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‘I am pleased that we are going on an outing,’ Beatrice said.
‘I’m not an ogre,’ he said. ‘I would not bring William here and not take him to see the city.’
‘But you would bring me and have me not see it?’
‘You will see it in time. There will be balls...’
‘That is not the same,’ she said.
‘Have you not been to London?’
‘I have been to London once. I did not see the sites. I spent my days shut up in Hugh’s town house. And I was sent home early. For he had concerns regarding my well-being, and the quality of the air.’ She did not elaborate. But she looked like she might want to.
‘And?’
‘I had a fit with my breathing. It upset him greatly, it was the first time I had one in a very long time. And he sent me home.’
‘You find your breathing well now?’
Anger burned through him.
She should tell him these things. She should tell him it was dangerous for her to be in London.
‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I have not had the same sort of maladies that I had all those years ago. I was fourteen when that happened, and I have been quite well since. Please do not make this about my illness. I find that far too many things are.’
‘I will not worry, but you will tell me if you feel ill.’
‘I will.’
‘Are you sick?’ William asked, and he looked terribly concerned. ‘My mother was very sick.’
Beatrice’s face contorted with alarm.
‘No, William. I am not sick like that. I was very sick when I was a young child. That’s all.’ Except she had no real idea what kind of sick Serena was. But then, neither did William.
‘Good,’ William said decisively. ‘I do not wish for you to die.’
‘I am glad to hear it,’ Beatrice said.
He and Beatrice made eye contact, and her cheeks flushed again.
He looked at William, who was now absorbed in his toast, though he had a feeling that at exactly ten twenty-nine his son would emerge from wherever it was he went to let them know that they were in danger of running behind.
‘You slept well?’ he asked, where he was being provocative.
‘No,’ she responded. ‘I did not.’
There were a great many things he could say in response to that, but he decided that none of them would be in particular aid of the situation.
‘I’m sorry to hear it.’
‘I was lonely.’
‘I could not have stayed,’ he said, hearing his voice go gruff.
She looked at him for a long while. A litany of questions was in her blue eyes and he did not wish to answer any of them. ‘Why?’
‘Do not ask questions you are not prepared to hear the answer to.’
