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[richinthought]

The muslin gown that she is currently wearing -- for she had recently been invited to attend dinner with a nearby acquaintance; for want of better entertainment she had agreed and was in the midst of her travels when she was unceremoniously swept from the country road -- is rather fine and quite well-suited to her complexion, it being light and

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[doesherhomework]

Don't be alarmed, Caroline; despite Betty's unusual appearance (and, for your accustomed time, race), she's of good nature and generous of spirit. With a laugh, she replies, "You'd be surprised what sort of things are quite possible but I doubt anyone here's responsible for it. Novels? What kind of novels?"

[richinthought]

Caroline briefly takes her in with slightly raised eyebrows, but she is much too accustomed to politeness (and too stubborn when she believes that she is ignorant) to make any remark or show much surprise. 'Have you not read the works of Miss Radcliffe and similar Gothic authors? Suffice it to say, many a young woman after reading those novels fancy themselves seeing spectres and phantoms in every dark corner, their imagination running wild; some become fearful of sleeping without a lit candle, even. I had thought my imagination in check -- up until now, that is.'

[doesherhomework]

"Not those specifically, but I've read a lot of, uh, similar subjects." She smiles and holds out her hand. "I'm Betty Stoker, by the way. When're you from, if it's not a weird question?"

[richinthought]

She takes the hand, giving a slight curtsy. 'Caroline Knightley. That is an odd question, I will admit -- one that has not been asked me before, at least -- but compared to what the young men in my town see fit to ask when struggling for conversation topics, it is quite commonplace. The year would be 1834, Miss Stoker.'

[fromwayback]

Were he in slightly higher spirits today, Nicholas might sound downright jovial as he replies, "Roads, cities, countries, continents - they all have a terrible habit of disappearing when you least expect them to." As it is, these words are spoken kindly enough and with a faint smile as he removes his lab coat, folding it over his arm before giving a slight bow. "And I'm afraid many if not most of those here don't make much habit of paying attention to lecturing."

[richinthought]

Caroline curtsies back, after his bow. 'It is quite inhospitable of them, is it not? Oh-- why, you have not heard anyone truly lecture until you have heard me lecture, sir, for I am quite adept at finding fault in nearly anyone and lecturing them upon it until they are rather tired of me. Simply ask my older brother, Geoffrey.'

[fromwayback]

"Quite." He can't help a quiet chuckle. "I've no doubt but be careful who you turn your attention to. Some members of this community do not take kindly to criticism and their ways of showing displeasure are rarely pleasant." Offering a hand, palm upward, he lets his smile grow a bit. "But before I manage to be rude, Dr. Nicholas Epifanio Hades, at your service."

[richinthought]

'A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Hades,' she momentarily takes his hand with another curtsy. 'Caroline Knightley. Dare I ask how they show their displeasure, or is it not a proper topic for me to venture upon? In any case, I shall endeavor to be careful; I may be a foolish young woman, but I am not so foolish as to willingly endanger myself.'

[languageofbirds]

Henry Strange is sitting in the room Miss Knightley has just entered, in a chair close by the door and with a book open in his lap. He looks up when she enters, and after she has spoken, he closes his book and rises to greet her with a stiff bow.

'It is entirely possible for roads to come and go as they please, miss,' he tells her, with only a little knowing pomposity in his manner and speech. 'Faerie roads are quite noted for it, in fact.'

[richinthought]

'Faerie roads?' She asks with curiosity, curtsying in return. 'Why, I have never heard of them.'

[languageofbirds]

'My father is a great explorer of them,' Henry says proudly. 'He is a magician.'

[richinthought]

'Indeed? I had thought magicians relegated to childrens' stories and the pages of novels. If this idea had been proposed to me earlier, I would have found it preposterous, I admit-- but if, however, we are indeed in the future,' she gestures around them, 'nearly anything is possible, is it not?'

[watchingthetide]

It's good to see someone looking somewhat familiar, if a bit dated (though the PB may contradict this, one should never pay attention to those), and so Katherine offers a polite smile, the sort one might give when one recognizes a complete stranger in a dilemma you yourself have been in. "I don't believe either is likely. It seems the same thing must have happened to you as did to myself, and to the friends of mine who arrived before I did. We've become stuck, outside of our own time."

[richinthought]

'That is what I have gathered,' she says with a slight sigh. 'I hope Mother and Father will not be too worried.'

[heirtothecount]

"Well, you never quite know." He tilts his head a bit. "A road could disappear, I suppose, even if I have never seen it happen."

[richinthought]

'Where would the majority of the matter that composes it go, if the road were to disappear? Even if it could, and I am not quite sure it is possible, it makes a considerably small amount of sense for it to disappear into thin air.'

[heirtothecount]

"Perhaps some odd creature ate it."

[richinthought]

'What creature would be large enough to eat a road?' Caroline wonders, also beginning to doubt that Francis was fully in his mind. 'If so, then that creature must be more fearsome than the disappearance of a road.'