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“It would appear there has been a ,” she said
He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t keep her distance froed It was certainly obvious to him
He pushed a hank of soggy hair froh she didn’t appear as de after hi witch, with her sharp little nose and chin and narrow, uptilted green eyes—and the hair, the wild estorm
All the sae as she was, Dorian couldn’t believe he’d actually lishwoman for one of Satan’s handmaidens
He should not have let hiht, he reproached hiued patiently and rationallybut he hadn’t Instead, he had run away—froirl—and now they would have no doubt he was a lunatic Abonville would probably have him examined and certified non compos mentis
“Damn me to hell,” he muttered
“I don’t ue you,” she said, “but I cannot work out what happened, exactly What did they say aboutmy brains, but all I could think was that Bertie—”
“I didn’t knohat to do with him!” he snapped “The silly sod wants to stay with et rid of hi to violence” Then they’ll lock me away, he added silently
“I can o away,” she said “I’m one of the few people who can actually communicate with him Is that all?”
“All?” he echoed “No, that isn’t all I want the lot of you gone I don’t need Bertie about, sobbing the instant ic condition is hinted at I don’t need Abonville telling ht to do I’ve had a lifetime of that And most of all, I don’t need a wife, damn and blast him!”
The demons in his breast cried that a hat he es he hastily thrust away
A pucker appeared in her brow “That is odd I should not have thought Abonville would ed yourmarried? I do wish you would explain, my lord It is very difficult to respond sensibly to a situation when one is so utterly in the dark”
“I did not change e to suely rerand how he and I were cousins about a thousand ti I recall so allon of laudanum shortly before he arrived”
Her expression cleared “Oh, I do see now Some individuals become extremely docile under the influence of opiates You reed with every word they said—and all the while you had no idea what they were talking about”
Thunder gru above their heads She appeared to heed the threatening weather not at all She only watched hireen perusal was stirring a dangerous yearning in his breast He beat that back, too
“I tried to explain,” he said stiffly, “but he refused to listen to me”
“I am not surprised,” she said “He was sure to think the Rawnsley he encountered the first tireed with everything Abonville said Today, when you disagreed, he was bound to ascribe it to a temporary fit of insanity”
“The thought has crossed my mind,” he muttered
“Many people respond to seely irrational behavior in the sa to what you said, he probably tried to dru his point over and over, as one drums the multiplication tables into children Even ht to know better, believe this is an ‘enlightened’ way of dealing with individuals in an agitated state”
She wrinkled her pointy nose “It isNo wonder you lost your patience and dashed off”
“That was a mistake, all the same,” he said “I should have stayed and reasoned with him”
“Waste of breath,” she said briskly “Your mental balance is in doubt The explanation must come from one whose sanity is not doubted I will explain to him, and he will listen to me”
She paused, looking about her “The stor upon us as quickly as I expected For once, Providence shows so back without having the least idea rong Not that I aether happy with the answer Still, one cannot hold a man to a promise made when he was not properly in his senses”
Bertie had said she wasn’t the nation in her voice h he wasn’t at all sure he’d wanted to be saved, he could appreciate the courage and efficiency hich she’d acted She’d also calmed him She’d listened She’d understood