Bette nodded and whispered, “I love you too.”

“I just want you to be happy, Elizabeth. What we had was amazing and wonderful. I will never regret it or forget it but I also love my dear Daniel. We are about to have a baby,” Christina looked at Bette with affection and touched her face. “I feel like we belong to two different worlds…even more so now.”

“Why did you say that?”

“You really look so different that it makes me think that maybe I do believe what you said about the future.”

“Because I look different or because I never lie?” Bette smiled.

“Both,” Christina smiled back. “But just because I feel that way doesn’t mean that what we had was not special.”

“Yes, I still feel some connection with you,” Bette admitted. “Do you know that I thought you were my whole world because you made me feel things that I have never felt before…even if I didn’t know what those feelings were.”

“And now?”

“And now my heart belongs to someone else.”

“Is she good to you?”

“Yes, very…”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes, very…”

“Then it’s all that matters, Elizabeth.”

“Do you ever wish that things were different?”

Christina sighed, “If I wasn’t married and the times were different – yes…but it is what it is.”

“Yes, it is what it is,” Bette repeated. “I just wanted to know that you were alright, Christina, because I will always care about you, no matter where we are and what we do.”

“Yes, I know and it’s the same for me. In my heart I knew you were alive because I could feel your spirit,” Christina took Bette’s hand into hers and squeezed it gently. “I will always care about you and I will never forget you, Elizabeth.”

Bette patted Christina’s hand and then lifted it to her lips, kissing her palm. They looked at each other for a long moment, as if memorizing every detail, every nuance, everything.

“Oh my Lord, with all this excitement I forgot about my manners. You must be hungry, coming all the way from the future,” Christina said teasingly, bringing Bette’s smile back again.

“Starving actually, it was a long trip,” they both laughed and it reminded Bette of a happy time back home when she met Christina.

“Let me call for some tea and refreshments,” Christina noticed panicked look on Bette’s face and smiled reassuringly as she rang the bell, “Don’t worry, none of our servants know you. We had to let most of them go after the shooting because I was recovering at the Porter mansion.”

“You were?”

“Maxine insisted. She was wonderful. She treated me like her own daughter.” Christina gave her order to the servant girl and then said after she left. “Our families have been spending a lot of time together, bound by all that happened six months ago. We all became so close and it’s really comforting. As weird as it might sound but your disappearance brought us closer together.”

Bette smiled, not in the least shocked by such admission. “I’m glad something good came out of it.”

The servant girl returned with the tea and biscuits that she placed on the coffee table in front of them and then left again. Christina poured them some tea and smiled, “So, are you going to tell me about that lucky girl who has your heart now?”

TBC…