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"Whatever is easiest," Lady Winstead replied "And please, sohter "You should try to eat"

"I know I just" She didn’t finish She was sure her ently on her shoulder "You should sit, too"

Honoria sat

And waited

It was the hardest thing she’d ever done

Chapter Eleven

Laudanu, and indeed he had a feeling he had looked down upon those who used it, but noondering if perhaps he owed they to the entire world Because clearly he had never been in real pain before Not like this

It wasn’t soOne would think it would be painful to have bits of one’s body hacked away like a woodpecker jabbing at a tree trunk, but that actually wasn’t so bad It hurt, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t bear

No, what killed him (or at least felt like it) hen Lady Winstead took out the brandy Every so often she would duallon of the stuff over his open, gaping wound She could have set him on fire and it wouldn’t have hurt so ain Not unless it was the really good stuff And even then, he would only do so on principle Because it was the really good stuff

Which needed to be drunk

He thought about that for a moment It had made sense when he’d first considered it No, it still made sense Didn’t it?

Whatever the case, sometime after Lady Winstead had poured what he dearly hoped was not the good brandy on his leg, they’d got a dose of laudanum down his throat, and really, he had to say – it was lovely His leg still felt as if it were being slow-roasted on a spit, whichLady Winstead’s "care" without any anesthesia, he was finding it positively pleasant to be stabbed with a knife under the influence of an opiate

Al

And beyond that, he felt rather unaccountably happy

He sht she hted doith rocks

Actually, he only thought he smiled; his mouth felt rather heavy, too

But he wanted to smile He would have done, if he’d been able Surely that had to be thestopped for a bit, then started up again Then there was a lovely, short pause, and then –

Daht have moaned He wasn’t sure They’d poured hot water on hi to poach his leg