander's going to be so happy to see you," Kelsey finally said when they had finished. "He had hoped so much that you'd be here for the wedding."

"This is your wedding day?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, it is."

"Then it appears that our maze shall open to the future for important events," Elizabeth concluded. "Alexander appears to have been right after all."

"So it would seem." Kelsey felt a contentment that surpassed anything she'd ever experienced.

Now their wedding day was going to be perfect.

Kelsey was in the bridesroom she had been in only the month before with her sister. This time, however, she was the nervous bride, pacing back and forth and insisting to her mother that she was just fine. Instead of the hoop skirts Maddie had picked out, Kelsey's gown was a simple affair, an off-the-shoulder form-fitting gown of ivory satin and lace.

"Do you think it's not wedding-y enough?" she asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"Kelse, you're going to be standing with a big bouquet of flowers in front of a preacher with a groom standing next to you. Don't worry. It's a wedding." Madeline got Kelsey to stop pacing long enough to stick the final pin in her hair which would hold the veil in place.

"I wish I had been able to see the look on Alexander's face, when he saw his family had arrived."

"I did get to see him. A happier man I've never seen--well, except for the night of our birthday, when I arrived to find him returned. I think Ben got it on tape."

Kelsey chuckled. "I just hope no one asks me about Elizabeth's rubies," she said, her smile fading. "I can't believe I lost something so valuable."

"Neither can I. But remember--if you can get through today, then the only person you have to tell is Alexander. His family goes home after the ceremony."

"That isn't much consolation."

A knock at the door caused Kelsey to jump. Madeline, who was much calmer, answered it. It was Darcy, and he was wearing a bright smile.

"I have a wedding gift for the bride," he said.

"You do? But I thought--"

"From the groom. He had wanted to give it to you later, but felt it would be more useful now," he added, handing Kelsey a flat package. "You look beautiful, my dear."

"Thank you." Kelsey pulled a package out of her purse. "Here--something for Alexander. It's...nothing much." She'd bought him a gold wristwatch, knowing he'd wanted one since he'd seen them in the window of a store.

"I am sure he shall appreciate it were it valuable as rubies."

Kelsey's face drained of color, and she could only smile weakly as Darcy left the room.

"Well? What is it?" Madeline asked, looking as though she were about to grasp the package out of her hand and open it herself.

Kelsey reluctantly undid the package. A jewelry box lay within. When she opened the box, she gasped. Madeline looked at what she had and gasped as well.

"Dear God," Maddie whispered. "Are those real?"

"Yes," Kelsey replied. "They're--" That's when she saw the note. She picked it up and started reading.

My wonderful, beautiful bride-to-be,

You must forgive me for my deception, but I wished to surprise you with this gift. For it is a gift, handed down from my mother to me, and from me to you. She loved these rubies but did not feel they were for her. I knew in my heart that they were meant for you. I would ask that you wear them today.

I had thought to tell you so many things as we prepare on this day, of all days. I thought maybe I would quote Shakespeare. Yet all I can think of to say in the end is that I love you. And I shall love you forever.

Alexander

Kelsey's eyes watered slightly, but the fear of ruining her makeup enabled them to hold them back. "They're Elizabeth's. Would you mind?" she asked, holding up the necklace and bracelet--with the earrings, all that she would wear that day. Madeline hooked the clasps on the necklace, then the bracelet. Kelsey, with trembling hands, put in the earrings. She looked at herself in the mirror again.

It was the perfect touch.

"Kelsey? Dear, it's time," her mother called.

All of Kelsey's imaginings could not have prepared her for the sight of Alexander standing at the altar, waiting for her. The look on his face as her father led her down the aisle to him quite possibly matched her own.

As she looked into his eyes, she saw so much more than their present happiness. She saw their future. And even though the future would not always be as perfect as that day was, she knew it would not matter. Alexander was going to be there with her through it all.

This time, it was going to last forever.

The End