After several minutes Cassandra heard Jenkins's breathing become regular and deep as he slipped into an exhausted sleep. She waited a few more minutes, just to make sure. When she was satisfied, she carefully stole out of the Caretaker's arms and out of the bed. After quickly pulling her pajama top on over her head, the Librarian tiptoed to the sitting room, taking care to close the thick wooden door tightly behind her and turned on a small lamp.
She felt slightly foolish doing this, especially since she was wearing only a thin, oversized pajama top and nothing else. But she was willing to do anything it if there was any chance that it might help Jenkins. Cassandra took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts, then she looked up to the ceiling high overhead in the large, brooding room.
"Ray?" she whispered quietly, addressing the Spirit of the Library. "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but we need to talk." She looked around the dim space uneasily, not sure what she was expecting to happen. A response from the Library of some kind? A sign of some sort? Taking another breath, she forged ahead.
"This whole thing with Jenkins? It needs to stop. It needs to stop now! You know it's not Jenkins's fault, what happened to that Librarian—he had it coming! And it's not enough that he had to watch that asshole kill his wife and baby, you let him blame himself for it all this time!" As she thought about Jenkins and everything he'd had to endure at the hands of the Library, her anger and indignation at the injustice of it took over.
"How could you let him suffer like this for so long, after all he's done for you? He's sacrificed so much, Ray, he's given up everything for you! He's had to stand by and watch everyone he's ever loved grow old and die. He's had to watch everyone around him fall in love, raise a family, grow old together, live happily ever after—And THIS is how you repay him? You let Librarians treat him like shit, treat him like he's a piece of Library property? And you let him think it's all he deserves?" The young woman's voice became shaky with emotion.
"Is it really so wrong for him to want a little bit of happiness for himself? I think he could be very happy with me, but even if I'm not the one, then please, Ray—help him to be happy with someone! That's all I care about, I just want him to be happy! Please, there has to be something you can do to help him! You're supposed to be this great, wonderful, beneficent thing, yet you just stand by and let Jenkins hurt like this! How could you be so cruel!?"
Cassandra realized she was now almost yelling. Her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth, terrified that she awoken Jenkins with her outburst. She held her breath and listened carefully, but heard nothing in the heavy silence except the faint creaking of the building as it settled into its ancient foundation and the tiny pops of the wood as it reacted to the humidity in the air.
Exhaling in relief, she dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her top and turned to leave. She didn't know if this would do any good or not, but at least she tried, and she felt better now that she had spoken her piece.
She crept back into the bedroom and sat slowly on the bed next to Jenkins. Cassandra looked longingly at him as she gently ran her fingers through his mussed hair, then leaned over and whispered into his ear. "You'll always be my knight in shining armor, Galahad." She turned her head and kissed his soft, cool cheek as she continued to play with his hair; a tiny smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he slept. It didn't matter if the Library helped or not. She loved her cranky Caretaker more than anything else in the world, and she was going here to stay right by his side, no matter what.
#####
Unbeknownst to Cassandra Cillian, the Library was actually very fond of Jenkins and loved the gruff old immortal dearly. It was well aware of the many sacrifices Jenkins had made on its behalf, and it was very grateful for his many long centuries of devotion and service.
The Library had been horrified by what Chelsea had done; clearly it made a monstrous mistake in choosing him. It pained the Library to see Jenkins so unhappy, to see him withdraw from life and isolate himself from the world, gradually growing more and more bitter and cynical. It had tried many times to gently entice back into human society, but to no avail. Jenkins's heart was broken over the loss of Jane, and not even the Library could bring her back to him.
But now the Library was overjoyed to see its Caretaker engaging in life again. It was especially thrilled that he was finding new love with the pretty, vivacious young Librarian. Of course, that wasn't the primary reason it had chosen Cassandra to be a Librarian, but it was certainly a welcome and happy bonus. She was just what the jaded knight needed, in the Library's opinion. Unfortunately, with all of the doings of the Library's various enemies over the past few years, it hadn't had any time for matchmaking. Miss Cillian's complaint this evening reminded the Library, however, of just how badly it had mistreated its Caretaker.
It was high time to correct that.
#####
Cassandra woke up early, but when she reached out for Jenkins, his side of the bed was empty and cold. She pushed herself up and called his name, but there was no answer. Cassandra flopped back onto the mattress in frustration and sighed deeply. This made it over a week now since he last shared the large bed with her, not since the night he'd told her about Jane.
He was still loving and affectionate towards her, treated her no differently now than he did before, except that he avoided being alone with her, especially at night. Now he was suddenly busy doing 'important research' or working on this or that experiment that needed his attention. He excused himself by saying that the work kept him up late, and he didn't want to disturb her sleep, so he had taken to sleeping in his lab. But the Librarian was no fool; the immortal clearly was avoiding her. And today she was determined to find out why.
She rose and quickly got dressed. After doing her hair and make-up, she headed out and began to search the Annex for Jenkins. By late morning she still hadn't been able to locate the Caretaker. As she entered the workroom, Jacob Stone looked up from a scatter of history texts on his desk.
"Well, there she is," he greeted her, smiling. "You been in bed all this time?"
