Tessa was sitting beneath a tree in Hyde Park, well on the path yet far enough away to avoid scrutinizing eyes. She turned the page of A Tale of Two Cities, humming lightly beneath her breath a lullaby Aunt had sung to her often when she was nothing more than a babe, a lullaby she thought she'd pass down onto her own children.
Soft footsteps crunched on the leaves behind her. Tessa turned, and Jem sat beside her, a leather-bound journal in his hand. She glanced at it curiously, a small smile beginning on her face. "What's that?" she asked, poking at the book.
Jem seemed to glow as he handed it to her. "A pre-marriage gift," he said coolly, "I saw it and thought of you." Tessa opened the first page, a title absent from the cover. It was a strange version of Alice and her Wonderland. She hesitated in informing Jem that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a silly story for children, but his eyes were shining and she couldn't help but kiss his cheek and thank him.