“The library windows were open directly next to it. I heard you and your friends discuss the betting books at White’s,” Elizabeth said as quickly as she could and then pressed her mouth closed.
Talbot was silent for several beats as a muscle in his jaw twitched.
“I see,” he said again, more angrily this time.
Elizabeth finally dared to lift her head and look into his face. He seemed paler than usual, but that could have been a mere trick of the light.
“I won’t insult you by making excuses,” he quickly added.
“I didn’t think you would.”
“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” he said arrogantly after a while.
She knew better than to expect an apology or a denial from a man like him, and yet her throat burned with indignation.
The music playing in the background was entirely inappropriate for the conversation they were having.
“Hearing that an association with oneself would sully a bloodline is rarely pleasant, regardless of how true the speaker may believe it to be,” she said, and the surge of righteous anger felt invigorating.
They were both silent for a while. It seemed to Elizabeth that his grip on her hand had tightened slightly.
“I was under the impression that you were my friend,” she tried to utter without her voice breaking. She suddenly felt pathetic.“Please refrain from asking me to dance with you again. Spare us both the offence of my refusal.”
Talbot’s rigid posture resembled that of a tall, ancient tree.
“Whatever you desire, Miss Hawkins,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Thank you,” she said without looking at him.
“I,” Talbot’s gaze slowly travelled from her brow, down her nose, all the way down to her lips, and then back up to her eyes. “I was also under the impression that we were friends,” he admitted finally.
“If you were, then you have exceptionally strange views on friendship,” Lizzie said bitterly.
The duke nodded like he agreed, but he was clearly lost in thought. Elizabeth wondered if he’d even heard her. She felt a fluttering at her waist, like his thumb was stroking her ribs, but that had to be a nervous spasm.
When the music stopped, he led her off the floor to deliver her to her next partner. Years later, she wouldn’t even remember who it had been.
Talbot bowed and simply said, “Be well,” before turning around and walking away from her for good.
That night, Elizabeth dreamt that she was walking around Vauxhall Gardens as darkness gradually descended on them, frantically looking for a carriage that would take her back home. She ran and ran and ran down the treacherous serpentine paths until she woke up just as dawn was breaking.
At breakfast, she told her mother about her dream, and was advised not to eat so much fish before bed again.
Chapter 16
“Ido not see any physical reason for whatever ails you, Your Grace,” Doctor Cooper said as he finished examining the patient.
They were in Talbot’s study, and the Doctor sat down across from the Duke as he was putting his waistcoat back on.
“You don’t sound too certain.”
Doctor Cooper seemed to be carefully formulating his next question. “Have you experienced any events lately that might have upset you? Gone through any big changes?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Talbot frowned.
The Doctor sighed and leaned back in his chair. “The human mind is largely a mystery to us, but in my many years of experience, I have found it to be an extremely sensitive organ. When the mind is plagued by problems, it can affect the body as well.”
“Frankly, that sounds rather implausible.”