Cassandra smiled at the historian's greeting. "Good morning, Jacob. No, I got up hours ago. I've been trying to find Jenkins. Have you seen him this morning? I need to talk to him about something and I can't find him anywhere."
Jacob pointed at the back door. "He, uh, went out a couple hours ago. Said he had some thinkin' to do."
"Where did he go?" the Librarian asked, suddenly worried. "Did he say when he was coming back? What kind of thinking did he say he needed to do?"
"Don't know," Stone growled. "Didn't say." He gave Cassandra a long look and a wink, then tossed his head in the direction of the magic portal. "The door's still set, though. I kinda 'forgot' to shut it down like I said I would after he went through. You know...in case you wanna go do some 'thinkin'' with him or somethin'..." He winked and waggled his eyebrows knowingly.
"Thanks, Jake," she said, rolling her eyes as she flashed him a grin in appreciation. She turned to go through the door, but Stone called out to her.
"Hey, you better take a jacket or somethin'. J had a big coat on when he left, must be pretty chilly where ever it is he went." He grabbed a jacket from the coatrack at the bottom of the staircase, one of Jenkins's. "Here, I reckon he won't mind if you borrow this. Might be a little big on you, but it's better than nuthin'." He helped the young woman into the heavy tweed jacket.
"Thank you, Jacob!" Cassandra chirped and gave him a little peck on his rough cheek before she stepped quickly through the magic portal.
#####
On the other side of the doorway she found herself in a very old, but very elegant Victorian-era cemetery. The late autumn air was crisp, with a slight breeze stirring up the dry, fallen leaves from the ground. The sun was low on the western horizon. A quick calculation in her head based on the angle of the shadows and the time of year told her that was somewhere in Western Europe, eight hours ahead of Portland's time zone. The Librarian had a good idea of where exactly in Europe she was, and why Jenkins had come here. She bundled the oversized jacket around herself tightly against to chilly breeze and began to walk along the paved pathway, keeping her eyes peeled for the Caretaker. It only took her a few minutes of brisk walking before she spied his white head in the distance.
She walked towards him through the dull green grass of the burial ground, trying her best to avoid stepping directly on any graves, but they were packed so closely together that it was nearly impossible to do. After several minutes of carefully picking her way amongst the various headstones, she finally stopped a few yards away from Jenkins. He was half-sitting on a nearby gravestone as he faced another grave, this one marked by a tall, slender obelisk carved from white marble. His hands were in the pockets of his heavy, black wool coat, and his eyes were closed as if in prayer or contemplation. Cassandra waited patiently, not wanting to disturb him.
After a couple of minutes, without opening his eyes, Jenkins pulled his hand from his pocket and silently held it out to Cassandra. She quickly stepped forward and took it, moving to take her place next to the tall man. The young woman looked down at the time-worn obelisk and caught her breath at the sad sight of a small bouquet, two fresh white gardenias with baby's breath that Jenkins had placed on the grave. She was close enough now to read the inscription on the stone: Jane Moran Jenkins & Infant Jenkins. Died Dec. 25, 1849 A.D. Most Beloved Wife & Child of G. Jenkins. Amor Vincit Omnia. Cassandra's heart skipped a beat when she saw the date; Jenkins never mentioned that Jane and the baby had been killed on Christmas Day.
"I'm glad you're here, my dear. I was just telling Jane about you. About us, actually," he said quietly, breaking the silence.
"Do you think she would've approved of me?" the Librarian asked. Jenkins chortled softly.
"Oh, yes, she would have most certainly approved of you; you're a good Irish girl, after all, Miss Cillian."
Cassandra squeezed his hand. "What does the Latin part say?" she asked.
"'Love Conquers All'. She read it in one of the books I loaned her, and it became one of her favorite sayings." Jenkins wistfully replied, smiling at the memory of his young lover pronouncing the Latin words with her heavy Irish accent.
He took a deep breath and exhaled, staring vacantly at the monument. "We had a conversation once about death and the afterlife. She told me that if she ever died before me, she would be waiting for me in the world after this one. I can't help but to picture her in the afterlife right now, waiting for me. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting." Jenkins's face took on an exaggerated expression of concern as he furrowed his brow.
"I never got around to telling her I was immortal. I imagine that by now she is very, very pissed off at me."
The Librarian burst into giggles at the mental picture she had of the woman in the daguerreotype, dark eyes flashing as she impatiently tapped her foot, wondering what on earth could be holding up Jenkins. She laid her head on the Caretaker's arm affectionately.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you and Jane. I hope you know that I won't try to take her place," she said. "I don't want to do that, Jenkins. I know your heart's big enough for both of us."
"I know you're not, my dear," he replied, reaching over to pat her hand warmly. Just then a nearby church bell began to ring, sounding the hour of five o'clock, and the tall man checked his watch. He stood up and approached Jane's gravestone.
"Goodbye, Jane, my love, and goodbye to you, my little one," he said lovingly. "I'll come back again soon. I love you both; rest quietly." He bent and kissed the cold marble twice, and tears stung her eyes as Cassandra watched the tender display. Jenkins then tuned to the waiting Librarian.
"Tea time," he announced firmly and offered his arm to his Librarian as darkness began to fall over the cemetery. "Would you care to join me, my dear? There's a hotel nearby that lays a sinful table. I believe we have a conversation to finish."