Helen and Alice looked at their reflections through the mirror and Alice couldn't help but reminisce what happened that day she and her mother went to the Ascots. Images played through her head of how she stole the chronosphere to save Hatter and how she nearly destroyed Underland and all of Time. She wonders what would have happened if she had just been a second late in restoring the chronospere back to its place. Alice shuddered and broke out of her trance, "Well, I'm going to go see if the crew needs help." She gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before heading towards the door to leave Helen back to her work. "Alice..." Mrs. KIngsleigh swiftly turned to face her daughter and hesitated a bit before finishing, "Mr. Harcourt wanted to see you before sundown. He..." she paused again and took a deep breath, "He wants to discuss an important matter with you. Meet him at the dock later." Alice glanced back at her mother and noticed something off about her behaviour but decided to drop it and responded, "Okay." She gave Helen a little nod before turning to the exit.
'Brillig' Alice thought. "Four o'clock," Alice stated and faced her co-workers, "I should be getting ready to meet Mr. Harcourt. I heard he has something major to converse about." The men stopped their work for a moment to give Alice a suggestive look. Some made remarks about the two. However, she was completely oblivious to these actions. "Gentlemen, I must be on my way," Alice smiled and left with a small crate. She traveled back to the dock to meet Mr. Harcourt.
Not too far from the dock, Helen sat in the same position inside the busniess. She had so much paperwork to go through; it might take days to get it all done. After all, she and Alice were gone for about three years. She should've been expecting this, working in a company like this. Every few minutes, when Mrs. Kingsleigh took a break and let her hands rest, she would glance up at her late husband's mirror. There it was directly in front of her with all its beauty. She smiled at the idea that Charles was with her. Just as she lifted her pen and was preparing to fill out more work, the mirror started to shimmer. 'It must be the sunset' she thought. That was when the glass began to glow. Helen's eyes grew wide as she scooted back and rose from her chair in disbelief. It was nearly dark and this mirror was glowing more intensly by the minute. She couldn't believe what was occuring before her very eyes. She was frozen so she couldn't move to go get someone. 'As if somebody would believe me if I told them there was a glowing mirror in my shop' Mrs. Kingsleigh thought to herself. She just stood there in shock in front of this peculiar item. After a few minutes, the mirror developed waves similar to that of the ocean. It was still shimmering and glowing. Helen didn't know what to make of this. "Is this real?" she asked herself. As she said this, she lifted her arm out in front of her and moved forward to touch this mystery. She was suprised to find that her hand went right through the mirror. She moved her hand back briskly and stood in bewilderment, examining her hand, "How very curious." She then thought for a moment and said, "I must be going mad." Helen leaned again toward the mirror but before she could touch the mirror again or even react, a large rough hand came out of it, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the mirror.
James stood at the edge of the dock, away from the ships, waiting for Alice. Alice left her small crate right outside of the business and walked to him. She saw that he was dressed in a rather fancy suit but didn't think much of it. She turned around away from the sea and faced him. "My mother said you had some type of business to discuss, Mr. Harcourt?" she stated firmly. The dock was usually busy but not as busy as today. It was super crowded, which was odd. "Yes, well...erm..Miss KIngsleigh..." he began but she interupted, "Mr. Harcourt, how many times do I have to tell you, you can call me 'Alice'." He looked nervously at her, "Right, erm...Alice. There is no way to beat around the bush with this one but," he stopped and took a huge deep breath, "it wasn't business I wanted to discuss with you. It's a much more personal topic." Alice stared back at him with a clearly confused expression. He continued, "You see, over these past few years of us traveling the world together and getting to know each other, I've grown rather fond of you. And I...I think I've fallen in love with you so," he got down on his knees and grabbed her hands. Alice's eyes widened as she wasn't expecting anything like this. Mr. Harcourt looked up into her eyes and said, "Alice, will you marry me?" He flashed a big genuine smile. Alice, still in shock, was left speechless. After looking down at him for a few minutes, she managed to get some words out, "Mr. Harcourt...James, I..." she couldn't finish her response because when she glanced up for a split second, someone colorful - and familiar - caught her eye on the pier. They seemed to be rushing away from the couple toward the Kingsleigh & Kingsleigh business. "James," she looked back down at him, "give me a moment," her hands broke away from his as he was left stranded there with a heartbroken facial expression. Alice ran through the crowds of people to catch up with this person. She'd know that hat and those bright ribbons anywhere! "Hatter!" Alice frantically called out to him as she tried get through everyone on the port. "Hatter! Wait!" she desperately called out. He seemed to ignore her and carry on faster to where he was headed. She saw him turn the corner and walk into the business. She hurried along and finally got to the building. Alice ran inside shutting and locking the door behind her.